Positive Impact of No Child Left Behind on Special Education Students

POSITIVE IMPACT OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ON SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS -- (House of
Representatives - March 04, 2004)

(Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Committee on Education and the Workforce, we were pleased to have a hearing on No Child Left Behind and its impact on special education students. For the first time in history, those students in special education will be judged based on results and the fact that we know that children with disabilities can, in fact, learn.

We had four distinguished witnesses from around the country talking about how special education is changing as a result of No Child Left Behind. School districts now must focus in on results for our special needs children. These four witnesses, a parent, a school superintendent and two education experts, talked about how special education students are in fact learning more and improving their capability.

For most children with special needs, there really is no excuse that they cannot read and write and become literate like all other children. Many children in special education can do far more than that; and by focusing in on results for children with special needs, we can in fact meet our goal with No Child Left Behind, which is just that: let us leave no child in America behind.