>> one of the issues that does concern me is our national defense. i have washed us around the world i challenge some people.

is there any country in the world that we have a stronger relationship with today than we had six years ago? i said that, too. but i was corrected. somebody said iran. somebody else said to cuba. it's about that. a while back i was in egypt and they told me 98% of the threats that all the relation together with egypt have been suffered by the foreign policy of this president. there are good people that we can work with. there are moderate muslims. general sisi made the strongest statement from the muslim world i've ever heard and he's a man we can work with and we need to do so and that's a piece of what we need to do to put america back into safety and security. i will challenge the folks that speaker today and those that aspire to the oval office, lay out a plan force. lay out the plan to defeat radical islamic jihad. [applause]

lay out their plans so it isn't some kind of a struggle that we're going to go on for the next 100 years. lay out the plan that defeats them within the next four to eight years and defeat them for the next 100 years. it can be done. [applause] i'm going to hold my plan back on the that to see with it is a but i do have a plan. i have another plan to move a balanced budget, get our spending back in line. [applause] perhaps it could be a plank in the next platform for the next president of the trendy. here's another one. abolish the irs. [applause] there is -- right now the federal government, uncle sam as the first lien on all productivity in america. we in america. reconfig building off of all productivity in america and for

everybody up to earn save and invest. we have the policy to do that. this is the election to lay the foundation. and then as i look at this ronald reagan laid this out for us. he described a shining city on the hill. it was strong and it had pillars that went down into the granite. it never was a destination that we could arrive, bring or something to that shining city wash our hands and put our feet up. it all -- always was a struggle to continue down. ronald reagan, ascending destiny for america be determined by who emerges as president of the united states and how the culture here in iowa new hampshire, south carolina and across this great country how we support the blanks, policies and the presidential candidate that we nominate. the destiny of america is in our hands. let's get to work and do this

together. [applause] and i will ask you to do what i do. that's daily basis i'd ask you to ask god to do this to identify that individual whom he will use to restore the soul of america. [applause] now, if -- will you stand with me on that? will you -- let's stand together. we will stand together and we are going, we're going to ask god adequate to inject this prayer right now. our gracious and merciful heavenly father you've watched this nation struggle, you've lifted us to greatness, you've watched the suffering of the blood and treasure that's been spilled to defend this god-given liberty, and i pray that out of

this process you will identify and lift up the individual whom you will use to restore the soul of this great country. thank you lord. god bless america. [applause] >> u.s. trade representative michael froman will testify about president obama's 2015 trade policy agenda. is expected to take questions about e*trade built that would allow the white house to put trade deals before congress for simple up or down votes without amendments. that hearing is live at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span. on c-span3, the house elected benghazi committee holds an opinion on the 2012 consulate attacked in libya i killed four americans are putting us ambassador christopher stevens. live coverage at 10:30 a.m.

eastern. >> a senate panel looks at the no child left behind act which was signed into law by president george w. bush in 2002. we'll hear from education officials around the country. chairman lamar alexander outlines this legislative proposals for changing the law at the senate education committee hearing. [inaudible] >> i'm the chairman and patty reminded she's a teacher so we'll start on time. so welcome. the senate committee on health education, labor and pensions will please come to order. this morning we will have a hearing on fixing no child left behind testing and accountability. there's a lot of interest in this hearing. we've heard from people around the country ever since last week when we put a draft working

paper up on the website. we have a lot of people in the hall. i would say to those in the hall who are not able to get in the room, we have an overflow room room 538, so you will be able to listen to all of the proceedings. so if someone would let those outside know that ben will have a chance to the witness testimony of the questions. we welcomed them and everyone who is here. ranking member murray and i will each have an opening statement and then we'll introduce our panel of witnesses, then we'll have a round of questions. we'll ask our witnesses to list two summers their testimony please in five minutes each because the senators will have lots of questions. i'll call on the senators in order of seniority. at the time i got went down and who are here, and then after that they will go on the order of first come, first serve. we will conclude the hearing at noon, or before if we get

through earlier. and in my opening remarks will take a little longer than normal since this is the first meeting of the committee in this congress. but i will promise my colleagues i will make a habit of that and i will keep my questions the same five minutes that everyone else has. first some preliminary remarks about the committee itself to this committee touches almost every american. no committee is more ideologically diverse, and none is more productive than this committee. the last congress, 25 bills came to this committee were signed by the president and became law some very important. that's because chairman harkin and i worked to find areas of agreement. i look forward to working in the scene with senator murray. she is direct very well respected by our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. she cares about people. she's a member of the democratic leadership, she's result

