President Michael Ortiz Named to Bi-Partisan, Independent Commission on No Child Left Behind

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President Michael Ortiz Named to Bi-Partisan, Independent Commission on No Child Left Behind
President J. Michael Ortiz has been named to the bi-partisan independent Commission on No Child Left Behind.

President Michael Ortiz has been named to the bi-partisan independent Commission on No Child Left Behind. Congress is scheduled to begin reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2007, and over the next 12 to 18 months the commission will conduct a high level, independent and bipartisan analysis of No Child Left Behind.

“I am honored to be selected for this important commission and look forward to the challenges ahead,” says Ortiz. “We are going to review this program in the most appropriate and efficient way, by analyzing data so as to provide Congress with the best possible recommendations.”

The Commission on No Child Left Left Behind is co-chaired by former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and former Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes. The commission represents a vast cross section of America’s key education stakeholders.  Commission members include:

  • Craig Barrett, chairman of the board, Intel Corporation
  • Christopher Edley, Jr, dean, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
  • Eugene Garcia, dean, Arizona State University, School of Education
  • Judith E. Heumann, adviser on Disability and Development, World Bank Group
  • Thomas Y. Hobart, Jr.,  former New York State United Teachers president
  • Jaymie Reeber Kosa, middle school teacher, West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, Princeton, New Jersey
  • Andrea Messina, vice chairman, Charlotte County Schools, School Board, Florida
  • J. Michael Ortiz, president, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
  • James Pughsley, former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Edward B. Rust Jr., chairman and CEO, State Farm Insurance Companies
  • John Theodore Sanders, executive chairman Cardean Learning Group and co-chair of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future
  • Jennifer Smith, director, Principal Leadership Initiative, District of Columbia Public Schools
  • Ed Sontag, senior adviser and acting deputy director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

“In 2001, President Bush and Republicans and Democrats in Congress came together to develop the No Child Left Behind Act.  It is time for us to join together once again to ensure that our Nation continues to close the achievement gap,” says Thompson.

The commission will use several means to gather information and public input for its recommendations. This includes hosting five national hearings focusing on teachers, assessments, accountability, and sanctions and incentives. Another key element in the commission’s efforts will be its Web site: www.nclbcommission.org, which includes background information on the No Child Left Behind Act, updates on Commission activities, and state-by-state academic achievement data. The Web site allows users to submit their concerns, ideas and thoughts about NCLB directly to the commission. Lastly, the commission staff will issue a series of white papers that highlight key NCLB policy issues. These papers will be available on the Commission Web site.

Housed at the Aspen Institute, the commission is funded by some of the top education foundations in the nation, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Spencer Foundation.