Tina Korbe
HotAir.com
9/23/2011
The president today announced his plan to allow states to opt out of the most onerous requirements of No Child Left Behind, the most sweeping and comprehensive education legislation in the country. What he didn’t mention is what states will have to give up to qualify for a waiver.
States will receive a waiver if and only if they agree to certain conditions set by the Education Secretary. CNN calls those conditions “credible commitments to close lingering achievement gaps.” Conservatives call those conditions “strings attached” and “legislating through the executive branch.”
Chief among the administration’s stipulations for a waiver: The adoption of college-and-career-ready standards (a.k.a. national standards). National standards and tests might sound sensible in theory, but, in reality, they would strengthen federal power over education and weaken schools’ direct accountability to parents and taxpayers. Moreover, they would most likely lead to the standardization of mediocrity rather than the standardization of excellence.
But national standards are a favored policy proposal within the Obama Department of Education — and, again, with today’s move to introduce a qualified opt-out from NCLB, the president has found a way to circumvent Congress to push through this policy preference and other preferred “reforms.”…
…In a contrast to the president’s abrupt announcement, Congress has been thoughtfully and comprehensively exploring the questions of what the federal role in education should be and of how NCLB should be updated for some time now. The president had hoped Congress would reauthorize NCLB by this August. When that didn’t happen, he proceeded on his own with this new plan. It’s a familiar pattern…
The entire article is at HotAir.com
