Relief ahead for states from No Child Left Behind law, but with strings

States can be excused from some certain requirements of No Child Left Behind, the US education reform law, the Obama administration said Monday. But it wants them to adopt different reforms.

States are likely to get relief from some of No Child Left Behind?s most onerous requirements this fall, the Obama administration announced Monday.

Skip to next paragraph

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that given Congress?s failure to reauthorize the act ? which expired more than three years ago ? he will grant conditional waivers to states to free them from what many say are unrealistic requirements for student performance.

?We can?t afford to have the law of the land have so many perverse incentives, or disincentives, to the kind of progress we want to see,? said Secretary Duncan in a press briefing Monday. For states that are willing to align themselves with the Obama administration?s priorities ? including higher statewide academic standards and targeted plans to address the worst-performing schools ? he said that ?we want to give them a lot more flexibility.?

Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), states are supposed to be moving toward a goal of proficiency in reading and math by 2014, for the total student body. As more and more schools fail to meet their targets, states and districts find themselves under increasing sanctions and ever more restricted about how they spend federal money ? leaving many states clamoring for relief.

In recent months, several states have already asked for waivers, while Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota have simply announced that they plan to ignore parts of the law.

Secretary Duncan, using figures that appear significantly inflated, told Congress back in March that unless the law is fixed some 80 percent of schools might be labeled as failing by this fall.

While agreement is widespread that the law needs fixing ? and even that waivers from some requirements may be in order ? Duncan has generated controversy by signaling that he plans to tie such waivers to other reforms. Details won?t be announced for another month, but such reforms are likely to include higher standards, teacher evaluation systems, and better use of data, among other things ? all areas the administration has consistently emphasized.

?It?s a really novel interpretation of waiver authority ? not simply requesting that states demonstrate they?ll comply with the spirit of the law, or that states will find other ways to achieve NCLB?s ends, but instead offering to let states evade federal law if they promise to do something else that Obama happens to like,? says Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, articulating a frequent criticism of the proposal.

Conservative lawmakers have already bristled at what they see as federal overstepping and too much intrusion into local education authority, and have questioned the legality of Duncan?s plan.

?I remain concerned that temporary measures instituted by the [Education] Department, such as conditional waivers, could undermine the committee's efforts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.,? said Rep. John Kline (R) of Minnesota, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in a statement.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/PxpD8hacp_k/Relief-ahead-for-states-from-No-Child-Left-Behind-law-but-with-strings

jade slash borders books new york times weather chicago borders phil collins