Thursday, February 19, 2004

Opposition to 'No Child Left Behind' Is Snowballing

First, Vermont said it would not spend any state money implementing President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' education "reform" act.

Then Virginia adopted a resolution critical of the law and asking for a state waiver from its provisions.

Then the Utah House of Representatives passed a law saying no "local" monies could be used to implement what the federal government wasn't willing to pay for.

Now then. "Over the past few days, Republican legislators in Arizona and Minnesota have introduced bills that would allow the states to reject parts of No Child Left Behind or opt out of its provisions. The legislatures of at least 10 other states ... have adopted resolutions critical of the law or requested waivers from the Education Department."
(Story in this morning's Washington Post)

"While the protests have yet to become a nationwide rebellion, some analysts predict that the movement to opt out of the program will gather momentum as more and more schools are put on watch lists required by the law that designate them 'in need of improvement.' As many as half the schools in some states have failed to meet the law's complicated definition of 'adequate yearly progress' in student test scores, triggering a range of costly remedial measures and sanctions."

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