Agenda - 03-16-2004-6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 school systems will incur costs in upgrading the remaining 17 percent of our teachers to highly qualified status in the prescribed timeframe. While we agree the investment is worthwhile, we look to our Congress for assurance that the federal budget will cover these expenses because the funds simply are not available at the state or local level. Finally, we would like to point out that there is one hidden cost not taken into consideration with the passage of No Child Left Behind or the federal funding associated with it. Finance officers and personnel directors in North Carolina both have identified data-collection costs as a missing piece of the puzzle under NCLB. One prime example is the increased time and training that will be necessary to help school personnel properly code and report information through the Student Information Management System (SIMS), The extra time required for human resource and financial staff in public schools to collect, analyze and report data in new categories defined by No Child Left Behind is not only an increase in workload for these individuals, but also is a huge drain on the school system's operating budget. Funding for data collection should be given a high priority in the upcoming federal appropriations process.. Again, we reiterate that we are grateful for the increases that our Congressional delegation has been instrumental in pushing through for public schools in North Carolina. We simply ask you to push for more so that we can give the mandates of No Child Left Behind the attention and resources necessary to help our schools and our students succeed. ISSUE: The legislation authorizing No Child Left Behind set adequate federal funding levels for its successful implementation by the states; however, the (federal budget has fallen short of those funding levels in subsequent years. This funding shortage is made more difficult by a provision in the law that requires a certain percentage of allocated funds to be set aside for remediation and "school choice" issues in connection with a school's placement under Title 1 school improvement status. RECOMMENDTION: The U.S. Congress should appropriate additional federal funds to meet the funding levels established by the authorizing legislation of No Child Left Behind. Additionally, a thorough analysis should be undertaken to determine the state and local funding requirements to fully implement the law. In conclusion, NCASA and our membership would like to reiterate our commitment to helping all students in all schools succeed academically. We believe the No Child Left Behind Act gives us an opportunity to work within the existing education system to educate all children, and we vow to maintain our leadership stance in working to achieve that goal of universal proficiency. 10