If President Bush wants the next version of his signature No Child Left Behind education law to carry his imprint, the White House will have to compromise with a host of disparate groups seeking changes in the 5-year-old act.As Congress starts considering complaints from school districts, governors and others, chances are that a holdup in revising the law as scheduled this year could leave the future of Bush’s domestic legacy to his successor.
States are among the chief stakeholders clamoring to leave their stamp on a new version of the education law, which has riled some state lawmakers and educators to the point of rebellion over its costs, penalties and unprecedented federal oversight of school policy.
“Give me some more flexibility because I think we could do this better,” said Wisconsin Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster, representing the Council of Chief State School Officers, before a joint congressional hearing March 13.
The nation’s governors are gathering suggestions from each other so they can recommend a set of changes to Congress.
“We’re doing something unique,” said Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R), co-chairman of the National Governors Association’s lobbying effort with Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D). “The education issue is front and center now and so … it’s important to take a key leadership role.”
The federal law, which Congress passed in 2001 with bipartisan support, mandates annual testing in reading and math for grades 3-8 and once in high school with the goal of making all students proficient in the subjects by 2013-14. Schools that fail to make annual progress face a variety of penalties, from being forced to pay for tutoring to being taken over by the state.
The law is up for reauthorization this year, meaning Congress has a chance to change it.
However, experts polled by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, an education think tank, say it’s unlikely that No Child Left Behind will be reauthorized until after the presidential election. Until it’s renewed, the law will continue in its current form.
Critics have decried the law for its focus on testing, federal intrusion into what traditionally has been a local issue, and what they say is an unrealistic goal of proficiency by 100 percent of students.
This from StateLine.org.
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