Saving 'No Child Left Behind' From Itself

[debate_junkie]

Saving 'No Child Left Behind' From Itself
Friday, April 20, 2007

By Dan Lips

Conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced a bill that would let states opt out of many of the mandates imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Under the new approach, states would be free to use federal education funds as they see fit, provided they maintain student testing to assess their progress and make the test results publicly available.

Some NCLB supporters charge that the conservative plan would undermine accountability.

Sandy Kress, a former Bush administration education adviser, protested: “Republicans used to stand for rigor and standards, but no money for education. Now they seem to be for the money, but no standards.”

But a closer look suggests that the real threat to accountability and transparency in public
education is NCLB itself. Indeed, the conservative opt-out plan to restore state-level control may be the best option for salvaging accountability for parents and taxpayers.

Now, if we could just get them to stop comparing special education students with Individual Education Plans, against their grade level counterparts, we may see some improvements.

 

[SFLRN]

I agree.
Although I believe more should be done in this area, it is a step in the right direction. The states are much more likely to make wise decisions with the money than any federal regulation can ensure. Moreover, the more localized the control and oversight the more likely it is to be effective. Previous (national) government ventures into education have yielded few tangible results and have created accountability to bureaucrats and not to parents.

 

[ARealConservative]

wow - Bush's liberal policy's are failing.

Didn't see that one coming. :roll:

 

[Ikari]

Scrape the whole thing, it's not needed in the least.

 

[Lightdemon]

Scrape the whole thing, it's not needed in the least.

I couldn't agree more!!

It's a program that doesn't even work. Not to mention the fact that Military Recruiters are garanteed the right to access to the students in public schools because of NCLB.

Under a provision in Title IX of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are required to release the names, addresses, and phone numbers of high school juniors and seniors to "military recruiters," "post secondary educational institutions," and "prospective employers."