Bush picks Spellings for education secretary
Spellings was a key figure in drafting the president’s No Child Left Behind education initiative.
Here is a recent interview with the now Secretary of Education.
Trent, from Orange County, CA writes:
Hello, I am a high school student and I have served on two school boards. I am a big fan of the No Child Left Behind Act but I have a question about it. My question is; how does the No Child Left Behind Act help schools that are not meeting the the national standard in standardized testing? Thank you for your time.
Margaret Spellings
Thanks for your service on your local school boards and for your support of No Child Left Behind! Across the country, we are seeing positive results and student achievement is rising.
First, No Child Left Behind does not set a national standard for schools. Each state develops its own testing and accountability system that best meets their needs, but that ensures that all students will be proficient in reading and math in twelve years. The annual targets that schools must meet are set by each state according to their state assessments.
Each state, as part of its accountability plan, must also develop a system of sanctions and rewards for schools. When schools do not meet their annual targets for two straight years, the school must develop a school improvement plan and allow parents to transfer their child to a higher-performing public school if they so choose. If the school does not meet their targets for a third straight year, it must offer after-school tutoring to struggling students. Each state is also required to set aside 4% of its total Title I allocation (that would be over $500 million of the Federal 2005 education budget) to assist schools that are identified as needing improvement. This funding goes directly to these schools to assist in improving the school, implementing new curricula, hiring reading instructors, or addressing other needs of the school.
President Bush has also provided significant increases in funding for Title I schools across the country–those schools that serve the neediest students. Including the President’s 2005 budget, Title I funding has increased 52% since 2001, and overall K-12 funding has increased 49%.
Washington Post analysis of NCLB issues.