oriented so look forward to that working relationship. we are going to have an open process which means from every senator regardless of their party affiliation love a chance to participate, full opportunity for discussion an amendment, not just in committee but on the floor. when our bills in the last two congress never got brought up on the floor but the sheer we want a result and that means go to the floor, further amendments, further discussion. that means 60 votes to get off the floor so it will be a bipartisan bill. if it goes to conference. we know the president will be involved. we want his signature on our bills, so all the way through we will do our best to have input from everyone so we can get a result. now the schedule. the schedule of the committee generally will start with unfinished business. first fixing no child left behind. this is way overdue. it expired more than seven years ago. we posted a working draft last week on the website. we are getting a lot of

feedback. our staffs are meeting exchanging ideas. we will have more weeks of hearings and meetings, but we've been working on this six years. we've had 24 hearings over the last three congresses on k-12 or fixing no child left behind, and almost all the members of the committee fisher were members last year. so we hope to finish our work by the end of february and have it on the floor. i would say to my colleagues it's important to do that so we can get floor time but it will take a couple of weeks. no child left behind took six or seven weeks when was passed in 2001 and we would like to have a full opportunity for debate an amendment. second reauthorizing higher education. we've done a lot of work on that in the last congress. this is for me about deregulating higher education making rules support and more effective, for example, student aid flowed forms so more students can go to college. we can finish the work that we

start in 2013 on student loans. we can look at accreditation and look at the regulation. the task force senator mikulski and others have formed on the regulation will be the subject of are here on february 24. as rapidly and as responsibly as we can want to repair the damage of obamacare and provide more americans with health insurance that fits their budgets. on this issue we don't agree. on party lines but our first hearing is on a bipartisan bill the 30, 40 hour work week. senator collins, senator murkowski, senator manchin have offered. we will have a hearing tomorrow and report findings to the finance committee. and some new business. let's call it 21st century cheers. that's what do house calls it as it finishes its work this spring on that issue. the president talked about it last i. is also interested. i've talked to him about it. he is interested in all three of

thethese subjects we talked about fixing no child left behind, finishing our work on higher education, and 21st century cheers. i like the because i'd like to find those areas of agreement and we hope we can have a legislative proposal that he would be glad to sign. what we are talking but he is getting more medicine, devices and treatments through the food and drug administration more rapidly to help millions of americans. now, there will be more on labor, pensions, education and health. these are major priorities, and that's how we will store. one other thing the president has made major proposal on community colleges and on early child the ditch nation. these are certainly related to elementaries second education but we've always handled them simply. we can deal with it as with higher education. we'll have to talk about how we deal with early childhood education because to do that any kind of confidence of one involves getting into head start

and it to the childcare develop block grants that we do with in the last congress. now to today's hearing. and i said so more of my colleagues are here today. i said i would not be as long in my opening statement in future meetings, but this is the first one to last week secretary duncan called for the laws to be fixed, no child left behind. almost everyone now seems to agree with him. it's more than seven years overdue. we've been working on at more than secured. when we started working on it we did this, republicans and democrats, secretary duncan, six years ago. former represented george miller said, let's identify the problems let's pass a lean build and fix no child left behind. since then with the 24 hearings on k-12 or fixing no child left behind in each of the last two congress as we reported bills out of the committee.

i would say to my colleagues that congress before last, it was mainly what one might call a democratic bill that i senator in the, senator kirk all voted for so we could get it to floor and continued to amend it. 22 of us 20 of the 22 of us on this committee were members in the last congress and we reported a bill. 16 of the 22 of us were members of this committee were in the previous congress when we report the bill so we ought to know the issues pretty well. one recent no child left behind needs to be fixed is it has become unworkable. under its original provisions almost all of america's 100,000 public schools would be labeled a failing school. to avoid this unintended result, the u.s. education secretary is granted waivers from the law's provisions to 43 states including washington which has since had its way for we vote as well as the district of columbia and puerto rico. this has greeted a second

unintended result at least unattended by congress which is stated in law that no federal official should quote exercise any direction, supervision or control over curriculum program, instruction orchestration of any educational program. that's the law today. in exchange for the waivers the secretary has told states with academic standard should be how states should rather progress of students toward those standards, what constitutes failure for schools, and what the consequences of failure are, and how to fix local for missiles and how to evaluate teachers. the department has in effect become a national school board, or as one teacher told me it has become a national human resources department for 100,000 public schools. at the center of the debate about how to fix no child left behind is what to do about the federal requirement that states each year administered 17th standardized test with high-sticking consequences educators call this an

accountability system. are there too many tests? are they the right test? are the stakes for failing them to high? what should washington, d.c. have to do with all of this? many states in school this is what our schools to administer additional test. this is called a hearing for a reason. i have come to listen. our working draft includes two options on test, option one gives flexibility states to decide what to do about testing. option number two maintains current law regarding testing. both options would continue to require annual reporting a student achievement disaggregated by subgroups of children. washington sometimes forgets by governors never do that the federal government has limit involvement in elementary and secondary education in shaping 10% of the bill. but for 30 years the real action has been in the states. i've seen this firsthand.

