Can No Child Left Behind Get Worse?
Draft NCLB bill disappointing
By Dan Lips
The Goldwater Institute
September 20, 2007
Congress is considering the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, but parents and taxpayers shouldn't get their hopes up. An early draft of the new NCLB bill suggests that congressional leaders are working to make the already flawed program worse.
The House Education and Labor Committee's plan would allow states to incorporate "multiple indicators" into their testing systems. Schools that fail to meet state benchmarks on reading and math tests could earn "extra credit" - and escape school reform requirements - if their students perform well in other areas, such as graduation rates and college preparation.
The committee's plan would also reduce the penalties for schools that fail to meet state benchmarks. Schools that miss "adequate yearly progress" benchmarks for only one or two subgroups of populations would not be required to provide new options to disadvantaged children. Suburban schools that generally perform well but fail to improve the performance of minority children would effectively be let off the hook.
Despite extensive modifications, the committee's draft bill doesn't solve NCLB's main problem. It does not remove requirements for ever-increasing gains in student performance, which pressures states to dumb down their tests to avoid federal sanctions and bad publicity.
The committee's full plans will become clearer in the days ahead. But the overall thrust of the legislation is unlikely to budge. Parents and taxpayers can expect No Child Left Behind to only get worse.
Dan Lips is education analyst at the Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow with the Goldwater Institute.
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