Re: Minn. Republican Legislators Seek End to NCLB Participaiton

[aburke5054@aol.com]

It's hard to believe that Republicans are trying to throw a monkey 
wrench into a program that was begun by Democrats (ESEA) and whose 
current legislative sponsors are Democrats (George Miller and Ted K) 
and which was enacted by a President they want to distance themselves 
from.  It's almost like they are grandstanding and politicing here.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy 
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 5:01 am
Subject: [arn-l] Minn. Republican Legislators Seek End to NCLB 
Participaiton


NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: GOP SENATORS WANT IT TO BE HISTORY


Minneapolis Star Tribune -- January 2, 2008

by Norman Draper


Legislators have the much-maligned No Child Left Behind law in their
cross hairs -- again.


When the 2008 legislative session cranks up next month in St. Paul,
Republican senators will be ready to introduce a bill that would end
Minnesota's participation in NCLB. The federal program is aimed at
forcing schools to improve their students' test scores, and slaps many
of them with penalties if they don't.


"What we want is to make a real firm stand for local control," said 
Sen.
Geoff Michel, R-Edina, who added that he represents Senate Republicans
on this issue. "We've had five years of the No Child Left Behind 
regime,
and I think it's safe to call it a failure now. We're giving it an F 
and
trying to take back our schools."


Senators and representatives from both parties have tried to yank
Minnesota out from under No Child Left Behind's requirements over the
last few years, but to no avail. For one thing, thumbing their noses at
the federal government has a price: The loss of federal school funds.


According to the most recent estimates, Minnesota could forfeit $250
million a year if it decided to buck No Child Left Behind. Also, Gov.
Tim Pawlenty has been a supporter of the program, though his office was
not available for comment on the current proposed legislation.


And ultimately, such efforts have gotten pushed behind more important
education priorities, such as funding schools.


Nationally, the law, which was signed by President Bush in 2002, is up
for reauthorization. But efforts to change or scrap it altogether have
gotten mired down in Congress. Democratic presidential hopefuls have
attacked it, and several, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill
Richardson, have said they will end it. Several leading Republican
presidential candidates -- Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani
among them -- have voiced support for the law, according to published
reports.


In a nutshell, No Child Left Behind aims to have every child proficient
in reading and math by 2014. Every year, schools are responsible for
making sure their students attain testing goals in reading and math.
Schools can be penalized if a certain percentage of students --
including percentages of student subgroups such as black, Hispanic, 
poor
and non-English-speaking students -- don't meet testing goals that rise
every year.


Minnesota educators have generally opposed No Child Left Behind, saying
it forces schools to devote too much time and money to testing and can
result in tough penalties, such as the forced reorganization of entire
schools if they fail to meet their goals for too many consecutive 
years.


Michel said the state can absorb the loss of federal funds because of
all the money it would save by not having to adhere to the law. Indeed,
a legislative auditor's report released in 2004 said that Minnesota
schools would have to spend tens of millions of dollars to meet No 
Child
Left Behind's requirements. Michel thinks the law's detractors include
plenty of DFLers, but he is uncertain how much bipartisan support
Republican senators can muster for a total withdrawal from the program.


"My sense is that there is bipartisan agreement that [NCLB] is not
working," he said. "There may be some who don't want to go quite as far
as withdrawing from it. I think we're just negotiating the terms of the
divorce here."


Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville and the leader of a previous effort
to get Minnesota out of NCLB, said she wouldn't necessarily support the
Republican effort.


"I think they're Johnny-come-latelies," she said. "To me, it's kind of
cheap words right now when the president is sinking into the mud on so
many issues, and now they can divorce themselves from him on this."


Greiling said that her position on NCLB has evolved into an
"amend-it-don't-end-it" stance and that she wants to wait for Congress
to decide what to do before committing to state action.


"It's not really a state action anymore," she said.


  http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/12963721.html








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