Alan Simpson: “there was an oversight in the No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB required teachers to meet their states highly qualified…”

“there was an oversight in the No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB required teachers to meet their states highly qualified teacher requirement by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, about a year from now. Paraprofessionals were required to meet their requirements four years after enactment of NCLB. That would be January 8th of next year, halfway through the school year. Everyone agrees that it was an oversight and that these two dates should be aligned. I discussed various ways to fix this oversight with the Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Boehner and the staff, with the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education Raymond Simon, and with the National Education Association. Last week I received a letter from Deputy Secretary Simon which reads in part ``to enable the Department to enforce these two requirements in an efficient, effective and coordinated manner, the Department will align the paraprofessional timeline with the teacher timeline.'' I will include the entire letter for the Record. I want to thank the Department of Education, Dep. Sec. Simon, chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee John Boehner and the staff, particularly, Sally Lovejoy and the National Education Association for working to resolve this oversight in a quick and efficient manner. U.S. Department of Education, June 15, 2005. Hon. Mike Simpson, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.…”