10 States Released from No Child Left Behind

COMMENTARY | In a speech from the White House on Feb. 9 at 1:55 p.m., President Barack Obama discussed the decision by himself and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to grant 10 states waivers from the No Child Left Behind law. The President recognized communities as being better judges of what's best for schools. My experience as an educator in one of the sates receiving a waiver today makes me hopeful in hearing the announcement.

The 10-year-old law from the Bush administration, as described by Sol Stern, requires students in grades 3 through 8 to be proficient in English and math by 2014. The states given the law waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee as outlined in the Reuters article. The recent waivers will allow these 10 states to determine their own personalized criteria for improvement. President Obama explained that, "the best ideas are going to come from teachers, principals, parents."

As a certified New Jersey teacher, I was privileged to teach in one of the districts designated as "in-need" shortly before No Child Left Behind became a law. In my view, No Child Left Behind took the focus of the teachers away from the students and into standardized testing scores. It created an environment that was negatively competitive. These struggling and challenged school districts were still not on an even playing field. From this law, funding from Title 1, which is educational funding from the government, did not go where the people familiar with the school community knew it needed to go. I heard arguments from long-time educators in opposition to the law. In both urban and suburban schools, though circumstances were different, each district's money and education was forced to go into standardized testing.

These 10 states are still accountable for improving students' education. "States must offer a viable plan showing they will prepare students for college and careers," explains an article on NJ.com. The waivers will hopefully allow educators and communities to specialize educating students according to individual needs. President Obama ended his speech with encouragement, "Let's make this work. We as a country have a sense of what works and what doesn't."

Sources:
the White House live streaming, President Obama speaks on providing state flexibility under No Child Left Behind
Obama grants 10 states leewayon U.S. education law, Caren Bohan, Yahoo! News, Reuters Washington
Your Comments: NJ amoung 10 states to be freed from 'No Child Left Behind' law by Obama, NJ.com
Still "Lying to Children": How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Children, The Daily Beast,