The Impact of the Republican NCLB Rebellion

On Thursday, Republicans in the House and Senate introduced legislation that would allow states to opt out of the No Child Left Behind Act’s (NCLB) current accountability regiment. As the Congressional minority, Republican legislation tends not to draw much attention, but the political implications of these bills are worthy of consideration.






Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) introduced HR 1539, The Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act of 2007 (A-PLUS). The bill would give states the option of providing the Secretary of Education with a “declaration of intent” to assume full responsibility for the education and require states to report information annually to parents and the general public about the State’s student achievement assessment system, demonstrating student progress. The bill already has more than 50 co-sponsors including House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO). Jim Boehner, the former Chairman of the House Education and Labor and an original NCLB architect, has not signed onto the law, but the fact that his second in command has signed on indicates the bill’s potential support.

On the Senate side, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) also introduced an A-Plus Act that is very similar to the House companion version. The bill would allow states to opt out of the current NLCB accountability regime in exchange for establishing a 5-year Performance Agreement with the Secretary of Education. It would also give states flexibility to consolidate federal education programs and funding and redirect these resources to state education reform initiatives.

The bills’ text, however, is not as critical as the potential political implication. In 2001, the conservative Republicans hesitantly rallied behind President Bush soon after 9/11 and voted NCLB into law. But after five years of implementation, with dwindling public support for the law and the President’s popularity down to a near 30% approval rating, the conservative Republican support is vanishing. More importantly, Republicans are beginning to collaborate with liberal Democratic groups that also want to prune the expanded federal role to its pre-NCLB days, such as the National Education Association and their allies. The consequence is that liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans are merging to isolate the law’s core supporters that include Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the Chairmen of the House and Senate education committees.

What does this mean for the 2007 reauthorization? It means that this is not an ideal political environment for Miller and Kennedy to force a vote on the law’s core accountability provisions, if in fact they are serious about preserving those provisions and if they are able to draft bills by the end of the year. This would throw NCLB into the fire of the 2008 Presidential election and onto the desk of the next President in 2009. As Representative Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), the ranking member on the House Education and Labor Committee said, "It was a struggle getting it passed last time. It'll be even more of a struggle this time.”

Resources:
Andrew Rotherham, “How Bush Stole Education,” Blueprint Magazine, March 25, 2002, http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=250319&kaid=110&subid=900023
Jonathan Weisman and Amit R. Paley, “Dozens in GOP Turn Against Bush's Prized 'No Child' Act,’ Washington Post, 3/15/2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031402741.html
Author: DAD