Illinois Governor Joins "Growing Chorus" of NCLB Critics

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

NO CHILD LAW NEAR PERFECT? BLAGOJEVICH BEGS TO DIFFER
Chicago Sun-Times  -- September 8, 2006
by Kate N. Grossman


Joining a growing chorus of critics, Gov. Blagojevich plans today to 
tell the U.S. education secretary that Bush's signature education law is 
"far from perfect," despite her recent claims otherwise, the Sun-Times 
has learned.

Last week, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the 2002 No Child 
Left Behind Act was "99.9" percent close to working properly and needed 
little change when it comes up for renewal next year.

       Act sets 2014 deadline

Her comments to Washington reporters are in sharp contrast to those of 
educators, legislators and advocacy groups calling for changes to the 
law. Blagojevich, in a letter to be delivered to Spellings today, joins 
that group.

"To say the law is nearly perfect is simply not accurate," Blagojevich 
says in the letter, which was penned with the help of Illinois State 
Board of Education officials.

The No Child law requires annual testing and expects all children -- as 
well as subgroups of students of different races and ethnicities, 
special education and limited-English students to read and do math at 
grade level by 2014. It also calls for a "highly qualified" teacher in 
every classroom and sanctions schools and districts that fail to measure up.

       Some exemptions for Chicago

Echoing recommendations made elsewhere, Blagojevich wants changes in the 
way student progress is measured. Now, scores of successive groups of 
students are compared, instead of measuring progress of the same 
students over time -- also known as a "growth model" approach.

He also called for a better system of evaluating students with special 
needs and limited English skills.

Federal officials had not seen the letter, but the agency has embraced 
flexibility for states since Spellings took over in January 2005. It has 
allowed many states, including Illinois, to make adjustments to their 
testing systems that have resulted in relaxed standards.

It has also allowed more special-needs students to take modified tests 
and exempted some non-native speakers from testing, has its own "growth 
model" pilot and has given Chicago a waiver, allowing the district -- 
which has failed to meet No Child benchmarks -- to provide after-school 
tutoring.

Still, Blagojevich argued that "the level of detail NCLB imposes on 
states is counterproductive." He said he supports the law's goals but 
wants greater flexibility: "The current NCLB rigidity intrudes on state 
processes and stifles innovation at the both the state and local level," 
he wrote.

 http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-educ08.html#