SF 28

1st Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A resolution
memorializing Congress to offer greater flexibility to states and fully fund the No
Child Left Behind Act as part of its reauthorization.

WHEREAS, in 2002, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was enacted on a bipartisan
basis, which has as its purpose bringing academic achievement in language arts, mathematics, and
science to students who are not presently achieving at acceptable levels; and

WHEREAS, NCLB is scheduled to be reauthorized in 2007; and

WHEREAS, NCLB may violate the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,
which restricts the power of the federal government to those so delegated by the United States
Constitution and reserves powers not delegated to the federal government, such as education, to
the states and the people; and

WHEREAS, NCLB represents a federal intrusion into state and local control of education,
which violates time-honored American principles of balanced federalism and respect for state
and local prerogatives; and

WHEREAS, NCLB is an unfunded mandate causing states and school districts to spend
more money to implement NCLB than what Congress appropriates; and

WHEREAS, Congress is considering performance bonuses for schools that are closing
the achievement gap; and

WHEREAS, NCLB will, according to the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor,
cause between 80 percent and 100 percent of Minnesota elementary schools to fail to meet
adequate yearly progress requirements by 2014, states should be given flexibility to determine
which schools failed to make adequate yearly progress and which schools are in need of
improvement; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges Congress to
amend the No Child Left Behind Act before reauthorizing it in its current form, and that states
such as Minnesota be allowed to continue to work toward the goal of closing the achievement gap
without the coercion of losing federal funds.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
Congress of the United States to refrain from expanding NCLB to our nation's high schools at
this time.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges
Congress to reconsider its expectations placed on states to reach 100 percent proficiency as
measured by adequate yearly progress.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
Congress of the United States to appropriate and allocate the sufficient amount of money to fully
fund the mandates included in the No Child Left Behind Act as part of its reauthorization.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and the Secretary of
the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives,
and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress so that they may be apprised of the
sense of the Minnesota Legislature in this matter.