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April 23, 2008
More is worse for NCLBWhen it comes to NCLB, more is not better. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' proposed NCLB rules yesterday add many new requirements for states, school districts and schools (see here), but make no improvement to the law's accountability structure, which has been a central flaw that identifies so many schools as failing.
From requiring states to use a uniform calculation for high school graduation rates and disaggregate the rates by student subgroups, to restricting the use of unspent funds for choice and tutoring, Spellings' proposed regulations simply pile on more burdens for schools.
BoardBuzz can't help but asks how these new requirements are going to improve student learning and achievment? Uniform graduation rates sound good, but where is the support for state and district capacity? According to its own Inspector General, ED didn't do its job early on to insist that states develop the data systems needed for accurate graduation rates.
And instead of helping schools and districts implement best practices for school choice and tutoring, the rules tie the hands of educators to use unspent funds and create burdensome paperwork districts must submit to states. Finally, BoardBuzz questions whether Spellings actually has the authority to make some of these changes to the law. With the lack of congressional action, Spellings seems to be playing the role of a lawmaker.
NSBA believes that ED's piecemeal approach to change the law is not a substitute for reauthorization.
Speaking of which, if the sounding of the death knell for reauthorizing NCLB had not already occurred (plenty believe we crossed that mark some time ago), this week has left little doubt that this Congress and this administration will not complete their work. Yeah - imagine that. A bit of a dog-bites-man storyline.
The adminstration's regulatory moves make it patently clear they won't be partners in a reauthorization. They will take matters into their own hands and then ride off into the sunset. Meantime, earlier today at a National Press Club event, Representative George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, left no room for confusion on where he stands, essentially saying that as long as the administration won't pony up the resources or even partake in a serious discussion about funding, he won't be moving any NCLB legislation. NSBA can certainly attest to the frustrations of local districts over the paltry federal funding our schools have received and the Feds' unwillingness (because it isn't a true lack of resources) to fulfill its financial promises.
But we have to ask: who benefits from this unfortunate game? Call it the Washington shuffle. Congress and the White House pointing fingers about which is to blame for inaction on a law that all realize is deeply flawed. Who benefits? It certainly isn't the nation's schoolchildren.
Posted April 23, 2008 1:54 PM | No Child Left Behind
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