if you will forgive me for pointing it out, i was governor in 1983 when president reagan's education secretary issued a nation at risk, saying quote of an unfriendly foreign power has tended to impose on america the mediocre educational performance that exist today we might as well have viewed it as an act of war. in the next year tennessee after long battle with the national education association became the first state to pay teachers more for teaching well. than the next two years, 85 and 86 every governor spent the entire you're focusing on education. first time that ever happened in the national guard association. i was chairman of the been. bill clinton was the vice-chairman. and 89 the first president bush convened a meeting of governors in charlottesville and established ballinger national education goals. n91 president bush announced america 2000, to move the nation allegedly towards those goals state-by-state, community by community. i was the education secretary

them. says that states have worked together voluntarily to develop academic standards kelo does, create their own accountable systems, find fairways to evaluate future performance, and then adopted those that fit their states. i know members of this committee must be tired of me talking until i am blue in the face about a national school board. i know that it is tempting to try to fix classrooms from washington. i also hear from governors and school superintendents who say this, if washington doesn't make us do it the teachers union and opponents from the right will make it impossible for us to have higher standards and better teachers. and i understand there can be short-term gains from washington's order, but my experience long-term success can't come that way. in fact, washington's involvement in effect mandating common core and certain types of teacher evaluation is creating a

backlash, making it harder for states to set higher standards and evaluate teachers. as one former democratic governor told me recently, we were doing pretty well into washington got involved and if you will get out of the way we will get back on track to do rather than turn blue in the face one more time in front of my colleagues, let me conclude with the remarks of her breast, new york's high school principal of the year. she responded last week to our committee draft in the following way, and a quarter. i ask the church committee remember that the american public school system was built on the belief that local committees cherish their children and have the right and responsibility within sensible limits to determine how they are schooled. while the federal government has a very special role ensuring that our students do not experience discrimination, based on who they are or what their disability might be congress is not a national school board.

although our locally elected school boards may not be perfect, they represent one of the purest forms of democracy that we have. bad ideas in the small to damage in the small and are easily corrected. bad ideas at the federal level result in massive failure and are harder to fix. this is carol burris, new york's high school principal of the year. she concludes with this please understand that i do not dismiss the need to hold schools accountable. the use into segregation of data has been an important tool that i used regularly as a principal to improve my own school. however, the unintended negative consequences that have arisen from mandated annual testing and its high state uses that proven testing not only to be an ineffective tool but a constructive one as well. senator murray. >> thank you very much, chairman alexander, for holding this hearing today. i especially want to thank all of our witnesses who are here

with us. this is my first committee many as ranking member of the help committee so want to start by acknowledging our former chair, senator tom harkin and commend his many years of service on this committee that really is a committee that touches every american life. he was a tireless advocate for those without a voice, and he is going to be missed as we all know. i also want to acknowledge and congratulate our new chairman, senator alexander. i look forward to working with you as well. we've had a number of conversations and that we both adjust to our new roles i think we do have one belief. we mentioned every time we talk and that is we think working together this committee can really get some exciting work done in the coming to years. and talking to colleagues on this dais i'm very excited about what we can all do together in the coming weeks and months. i am ready to get to work a special on an issue as important as the topic of this committee

hearing, education. in fact, this is the issue to come into politics in the very first place, and throughout my career first as a preschool teacher and then on a school board in my own state senate in washington, and here in the kind of the senate. i have to making sure that every child has someone fighting for them and their future. serving on this committee am looking forward to making college more affordable and reducing the overwhelming burden of student loans expanding access to early learning, making sure the voices of students and parents are heard in the policymaking process. and, of course, in the coming weeks and months i'll be especially focused on working to fix the broken no child left behind law. that is of course what we're talking about today. nearly everyone agrees that we need to fix no child left behind. the law set unrealistic goals for schools across the country and then failed to give them the resources they needed to succeed. but we can't turn our back in

the process of measuring student progress or simply let schools and states off the hook for failing to provide a quality education to all other students especially because we have seen some successes since 2001 when congress enacted no child left behind. our graduation rates have increased by 10 points among students with disabilities regular diploma graduation rates have increased by more than 12% and dropout rates have decreased by more than 17%. and achievement gaps have declined among african-american and latino students pick so the federal government does have an important role and a productive role to play to make sure assessment and accountability work for our kids. assessments also help parents and communities hold schools accountable. if a school is failing students year after year, parents and communities deserve to have that information and be assured the

school will get the resources it needs to improve. i know there are a number of parents in the audience today and out in the hall who will would agree with that. when it comes our nation's largest federal investment in k-12 education it would be irresponsible to spend billions in federal taxpayer dollars without knowing if the laws making a difference in student lives. many of my colleagues demand evidence and accountability and other federal programs and i hope they agree win it with education as well. for those reasons i would be very concerned about any attempt to eliminate annual statewide assessments, just as i would be very concerned about any attempt to roll back accountability to make sure we're delivering on our promise of a quality public education for all. 13 years after congress passed this law we should use the research and the best practices and the lessons we've learned to fix no child left behind.

