Preserving the Federal Role in Safeguarding Education

WHEREAS, the NAACP has been a strong supporter of efforts to ensure that all children receive a high quality education; and

WHEREAS, the Congress is in the process of discussing the main civil rights law that governs education, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and

WHEREAS, several proposals under consideration would remove federal rules for all but the lowest performing schools as defined by average test scores; and

WHEREAS, before the most recent revision of the ESEA, the achievement of children of color and disadvantaged students was obscured when the federal government only required that schools be evaluated based on average test scores; and

WHEREAS, the proposed revisions would take us back to a state where the achievement of children of color in most schools would be hidden in averages; and

WHEREAS, under the proposed revisions, most schools would not be held federally accountable for closing achievement gaps.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP will work aggressively to maintain the federal role in education monitoring, incentive-setting and enforcement, encouraging the federal government to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure that all students receive a high quality education; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP will work aggressively to ensure that every school is held accountable by state and federal laws and rules for delivering to each student a high quality education.