Obama to issue No Child Left Behind waivers to states

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

President Obama will excuse states from key parts of No Child Left Behind, the federal education law, if they adopt certain education reforms in exchange for greater flexibility in deciding how to measure school performance.

The Obama administration offered the first details Thursday of the highly anticipated program, with as many as 45 states expected to participate.

States are chiefly interested in exemptions from a provision of the law that calls for every student to be proficient in math and reading by 2014, with the risk of escalating sanctions for schools that do not comply.

State officials and local educators call that goal unrealistic and its penalties unfair, and have been clamoring for relief. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that by next year, more than 80 percent of schools across the nation will be labeled as failures under the law, although some experts dispute that figure.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/obama-to-issue-no-child-left-behind-waivers-to-states/2011/09/22/gIQAqGTnoK_story.html

[msongs]

1. the new policy: every child will be above average by 2020 lol nt

[Kolesar]

7. And all the men are good looking! eom

[Demeter]

2. End the insanity--NOW!

Has NCLB never been challenged in court?

[SnakeEyes]

4. On what grounds would it be challenged?

[Demeter]

5. stupidity, cupidity, Bill of Rights, states rights

They can always find grounds to challenge good laws.

[SoapBox]

3. When it gets to "No Dullard Left Behind" let me know...

[ellisonz]

6. Making the best of bad law...

...he'd have to get a repeal through Congress I'd imagine.

[Pavlo]

8. I don't under stand this?

How can a law federal or otherwise be excused?
Would it be like the health care where waivers were issued an I assume
companies that applied were excused? Seems to me that after the education
scandal in Atlanta that they would be monitoring education progress much closer.

In that case it was the inner city kids of the poor and middle class that suffered.
the rich and their school districts will not be affected by this.
Since I feel each is entitled to the best education possible, this might be pandering
to the teachers voting block. I am not sure this is a good idea and that it's just not,
a political thingy

[ellisonz]

9. The Department of Education administers the standards. That fall's within the Executive Department.

Would you rather have teachers trying to inspire and educate kids or teach them to take a test? The Atlanta scandal demonstrates why this is a good decision.

[Pavlo]

27. Atlanta scandal

Would you rather have teachers trying to inspire and educate kids or teach them to take a test?

The teachers in Atalanta did neither, they taught them to cheat.
How sad is that.

[ellisonz]

28. You'd be shocked how far the culture of cheating has penetrated American culture.

From Kindergarten to Grad School to Finances to Policing.

[Sancho]

10. Obama to Propose States Opt-Out from No Child Left Behind Education Law

Source: Fox News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, trying to energize school performance at the local level, wants to give states the flexibility to opt out of provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, a Bush-era education initiative that has grown increasingly unpopular as more schools risk being labeled a failure.
-snip-
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, trying to energize school performance at the local level, wants to give states the flexibility to opt out of provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, a Bush-era education initiative that has grown increasingly unpopular as more schools risk being labeled a failure.
-snip-
Critics say the law placed too much emphasis on standardized tests, raising the stakes so high for school districts that it may have even driven some school officials to cheat. In particular, the requirement that all students be on grade level in math and reading by 2014 has been hugely unpopular.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/23/obama-to-propose-states-opt-out-from-no-child-left-behind-education-law/

---

I'd bet that 49 of the 50 states will ask for a waiver of NCLB before sundown...

[dkf]

11. Lame. So does he believe in it or not?

I have no idea. This is getting way too political.

[Pirate Smile]

12. Congress needs to act but, of course, they can't do anything. It has to be renewed or modified or..?

The Obama Administration has to deal with the fallout.

[Sancho]

13. The high-stakes testing rules have been stupid since the beginning of NCLB

Good schools get graded "F" because of weird demographic requirements...states don't know how much "annual yearly progress" really is...every state makes it's own test. Mostly the law has resulted in cheating and manipulation of student placements.

[bemildred]

14. So the whole NCLB deal was just another rathole to throw school funding into. nt

[saras]

24. Yep. It's a Bush plan - what did you expect, functional education?

[WingDinger]

15. Bad precident, they will do the same to HCR.

[elleng]

16. Posted yesterday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x628017

[Honeycombe8]

17. I think that program hasn't worked very well. I think. There may be

disagreement on that, but I've heard in past years enough stories about teaching to the test, scores continuing to decline, etc., that leads me to think that there's a growing consensus that it hasn't worked very well or done what it was intended to do.

[AllyCat]

20. The test graders are basically $10/hr "mill" type jobs with no bennies

and training...or not. I think it's a horrible failure.

[me b zola]

18. Never would have thought that I would have voted for a "states rights" president

FFS

[AllyCat]

19. Too bad this is Faux Noise so who knows if it's true, but on this one, I agree

that states should be able to opt out. In fact, I wish the whole dang thing would be scrapped. NCLB is just one step in our race to the bottom. It's a joke.

[Sancho]

21. There was a press conference on tv this morning...

Obama announced the changes in NCLB...

[AllyCat]

22. You mean they reported the truth? They must have embellished it somehow

Anyway, just scrap the whole thing. What a farce. What worries me is what else good ole Arne has up his sleeve besides paying teachers 50 cents an hour to teach.

[newblewtoo]

25. Should they also

be able to 'opt out' of the Department of Education entirely? Seem to me that has long been a state rights winger wet dream.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Too little and way too late

Race to the Top is infinitely worse than NCLB.

[Sancho]

26. Florida spent 125 million on it's FCAT test...and 40 million each year.

to administer and score it. Multiply that by 50 states. There are better ways to spend money on education.