i have heard from so many parents and teachers as well as committee members in my home state of washington about the ways the current system doesn't work when it comes to testing. we can and should encourage states and districts to reduce redundant and low quality tests. and because whatever national interest in making sure all students get an excellent education, we do need federal oversight to make sure the system is working for every child. that means offering the resources for improving professional development and for expanding access to high quality learning opportunities to help areour struggling schools so we don't consign some kids to subpar education. while they consider changes to assessments and accountability to give states and districts the flexibility they do need we can't forget our obligations to the kids who too often fall through the cracks. i've laid out my priorities for fixing this broken law and none of chairman alexander has put his priorities out in the

discussion draft. so i hope we can now begin conversations about actually bipartisan approach in the help committee to fix this broken law. i note the members of my site a very anxious to begin work and continues a long tradition of this committee tackling tough problems in a bipartisan fashion. fixing a no child left behind should be -- should not be a partisan issue. it should be one that went to work hand in hand not as democrats and republicans but as americans. this is an issue that is not about politics. it's about what is best for our kids but in our country we do believe that every student should have access to a quality public education regardless of where they live or how they learn or how much money their parents make. that vision is that part of what we mean when we talk about america, what makes our country great. other countries in the world are investing in education. they are working every day to get it right for their students. china, india and others think

they can beat us in the classroom. we know better. we know we can win this and we know that we have to. for students back in my home state, for our economic future in for our shared vision of an american dream. so we can't afford to turn back the clock on the promise of quality education for all. we cannot be the generation that drops the ball on that noble goal, and i'm going to continue to fight to bring quality education to all of our students. thank you thank you, mr. chairman. i look forward to the panel discussion. >> as will always try to do we will try to have a bipartisan effort on witnesses. we were able to do that today, and we'll ask senator warner and senator bennet to introduce two of the witnesses, and i will introduce the other four. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am pleased to introduce dr. marty west, an associate professor of education at the harvard graduate school of education, and deputy director of the harvard kennedy school

program on education policy and governance. dr. west cut his education policy and reform and its impact on student learning and develop it. he has authored many articles on the subject, including many pieces on no child left behind. last year dr. west worked for this committee a senior education policy advisor to chairman alexander. i know there are areas where we agree and areas where we disagree but i'm always very happy to welcome the witnesses from massachusetts to testify before this committee. so thank you doctor west for being here today. >> senator bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i often say that if we had a rally to get no child left behind the same on the capitol steps from gaza and the person in the country that would come to that. we are eight years overdue. we are long overdue. i'm honored to introduce my friend tom boasberg

superintendent of the denver public school. no, joined dps as the chief operations officer in 2000 superintendent and then was appointed superintendent in 2009 by grateful school board who no longer have to deal with me. before joining dps tom served as group vice president level three commit cases where he was possible for the company's mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships. prior to level three as a legal advisor reed hundt chairman of the telecommunications commission at the fcc. he helped establish the rate program to he began his grin is a junior high school english teacher in hong kong's public schools. he claims to speak fluent mandarin and cantonese and since i guess they did i don't know whether that's true or not. today, oversees the largest school district in colorado with 185 schools and enrollment of more than 90000 students and 13,000 employers. when i left denver public schools to come to the senate in 2009 i said if i've done a decent job tom will do a better job and there's no doubt that

it's been decades. just last year denver public school students eligible for free and reduced lunch had stronger academic growth and on free and reduced lunch students statewide in math and writing to dps nonfree a reduced lunch students should more growth in their state counterparts in math by a point. on top of that inverse english language learners have outperformed the states. tom also happens to be responsive for educating my three daughters. as we begin to talk about reauthorizing can we need to hear the voice of those are fighting every day to improve our kids education, and tom boasberg invited at the top of that list, so thank you for being here today. we are all looking for during your testimony. thank you for including me in this. >> i think that boils down to it he cleaned up after you left.

