The chief school officers of 35 states are predicting their relationship with President Bush鈥檚 administration will improve after a two-hour White House meeting with the president and his top domestic-policy aides last week.
The state education leaders said the amount of time the president spent with them on March 23 and the tenor of the conversation were dramatically different from previous encounters. Mr. Bush and his advisers appeared receptive to exploring new ways to give states leeway in implementing the administration鈥檚 K-12 agenda and promised to tone down some of the political rhetoric that has crept into the debate over the No Child Left Behind Act.
鈥淚t was a dialogue, as opposed to a one-way message,鈥� said Valerie Woodruff, Delaware鈥檚 secretary of education, comparing last week鈥檚 meeting with earlier ones.
鈥淚t was a give-and-take situation,鈥� said Ted Stilwill, the director of the Iowa Department of Education and the president of the council. 鈥淲e were having a real impact on that conversation.鈥�
Mr. Stilwill and Ms. Woodruff said administration officials listened carefully to the chiefs鈥� concerns that recent announcements to give states flexibility in carrying out the federal law haven鈥檛 gone far enough.
鈥淭here was a positive message on both ends,鈥� said Raymond J. Simon, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, who attended the meeting. 鈥淚t was very apparent that this is of the highest priority for the president.鈥�
Educator in Chief
Last week鈥檚 session was a part of the CCSSO鈥檚 annual spring meeting in Washington. The group鈥檚 members originally were slated to meet with Margaret Spellings, the president鈥檚 top domestic-policy adviser; David Dunn, her deputy who was recently deployed to the Education Department; and Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
But the day of the event, the agenda changed to include President Bush. The chiefs鈥� White House session included a speech by the president and an extended question-and- answer period with him.
The chiefs said that administration officials promised they would no longer criticize them for keeping a balance of federal funds from year to year. The administration had released summaries of how much money states had sitting in the federal treasury waiting to be spent. House Republicans highlighted the issue to counter complaints that the administration hasn鈥檛 provided enough money for the No Child Left Behind Act.
It鈥檚 鈥渋naccurate and unfair鈥� to characterize the money as unspent because federal rules require states to let the money trickle out to districts, said Michael E. Ward, North Carolina鈥檚 state superintendent.
He said he was encouraged that the rhetoric may be toned down, because it鈥檚 a debate 鈥渢hat can escalate into a very adversarial issue.鈥�
The debate has been highly charged politically because the administration is highlighting the No Child Left Behind law as one of its chief domestic accomplishments.
鈥淭hey know they can鈥檛 succeed unless the chiefs are buying into this and doing the heavy lifting,鈥� said Thomas Houlihan, the executive director of the CCSSO.
Separately last week, 14 chief state school officers asked the Education Department for permission to change their states鈥� accountability systems under the federal law to reward schools for growth in student achievement, even if they don鈥檛 reach the goal of all students鈥� achieving proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014.
鈥淲e find [the law鈥檚] requirement that all schools show 鈥榓dequate yearly progress鈥� by reaching a single bar鈥攖he status-bar model鈥攈as had the unintended effect of penalizing those thriving systems,鈥� the chiefs from California and 13 other states wrote in a letter to Mr. Paige.
Staff Writer Michelle R. Davis contributed to this report.
