Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Education Alexander Wants States to Control Schools
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 9:24 AM
In a shocker, Alexander praised Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan and tipped his hat to Democrats in Congress.
While all the sponsors of this legislation are Republican senators, many of the ideas were either first advanced or have been worked on in concert with Mr. Obama; his excellent education secretary, Arne Duncan; and Democratic colleagues in both the House and the Senate.We want to continue to work with our colleagues across the aisle and in the House. Our purpose in offering our ideas is to spur progress so we can enact a bill by the end of the year.
Just about everyone agrees No Child Left Behind isn't working. The big complaint is that it sets impossible-to-attain goals. As Alexander notes, nearly 80 percent of U.S. schools soon will fail to meet the adequate yearly progress standards. Seventy percent of Nashville's schools did not meet the law’s requirements this year.
Tired of waiting for Congress to overhaul the law, Duncan is about to give No Child Left Behind waivers to states that agree to Obama administration reforms. Tennessee already has applied for one of those.
"Unfortunately," Alexander writes, "these waivers come with a series of new federal rules, this time without congressional approval, and would make the secretary of education the equivalent of a national school board."
Among other proposals, the senator would make it easier for states to expand charter schools and target more federal money to help the poorest-performing students.
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