[laughter] >> you can't even know half of the truth. >> we are delighted to have you. let me just mention the of the witnesses and then will turn to them. esther paul leather is you deputy commissioner of education in new hampshire. mr. wade henderson has testified before this committee before chief executive officer of the leadership conference on civil and human rights and the leadership conference education fund. ms. cantwell, fourth and fifth grade special education teacher of the earth school, new york city. and mr. stephen lazar social studies and english teacher harvest collegiate high school in new york city. i've asked -- we have your testimony and we read them, at least i have. we ask you to summarize your testimony in five minutes because we have a lot of interested senders who would like to ask a question. so if you don't mind there's a

clock that will show you in five minutes up and i would use the governor why don't we start with you, dr. west go right down the line. >> thank you. chairman alexander, senator murray, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i would like to begin by congratulating the committee of putting the reauthorization act of the top of its legislation agenda for the 114th congress. nothing is more important to our nation's future pension the we provide all children with the opportunity to reach their full academic potential. congress can't do that on its own but it can help by addressing the very real shortcomings of the mars recent reauthorization, no child left behind commerce trying to predictability with respect to federal education policies that state and local officials need to carry out their work. as you move forward with this important work, however urging not to lose sight of the positive aspects of no child left behind. above all the laws require that students be tested annually in reading and math has provided

parents, teachers and other citizens with detailed information about student performance in these foundational subjects. therefore, the extent to which they've mastered skills that are prerequisites for other educational goals. this information is called attention to achievement gaps along the lines of race ethnicity and class across and our states and within specific schools. it has ushered in a new era in research and it is made it possible to build new indicators of school performance based on their contribution to student learning to research confirms that by requiring states that have previously not implemented school untenable assistance to do so no child left behind works to generate modest improvements in student learning, concentrate in math and among the lowest perform students and precisely on those whom the law was focus. i say worked in the past tense health as the days when no child left behind worked are behind us. as the lost 2014 deadline for all students to be performing at grade level approach it's because the system became

unworkable. far too many schools went invite as underperforming and the system lost its most critical asset, its credibility. raising concerns have also been raised about the amount of time students spend taking standardized test. we lack systematic data on the amount of time students nation nation what's been taken discussed, nor do we know how much would be optimal. a handful of recent state and district level audit suggested students spend about one to 3% of the are taking standardized tests, figure that sounds appropriate given the value of the information they provide. we also know some schools test far more than this and that too many schools devote excessive time dinner test preparation activities in an attempt to avoid federally mandated sanctions. the concerns voiced by parents and educators in the schools are legitimate. eliminating annual testing requirements is not necessary to address these concerns. indeed, it will make them harder to do so. it is not necessary because federally mandated annual state test account for less than half

of test taking time. just third 2% in recent ohio study. the rest of test taking time in ohio is devoted to state and district mandated test and a new test developed to implement the teacher evaluation system that states were forced to adopt under the obama administration waiver program. it would make matters difficult because most important flaws of no child left behind account the system is its reliance on the level at which students are performing at a single point in time as a matter of school performs to achievement levels are a poor indicator of school quality as they're influenced by factors outside the schools control. this approach which is on it is possible under a great spent testing regime judges schools based on the students they serve, not on how well they served in the performance measures based on achievement over time which only possible with annual testing provide a fairer, more accurate picture of schools contribution to student learning. so why did congress design such a system back in 2002? one key reason was that many

states did not yet test students annually and those that did were often unable to track their performance over time. that has now changed thanks to no child left behind and related federal investment in state data systems but it would be ironic and a mighty unfortunate it in seeking to fix a no child left behind congress were to re-create the conditions that led to the adoption of an ill designed accountability system in the first place. eliminating annual testing would have other negative consequences. it would all but eliminate school level information about the learning of student subgroups. it would sharply limit information able to parents making choices about the school their child attends whether through open enrollment or charter school programs. it would prevent policymakers and research from it by winning effectiveness of new education programs when as did with the case do proper research design depends on knowledge of students recent achievement. my main recommendation is to maintain the loss current annual testing requirements while restoring the states virtue all decisions about the design of

the accountability system including how schools and teachers identified as underperforming and what should be done to improve their performance. the federal government has a critical to play in ensuring parents and citizens of good information. the government lacks the device to design and accountable system that is appropriate to the needs of each state and it has a poor record of attempting to dictate the required elements of efforts to improve underperforming schools. by focus on improving the transparency of information about school performance and resources, congress can build on the successes of no child left behind while learning from its failures. thank you and look forward to your question. >> thank you dr. west for excellent testimony, for coming very close to five minutes. mr. leather. >> chairman alexander, senator murray and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify about testing and accountability in the elementary and second education act. i am policy deputy commissioner of education of the new venture department of education to we

are working to explore what the next generation of assessments might look like beyond an individual test. we have coordinate with council of chief state school officers on its prayers for reauthorization. these contain three important ingredients that are in line with the work we are doing. it will support annual assessments of student performance to ensure every parent receives the information they need on other child is performing at least once a year. it would allow states to base students annual determination on a single standardized test or the combined results from a coherent system of assessments. it gives states the space to continue to innovate on assessment and accountability systems to a locally designed and assessment system, so important when the theories of authorization can last 10 years or longer. we are working in collaboration with foreign ahead sure school districts to posit competency-based assessment systems. sanborn regional rochester and

