U.S. Eases ‘No Child’ Law as Applied to Some States

[maddezmom]

Source: NYT

By SAM DILLON
Published: March 19, 2008
The Bush administration, acknowledging that the federal No Child Left Behind law is diagnosing too many public schools as failing, said Tuesday that it would relax the law’s provisions for some states, allowing them to distinguish schools with a few problems from those that need major surgery.

“We need triage,” said Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education.

In a speech in St. Paul, Ms. Spellings said she would use her executive powers to allow potentially far-reaching changes to the way some states carried out the law this year, at a time when efforts by Congress to rewrite the law have stalled.

Under the new program, the federal Department of Education will give up to 10 states permission to focus reform efforts on schools that are drastically underperforming and intervene less forcefully in schools that are raising the test scores of most students but struggling with one group, like the disabled, for instance. The No Child law, which President Bush signed in 2002, was intended to force states to bring all students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014. In six years it has identified 9,000 of the nation’s 90,000 public schools as “in need of improvement,” the law’s term for failing, and experts predict that those numbers could multiply in coming years.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/us/19child.html?_r=1&...

[Debau2005]

1. This law needs to be abandoned not "triaged"

My best friend's oldest son was hydrocephalic, and suffers brain damage and seizures. He just turned 16 and is the love of my life. He can't read, or write and never will, but he can build the most beautiful things with wood. My friend was told when this law was rolled out that her child needed to be reading at grade level within 2 year. Ok, small problem with that, he does not have the capacity to read at kindergarten level, much less grade level.

Every year she has to get a special waiver to exempt him from the push to get him to grade level! Luckily she is in a great school, with excellent special ed facilities, where he is getting occupational training, and is encouraged to do what he does best. Not every parent is so lucky, and not every parent has the means to fight the school boards.

[flashl]

2. Florida's FCAT used to measure student achievement requires 21 years of study btw elem and HS

Clearly, Florida's student 'measurements' were not designed to promote learning but to destroy the public school system. Florida never met the DOE's requirements using waivers.

Its also clear from day one that 'Leave Children Behind': 1) Federal mandate was under funded and 2) it rewards affluent communities.

[ReformedChris]

4. F-CRAP finished up yesterday: 3rd Grade Children can be safe again..

No more endless pressure, no more racing heartbeats, endless fear, and sleepless nights! Oh, they have to take it year after year and get it shoved down their throats in all kinds of different forms/subjects? Guess that "prepares" kids for the real world. I hope the asshats that came up with that ridiculous test realize what they are doing to elementary school children. its truly sickening.

[callous taoboy]

7. We still have math to go out here, but reading is behind us.

I felt dizzy with euphoria after getting that crap behind us. Now, guess what? We are reading for enjoyment and edification. We read things and laugh out loud. Reading was such a drag for my class during the run-up to the test. Now (reaching for antacid tablets) we learn to hate math even more for a few more weeks.

[CRK7376]

3. We are one of the unlucky

ones being affected by NCLB and school overcrowding. Our middle child and daughter want to go to the new high school open 3 years ago that's 3.6 miles from our house. Unfortunately we live in another schools district and the high school we want to transfer our kids to is already way overcrowded and it's BRAND NEW! Part of the rub is that our eldest transfered to this new high school from where we are assigned at the beginning of his Junior year, graduated last year and loved the new school, hated the one he was in that his younger brother and sister are having to attend. They are not happy, they watched they big brother graduate from a great school.

On top of all that, this wonderful school we are assigned to has twice rejected our request for admission elsewhere. Our next appeal is to the County Board of Education, but we've watched them turn down all other requests to. So our other two children will be assigned to a school ten miles from home compared to the one that is less than 4 miles away and it is a school that for the past 2 years has failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress as spelled out in NCLB. It is a school where there have been 157 suspensions the past year compared to the Districts average of 54 suspensions. It is a school where the average age of the book collection is from 1981, last year it was as of 1977, compared to the District average of 1991. Our library has an average of 6.28 books per student compared to the District average of 20.57 books. Our assigned school has the lowest academic average in the District and nearly the lowest in the county, English I scores were 8 points behind the District English I average and the math scores were atrocious! Geometry scores for our assigned school are 23 points behind the District level...NCLB is really working for us. Our rising high school student loves Marching Band and is being forced into a program that barely fields 30 kids in their program compared to the school we wanted that has over 100kids in their band program.

Thanks GW, your NCLB really helped us. Our AG kid is not happy, but will shine where ever he ends up, all his friends are also resigned to attend a poor quality high school. There is alot of discord in our county now. We have also asked to be reassigned to another HS if our primary choice is rejected, but have been told no on that request too. How about those vouchers? We haven't looked into that too much yet, but one option my wife and I were discussing was to obtain a voucher and use the funding from it to pay for our kids to attend the HS in our neighboring county, a good HS only about 7 miles from our house, 3 miles closer than where we're assigned....Plus I used to teach in that county....

I hate NCLB! Why do they build new schools that will be immediately overcrowded upon opening? Makes me nuts. Taxpayers in our County hate to see their taxes go up for something as fundamental as new schools. Heaven forbid they may get smarter, or at least their kids get smarter nor dumber...but then they do follow the GWB school of thought..."Is Our Children Learning"

[callous taoboy]

6. Try teaching to the test. I empathize with you, but I have to actually

cram test-taking crap down kids' throats all day. I used to love my job. NCLB, like everything
Mepublican, has a hidden agenda which is to make public education dry up and blow away.

[Supersedeas]

5. an acknowledgment of Bush's utter failure--again not analyzed by 'experts' on Cable

[struggle4progress]

8. Watch closely: politics will determine who gets a pass