This letter to the editor by the Secretary's Regional Representative Wright appeared in the Oakland (CA) Tribune on February 12, 2007.

In the world of the author of the Feb. 5 My Word, "No Child Left Behind backs Oakland schools against wall," expecting schools to teach our children to read and do math at grade level or better is a fantasy and an ultimatum.

I would call it the very purpose of a public education. And I believe many parents would agree.

The author is correct, however, in that the No Child Left Behind Act has had "an enormous impact on Oakland" and the entire country. Our nation is focused as never before on improving the academic achievement of students who have been historically overlooked.

Consider that, for the first time, all states now have accountability plans in place to ensure that students are on track to reach grade level or better by 2014. Or that, under NCLB, schools must disaggregate student performance data so parents, teachers and the public know whether schools are doing their job of educating minority and disadvantaged students. Before the law's passage, just a handful of states disaggregated data.

Test results demonstrate that NCLB is working. The recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, or Nation's Report Card, showed all-time highs in math and reading achievement among fourth-graders.

NAEP also found that achievement gaps between Hispanic and African-American students and their white peers have fallen to all-time lows in several categories. More reading progress was made by 9-year-olds in five years (1999-2004) than in the previous 28 years combined.

This is the impact of NCLB. It's a positive one. And it's benefiting Oakland's families.

Christopher Wright
Secretary's Regional Representative, Region IX
San Francisco, CA