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Congressman Davis Launches 7th District Education Listening Tour

Date: Aug. 25, 2005
Location: Birmingham, AL
Issues: Education


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2005

CONGRESSMAN DAVIS LAUNCHES
7TH DISTRICT EDUCATION LISTENING TOUR

- With alarming school failure rate, Davis seeks answers and input for No Child overhaul -

BIRMINGHAM - Reacting to the number of failed schools announced by the Alabama Department of Education in August, U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D) announced a series of listening sessions throughout the 7th Congressional District designed to gather feedback on the impact of the national No Child Left Behind education policy.

Of the 313 schools announced as failing in early August, more than 70 of them are in the 7th District. Many of those schools have no viable alternatives for choice as defined by NCLB, which says that if a child is attending a failing school, the parents have the right to remove that child and place them in another school.

For rural counties in the Black Belt that may have only one grade, middle or high school, that choice is either non-existent or cost prohibitive to the school system, which is still required to transport that child to school. This is just one of the issues revealed during the first listening session held in Livingston August 22.

More than 30 parents, teachers and administrators met with Congressman Davis at Sumter County High School to discuss the implications of falling below the standards established by NCLB and the impact it would have on the community. Other sessions are scheduled in Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Dallas counties in the weeks ahead.

NCLB, which was designed in 2001 to place national performance standards on our local schools, is up reauthorization in 2006, at which times major improvements will be considered. Congressman Davis has said he plans to play a large part in fighting to make this policy better for all of the Alabama's schools.

Davis said the listening sessions are helpful because he now has a better understanding of how NCLB is working on the ground and what improvements would be helpful.

"I gained a greater appreciation of the issues our schools are facing in working to comply with No Child," Davis said. "Our next challenge is to take these concerns back to Washington and prepare for negotiations next year. I plan to work aggressively to fix this badly broken public policy."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/al07_davis/edtour082505.html

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