Re: Bill Clinton: Fix NCLB

[aburke5054@aol.com]

It's hard to believe that Bill Clinton would be criticizing a 
Republican educational initiative and it's probably just a coincidence 
that Clinton ties Ted Kennedy with NCLB after Ted endorses Obama.  Be 
that as it may, NCLB does not in fact allow school districts to select 
tests and passing scores and it is not an "unfunded mandate."

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy 
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 7:06 pm
Subject: [arn-l] Bill Clinton: Fix NCLB


BILL CLINTON: FIX BUSH EDUCATION LAW

Associated Press -- February 1, 2008


Tempe, Arizona -- Former President Clinton said that if his wife is
elected president she would radically change the "No Child Left Behind
Act," which he described as an education disaster initially supported
not only by President Bush, but liberal icon Ted Kennedy.


Clinton's association of Kennedy with the No Child Left Behind Act - a
federal education law unpopular with public school teachers, a key
Democratic party constituency - came just days after the Massachusetts
senator passed over Hillary Rodham Clinton to endorse her rival for the
Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama.


"I want you to think about this, and I have to say, this was a train
wreck that was not intended. No Child Left Behind was supported by
George Bush and Senator Ted Kennedy and everybody in between. Why?
Because they didn't talk to enough teachers before they did that,"
Clinton told more than 2,400 people in a speech Thursday night at
Arizona State University.


Hillary Clinton, a New York senator, also initially supported the No
Child Left Behind law but has since said it has not been properly
financed or run, and should be replaced. She has proposed $10 billion
for universal preschool, more money for special education, and
incentives for teachers who work in places and on subjects where
shortages exist.


Obama, an Illinois senator, has said he also would change No Child Left
Behind "so that we're not just teaching to a test and crowding out
programs like art and music." He has also said he would encourage but
not require universal pre-kindergarten programs, expand teacher
mentoring programs and reward teachers with higher pay not tied to
standardized test scores in an $18 billion plan to be paid for in part
by delaying elements of moon and Mars missions.


Bush modeled the federal No Child Left Behind Act on a Texas education
law adopted while he was governor. It aims to prod low-performing
schools to improve by tying government aid to performance standards.


"The idea was we will increase funding to the schools - which they did
once but they didn't continue it, so they made it an unfunded mandate,"
Bill Clinton said, adding that the law also did away with programs from
his administration that were helping to modernize old schools, build 
new
schools to alleviate overcrowding and provide after school care.


Instead, the Bush law requires "our kids take five tests five years in 
a
row," but allows school districts to "pick the test and the passing
score, so you wound up with the worst of all worlds ... You could wind
up lowering the quality of education," Clinton said.

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