White House Aims to Revamp No Child Left Behind Law

A goal has been set to revamp the No Child Left Behind law prior to when students start their school year this fall by the Obama administration. This timeframe is likely to interfere with the priorities of congressional Republicans. The administration believes that the law needs to be more flexible and reduce Washington’s role in setting educational standards in some cases. The focus right now for GOP lawmakers is jobs and the state of the economy. This means that the White House will have to persuade GOP lawmakers to move the No Child Left Behind Law up on their priority list. President Obama has made it known that he believes reforming the law this year is a key priority. The president wants the law redefined so that it focuses more on responsibility, reform and results.

So far there haven’t been any real stumbling blocks where negotiating is concerned. That may change when the law comes before the house, led by Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers prefer making small changes rather than rewriting the law completely. The complaint against No Child Left Behind that representatives from both parties have is that it relies heavily on test results and doesn’t meet the objective of raising student achievement. The Obama administration has put together framework that puts more focus on teacher performance and replaces proficiency requirements with goals of boosting college graduation rates. Although some feel that getting the law completed by the August recess is ambitious, it is clear that there are flaws within the law that are years overdue for correction.
Via WSBTV