Hillary's NEA Speech: Blasts Bush's Education Policy

Clinton assails 'No Child' in NEA speech

By SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Monitor staff

T he federal No Child Left Behind law stifles originality and forces teachers to focus on preparing students for tests, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said yesterday. Although Clinton voted for the act in 2001, she criticized the program as underfunded and overly restrictive.

"While the children are getting good at filling in all those little bubbles, what exactly are they really learning?" Clinton asked delegates at the National Education Association of New Hampshire's annual meeting in Concord. "How much creativity are we losing? How much of our children's passion is being killed?"

In addition to overhauling what Clinton deemed the test-based approach to education, the New York senator called for universal preschool, higher teacher salaries and schools that emphasize self-discipline and respect, not just test scores. Clinton also criticized what she described as the outsourcing of tutoring and other services to private companies.

"This is Halliburton all over again," Clinton told reporters, adding that many of the companies likely have "very close ties" to the Republican Party. "We have these contracts going to these cronies who are chosen largely on a political basis, and we have nothing to show for it."

The No Child Left Behind law requires school districts to provide tutoring and other services to schools that don't meet standards. Clinton said that private companies have reaped $500 million annually from the arrangement but aren't held accountable for results.

Continued

Hillary Clinton Speaking to Professional Educators in New Hampshire

Educators ready for Clinton

By Beth LaMontagne
blamontagne@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH "" When Sen. Hillary Clinton meets with the members of the National Education Association-New Hampshire this afternoon, local educators will be carefully listening.

University of New Hampshire education professor Todd DeMitchell would like to hear Clinton pledge more money for early childhood education.

"The more support we could have for Head Start and early literacy for children, I think that's a wise investment of federal dollars," he said.

Clinton is scheduled to speak at the annual meeting in Concord of NEA-NH, a group whose endorsement is highly sought. Past speakers at the meeting include Gov. John Lynch, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

DeMitchell said he hoped Clinton would support increasing funding for special education and making the No Child Left Behind Act more flexible.

He called the act "important but cumbersome" because administrators spend so much time dealing with regulations.

"Nobody ever reduces regulations; they just pile them on top of each other," he said. "There are ways they could be streamlined so we spend more of our resources on ... where the children are in the classroom."

Kevin Fleming, a social studies teacher at Winnacunnet High School, also wants to hear what Clinton has to say about No Child Left Behind. The controversial education act is an issue the campaign says Clinton will likely address and that as a senator, she has pushed the federal government to fully fund the program.

Fleming, who is an NEA-NH liaison to the national organization, said he agrees with the union position of fully funding the program and fixing what the group sees as its problem, most importantly over testing of students and the requirement to prove local teachers are highly qualified. The state has its own policy for evaluating teacher adequacy, said Fleming, and should not be forced to add more regulation.

"The highly qualified fight is like jumping through hoops for New Hampshire because we already have that covered," he said.

Besides discussing the education system, Fleming said he will want to hear Clinton address other issues that tangentially affect the success of students.

"I want to know, does she understand education is not only about education, it's about what goes on in the home?" he asked. "As much as we'll talk about No Child Left Behind, we also know it comes down to other issues like a decent wage, affordable housing and support for parents."

Hillary Clinton in The Senate: HELP Committee Meeting