School-of-Thought

School Board Members are hearing that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will undergo significant changes under proposed changes that are being considered by the Obama administration.

Under the current plan, the goal is for all American children to be proficient by 2014. What we’re hearing is that the new law will shift the focus away from proficiency in 2014 and will instead focus on a new goal that “America will have the highest proportion of college graduates of any country by 2020. We’re also hearing that many of the foundational elements of NCLB — like punitive measures for schools not achieving adequate yearly progress will be done away with. The new law will instead reportedly focus on measures to document academic progress (growth), along with some type of funding incentives for states or districts that demonstrate desired growth.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will speak on the budget and ESEA reauthorization at our Federal Relations Network Conference later this afternoon. I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say.  (Picture courtesy of  NSBA.  Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) addressing us during lunch).