But recently, Congress took steps to fix this crisis. On August 28th, Representatives George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Howard McKeon (R-CA), the committee’s Ranking Minority Member, proposed a “discussion draft” of a bill to renew and revamp the heavily-criticized “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) program.  It proposes,  among other steps, an extension of the measures that can be used for accountability purposes and an expansion of the amount of time that immigrant students can test in their native languages.  (A summary of their “Discussion Draft” is available here; The Committee also has this page collecting its work on the reauthorization of NCLB.)

The major criticism of this proposal, however, is that it does not offer sufficiently significant changes.  National Education Association (NEA) President Reg Weaver comments that “The draft that has been provided for discussion makes only minor tweaks in the divisive and dysfunctional law that parents, teachers, and public schools have been saddled with these past five years. If they’re not going to make meaningful changes that truly address the needs of America’s public school students, a major opportunity will have been missed.” (Weaver’s written testimony is available here, and you can view his testimony here.)

 I continue to be inspired by those who refuse to settle for mediocrity and speak out against changes to our educational system that is simply not good enough.  While we should commend the drafters for making educational reform a priority, we must challenge them to offer legislation that will truly have a positive affect.

I know that the spirit of reform displayed this week, by activists and politicians alike will continue to inspire me.  In the year 5768, the Jewish community must take a leadership role in supporting America’s commitment to improving our nation’s educational system and with it, the lives of all our children.