82 percent of US schools may be labeled
'failing'
(AP) – 1 hour ago
An estimated 82 percent of U.S. schools could be labeled as
"failing" under the nation's No Child Left Behind Act this
year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday.
The Department of Education estimates the number of schools not meeting
targets will skyrocket from 37 to 82 percent in 2011 because states are
toughening their standards to meet the requirements of the law. The
schools will face sanctions ranging from offering tutoring to closing
their doors.
"No Child Left Behind is broken and we need to fix it now,"
Duncan said in a statement. "This law has created a thousand ways
for schools to fail and very few ways to help them
succeed."
Duncan delivered the news in remarks to a House education and work force
committee hearing, in urging lawmakers to rewrite the Bush-era act. The
law was established in 2002 and many education officials and experts
argue it is overdue for changes.
President Barack Obama has highlighted reforming the act as a priority
for his administration, and both Democrats and Republicans have agreed
that it needs to be changed though disagreements remain on
how.
The current law sets annual student achievement targets designed with the
goal of having all students proficient in math and reading by 2014, a
standard now viewed as wildly unrealistic.
Duncan said the law has done well in shining a light on achievement gaps
among minority and low-income students, as well as those who are still
learning English or have disabilities. But he said the law is loose on
goals and narrow on how schools get there when it should be the
opposite.
"We should get out of the business of labeling schools as failures
and create a new law that is fair and flexible, and focused on the
schools and students most at risk," Duncan said.
The Department of Education said its estimate was based on four years of
data and the assuming all schools would improve at the same rate as the
top quartile.
"Even under these assumptions, 82 percent of America's schools could
be labeled 'failing' and, over time, the required remedies for all of
them are the same which means we will really fail to serve the students
in greatest need," Duncan said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gPmjfDMN5nHOpeSIZYLwkVfKAHGQ?docId=c7dc0757afd54b5ca2836c00de44535f
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
