ESEA/NCLB Blueprint

Since I wrote about the NCLB overhaul two days ago, there has been a lot going on in the world of education. The Obama administration new education plan will drastically change the NCLB law - even the name will change. The most significant change will be moving away from the strict guidelines that use state reading and math tests to identify failing schools. Instead of having every student math and reading proficient, the new law wants to have every kid graduate from high school ready for college and work by 2020. In addition, the Obama administration wants to create a policy to reward successful schools and teachers.

Moving away from the math and reading focus will hopefully broaden the curriculum and allow schools to offer more science, history, and social studies content. Therefore, students would be more well rounded in their education and better prepared for college and work. The Obama administration wants the new law to set the bar high but allow flexibility to reach it. President Obama and Secretary Duncan believe that the federal government should be less involved in decision making and that the decisions should be made at the local level for the schools and the district. 

The Obama administration's $50 billion proposed education budget adds $3 billion in funding to help schools meet the new goals. The money will definitely be needed since the plan would reorganize the nation's education system.  Even if the new uniform standards that have recently been drafted are used in order to meet the new goals, it will take years for the plan to roll out.  In addition, the new plan would measure academic growth and unfortunately many districts are not equipped to monitor this progress as of yet - which will take more time and of course money.

So low performing schools that implement one of the four intervention strategies will be eligible for part of the $3 billion grant. High performing schools will be rewarded with recognition, more money and funding flexibility. But what will happen to the schools that are mediocre? Are those schools left to remain in the middle with no additional funding to make them excellent? 

This isn't the only issue that has been raised. As I mentioned last time, teachers unions are against the Obama administration's overhaul. They believe that the new plan will turn teachers into scapegoats. Randi Weingarten, the head of the AFT, has said that the new plan "appears to place 100% responsibility on teachers and administrators while giving them 0% authority to act". Secretary Duncan has expressed his concern with wanting to work well with the unions and it appears as though changes might be made to make sure that the unions don't completely disagree with the new plan. One change that this plan would implement includes an emphasis on ensuring that school leaders are well prepared and effective. 

From what I've heard about this new plan, it has the same chance of succeeding as NCLB did. In addition, I am waiting to hear how research will play a part in the plan. Research does not get mentioned often in the outline and it doesn't seem to be a high priority for the plan. Hopefully when Congress is vetting out the plan, they will make achieving the new goals realistic. Having all high school graduates prepared for college by 2020 seems a little far fetched to me. 

ESEA/NCLB Blueprint