News and Blog - July 2012

Gene Hickok’s July 17th blog got me to thinking: When is a US Department of Education mandate not a mandate? If the provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are the key to unlocking the doors to a secret education kingdom wereall children are above average - by 2014 no less - how come it’s so easy to opt out? Is there an escape clause in NCLB that is written in invisible ink saying, “You are required to conform to the regulations of the Department, unless you don’t want to?”  Read more

The lawsuit brought by the ACLU in Michigan is important for several reasons. First, policymakers and education reformers often casually refer to education as a civil right. But now the ACLU is saying that this is more than just rhetoric, that education is a very real right that all students have and action is needed when that right is violated. They make the important argument that students have the “right to read” which provides the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to learn other subjects and succeed in college, careers, and society. Despite spending more than $16,000 per student, only 10 percent of Highland Park School students are proficient in reading. At the heart of this argument is that we haven’t asked too much from our schools, it is that we have settled for too little. Read more

The Obama Administration, through education secretary Arne Duncan, seems to be pursuing a two-track strategy regarding national education policy. One track emphasizes positive incentives such as “Race to the Top.” The other encourages states to seek waivers from No Child Left Behind. It is too soon to know whether the incentive approach is working. It has received a lot of positive press. But the actual results aren’t in yet. The waiver strategy seems to be working, though. A majority of states have requested and received waivers. In return, those states have agreed to adopt accountability plans approved by Washington. Read more