U.S. Chamber Releases Principles to Strengthen and Improve Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Donohue Says, ‘We Need to Double Down on Education Reform’

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At a press roundtable today, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue joined Margaret Spellings, former Secretary of Education and current president of the U.S. Chamber’s Forum for Policy Innovation, to release a “Statement on Reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): Guidelines for Strengthening the Law.” These principles will strengthen and update ESEA, better known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

“No Child Left Behind has resulted in much needed progress because it focused on the needs of every single student,” said Donohue. “But the law is not perfect and it can and must be improved. We need to double down on education reform.”

As Congress begins to consider ESEA reauthorization legislation, the Chamber’s principles state that provisions in the current law must be strengthened and improved while preserving the fundamental features of the law that are designed to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps for all students. Donohue warned that we cannot turn back the clock to the days when billions of federal dollars were spent without any expectations for student results or taxpayers’ investment.

“While things have gotten better under NCLB, we need to step on the gas pedal of reform, not slam on the brakes,” Donohue continued. “When it comes to improving education, the stakes are nothing less than the continued success and competitiveness of the American economy—and the continued viability of the American Dream.”

The Chamber’s principles for strengthening ESEA state that in order to gain the Chamber’s support, reauthorization legislation must:

• Contain rigorous accountability provisions that are clear, transparent, and include all students and all schools;
• Provide real choices for students and parents by ensuring that children have access to free tutoring, charter schools, and school choice; and
• Recognize and reward effective teachers and principals.

“Ten years ago, NCLB was crafted based on what we knew then and what states were doing, which in many cases wasn’t much, “Spellings said. “The entire conversation has changed because we now have the information that shows if students are mastering the standards set by the states.”

“The principles that the Chamber is releasing today build on what we’ve learned and also recognize that there is an important federal role in education,” Spellings concluded. “It’s right to lay out broad goals and ask states, districts, and schools to work toward those goals. It’s right to ensure states and districts are using federal education dollars to provide options to parents. And it’s right to ask states, in exchange for federal teacher funding, to have teacher evaluation systems based on effectiveness in raising achievement. The business community understands that we must demand results in exchange for the taxpayer’s investment.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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