George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. On December 9, 2015, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to replace that law. The House has already passed something similar, and President Obama is likely to sign a modified version. This new Bill, too, has support from both parties. But this time it stems from a shared hatred of President Bush’s law.
No Child Left Behind obliged states to set standards for proficiency in reading and maths, and held states and school districts accountable for meeting them. Pupils were tested annually, with the goal of raising standards and closing gaps in achievement between those from rich and poor families. For a while pupils, especially those from ethnic minorities, performed significantly better. The gap between black and white children narrowed. The law required all to be proficient for their age in reading and maths by 2014. The deadline was not met, and it was clear several years ago that pupils would not make the annual gains needed to achieve that goal.
Because the regime relied on regular testing of pupils to monitor the schools’ progress, it came to be loathed by teachers, who complained that too much classroom time was taken up preparing pupils for tests. At the other end of the political spectrum, conservatives who wanted more local control of education bristled at what they saw as federal overreach. “It was an interesting coalescing,” says Michael McShane of the Show-Me Institute, a Missouri think-tank. “The left and the right did not like the centralised dictates coming out of the department of education.”
They especially did not like the power wielded by Arne Duncan, the outgoing secretary of education. Duncan began releasing states from the need to comply with parts of No Child Left Behind. His waivers came with conditions. In exchange, states had to evaluate teachers and implement standards, such as the Common Core, a controversial set of standards that many states are opting out of or are rebranding. More than 40 states agreed. All this expanded the footprint of both the federal department and the secretary.
The new Bills from the Senate and House aim to reduce the role of the education secretary and roll back federal involvement.
States will determine how schools should be held accountable, and for what. States will still have to test pupils in reading and maths. They also will have to be more transparent about the results. States will have to submit plans to the department of education.
If America’s technocrats had their way, schools across the country would teach a common curriculum and pupils would take the same tests. States would be left to figure out how best to set up their schools. Comparisons between states would be easy and innovation would flourish. The past decade suggests for now at least, that is an unattainable aim.
(Excerpted and adapted from )