Reps. Sak, Brown, Minore, Law, Zelenko, Anderson, Woodward, Gillard, Tobocman, Daniels, Wojno, Bieda, Condino, Dennis, Farrah, Shaffer, Cheeks, Hager, Kolb, Murphy, O'Neil, Stallworth, Adamini, DeRossett, Elkins, Farhat, Jamnick, Lipsey, Paletko, Rivet and Sheltrown offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 116.

            A resolution to urge the United States Department of Education not to penalize Michigan for violating the No Child Left Behind Act.

            Whereas,  In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) which, in part, requires states to implement statewide accountability systems covering all public schools and students.  School districts and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress toward statewide proficiency standards will be subject to mandatory improvement, corrective action, and restructuring measures.  Parents of children attending schools that repeatedly fail to meet these standards may transfer their children to better performing public schools, including charter schools.  The act also ensures that parents be provided with annual student performance report cards that show which schools in their communities are succeeding and which are not.  This public information not only helps to enhance student achievement, but provides an incentive for failing schools to improve; and

            Whereas, The NCLBA requires Michigan to report annually to the United States Secretary of Education on its progress toward implementing the law.  This report includes information about student performance on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and schools in need of improvement.  Although the state is not technically in violation of the law until the first day of the 2003 school year, the United States Department of Education may impose a fine on Michigan for noncompliance; and

            Whereas, Michigan is in jeopardy of violating the NCLBA because it contracted with a Georgia-based company that has failed to make MEAP scores available.  Though state elementary and middle school students took the assessment test in January, the results are almost three months late.  As a result, parents with children attending 760 schools that have been previously identified as needing improvement do not know whether their schools have shown improvement or not.  Moreover, the state faces the likelihood of being financially reprimanded by the federal government for failing to meet reporting deadlines; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the United States Department of Education not to penalize Michigan for violating the No Child Left Behind Act; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Department of Education, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.