The Aspen Institute

WASHINGTON, DC—The Commission on No Child Left Behind made the following statement in response to the State of the Union address.

We are pleased that the President called for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in his first State of the Union address. We hope that the Congress will move swiftly to enact bipartisan legislation this year, building on the priority reforms the Commission recommended and that formed the basis of the Race to the Top Fund requirements.

As promising work continues through the Race to the Top competition, the state-led common standards initiative, and other efforts, it is vital that ESEA be updated and improved to provide a long-term framework to coordinate and extend the reach of these reforms. The Commission will continue to convene local and national leaders to develop updated recommendations to inform a strong bipartisan reauthorization that results in closing achievement gaps and putting all children on the path to college and work readiness.

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The Commission on No Child Left Behind (www.nclbcommission.org and on Facebook) is a bipartisan effort to identify and build support for improvements in federal education policy to ensure the nation has effective tools to spur academic achievement and close the achievement gap. The Commission is funded by some of the nation’s leading foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Joyce Foundation, and the GE Foundation. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the Commission’s work should not be attributed to the donors.