Obama Administration Reforming No Child Left Behind -- With Or Without Congress

[Tx4obama]

Obama Education Waiver Plan Could Result In Individual State Accountability Systems

As students head back to school, the Obama administration is using executive power in an unprecedented move to circumvent a congressional standstill on No Child Left Behind, arguing that the federal education law thwarts states' distinct policymaking abilities.‬

On Monday, the Obama administration said it would use waivers to provide regulatory relief to states, confirming an earlier plan that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan first mentioned in June in light of what he called a "slow-motion train wreck" created by the law.

"Today it's forcing districts into one-size-fits-all solutions that simply don’t work," Duncan said on Monday.

Congress has failed to reauthorize NCLB since 2007. As the decade-old law faces criticism for driving states to narrow their curricula, painting many schools as "failing" in broad terms that don’t measure growth and, in Duncan's words, causing a "dummying down" of standards, the administration will unilaterally provide relief in the form of waivers from some of the law’s mandates in exchange for having the states agree to take on certain yet-to-be-specified reforms.

According to Duncan, the law has encouraged states to lower their standards. For example, he said, congressional inaction allowed a state like Tennessee to delude itself into deeming 91 percent of its students as proficient in math. By applying higher standards, Duncan said, the state "raised the bar," and coped with the reality that only 34 percent of students were actually proficient by "college ready" standards. "In the meantime, states and districts will still have the opportunity to move forward," Duncan said.

SNIP

Rest of article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/obamas-no-child-left-behi_n_921548.html

[pnwmom]

1. I'll never understand why

politicians think that something is wrong if all high school students don't graduate at a "college ready" level. We don't have enough jobs that need a college education as it is. Simply putting more kids through a college-prep program in high school doesn't mean that the jobs will be there.

Why don't we do more to build up vocational, job training, and job related community college programs? As well as re-training for older and unemployed adults? We only need so many lawyers, teachers, etc. with college degrees.

[DesertFlower]

2. hubby and i were just talking about that

the other day.

when i was younger we had a high school where you could learn beauty culture. when you graduated you were ready to start work. i think another HS had a similar program for auto mechanics.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. There used to be funding from the feds for those programs

Not anymore.

[Tx4obama]

7. This will help. See link below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x741

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Huh?

:shrug:

[Tx4obama]

9. Wow! I don't know where that link came from. The correct link is below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x741666

AND

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/276/create-a-community-college-partnership-program/

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. That's not a high school program

Federal funding for voc tech programs in high schools has been cut.

I have no idea whether it was the Bush administration or the Obama administration that cut the funding, but it HAS Been cut.

[Ineeda]

4. A Vocational Technical high school is still viable in my home town

in Massachusetts.
Career electives are offered in subjects such as:

* Auto Body
* Automotive
* Carpentry
* Communications
* Culinary Arts
* Electrical
* Electronics
* Information Technologies
* Graphic Arts
* Business Tech
* Health and Human Services
* Metals
* Plumbing
* Protective Services
* Broadcasting Technology
* Computer Skills

[bvar22]

5. But I thought he didn't have a Magic Wand,

and could ONLY do what Congress lets him do.
Does he have permission from the Republicans? :shrug:

...and what about Joe Lieberman?
What if Joe says "NO!" and stamps his little foot?

[msanthrope]

6. He doesn't. But Congress granted the Executive broad discretionary power when NCLB

was passed in order to enact the provisions. The President is arguing that that broad discretionary power allows him to override the mandates. Essentially, he's shoving NLCB back up the ass of the Congress, with the power that Congress granted to Bush.

What you are now going to see is the President using the broad discretionary power, given to him by CONGRESS--in a way that that Republican majority in the house will not like.

Wait for the "the federal gubamint is takin' over ur schools!' argument to the TP base...