Civil and Human Rights Coalition Criticizes Alexander Education Plan for Abandoning Accountability

Washington – Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the release of a draft reauthorization proposal for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), issued this week by Senate Education Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee:

“Now is not the time to make a U-turn in holding states and school districts accountable for providing a quality education to all children. Unfortunately, Chairman Alexander’s opening proposal would send us back to a dark time in our nation when schools across the country, operating with no federal oversight, could freely ignore the needs of disadvantaged students.

For five decades, Congress has consistently recognized and acted on the need to promote fair and equal access to public schools for children of color, children living in poverty, children with disabilities, homeless, foster and migrant children, children in detention, children learning English, Native children, and girls as well as boys.

We must not turn our backs on these students with the empty promise that states and local districts will do what’s needed so that our children will be college or career-ready when they graduate. That’s why the civil and human rights coalition will continue to demand strong accountability measures tied to federal ESEA dollars. To do otherwise would be an act of educational malpractice and an abrogation of our responsibility to current and future generations of students.”

Nancy Zirkin is executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.