|
|
N A T I O N A L C E N T E R R E P O R T S
|
The Beginning of the End: National Teaching Certificates and Goals 2000
In July the House passed H.R. 1995, the Teacher Empowerment Act, by a vote of 239 to 185. This bill is significant for two reasons:
First, no mention of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards is made in the bill, effectively defunding this federal program which has been the catalyst for creating a “national teaching certificate.” Instead, the bill explicitly authorizes individual states—not the federal government—to reform teacher certification laws.
Second, this bill consolidates and effectively eliminates several federal education programs, including Goals 2000 and President Clinton’s class-size-reduction program. This streamlined approach takes federal dollars away from failed, big government programs and returns fundamental decision making back to the states.
Over the last three years, the National Center has been lobbying Congress to ensure that the Goals 2000 Educate America Act will be repealed and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act will officially sunset (die) this year.
As a first step, the National Center has secured a letter by Congressman Bill Goodling, Chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, stating he does not intend to reauthorize Goals 2000.
Our office is continuing to work on this project and expects to send out an alert later this year.
|
|
