It will take more than money to get the No Child Left Behind Act right, AFT president Edward J. McElroy told a joint session of the Senate and House education committees earlier this week.

Here are a few key points from McElroy's testimony:

On AYP:

• "Any discussion of NCLB should begin by addressing the flaws of the adequate yearly progress system."
  
• "Schools that are improving should not be penalized."

On NCLB's interventions, or sanctions, for schools that fail to make AYP: 

• "The law must distinguish between schools that need intense, multiple interventions and those that need only limited help."
• "Struggling schools must get help when they need it."
• "punitive, ideological and not evidence-based."

On testing and over-testing:

• "State tests must be aligned with the state standards and the curriculum used in classrooms."
• "Instructional time should not be replaced by testing and drill-and-kill preparation, and a narrowing of the curriculum to only those subjects being tested."
  

On SES: 

• Supplemental service providers are "not being held accountable for results and for the way they use tax dollars."

On some proposals to remake NCLB's "highly qualified" requirement for teachers:

• "NCLB in its current form is burdensome and demoralizing to teachers, and yet they continue to adhere to changing requirements so they can continue to teach. But it is unacceptable to impose on them another unfair accountability measure."

On school building conditions:

• "NCLB's stated goal of closing the achievement gap cannot be fulfilled without improving conditions in schools."
  

Mr. McElroy's written testimony is available here.  

[Thanks to AFT staffer MR.  Photo by Michael Campbell]