No CHild Left Behind's Tenth Anniversary

Happy Birthday NCLB

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind law. It was the cornerstone of President George Bush’s education platform.  It was supposed to increase teacher accountability in the classroom. It was also supposed to raise the level of achievement for America’s public school children. It was supposed to help America “Catch up” with the education systems in other western nations after falling behind for many years. So if NCLB was supposed to be the greatest educational development since the McGuffey Reader, how come there are so many people against it? How come Congress has been reluctant to reauthorize the law?

The No Child Left Behind Law was modeled after a simpler program introduced in Texas when George Bush was governor.

One of the positive platforms to come out of the law was the notion of “highly qualified” teachers. This meant that all teachers had to prove proficiency in the subject that they taught. This required that a teacher complete an appropriate amount of course work in a specific subject area (like mathematics or English), and pass a standardized written examination ( in New Jersey, for example, the approved examination is the Praxis Series).

One of the controversial parts of the law dealt with adequate yearly progress and student performance on standardized test. Essentially this meant that a school’s grade relied on how the students performed on one written test. There are way too many variables to place so much weight on one day of testing out of an entire academic year. Both teachers and students were concerned about factors beyond their control that were impacting the education process.

In an era where there is a public clamor for less government intrusion, there is great deal of discussion as to whether the bill should be reauthorized. Under the 10^th Amendment to the Constitution, anything not specifically delegated to the federal government becomes the purview of the states. So it has been that state government controlled public education in their states- setting standards for both students as well as teachers.

In 2011 President Barak Obama authorized states that they could seek waivers around certain proficiency requirements in exchange for changes favored by the administration.

We truly don’t know where this will all end. It is a sensitive political issue, especially in an election year. Every candidate desires to be the “Education President.”

As always, your comments and input are welcome.