It’s important to remember that state and local governments exercise primary control over education – building schools, hiring teachers, deciding curriculum, and setting standards for students to meet. As a result, state and local governments contribute the bulk of education funding, an estimated 83 cents of every dollar spent, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Even after significant increases in federal funding in recent years, the federal government’s share amounts to just over eight percent, with private sources contributing the remainder.
State and local control means that most decisions about education can be made by those closest to the students, and that’s in our children’s best interests. Most decisions should continue to be made locally by those who know children best and who are most accessible and accountable to parents, rather than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
Nevertheless, the federal government can still play an important, though supplementary, role in education. Responding to public sentiment, Congress has approved significant increases in funding for education. This year alone, funding will total $62.3 billion, up nearly 48 percent from the $42.2 billion spent on education in 2001. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), which was enacted in 2002, authorized these increases.
Congress passed the NCLBA to foster change in the nation’s school system so that all children are taught to succeed. The 2002 law requires that student progress be measured during the critical years of learning so that children do not fall behind. It establishes real consequences for schools that persistently fail to make progress in teaching all students, and it ensures that state and local education leaders have the administrative flexibility they need to make improvements.
Recent studies have shown that the NCLBA is working. Nationwide, students demonstrate improvement across-the-board in fourth and eighth grade reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with minority students posting all-time highs in a number of categories. According to the most recent information available from the Department of Education, Arizona’s students have also shown great improvement in their test scores thanks to the NCLBA. Some of the achievements include:
- a 14-percentage point improvement in third-grade mathematics proficiency;
- a seven-percentage point narrowing of the Hispanic-white achievement gap in third-grade reading;
- an 11-percentage point narrowing of the Hispanic-white achievement gap in third-grade mathematics;
- a three-percentage point narrowing of the American Indian-white achievement gap in third-grade reading;
- and a 12-percentage point narrowing of the American Indian-white achievement gap in third-grade mathematics.
While the NCBLA has helped improve the quality of education, we still can build on the law’s success. One of the most important changes we can make is to give parents with children at underperforming schools the choice to transfer them to schools with a proven record of academic excellence. My hope is that all students will have the opportunity to thrive in schools that challenge students to their fullest potential.
Acting on a bipartisan basis, the Senate recently approved a range of bills of interest to our nation’s students, teachers, and parents, among them:
- The College Cost Reduction Act. This legislation, which I supported, represents a landmark overhaul to the federal student aid program that will help make college more affordable for students. It increases the maximum Pell grant from the current level of $4,310 to $5,400 per student by 2012; reduces Stafford loan interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent; and caps loan repayments at 15 percent of discretionary income.
- Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. This bill, which cleared Congress with my support, reauthorized the Head Start program, the nation’s primary child-development program for low-income preschoolers. The President signed this bill into law on December 12, 2007.
- Teacher Tax Relief. Legislation I supported established a tax deduction that allows teachers to deduct the costs of classroom materials paid for out of their own pockets. The deduction was enacted in 2002 and extended in 2004. Although it expired at the end of 2007, Congress is expected to retroactively extend it when it acts on other tax legislation this year. I believe the deduction should be made permanent.
- The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008. This legislation was designed to ensure that college students would have sufficient financial aid options for the upcoming school year by increasing the annual and aggregate borrowing limits for total Stafford Loans for dependent undergraduate students, independent undergraduate students, and dependent undergraduate students whose parents are unable to obtain a PLUS Loan. Additionally, the bill lists extenuating circumstances under which eligible lenders may extend PLUS loans to individuals with adverse credit histories. The Senate unanimously passed the bill and the President signed it into law on May 7, 2008.
- Empowering Parents Through Choice Act. I am a co-sponsor of this bill which would give parents the opportunity to transfer their children from chronically underperforming schools to another school of their choice. This legislation has not yet come before the Senate for a vote.
- A PLUS Act. This bill, which I cosponsored, would increase local control by parents and teachers by allowing states to opt out of certain requirements of the NLCBA, without sacrificing the most important, objective: setting tough accountability that produces results for students. This legislation is also awaiting Senate action.