Little-Acorn
Well-Known Member
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/duncan-states-will-get-school-testing-wa
Obama Administration Exempting Schools From Federal Law’s Testing Mandate
Monday, August 08, 2011
by DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, Associated Press
(AP) - State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn't answered the call.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break.
The plan to offer waivers to all 50 states, as long as they meet other school reform requirements, comes at the request of President Barack Obama, Duncan said. More details on the waivers will come in September, he said. (In other words, we'll have to pass the waivers to find out what's in them. -LA)
The goal of the No Child Left Behind law is to have every student proficient in math and reading by 2014. States have been required to bring more students up to the math and reading standards each year, based on tests that usually take place each spring. The step-by-step ramping up of the 9-year-old law has caused heartburn in states and most school districts, because more and more schools are labeled as failures as too few of their students meet testing goals.
(Note to the Obama administration: The problem isn't that they are being labeled as failures. The problem is that they are failing. They keep turning out students who can barely write their names, can't read a job application, can't add up the change in their pockets. Has anyone stopped to think of the harm this does to the students trying to make it in a civilized world?
Obama is merely offering to remove the labels, instead of fixing the failures.
Gotta love that "leadership", eh? - LA)
Obama Administration Exempting Schools From Federal Law’s Testing Mandate
Monday, August 08, 2011
by DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, Associated Press
(AP) - State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn't answered the call.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break.
The plan to offer waivers to all 50 states, as long as they meet other school reform requirements, comes at the request of President Barack Obama, Duncan said. More details on the waivers will come in September, he said. (In other words, we'll have to pass the waivers to find out what's in them. -LA)
The goal of the No Child Left Behind law is to have every student proficient in math and reading by 2014. States have been required to bring more students up to the math and reading standards each year, based on tests that usually take place each spring. The step-by-step ramping up of the 9-year-old law has caused heartburn in states and most school districts, because more and more schools are labeled as failures as too few of their students meet testing goals.
(Note to the Obama administration: The problem isn't that they are being labeled as failures. The problem is that they are failing. They keep turning out students who can barely write their names, can't read a job application, can't add up the change in their pockets. Has anyone stopped to think of the harm this does to the students trying to make it in a civilized world?
Obama is merely offering to remove the labels, instead of fixing the failures.
Gotta love that "leadership", eh? - LA)
