Obama to propose big changes to “No Child Left Behind”

Big changes are coming for the school system. Via Google Images.

Today, President Obama is expected to propose an overhaul to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the federal law created in 2002 that changed education in the U.S. The result could be historic changes in the way schools are evaluated.

One of the expected changes would be the removal of the mandate that every student pass state tests by 2013-2014, a cornerstone of Bush administration education reforms. President Obama is expected to propose that states come up with their own plans to bring students up to expectations in the most troubled schools.

Labels would be removed from schools that had been listed as “failing” for not making passing rates on state achievement tests. States would be given more flexibility in spending federal poverty dollars that had to go for special tutoring for struggling students under NCLB.

One of the controversial ideas that will be put forth is the idea of state waivers to NCLB, which would allow states to apply for a waiver to change their methods of testing students and evaluating the performance of schools and districts as early as November. This will most likely take place because the Obama administration has been unable to reach a deal with Congress to change the law that put No Child Left Behind reforms into effect. The U.S. Department of Education is moving forward with the waivers as a way to get around that law, something that will most likely cause resistance from Congress. There are those in Congress who feel that President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arnie Duncan are going too far. 

Source: Chicagotribune.com