south beacon high school. we are intent on broadening expectations from the simple recitation of knowledge in fact to also apply knowledge and skills in authentic settings while fostering worked setting practice. with emphasize performance assessments for competency education, or pace which is what we call our pilot project. there are some key components in our pilot, to develop a statewide model competencies that describe the knowledge and skills that all students are expected to master, use of a personalized competency-based approach to instruction learning assessment, and a warning credit, and the use of common and local performance-based assessments of competencies throughout each school year in tandem with smarter balance of assessments of the state standards in math and english language arts. i am submitting for the record a detailed summary of all the steps we are taking to ensure compatibility, reliability and validity of these assessments as

well as a brief description of demographics of the participating dish expect we support annual determinations based on a coherent system of state and local multiple assessments. rather than rely on just one state summit of assessment to make this determination, we combined a series of results throughout the year to make the annual determination. over the last year there's been a crescendo of voices across the country raising the concern of over testing. we believe the over testing issue has arisen because there's been a disconnect between local and state assessments. i have sat through many local school board meetings where the superintendent explained to the board the state test results and their meaning, and then simply describes their local assessment which they see as more directly tied to instructional improvement. these assessments and to a candidly systems overlap in some cases are redundant. we greatly systems together. the result is the assessment

overall with a more coherent system that still provides benchmark information that states and physics need without sacrificing much deeper, more actionable information at the classroom level. because of our work advancing a competency-based learning model we understand the importance of creating freedom to innovate. we have been working on the system for three solid years starting with intensive professional developer to raise the assessment literacy of our teachers be we're not ready to take it it statewide but we hope to in the future. new hampshire, the live free or die state, we believe that it is essential that local education leaders help build the new system through their innovative efforts. it is the combination of state and local creative collaboration that has helped us build a new stronger, more effective assessment and accountability system. we applaud the draft version section k. that allows for locally designed assessment system in option to.

however, we also believe that congress should establish parameters in the reauthorization to ensure that innovative locally designed systems do not result in a step backwards for students. we would expect assurances of technical quality and breadth and depth of assessments necessary to put in place. within a state local districts wishing to innovate should be able to demonstrate that they will continue to focus on college or career outcomes and are committed to improving the achievement of educationally disadvantaged students. they should maintain a clear to describe andrew accountability process and have the leadership necessary to affect a substantive change process. with these parameters in place, we believe that educational improvements and innovative design will flourish throughout the life of the coming reauthorization. we in new hampshire greatly appreciate the opportunity to have our innovative education practices considered by the committee. we look forward to the future with a speedy reauthorization of

a much improved elementary secondary education. thank you. >> thank you mr. leather. mr. boasberg, welcome. >> thank you for this opportunity with you. my name is a nine superintendents of the fast-growing school districts of any city in this country, the wonderfully diverse denver public schools. we have seen remarkable progress in the last decade under reform started by my predecessor senator bennet, at a time when the other job which was truly complex and challenging public policy issues to grapple with it in that time we've increased our number of graduates by over 1000 students a year, increased our on-time graduation rate for african-american latino students by over 60%. we decrease our dropout rates by over 60%, and we have gone from the school district with her students having the lowest rate of year on your student progress of any major district in the state to being at the district for three in row were our

students on a student by student basis are demonstrating the highest rate of yearly academic progress. as the result are enrolled is booming as her families come back to an state under schools and the last seven years alone are enrolled in has increased by a remarkable 25%. nevertheless we continue to have significant achievement gaps between our students based on income and race, ethnicity, and we're determined to eliminate those achievement gaps. one key to our progress is our refusal to be imprisoned by the ideologically polarizing debate and false complex and often see around us. we need to focus on what works our kids. we can't be stuck in an either or world. and needs of our kids come over 70% of them qualified for free and reduced lunch, or simply degrade. so what does that world look like? it's a world where we can dramatically improve our district run schools unleash

the creative energy of our teachers to open innovative new schools, and at the same time welcome high-performing charter schools. it's the word were both district run and charter schools work together as public schools to drive greater equity in our community. it's a world where we do measure the progress of our kids in literacy and math every year to see whether they are on track in these key areas to graduate from high school prepared for college and career. and it's also a world where we care deeply about nurturing and developing the whole child to expanding opportunities for arts and music deepening interest in history and science, and nurturing our kids to school social and emotional growth. there does not need to be a conflict here. our experience has shown the schools the most emphasize a broad curriculum and promote creativity and critical thinking are the ones that actually do best in helping develop their students later said and numeracy

ability. so, for example, when we went to denver voters two years ago for a tax increase, the first thing i asked for was funding to increase arts music and sports. so as a parent of three kids and the superintendent 490000, do i care about seeing the progress my kids make every year in literacy and math? yes, of course into. and, of course i at the same time to give the about the opportunities in creative arts social sciences, sports, and personal growth as members of our community. i do believe the annual measures of progress for our kids in letters and math are vital.

