The Wyoming Education Association says fixing the federal education law No Child Left Behind is a top priority as the group heads to the National Education Association’s annual meeting this weekend.
There’s a bipartisan bill in Congress to revise No Child Left Behind—dubbed the Every Child Achieves Act. It would provide states more freedom and flexibility when it comes to accountability and testing than the existing law.
“It makes some changes to that law that will be very beneficial to students and education employees,” says WEA president Kathy Vetter. “Increasing the time for students to learn, so that we have time to teach that love of learning—that natural curiosity that students have, and things that you just don’t measure on a bubble test.”
The Wyoming Education Association is a professional group representing about 6,000 educators in the state. The NEA is its parent group—and the largest teachers’ union in the country. It and many major education groups are backing the Every Child Achieves Act.
The bill could come up for debate on the Senate floor as soon as next month.
At the NEA meeting, beginning Friday in Orlando, Vetter says she’ll also be looking for guidance about Wyoming issues—like school funding.
Every five years, lawmakers take a look at what schools should be providing and how much it will cost. That process, called ‘recalibration’ is underway now—and Vetter says there’s a lot for lawmakers to consider.
“They didn’t make any real changes 5 years ago, so it’s been 10 years since they really looked at the model,” says Vetter. “Technology has significantly changed in the past 10 years. They need to take a close look at what we need in our building and what we need as far as hardware and software in our school districts.”
Vetter will join nearly 9,000 educators at the NEA Conference, where the union will set its policies and priorities for the year ahead.
