People are starting to wonder if the Cubs could win a World Series before Congress decides to take an overdue look at the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the changes ushered in back in 2002 under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, the Washington Post reports.
The law, which was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007, has been on the back burner, despite the fact that it plays a more-than-significant role in how public schools are run in the US. Even though the law “expired,” that doesn’t mean it’s no longer in effect. Lots of laws come with expiration dates, and Congress is supposed to reconsider them and make any necessary changes. But a few problems have allowed NCLB to live on way beyond the date.
NCLB had strong bipartisan support (the vote in the House was 384-45) when it passed in 2001 and President Bush signed it. It was viewed as having the best of intentions but failing our schools and students by punishing them too severely by the time 2014 rolled around. No one ever thought we would get to 2014 without making the changes, though.
But here we are, in the 2013-14 school year. Many states have waivers from some aspects of the law, but we’re inclined to ask why Congress hasn’t reauthorized the law yet.
Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post suggests nobody really cares about the law, based on a recent report. “For the first time, 100% of [education] insiders [surveyed] do not think ESEA will be reauthorized until January 2015 or later,” says a report released last week from the Whiteboard Advisors.
I think it might be even longer than that. The last time Congress made changes to ESEA, they were all heroes, bipartisan wise men and women working for our kids’ best interests. And then the educational establishment started pouncing on their new brainchild, as if our representatives had just created a political punching bag for the masses. Everybody took their turn:
“Congress has turned our schools into test factories.”
“The proficiency mark in Mississippi is nowhere near the proficiency mark in Massachusetts.”
“We don’t have the money to spend on good standardized tests, so we have to find ways to cut back, even if it means sacrificing the quality.”
Criticisms like those above came from every direction, levied at representatives and senators from both parties. They thought they were the good guys, but the educational establishment made them out to be villains.
Don’t expect them to get into that mess again! These are not stupid people, and they were tricked once into rewriting ESEA. They are not likely to be fooled again.
So, in answer to Ms Strauss’s excellent question—No one really cares, do they?—I say, they care a lot. But people in Congress have learned how to get elected to Congress, and touching ESEA isn’t the way. Just look at what happened last time!
