Who's Responsible for No Child Left Behind?

A number of provisions and goals contained in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)--which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)--were embedded in legislation enacted several years prior to NCLB's passage. During the previous administration, Congress amended the ESEA by passing the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, which required states to develop standards and align assessments and required Title I schools to show progress on those assessments.

In 2001, President George W. Bush formed a bipartisan coalition to develop into legislation his vision for closing achievement gaps. Both chambers of Congress were firmly behind the plan, and NCLB overwhelmingly passed the House 381-41 and the Senate 87-10.

The four main authors of the legislation were Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). Each had a hand in designing the accountability provisions; Rep. Miller played the key role in drafting the "highly qualified teacher" requirements. These four principal sponsors of the law, along with a large, bipartisan coalition in Congress, continue to strongly support the letter and spirit of the law.

Tools for Teachers

Last year Andrew Rudalevige penned an article for Education Next entitled, "The Politics of No Child Left Behind." The article, which details the context of NCLB and its evolution through Congress, can be found at: http://www.educationnext.org/20034/62.html.