Gov. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, testified today before the House Committee on Education and Labor at a hearing on “Miller-McKeon Discussion Draft of the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.”

Gov. Wise discussed the critical need to expand the law, currently known at the No Child Left Behind Act, to ensure that all students, especially the six million most at risk of dropping out, receive the support they need to stay in and finish high school.

“I admit that as Governor, I seriously considered suing to enjoin the law,” Gov. Wise testified.  “I didn’t end up doing so, and over time, I have learned that it would have been a mistake to resist a law that despite all its flaws, was intended to put a spotlight on the startling achievement gaps and provide all children, including poor and minority children, with access to a high-quality education.”

He continued, “We are pleased that this draft has built off the work of best practice, research, and some of the bills already introduced by Members of this Committee, to take a huge step forward for high school reform at the federal level.”

The Governor applauded the Committee for including in the draft a statement that college and work readiness is the goal to which standards and assessments should be aligned.  Other elements of the draft praised by Gov. Wise included the creation of a clear definition of a common graduation rate; the requirement for meaningful increases in those graduation rates; and the recognition that high school improvement is not a “one size fits all” process.  He was also pleased by the emphasis, which appears throughout the draft, of the need to use data to inform decisionmaking and the draft’s support for building and using statewide longitudinal data systems.

Gov. Wise made recommendations for additional ways to improve NCLB to benefit high schools and their students, including:

• Strengthen the process for improving schools to reflect what is known about successful high school turnaround

• Include the full authorization of $2.5 billion in the Graduation Promise Fund, the draft legislation’s new funding stream for high school improvement

• Strengthen incentives for states that choose to work together to establish and adopt common standards and high quality assessments aligned to the skills and knowledge needed for success after high school graduation

• Use funds set aside for supplemental education services at the high school level for effective dropout prevention and recovery programs

The Governor concluded, “This draft is a promising first step toward a reauthorization that has the opportunity to leverage powerful and necessary change in our nation’s high schools.  I look forward to working with the Committee to ensure that this reauthorization helps to move us all from ‘no child left behind’ to ‘every child a graduate.’”

Watch the full webcast of the House Committee on Education and Labor hearing.

Gov. Wise’s full prepared testimony is available at: http://www.all4ed.org/files/Wise_HouseEdLabor091007.pdf

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The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington-based policy, research, and advocacy organization that works to make every child a graduate, prepared for postsecondary education and success in life.

For more information about the Alliance for Excellent Education, please visit: www.all4ed.org.