In Anticipation of Obstacles for NCLB
Presented by the “Bush” Team:
Jennifer Brodar, Stephanie Fakharzadeh, Sol Bee Jung,
Kerry O'Grady, and Chris Wrightson
From the Oval Office
 A blueprint of the bill was sent to congress - not a draft bill
 After inauguration, only 1 weekend before submitted to
Congress
 Wanted a bipartisan bill & knew any language from
administration could be divisive
 Great political move
 Onus on the legislators
 If it failed, could blame the Democrats
 Administration above the fray, not bogged down in
details
 Wanted annual testing & early childhood literacy
 Vouchers and how tests were used not important
Senate
 Jim Jeffords (R): HELP Committee Chair
 Previously produced a bill that was too far left for Bush
 Administration feared he would ally with Kennedy (D) &
produce a bill with Clinton-era priorities
 Administration intentionally alienated both Jeffords and
Kennedy, dealing with New Democrats
 Result: New Democrats insisted on Kennedy being
brought into the fold
 Ended with a bipartisan bill with a Dem heavyweight
Governors
 Pressuring White House to weaken the AYP language
 Concerns of individual subgroups
 Too many schools would be identified as failing
 Expensive & politically embarrassing
 Jeffords’ staff director ran a series of analyses which
indicated vast majority of schools a variety of states
would be labeled as failures
 Result: Kress rewrote the AYP formula “Rube
Goldbergesque”
 Debated on the Senate floor for 7 weeks
 House takes the lead in move the legislation
House of Representatives
 John Boehner – chairman of the Education and
Workforce Committee
 Created new subcommittee for Ed Reform – but separate
group for this bill
 Introduced bill with annual testing, Straight A’s block
grants, vouchers, and aid to faith-based organizations,
no mention of NAEP
 Result: End bill leaned democrat – Boehner distributed a
fact sheet titled “H.R. 1 – What’s In It for Conservatives?”
 Ultimate vote was lopsided 384-45 with GOP making up ¾ of
no’s
The Real Work Begins
 Unrest in both chambers
 Jeffords switch caucuses, tipping the balance of power
in the Senate
 September 11th
 “The Big Four”
 Boehner, Miller, Kennedy, & Gregg
 Bill passes:
 December 13 – House 381-41
 December 18 – Senate 87-10
Photo from USA Today
Reasons for Success
 Alliance between New Democrats and Republicans
 The election of a new President meant the republican
legislators wanted the president to succeed after the
Bush v. Gore ruling
 Unorthodox organizational structure of the process of
NCLB
 New language of accountability, which brought GOP to
the table
References
Goldhaber, Dan D. “School Choice: An Examination of the Empirical
Evidence on Achievement, Parental Decision Making, and Equity.”
Educational Researcher 28, no. 9 (December 1, 1999): 16–25.
doi:10.3102/0013189X028009016.
Hamilton, L., Stecher, B., & Yuan, K. (2008). Standards-Based Reform in
the United States: History, Research, and Future Directions.
Rotherham, A., & Insitute, P. P. (1999). Toward performance-based
federal education funding. Policy Report.
Rudalevige, A. (2002). Accountability and Avoidance in the Bush
Education Plan: The "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.“ Retrieved
from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED468543.pdf
Stanford University. (2000). History of standards based reform. Retrieved
from
http://web.stanford.edu/~hakuta/www/archives/syllabi/CalTex_SBR/
historysbr.html
Thank you!