A decade after the No Child Left Behind
federal law was enacted, “President Obama freed 10 states from some of its crucial
provisions.”[1] The states’ freedom from a deadline for bringing all students to
proficiency in reading and math by 2014 came with strings—accepting Obama’s own
educational agenda, which focuses on accountability and teacher effectiveness
and includes higher standards than the ones set in NCLB. Many state education
officials have criticized the 2014 deadline as “an impossibly high bar” that
“did not take into account the needs of some of the most disadvantaged
children.” In announcing the waivers from the deadline, Obama said that the
goals of NCLB should be met “in a way that doesn’t force teachers to teach to
the test, or encourage schools to lower their standards to avoid being labeled
as failures.”[2] However, if the standards are to be even higher, might even fewer schools wind up passing—even if the
deadline is extended?
The full essay is at "Obama's Educational Waivers."
1. Winnie Hu, “10 States Are Given Waivers from Education Law,” The New York Times, February 10, 2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Personal Correspondance.
2. Ibid.
3. Personal Correspondance.