we as a stay need to eliminate the other state test data been added in recent years that are unrelated to the law before this committee today. the new generation of assessments to a good job of us understand how our children are progressing in literacy and math. is transparency that kids are doing is vital. via for students for parents and for teachers. likewise, having annual data about students growth is vital to see what is working best in our schools. transparency and the holding of clear high standards are important for all kids, but they are particularly important for our kids in poverty and our kids of color. historically, too many of her most vocal student have not been held to high standards that will enable them to compete for and succeed in college and the knowledge and intensive grids in today's economy and it is essential that we do so. and that is why accountability is also vital.

not accountability in a blaming or punishment sense but accountability recognize and seek what is not working and then to make the necessary changes in the extraordinarily high-stakes work we're all committed to come to our children and families break out a poverty come to a blockage realize the potential that are born with. so as we celebrate this week the birthday of reverend martin luther king, jr., i hope we can help all of our kids live in a both and world that they deserve. >> thank you. mr. henderson. >> good morning, chairman alexander, senator murray, and members of the committee. as you've noted i am wade henderson, president and ceo of the leadership conference on civil and human rights. the nations leading civil and human rights coalition with over 200 national organizations working to build an america as good as its ideals. i'm also the joseph junior professor of public interest law at the clark school of law

university of the district of columbia. but in addition i served as the vice chair of the board of trustees of the educational testing service, the nation's premier testing assessment nonprofit corporation. thank you for inviting here today to testify on the reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act. the civil and human rights community has long seemed education and voter participation as the twin pillars of our democracy. together, they helped make the promise of equality and opportunity were all a reality in american life. we welcome the opportunity that this important and timely hearing provides to look at ways that we can improve esea and ensure that each and every child regardless of race, national origin gender, sexual orientation, disability or zip code receives the best education that this great nation can provide.

senator murray, thank you for acknowledging the parents who have come in from around the country, states like washington, colorado, tennessee, minnesota, delaware, to have their voices amplified the concerns that we reflect in our testimony today. significantly issue we mark the 50th anniversary of esea which was a pillar of resident lyndon johnson war on poverty. congress recognized in and as for the past five decades batchelder living and going to school and in poverty and especially those living in concentrated poverty need more not fewer resources than their more advantage to peers. today we speak with one voice on behalf of all of our children girls and boys, students of color, students not yet proficient in english. those with disabilities or are homeless or migrant. those in the criminal juvenile justice system, and those living in foster care living on the

streets or living in the shadows. we speak with a deep concern and growing alarm about increase in child poverty, the persistent low achievement of students with disabilities, and the growing income inequality in our nation, particularly as they are reflected and reinforced by grotesque disparities in resources available to high and low poverty schools. education is even more important today than ever before. a high school diploma is not just enough to access the jobs of today and tomorrow. students now need postsecondary education or further training after high school. so we cannot ignore the fact that state and local school financing system have been unfair and inadequate. we know that money spent wisely can and will make an enormous difference in the ability of high poverty schools to prepare our students for college and career. we also know that money spent on high quality preschool is one of the best investment we could

make. that's why a group of more than 20 national organizations created a set of principles which call on congress to maintain and improve strong accountability requirements of esea. out approach to accountability is straightforward and sensible. first, esea must continue to require high quality annual statewide assessments for all students in grades 3-8 and at least once in high school that are aligned with and measure the distance progress towards meeting the state's college and career ready standards. next, statewide accountability systems must expect and support all students to make enough progress every year so that they're on track to graduate from high school ready for college and career. states must annual district and school targets. high school graduation and closing achievement gaps for all

students including accelerated progress to each major racial and ethnic group students with disabilities, english language learners, and students from low-income families, and evaluate schools and districts on how well they meet these targets. third, states and school districts need to improve data collection and reporting to the public on student achievement and gap closing. course completion, graduation rates, per pupil expenditures opportunity measures like preaching and technology, and school climate indicators, including decreases in use of exclusionary discipline practices, use of police in schools, and student referrals to law enforcement. this data must be disaggregated across, tidily but all of the categories i've listed previously, but notably disability gender, race, national origin. i want to conclude by expressing very cities concerns, mr.

