Avoiding the "Every School Left Behind" Inevitability

Alan Borsuk:

Maybe, in 2001, it seemed like 2014 was too far away to be worth much worry. In 2011, it's not so far away. Not that it's clear what is going to be done now about what was one of the more idealistic, well-intended, but ridiculous, notions ever put into federal law.

In 2001, and with strong bipartisan support, Congress approved the No Child Left Behind education reform law. Amid its complex notions, there were some clear intentions: Congress and the president (George W. Bush at that point, but Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would say much the same) were tired of putting a lot of money into schools across the country and not seeing much to show for it. They wanted to see the American education world buckle down to work especially on improving the achievement of low income and minority students. And they wanted every child to be reading and doing math on grade level by - oh, pick a date far away - 2014.

So they called the law No Child Left Behind. A wonderful idea - are you in favor of leaving some children behind? I'm not.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 17, 2011 1:08 AM
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