Another year comes to a close and we look forward to what the New Year holds. One of the top priorities for me in 2006 is to build upon the improvements made to our education system since the bipartisan enactment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. After all, our children are the future of our great nation, and they deserve a quality education to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st Century.

In Congress, we have worked to improve our schools by holding them accountable to educate every child regardless of income level or location. We passed NCLB into law to ensure all students become proficient at reading and math and to close the achievement gap that exists between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. When performance is measured and schools are held accountable, every child can succeed. Recently, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported on our country's progress in achieving these goals. Known as the "nation's report card," the NAEP showed that student test scores have steadily improved in reading and mathematics. Larger gains occurred among disadvantaged and minority students who had previously lagged behind without strong accountability systems focused on high achievement for all students.

More specifically, America's nine-year-olds are posting the best scores in reading and math in the history of this report. Thirteen-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test has ever recorded. An example of this progress in Nevada is Reno's Anderson Elementary School, which was one of 12 Nevada schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets twice in a row and one of just two schools to fail AYP in three consecutive years in 2002. In 2003–2004, the implementation year of the comprehensive school-wide plan, the school saw a remarkable turnaround. Anderson exceeded its AYP requirements, increasing the percentage of proficient students by 10 to over 50 percent in every subcategory. In fact, the achievement was so high that Anderson joined an elite group of just nine Washoe County elementary schools that earned 'High Achieving' status.

I am working to build upon this progress in 2006. I previously worked with the Department of Education to provide more flexibility for our rural schools working to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements. Currently, I am working with our local and state educators to determine other areas that may also need additional flexibility from the federal regulations. I will also continue to fight for increased federal funds to ensure that Nevada's schools can fully implement the rules and adequately meet the goals of No Child Left Behind. Our children are our future, and I am committed to ensuring that no child is left behind in Nevada.