Coalition Press Releases
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Kirk Monroe Jacque Johnson |
Business Leaders Urge Chairman Miller to Retain Strong Accountability in Reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act
Coalition Calls for Congress to maintain and strengthen fundamental principles and goals of NCLB
Washington, DC – The Business Coalition for Student Achievement (BCSA), representing business leaders from every sector of the economy, today urged Representative George Miller, Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, to retain strong accountability measures as part of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
In response to Chairman Miller’s statement on NCLB at the National Press Club today, the coalition stands ready to work together with Representative Miller and Representative Howard McKeon, the committee’s Ranking Member, on a bipartisan bill which maintains annual statewide assessments and ensures that schools and school districts are held accountable for helping all students reach proficiency in math and reading by 2014.
“In today’s knowledge-based, global marketplace, a well-educated population is the key to innovation, economic development and a U.S. economy that remains the world’s leader,” said Jacque Johnson, Executive Director, Education and Workforce Development Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and spokesperson for BCSA.
“The business community is the primary consumer of the U.S. education system and solidly backs efforts to improve the performance of the K-12 education system. NCLB, and the accountability that it ensures, is an important step in shoring up the foundation for U.S. competitiveness,” said Susan Traiman, Director of Education and Workforce Policy for the Business Roundtable and spokesperson for the BCSA.
BCSA has joined NCLB Works!, a campaign to support efforts to strengthen and reauthorize the law, whose members include a diverse group of business, education, community and civil rights organizations: Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, The Education Trust, The LINKS, Inc., National Center for Educational Accountability and National Council of La Raza.
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The Business Coalition for Student Achievement – representing business leaders from every sector of the economy – is committed to supporting policies that improve the performance of the K-12 education system in the United States. The Coalition is co-chaired by Craig R. Barrett, Chairman of Intel; Arthur F. Ryan, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc.; and Edward B. Rust Jr., Chairman and CEO of State Farm, and is coordinated by Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
