“This is not just about education, this is absolutely about civil rights,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. (Preston R. Michelson/MNS)
WASHINGTON — Speaking to the nation’s mayors, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan continued his call for an overhaul of the “No Child Left Behind” law on Wednesday.
“We would love to fix it. We think obviously much of it is outdated,” Duncan said at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “The only way we are going to fix it is if the folks here in Washington work in a bipartisan way.”
Last week, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., released a discussion draft of the reauthorization of the 2002 federal law for K-12 public schools, which expired in 2007.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which Alexander leads, began discussing on Wednesday how to revise “No Child Left Behind,” which ties accountability standards to federal funding. Another committee hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Duncan has been outspoken about changing the law, writing an op-ed in The Washington Post and speaking at Seaton Elementary School last week.
Much of the criticism has been about annual testing, which is intended to track the progress of students. Critics argue that there are too many tests and that they distract from classes. The administration has granted 42 states waivers to measure progress in other ways.
Alexander has been critical of those waivers, arguing the Education Department should wait for Congress to set policy. He has also been critical of the one-size-fits-all effect of the current act.
“Testing is getting a lot of attention,” Duncan said. “I think in many places we are doing too much testing. … Too much is too much.”
However, Duncan said he does believe testing should be part of any new education law.
“We cannot go two to three to four years without knowing how our students are doing,” he said. “Students and parents need to know where they are.”
Prior to “No Child Left Behind,” test results were not be broken down by race, socio-economic status or disabilities.
“This is not just about education, this is absolutely about civil rights,” Duncan said. “Equity has to drive the agenda.”
Instead of adding district tests to state tests, this draft of the education act enables districts to use whatever tests they want, just as long as they are comparable to those at the state level.
