More Resources  letter (June 14, 2002)  letter (June 6, 2002)

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today called on America's school leaders to move quickly in planning how to implement the public school choice, supplemental education services and collective bargaining provisions under the landmark No Child Left Behind Act.

In a Dear Colleague letter to school superintendents and state education chiefs, Paige announced preliminary guidance on how those three aspects of the law will be treated.

"Once again, because the law requires implementation of these programs to begin this coming school year, I want to reiterate that your planning processes for this should be underway," Paige said in his letter.

He noted that the statute will "substantially affect the 2002-2003 school year" and said his guidance was intended "to give initial direction" to school officials as they proceed this summer to carry out the measure.

In the coming months the department will be issuing formal guidance and regulations concerning the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. A public comment period will be provided, and the department encourages all interested parties to submit their opinions.

Among the areas covered in the letter:

-- Public School Choice. "The new choice requirements must be implemented beginning this fall," Paige said. In general, for any Title I elementary or secondary school identified for school improvement, the school district must provide all students enrolled in the school with the option to transfer to another public school in the district. "As you continue your planning, I strongly encourage you to provide several choice options for parents," the secretary said. "Parents should be provided a reasonable amount of time to consider their options, be given concise but detailed information on the performance and overall quality of the receiving schools, and be provided an opportunity to visit potential schools of choice." He said school districts should begin planning now, if they have not already, to make choice available for students in any school that was in school improvement status as of Jan. 7, 2002. If a student exercises the option to transfer to another public school, the school district has certain obligations to provide or pay for with federal funds the student's transportation to the new school. Schools will have flexibility in the use of their federal funds to pay for transportation costs.

-- Supplemental Education Services. For Title I schools in the second year of school improvement, the district must arrange for the provision of supplemental education services for eligible students enrolled in the schools, such as private tutoring, after-school services, and summer school programs. Parents must be notified about the availability of supplemental services. And, states must provide a list of organizations that are on a roster of "preferred providers" and their record of success. Service providers can include public schools, faith-based operations, distance learning services, for-profit and non-profit concerns.

-- Collective Bargaining Agreements. The act "does not operate to invalidate employee protections that exist under current law and collective bargaining and similar labor agreements. However, it does not exempt state education agencies, local education agencies and schools from compliance with Title I based on prospective collective bargaining or similar agreement or prospective collective bargaining or similar agreements or changes in state or local law."

For more details on the No Child Left Behind Act, visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=pb. A new page for parents describing supplemental services is displayed at http://www.nclb.gov/parents/supplementalservices/index.html..

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