Secretary of Education Rod Paige released the following statement with regard to the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights report Choosing Better Schools: A Report on Student Transfers Under the No Child Left Behind Act:

"I would like to commend the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights for putting together this important report on the school choice provisions under No Child Left Behind.

"The authors of the Choosing Better Schools report clearly understand the importance of giving parents options to improve their child's education and how added options will strengthen the school system as a whole. As they state, 'Choice will provide an added incentive for school districts either to upgrade the offerings at schools that persistently perform poorly or to close them and allow better public schools to grow and flourish.'

"The commission found that public school choice is working well in a significant number of school districts and is being used much more widely than previously reported. The authors also found that it does indeed have educational and other benefits for students. They reported that No Child Left Behind is allowing many parents to vote with their feet and choose higher-performing schools for their children.

"Interestingly, as we look back on the Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools 50 years ago, the choice provisions of No Child Left Behind have resulted in desegregation by race/ethnicity or income in some places as well. The Brown decision gave all children access to the schoolhouse; No Child Left Behind is the next logical step because it focuses on achievement and empowering parents with information so they can choose the best school for their child. The choice provisions of the law are an important tool for parents because they allow them to evaluate the local school and to choose a different option if the school is not serving their child. No child should be chained to a particular school just because of happenstance of street address.

"We recognize that there have been a number of issues regarding implementation of the school transfer provision, as the report noted. We have been working diligently with state education agencies to suggest ways to remedy these issues. Districts must think creatively about ways to solve these issues because they are fixable. They must be fixed -- the future of so many children depends upon it. The report also makes several recommendations that we plan to study."

###

Top

Back to May 2004