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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2005 > August > 24 > Entry
Politics turned upside down
On Monday, Connecticut’s attorney general filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education, calling No Child Left Behind an “unfunded mandate” and demanding either more money for the additional standardized tests the law requires or relief from some of its rules.
For the basic story, here’s an Associated Press account in the Los Angeles Times.
Connecticut is an interesting case. It is one of the highest performing states academically, with very good cumulative test scores. But, like all states, it has an “achievement gap” between test performance by white students and black students, as well as gaps with poor kids, special education students and other “sub groups” of students.
Connecticut tests students at fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th grades, but NCLB requires testing at ALL grades 1 through 8. Connecticut, in the words of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, told the feds “Give up the unfunded mandates, or give us the money.” The law does require many more tests. Mark Fisher and I reported last year that a General Accounting Office study estimated NCLB would require states to create or overhaul 433 tests by 2008 at a projected cost of $3.9 billion.
But this is politics, right? Connecticut’s a blue state, and NCLB is a conservative initiative, or so it is viewed by many.
But look who’s out front criticizing Connecticut — civil rights leaders.
In fact, the idea of tracking subgroups — shining a light on the under performance of these students and requiring states to address the gaps — was lobbied into the law by groups on the left. This is one example of the bipartisan elements in the bill. It’s easy to forget that Ted Kennedy stood arm-in-arm with President Bush when NCLB was passed.
And discontent with the law is not confined to the left. In February, the Utah House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to ignore NCLB in favor of state education initiatives, putting millions in federal aid at risk. Utah is about as conservative a state as you can find.
So this law puts Connecticut and Utah on one side against President Bush and civil rights leaders on the other. Is that weird, or what?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Testing
Comments
By Karen
August 25, 2005 11:00 PM | Link to this
I think the “weirdness” is more a demonstration of how the categories of left and right, blue and red, liberal and conservative don’t serve us very well, especially when we are talking about what’s best for children.By Terri
August 25, 2005 11:46 AM | Link to this
The best part of NCLB is its focusing attention on the achievement gaps. I think testing everyone yearly is a waste of time and money for those students that consistently pass the tests. Why not test yearly those that in the past have failed repeatedly and test everyone at wider intervals. This way those that need intervention are tracked and help is (hopefully) provided.