New Yorkers to Share Views, Speak Out on No Child Left Behind

On Thursday, September 29 th, Public Education Network (PEN), and the New York-based Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. (CFE), in partnership with the National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham University, and Good Schools for All of Buffalo, hosted a public hearing to gain community input on how the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is playing out in New York schools and communities. As NCLB enters its fifth year of implementation, the hearing will provide a forum for citizens to explore questions about the law, share ideas about how it is being implemented, and provide thoughts on what is working and what is not.

The New York hearing kicks off the first in a series of ten public hearings that will be sponsored by PEN with state and regional partners, and will be held throughout the country between now and Winter 2006. The results of these hearings, in addition to testimony provided through an online survey at www.GiveKidsGoodSchools.org, will be published and distributed to key federal, state, and local decision makers, education leaders, and the media , and will include suggested changes and improvements to this far-reaching law. Funding for this hearing is provided by The New York Community Trust.