Press Releases
February 2, 2005
Delegation Wins Administration Reversal of "No Child Left Behind" Ruling
Teachers who Satisfy North Dakota Standards to Remain "Highly Qualified"
Washington — U.S. Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Congressman Earl Pomeroy announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Education, after numerous meetings with the delegation, has reversed itself and accepted North Dakota's definition of "highly qualified" for veteran elementary and middle school teachers under the No Child Left Behind law.
The Education Department's reversal removes the threat against most of the 3,800 North Dakota elementary school teachers who were told this fall that they were not considered "highly qualified" under the law. Education officials in North Dakota feared that the federal agency's ruling would prompt a wave of retirements by teachers who would rather leave the classroom than endure onerous training in subjects many have been teaching for years. Approximately 40 percent of elementary teachers in North Dakota are currently eligible to retire.
"This is great news for North Dakota teachers, students, and families. North Dakota teachers are among the tops in the country, and anyone who's been around our schools knows that," the delegation said in a joint statement. "The Education Department's ruling defied common sense and would have left many great teachers behind, causing huge upheaval in our schools. We met again and again with the top officials in the Education Department to explain to them just how ridiculous their ruling was, and we're very pleased that they finally understand how good our North Dakota teachers are and how misguided their earlier ruling was."
"This new ruling would not have come about without the efforts of our Congressional delegation from the moment we received the initial ruling from the Department of Education," said Gloria Lokken, President of the North Dakota Education Association. "Certainly our Governor, state legislators and education association leaders have delivered the same strong message that our people are highly qualified; however, this is a federal law and this simply would not have happened without the lead of the North Dakota Congressional delegation."
