States hit back on school reform law Connecticut, Utah, and Texas are either refusing to adopt all of the No Child Left Behind Act or suing the US to block it. By Alexandra Marks | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor KILLINGWORTH, CONN. – An education rebellion is under way from Utah to Connecticut. Three years after the passage of President Bush's controversial education reform known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the law is facing its most significant challenges yet - and they're coming in the courts, state legislatures, and local education departments. Connecticut has announced it's suing the US Department of Education, claiming the law mandates changes without giving the funding to carry them out. The education commissioner in Texas unilaterally decided Washington's requirements were flawed, and she simply disregarded part of them - a kind of civil disobedience. And Tuesday, Utah, the state that gave Mr. Bush his biggest win last November, is about to provide the most stinging rebuke yet to NCLB. In a special session, the state Senate is expected to pass overwhelmingly a bill to ensure that in a conflict between state and federal education regulations, Utah's rules will trump Washington's dictates. The House has already passed the bill, and if the Senate does as well, Utah is putting at risk $120 million it receives in federal education aid. ... Why does Texas hate America?
I was reading about this the other day. I think the part she rejected had to do with testing Special Ed. students. The Federal government wants Sp. Ed. students to take the TAKS test on gradelevel. Currently Sp. Ed. students that are not working on grade level are allowed to take a different test (SDAA) on the grade level at which they are on. The Federal Government wants districts given a fail for every student that takes the SDAA, over 1% of the student population for that grade level. So basically what it means is that if you are a 5th grader but are Sp.Ed. and read on a 2nd grade level, the Federal Government thinks you should still have to take the 5th grade Reading TAKS.
