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Bipartisan Study Assails No Child Left Behind Act
The New York Times ^ | February 23, 2005 | Sam Dillon

Posted on 2/23/2005, 11:25:37 PM by nyg4168

A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers that studied the effectiveness of President Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative assailed it today as a flawed, convoluted and unconstitutional education reform effort that had usurped state and local control of public schools.

While the report, based on hearings in several cities, praised the legislation's goal of ending the gap in scholastic achievement between white and minority students, most of its 77 pages was devoted to a detailed inventory and discussion of the initiative's flaws.

It found that the law undermined other school improvement efforts already under way in many states, and it said that the law's accountability system, which punishes schools whose students fail to improve steadily on standardized tests, relied on the wrong indicators.

"Under N.C.L.B., the federal government's role has become excessively intrusive in the day-to-day operations of public education," the National Conference of State Legislatures said in its panel's report. "The task force does not believe that N.C.L.B. is constitutional."

Several educational experts said the task force had accurately captured the views of thousands of state lawmakers and local educators. If so, then the Bush administration may face a growing chorus of challenges to the law and to the Department of Education's implementation of it over the coming months.

Nine state legislatures are currently considering various challenges to the law, and the Utah Senate is poised to vote on a bill already passed by its House that would require Utah education officials to give higher priority to state education laws than to the federal law.

Several business and other groups that strongly support the federal No Child Left Behind legislation took issue with the report, saying that the report's authors had overstated the quality of the state programs that they said the federal government had hampered.

In preparing their report, task force members worked for 10 months and held a series of public hearings in Washington, Chicago, Salt Lake City, New York, Santa Fe and Portland. The panel also met for deliberations in Savannah, Ga.

"They went out and heard lots of things from different people around the country, and this report reflects the breadth and depth of what they heard," said Patricia Sullivan, director of the Washington-based Center on Education Policy, who attended hearings in two cities.

An assistant secretary of education, Ray Simon, met with members of the task force in Washington today to discuss the report.

"The department will continue to work with every state to address their concerns and make this law work for their children," the Education Department said in a statement. "But the report could be interpreted as wanting to reverse the progress we've made."

It added, "No Child Left Behind is bringing new hope and new opportunity to families throughout America, and we will not reverse course."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: education; nclb
I agree that the federal government has no business messing around with control of public education. This is not an issue that belogs to Washington, this is a state and local issue. Kill N.C.L.B. before it kills our schools.
1 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:25:39 PM by nyg4168
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To: nyg4168

Kill all federal involvement in education before it kills our schools.


2 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:30:14 PM by My2Cents ("Friends stab you from the front." -- Oscar Wilde)
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To: nyg4168
Kill N.C.L.B. before it kills our schools.

?????????

Actually, I think we would be better off turning the public school system over to the Department of Defense.  Lackland and Randolph Air Base schools in San Antonio each rank at the top for academic excellence.  Only the richer school districts, such as Alamo Heights, perform equally well.

NEA, not NCLB, is killing your schools.

3 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:34:03 PM by Racehorse (Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.)
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To: My2Cents

Dissolve the NEA!!!!


4 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:34:46 PM by Stellar Dendrite (PROPHETIC list of Communist goals SPREAD THE WORD!: http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm)
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To: Stellar Dendrite

You got it Get rid of the NEA,


5 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:41:44 PM by sgtbono2002
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To: nyg4168

If education was a business it would be out of business.


6 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:47:57 PM by Proud2BeRight
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To: sgtbono2002

Here in Oklahoma we have the Oklahoma Association of Public Educators (APOE) as the alternative to OEA which is nothing more than union teachers. APOE is gaining ground here in our State and they call for teacher and student accountability. NCLB is not the problem -- it is the teacher's union. Only reason for NCLB is that the States and local districts are not doing their job -- would rather protect union teachers.

APOE is nationwide and would recommend if a state does not have an active organization, then teachers need to form a State APOE to oppose the Union teachers and get some accountability in the schools.


7 posted on 2/23/2005, 11:53:56 PM by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Increase Republicans in Congress in 2006!)
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To: nyg4168

The whole idea is based on the flawed premise that all children can learn above average every year; sounds like a serious attempt to attain the impossible but humorous Lake Wo Begone model.


8 posted on 2/24/2005, 12:04:40 AM by Old Professer (As truth and fiction blend in the Mixmaster of History almost any sauce can be made palatable.)
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To: nyg4168
"I agree that the federal government has no business messing around with control of public education."

Just a thought. The gov't is charged with providing for the common defense. Given the increasing sophisticated nature of weapons and warfare, does it not behoove the gov't to assure that we have a literate population to wage war and defend of the country? If the smartbombs are smarter than the people manning them we're dooomed. LOL
9 posted on 2/24/2005, 12:11:58 PM by Smartaleck (Tom Delay TX: (Dems have no plan, no agenda, no solutions.))
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To: Stellar Dendrite
"Dissolve the NEA!!!!"

Overrun it with Conservative members?
10 posted on 2/24/2005, 12:14:05 PM by Smartaleck (Tom Delay TX: (Dems have no plan, no agenda, no solutions.))
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To: Old Professer
"The whole idea is based on the flawed premise that all children can learn above average every year;"

A long time friend of mine, who is a teacher, echoed similar sentiments. She asks (paraphrasing) "how am I to be held responsible for a kid dumb as a box of rocks not being able to pass a test?"

I would submit that even if the NCLB is flawed at least it got schools thinking about and moving in the right direction after so many years of not being held accountable?
11 posted on 2/24/2005, 12:20:35 PM by Smartaleck (Tom Delay TX: (Dems have no plan, no agenda, no solutions.))
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To: Smartaleck

Nope, just dissolve it.


12 posted on 2/24/2005, 6:28:58 PM by Stellar Dendrite (PROPHETIC list of Communist goals SPREAD THE WORD!: http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm)
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To: Stellar Dendrite

"Nope, just dissolve it."

Go for it.

In the mean time others will seek more practical action. :-)


13 posted on 2/24/2005, 6:47:12 PM by Smartaleck (Tom Delay TX: (Dems have no plan, no agenda, no solutions.))
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To: Smartaleck

So tell me what is "practical" about keeping a nationalized education organization?


14 posted on 2/24/2005, 9:22:20 PM by Stellar Dendrite (PROPHETIC list of Communist goals SPREAD THE WORD!: http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm)
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To: Stellar Dendrite
"So tell me what is "practical" about keeping a nationalized education organization?"

Without knowing whether whatever replaces it will be worse if you dissolve it, why not effect change from within.

By analogy, why bulldoze the whole building because you don't like a few features when all that's really needed is a little re-modeling?
15 posted on 2/24/2005, 11:15:14 PM by Smartaleck (Av "Never argue with an idiot, he'll bring you down to his level - then beat you with experience.")
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