The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is proposing to overhaul the No Child Left Behind education law, replacing the school accountability system that has slapped a failing label on more than a third of schools, including many that made big gains but just missed their annual targets.
No Child Left Behind prods schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014.
In his budget plan, Obama proposed judging schools differently, looking at student growth and schools’ progress from one year to the next. Schools that do well would get incentives and rewards; schools that do poorly would face intervention and other consequences.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan credited No Child Left Behind with shining a spotlight on children who need the most help. But he told reporters Monday on a conference call the law “does too little to reward progress.”
The president’s budget plan says Obama would recognize and reward schools for helping kids make gains, even if they aren’t yet on grade level.
Administration officials have spent recent weeks discussing their goals in meetings with education groups. Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, said “this administration is not going to retreat” from pushing poor-performing schools to do better.
“The reality is, less might be expected of some, but more will be expected of others,” said Haycock, who participated in the meetings.
There are no details yet; officials have spoken only broadly about their plan.
Championed by President George W. Bush and signed into law in 2002, No Child Left Behind is overdue for a rewrite and Obama hopes Congress will pass a new law this year.
Critics argue the law’s annual reading and math tests have forced other subjects like music and art from the classroom and that schools were promised billions of dollars that never showed up.
