Give our schools an A-PLUS
Text 
No Comments [ Add Comment ]A
s school districts across Utah release their respective compliance data required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, the debate over NCLB reauthorization is at a rolling boil.
Utah, it should be noted, was the first to confront Washington in what has become a nationwide revolt against certain provisions of NCLB. So nervous was the Bush administration about Utah's bellyaching that it dispatched a small army of Department of Education officials and, finally, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to Utah's capital city in an attempt to quell the uprising.
That was then, but the grumbling has long since spread to other states.
Bush's hallmark education legislation will likely be refashioned into something the state's find more palatable and, more importantly, manageable.
We have said many times before in this space that the well-intentioned NCLB is inflexible and counterproductive. We don't support calls to scrap the law, but we do recognize that it needs major surgery to become fair and helpful, rather than unjust and punitive.
No Child Left Behind pins federal funding -- which states require to fund important parts of public education, especially in underfunded states like Utah -- to mandated testing and performance results. But its ever-increasing demands on performance have led some states to find creative ways around reporting rules and to reduce testing difficulty.
Furthermore, its inflexibility is a lightning rod for criticism. For example, NCLB lacks exceptions for special-education students, who are -- illogically -- tested at the same levels as their higher-functioning peers. That's foolish and a recipe for failure any way you look at it.
Given these circumstances, we find it hopeful that some members of Congress are offering a reasonable compromise. It's called the A-PLUS Act -- Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success -- and would allow states to opt out of NCLB, but keep their funding if they agree to reach agreements with federal education officials concerning testing and reporting standards. In theory, each state could create its own programs based on its own unique needs, demographics, etc., freeing it up to target local goals rather than one-size-fits-all national standards.
In addition to returning education authority to the states, the A-PLUS Act would also reduce the need to employ bureaucrats whose principal job has been to comply with NCLB, saving money that could instead be spent on educating students.
That, after all, should be goal No. 1.
Add Your Comment
