HM 893

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to reevaluate the requirements of the No Child
4	Left Behind Act and to fund the levels authorized in the
5	act.
6
7	WHEREAS, Florida led the nation in school reform when, in
8	1990, the Legislature passed what was popularly known as
9	"Blueprint 2000," a system of school reform and accountability,
10	and
11	WHEREAS, Blueprint 2000 called for the establishment of
12	goals for K-12 education, high standards of achievement,
13	development of a curriculum based on the standards, and an
14	assessment system to ensure student learning progress and school
15	accountability, and
16	WHEREAS, Florida has witnessed tremendous educational gains
17	among its students as a result of the efforts of its students,
18	teachers, parents, schools, and communities as an outcome of the
19	implementation of the school reform and accountability system,
20	and
21	WHEREAS, in 2001, the Congress of the United States enacted
22	and President Bush later signed into law the "No Child Left
23	Behind Act," an act designed to ensure accountability of
24	America's schools for the academic success of our students,
25	especially those from minority groups, those with disabilities,
26	and those with limited English proficiency, and
27	WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act represents one of the
28	most sweeping federal intrusions into state and local control of
29	education and disregards the time-honored American principle of
30	balanced federalism and respect for state and local
31	prerogatives, especially in education, and
32	WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act mandates that all
33	schools attain adequate yearly progress toward the goal of 100
34	percent student proficiency in reading, math, language arts, and
35	science by the 2013-2014 school year, and
36	WHEREAS, most of the schools deemed as performing well
37	under Florida's system were determined to be deficient under the
38	No Child Left Behind Act, and
39	WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act has been determined
40	to be a tremendous unfunded mandate during a time of economic
41	challenges in the state and funding cutbacks in public education
42	budgets, NOW, THEREFORE,
43
44	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
45
46	That the Congress of the United States is requested to hold
47	harmless those states that, as a result of their own educational
48	accountability systems, meet or exceed the requirements of the
49	No Child Left Behind Act.
50	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if a state is not held
51	harmless, the Congress of the United States is requested to
52	provide federal funding in amounts consistent with the levels
53	authorized in the No Child Left Behind Act for education
54	programs and expanded information systems needed to accurately
55	reflect student, school, and school district performance and
56	professional development training necessary for teachers.
57	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
58	States is requested to authorize appropriate methods of
59	assessment for students who are not proficient in English and
60	students with disabilities.
61	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
62	States is requested to allow an alternative methodology for
63	determining adequate yearly progress targets and progress of
64	students who are not proficient in English and students with
65	disabilities.
66	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
67	States is requested to allow flexibility in calculating adequate
68	yearly progress for students belonging to multiple groups and
69	subgroups.
70	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
71	States is requested to recognize, through law and revisions
72	thereto, that our federal system of government education is
73	primarily a state and local responsibility.
74	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
75	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
76	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
77	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
78	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.