South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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Bill 1031

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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO MEMORIALIZE THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO AMEND THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IMMEDIATELY TO INCLUDE A MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC WAIVER FROM ITS PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR STATES SIMILAR TO SOUTH CAROLINA THAT HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INCREASED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH THEIR OWN STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY REFORMS.

Whereas, South Carolina students have made significant improvements in statewide Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) testing with gains across all grade levels, subjects, and demographic groups; and

Whereas, the state's high school seniors have improved the average Scholastic Aptitude Test score by thirty-eight points; and

Whereas, the national report card "Quality Counts," published by the respected magazine, Education Week, ranked South Carolina No. 1 in the nation for improving teacher quality in both 2003 and 2004, and seventh in the nation for improving academic standards and accountability in 2004; and

Whereas, South Carolina ranks third in the nation in the number of teachers certified by the prestigious National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (3,226); and

Whereas, the Princeton Review ranked South Carolina's testing system as No. 11 in the nation and praised the state's academic proficiency standards as among the nation's most rigorous; and

Whereas, South Carolina is one of only three states in the nation that has increased high school seniors' scores on the American College Testing Services college entrance exam over the past five years despite doubling the number of students who took the exam; and

Whereas, the number of South Carolina first-graders scoring "ready" for school is at an all-time high. The funding and phase-in of full-day kindergarten have dramatically improved school readiness, with the biggest improvements made by minority students and students from low-income families; and

Whereas, scores on the South Carolina High School Exit Exam have improved by 3.8 percentage points in the last three years; and

Whereas, for the fourth consecutive year, South Carolina students are scoring above the national average in reading, language, and math on TerraNova, a nationally standardized test; and

Whereas, South Carolina students have dramatically improved their performance on "The Nation's Report Card," a set of standardized tests administered by the federal government. Fourth-grade math was a major success story in 2003, when only ten states outperformed South Carolina; and

Whereas, South Carolina eighth-graders meet or exceed the international average in the Third International Math and Science Study, which compares test scores of students in thirty-eight nations; and

Whereas, the nonprofit RAND organization's analysis of improvement in student reading and math test scores ranked South Carolina seventeenth among the states; and

Whereas, four independent national studies have confirmed that South Carolina's standards for student academic proficiency are among the nation's most rigorous; and

Whereas, South Carolina is a national leader in service-learning programs, which enable students to develop community service projects linked to their academic studies. Each year, more than 100,000 South Carolina students volunteer more than a million hours of community service through service-learning programs. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina memorialize the Congress of the United States to amend the No Child Left Behind Act immediately to include a mechanism for a waiver from its provisions for school accountability that automatically must be granted to South Carolina and other states that successfully have increased student achievement through their states' standards and accountability reforms.

Be it further resolved that this waiver be made available to a state as long as it maintains its proven standards and accountability programs and does not retreat from or weaken them.

Be it finally resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the South Carolina Congressional Delegation.

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