chairman, with your proposal at it is currently written. we have great respect for you but their proposal as we understand it today is detailed in our written testimony and it needs to be, we hope, interest. the bill as a general matter bends over backwards to accommodate the interest of state and local government entities that have both failed our children and avoided any real accountability for their failures. the federal government must continue to of state and school district accountable for the grid to which they are improving education for all students, especially students who have been underserved by the system for far too long. congress must not pass an esea -- >> mr. anderson, you are well over. >> i will bring it to the conclusion. thank you for the opportunity to be here and look forward to your question. >> thank you very much. ms. lee. >> thank you chairman alexander and senator murray for your vision and for the opportunity to offer my remarks regarding

the impact of testing an account of those on our public school children. i'm also a parent of a six greater, 11 year old from answer speak to both as a public school parent and as a teacher. i want to provide some context i have learned about the current educational policies and they are driven by business. the use of competitive performance based practices have long been assumed to motivate workers. microsoft xp and adobe systems are just some of the companies who adopted ranking, the net business practice a plan rewards consequences and rankings based on performers but these same businesses have been for many of our nation's biggest district including mine. in the past three years these businesses have abandoned this practice because their primitive disastrous effects of collaboration, problem solving and innovation. what was bad for business has been disastrous for public education. a field already played with recruiting and retention challenges. i have worked in different schools.

some of them through no fault of their own have become increasingly data-driven as opposed to student driven the unfortunate currently -- i'm fortunate to be working in school found on the principle of child education where teachers collaborate, develop curriculum and develop a system. this year a fourth and fifth graders are immersed in a steady we call rights and responsibility. students develop questions about the origins of the united states the constitution, and discuss the complex struggles for progress we've made as a nation to as a nation. these are eight to 10 year olds. my class decided to divide himself into group to study three different perspectives from the colonial era. the native people, the european colonist and the african slaves. they are the researchers. my integrated code teaching class consists of students with disabilities, or i should say all of buildings. and they work in heterogeneous groups to present their understanding through a variety of mediums. they are learning how to learn.

developing lifelong skills, researching, analyzing information from multiple sources, collaborate with others, and should not what they learned in creative and thought-provoking ways. they are the stewards of their learning guided by the interest and passion. i show this not at this practice but to emphasize the importance of fostering learning environments that out of a culture of trust, diversity and autonomy. not a focus on test preparation. teachers working conditions are inextricably tied to students learning conditions. when parents and educators have voiced concerns, they have been accused of coddling. i want to challenge that assumption. at my school we no longer have a librarian, and our parent association works full-time to find the needed arts and music

programs. they are not covered by a budget any longer. we are one of the lucky schools. what about schools where parents must work to just survive? there is nothing more painful to watch or forced to be complicit with and minimizing that is happening in our schools. teachers, stimson center find themselves in a position of whether or not to push back or leave. so who's left to receive these test and accompanied sanctions was for the children receiving curricula while losing recess physical education and all other enrichment programs? last year over 50% of our parents at our school refused to allow their children to take the new york state common court assessment. what we now have no national as opting out. we were not alone. i want to remind folks that the latin route of assessment needs to sit alongside. until we have teachers and policymakers sitting alongside in getting to know our students

and classrooms in deep and meaningful ways we cannot fully understand the state of public education. education. i say to as the sole female, and this is a field dominated by women. no corporate made multiple choice test will give you that date. last you i decided i am obligated accountable by students and families and that is why as a teacher of conscience i will refuse to administer test the reduce licensed a single metric and will continue to take this position until the role of standardized processes are put in their proper place. we just over the life of martin luther king, jr. in his letter from a birmingham jail he of from one has a moral responsibility. you quote saint augustine is that an unjust law is no law at all to columbus education policies continue to be shaped by the interest of corporate profiteering in of inches of public schoolchildren we will resist these unjust testing laws. i'm hopeful we can sit alongside each other and do the hard work of answering the questions most simple to our democracy. what is the purpose of public

education in a democratic society? how can we ensure that all children receive enriching and equitable education? how do we support teachers and schools and turning out their mission to educate all? i want to thank you and appreciate all of your coming question. >> thank you, ms. lee. mr. lazar. >> senator alexander, senator murray distinguidistingui shed members of this committee, it is an honor to testify before you all today. i come as a proud national board of certified public high school teacher. i teach that harvest collegiate high school the the new york city my students who are listening to us now, and i need to remind you to study for the history test tomorrow, represents the full diversity of our city. i'm also embarrassed to say i was a teacher who have been a teacher who have been made into last would get up to apologize to my students. i would tell them i have done my best job to be an excellent teacher for you up until now. but for the last month of school i'm going to turn into a bad teacher, to properly prepare you

for state region exams but we would write essays and practice mindless repetition of facts so that they could be successful on their state exams. i did is because standardized tests measure the wrong things. .. when i taught seniors in the