On Dec. 9, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of No Child Left Behind, echoing the House and sending the measure to the White House, where President Obama quickly added his signature. The bill dramatically scales back the role of the federal government in public education
No Child Left Behind has proved flawed. The amount of high-stakes testing is part of the problem. So are the ill-conceived consequences and the impractical objective, all students proficient in reading and math by 2014, especially in view of the inadequate resources committed.
For those who argue the federal government has been “micromanaging” the education system, this amounts to an advance. What should trouble is the record of too many states, including Ohio. Before and after No Child Left Behind, they have backed away from the politically unpopular and difficult task of holding schools to higher standards, not to mention investing adequately to help raise the level of academic performance.
Supporters of the of overhaul talk about having maintained “federal guardrails” to ensure access to the necessary education. Yet the worry is, the federal government has lost sufficient leverage, and, as a result, the prospects for narrowing the achievement gap have dimmed.
So, as much as No Child Left Behind needed repair work … this legislation risks the country taking a step back. It risks exacerbating the problems that afflicted public education before Congress acted 13 years ago.
