U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY COMMENDS SENS SNOWE, COLLINS FOR WORK ON NCLB TASK FORCE IN MAINE

WASHINGTON, DC-- U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is commending Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins for their work in creating a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) task force in Maine to help identify challenges the state faces in implementing NCLB and Maine's own education reform efforts. Earlier this year, the Senators presented Secretary Spellings with a report on the task force's findings, which the Secretary said would provide a "sound basis for further discussion [about NCLB]". In addition, Senators Snowe and Collins plan to introduce legislation this fall to implement some of the findings of the Maine NCLB task force.

In a letter to the Senators, Secretary Spellings wrote, "I greatly appreciate the hard work and honest efforts the Task Force made to understand and clarify the requirements and challenges of NCLB within the context of Maine's own educational reform efforts….The Maine Task Force is to be commended for its work, as are you, [Senators Snowe and Collins] for commissioning the task force. The final report provides a sound basis for further discussion as we work together to reach the goals of NCLB."

According to Secretary Spellings, the U.S. Department of Education is working to provide states with additional flexibility under NCLB if they show they are raising student achievement in their schools.

Senators Snowe and Collins created the task force in 2004, comprised of Maine teachers, school board members, former state lawmakers, school administrators, and parents, among others, to improve the implementation of NCLB law in Maine and coordinate between NCLB and the state's own education reform initiative, the Maine Learning Results (MLR).

Senators Snowe and Collins plan to introduce legislation this fall that will implement some of the findings of Maine's NCLB task force. The legislation would aim to clarify and expand the flexibility provided to states under the law.

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