This letter to the editor by the Deputy Secretary Simon appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News on March 1, 2007.

The late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to say that "everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." And the facts simply contradict Jeanne McCarthy's recent op-ed on the No Child Left Behind Act ("Leaving Behind Our Urban Students," Feb. 15).

Her claim that there is "no research" linking higher test scores to success in life is flat wrong. High school students who take advanced math and science courses have higher test scores on average, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Nation's Report Card.

Research also tells us that students who struggle with reading in later grades are more likely to drop out of school, making the "million-dollar mistake"—the difference in lifetime earnings between the average high school dropout and bachelor's degree recipient.

The best way to tell whether children are succeeding or struggling is through assessments. No Child Left Behind calls for all students to be assessed in grades 3-8, and again in high school. This allows teachers and parents to address problem areas before it's too late.

Through testing, we've learned that students in urban school districts are surging ahead, not falling behind. According to the Nation's Report Card, 4th-graders in urban school districts have made greater academic progress than the national average.

Philadelphia's students have shown four straight years of academic growth, according to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, with math scores up 22 percentage points and reading 14 points from 2002 to 2006.

"Our students absolutely have the ability to deliver when we expect more of them," said the city's School Reform Commission chairman, James E. Nevels.

Such results are neither boring nor meaningless, as Ms. McCarthy contends. They are exciting and bode well for our future. The fact is, dismantling the No Child Left Behind Act would jeopardize this progress.

Raymond Simon
Deputy Secretary of Education