Highlights NCLB story - Bethlehem CSD, Delmar, NY

In January 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which took effect on September 1. This sweeping piece of legislation is designed to ensure that schools provide parents with more accountability, choice and information and signals an increase in the federal government's role in dictating how education is delivered at the local level.
NCLB is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which determines how federal education dollars are distributed to states and then to local school districts. Its passage has sent schools and state education departments scrambling to meet its mandates.

School choice

One of the key provisions of NCLB requires school districts to give parents of children attending a school designated as "in need of improvement" the option to send their children to a better one in the same district. None of Bethlehem's schools have received this designation.

"Highly qualified" teachers

Another provision of NCLB requires schools to hire only "highly qualified" teachers beginning this school year for schools receiving Title I funds and in all schools by 2005-06. The definition of "highly qualified" centers around teacher certification.

The law allows parents to request information regarding the professional qualifications of their children's teachers and requires schools to notify parents if their children are being taught by an uncertified teacher for an extended period of time.

In general, Bethlehem hires only certified teachers, but there have been instances when the district's best recruitment efforts have failed to identify a certified teacher for a vacant position. In those cases, the district has hired a qualified uncertified person for the duration of the school year, in compliance with State Education Department regulations.

Notice to the military

Under NCLB, high schools are now required to provide information about senior students to the military, including name and address. Parents have the right to "opt out" of this policy by putting their request in writing.

BC High School sent a letter home in August letting parents know about this provision of the law. For more information contact the High School at 439-4921.

More testing on the way

By 2005, the law also requires all students to be tested in English and math each year in grades 3 through 8. Currently, New York State only provides required tests in these subjects in grades 4 and 8, but the state is now responsible for developing and implementing tests in the other grades.

Since Bethlehem already administers the Terra Nova assessment to students in grades 3, 5, 6 and 7, students and parents are already accustomed to accountability in these grades; but what the state's tests for those grades will look like remains to be seen.

--This article was originally published in the December 2002 issue of the district's Highlights newsletter.