Eight More States Granted NCLB Waivers

By Cindy Long The Obama administration approved eight additional states for flexibility from key provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) yesterday, bringing the total number of states with waivers to 19. Eighteen other states and Washington, D.C. also applied for waivers and their applications are still under review. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced [...]

NCLB’s 10th Anniversary No Cause For Celebration

By Sara Robertson No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law by former President George W. Bush 10 years ago this Sunday. NCLB changed the focus of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), from emphasizing equal access and closing achievement gaps in education, to focusing on high stakes testing, labeling, and sanctions. NEA [...]

Parent and Community Outreach in the Spotlight

By Alain Jehlen and Sara Robertson NEA President Dennis Van Roekel and Michigan Education Association President Steve Cook joined forces to bring the National Education Association’s Standing Strong for Students Back-to-School Tour to the Detroit area on Tuesday. The day began with local radio interviews, outreach to education bloggers, and breakfast with some two-dozen local Association [...]

NCLB Gets Curiouser and Curiouser

By Alain Jehlen Eighty-nine percent of Florida’s schools are subpar according to No Child Left Behind. But there’s a way thousands of Florida students can quickly become “proficient”: move to another state. These are just a few of the recent signs that Alice in Wonderland has come to America’s public schools as the 2014 deadline [...]

Public Schools and Charter Schools: Who’s Leaving Kids Behind?

By Alain Jehlen Many political leaders and foundations are pushing charter schools as the key to closing achievement gaps. The U.S. Congress is preparing to take up changes in the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law, and turning more schools over to charter operators may be a feature of the overhaul. So let’s take a [...]

President Obama Calls for NCLB Fix, Testing to Stay Central

At an appearance at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia on Monday, President Obama outlined his vision for reforming the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which he called on Congress to complete before school reconvenes in the fall. “We need to make sure we’re graduating students who are ready for college and a career,” [...]

NEA President Shares Thoughts on NCLB With Washington Post

By Dennis Van Roekel first appeared in Valerie Strauss’ The Answer Sheet Nine years ago this week President George Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act that: a. Stunted the creativity and critical thinking skills of American public school children b. Prevented teachers from tapping into the full potential of their students [...]

ESEA Blueprint Not Rooted in Research

By Amy Buffenbarger Policy experts at the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) recently reviewed the quality of research represented in the Obama administration’s ESEA Blueprint for Reform to see if the education policies contained in the blueprint are grounded in a strong research base. The short answer: no. Two months after the blueprint was released, [...]

Critics Cite Flaws in Los Angeles Times Teacher Ranking

By Cynthia McCabe A child is more than a test score, but according to one metro newspaper, his teacher isn’t. The Los Angeles Times this week touched off a firestorm with a piece announcing it would publicize a searchable database of all L.A. Unified School District teachers, ranking them by name on the basis of [...]

Ravitch Blasts So-Called ‘Reforms’

By Alain Jehlen NEA Friend of Education award winner Diane Ravitch electrified the Representative Assembly Tuesday with an impassioned call for the defense of public education and the teaching profession. “The current ‘education reform’ movement is pushing bad ideas,” she said. “It wants to end tenure and seniority, to silence teachers’ unions, to privatize large [...]

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