14 States Ask U.S. to Revise Some Education Law Rules (NCLB unworkable)

Fourteen states asked the Bush administration on Wednesday for permission to use alternative methods for showing academic gains under the No Child Left Behind - but GOP Congress will not change law!

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/education/25CHIL.html

14 States Ask U.S. to Revise Some Education Law Rules
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO

Published: March 25, 2004


ASHINGTON, March 24 — Fourteen states asked the Bush administration on Wednesday for permission to use alternative methods for showing academic gains under the No Child Left Behind law.

The 14 states, most of which had their own systems for raising academic performance in place before the federal No Child Left Behind law took effect two years ago, charged that as currently written, the law would brand too many schools "in need of improvement," and thus squander limited resources.<snip>

In a letter to Education Secretary Rod Paige, the 14 chief state school officers wrote that "without any changes to the law, calculations suggest that within a few years, the vast majority of all schools will be identified as in need of improvement. Many of those schools will be given that designation despite having shown steady and significant improvement for all groups of students."

<snip>The state education chiefs acknowledged that the changes they were requesting could not be accommodated within the current law, and asked for Congress to revise the law — something that Congress appears unlikely to consider this year.

Under the federal education law, states must show steady progress toward all students reaching proficiency by 2014. Schools must break down results by grade, economic level, ethnicity and disability, with a specific percentage of students in each subgroup required to achieve grade-level performance until — at least theoretically — all would do so by 2014

There are so many things wrong with NCLB. My state Dem reps seem to have a blind spot for NCLB. Wouldn't take too much to fix it. I'd like to think it's because they realize the fix won't come until Kerry is elected.

GOP Congress.