The following is from an editorial in the Los Angeles Times:
After Congress dragged its heels for six years on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, House Republicans suddenly passed a bill Friday that could best be described as the No Accountability Act, eliminating virtually all the school improvement mandates in the original law. President Obama has rightly vowed to veto it, but he should not ignore the valid sentiments behind the vote. The nation is ripe for rebellion against the law and the Obama administration's efforts to micromanage how schools are run.
Passed in 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act used the leverage of federal education funding to push states into doing more for their disadvantaged, black and Latino students. The punitive law ushered in a regimen of intensive testing and sanctions against schools that failed improvement markers. The Obama administration added more interference by pushing reforms.
The law raised awareness about how little students in impoverished areas were learning and resulted in modest improvements; at the same time, it overemphasized standardized testing and fostered an "everything is the teacher's fault" credo.
Proponents of a smaller role for the federal government are partly right. It has been overstepping. Yet the House bill threatens to reverse the gains and allow schools once again to pay too little heed to students with the greatest needs.
But the president should take note that even the more moderate legislation in the Senate would do away with large segments of the No Child Left Behind law and his rules for states. It would allow states to fashion improvement systems, as long as they pass federal muster, without overly punitive measures. The federal government has a right to demand value for aid, but not to dictate school operations.