Howard Dean last night:
We can return our school systems to the control of local school boards, fully fund special education and get rid of the federal mandates of no child left behind, and we will.
No Child Left Behind was not something that the Bush administration came up with but something the Bush administration adopted which (I believe) was developed at the state level and not really some exclusive conservative only program. Bush used the No Child Left Behind policy to run his campaign on, but his tax cuts sucked the policy into oblivion.
The fact is that Al Gore ran on No Child Left Behind too.
No Child Left Behind was the ONLY policy in the Bush administration that was pretty darn good, not that it doesn't need some tweaking. Howard Dean should adopt the NCLB policy, even though it needs changes. AS Howard Dean is right about schools denying students that do poorly from accessing some schools that try to protect their academic standard ratings. This is very easy to fix because there are dozens of ways to make the process more fair and as such is simply a policy gulch, not a reason to discard the whole No Child Left Behind program.
Dean's ideas on education certainly will NOT win any votes in Arizona - the AZ voters panned the last person running for school superintended that wanted to do away with federal mandates which were institute by our last school superintended, Lisa Graham Keegan. A very well respected woman here in Arizona.
AZ Department of Education list the following:
Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan's plan for raising the quality and outcome of educational instruction in Arizona revolved around two central themes: achievement and accountability. Increasing student achievement levels is critically important given how our state compares nationally and how our nation compares internationally. Arizona has risen to this challenge by implementing nationally recognized academic standards and, beginning in the Spring of 1999, an annual assessment of those standards through the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS).
Lisa Graham Keegan now works in Washington in some think tank under George W. Bush's administration having been past over for that fraud, Secretary Paige.
I'm equally sure that Ms. Graham-Keegan, to some extend, was upset that Bush cut taxes so severely that it left states scrabbling to find funding, and thus having to cut state funding from the public school systems in order to balance budgets.
Washington Post has strangely lampooned in today's editorial section, (as per Brad DeLong's website,) this comment: Mr. Bush should not be blamed for this, though his irresponsible fiscal policy harms business confidence and therefore job creation.
HEY, Bush's irresponsible fiscal policy harmed FAR more that just business confidence. It harmed a great many other programs too, some very critical state and federally funded programs. This is the single biggest reason WHY Dean's wanting to throw out Bush's tax cuts is a GOOD IDEA.
Bush devoted three whole paragraphs of commentary in his No Child Left Behind policy with his recent SOTU address, because Bush has little else to promote.
All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which are supposed to be learned in the early grades of our schools. Yet for too long, for too many children, those skills were never mastered. By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, you have made the expectation of literacy the law of our country. We're providing more funding for our schools -- a 36-percent increase since 2001. We're requiring higher standards. We are regularly testing every child on the fundamentals. We are reporting results to parents, and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing. We are making progress toward excellence for every child in America. (Applause.)
But the status quo always has defenders. Some want to undermine the No Child Left Behind Act by weakening standards and accountability. Yet the results we require are really a matter of common sense: We expect third graders to read and do math at the third grade level -- and that's not asking too much. Testing is the only way to identify and help students who are falling behind. This nation will not go back to the days of simply shuffling children along from grade to grade without them learning the basics. I refuse to give up on any child -- and the No Child Left Behind Act is opening the door of opportunity to all of America's children. (Applause.)
At the same time, we must ensure that older students and adults can gain the skills they need to find work now. Many of the fastest growing occupations require strong math and science preparation, and training beyond the high school level. So tonight, I propose a series of measures called Jobs for the 21st Century. This program will provide extra help to middle and high school students who fall behind in reading and math, expand advanced placement programs in low-income schools, invite math and science professionals from the private sector to teach part-time in our high schools. I propose larger Pell grants for students who prepare for college with demanding courses in high school. (Applause.) I propose increasing our support for America's fine community colleges, so they can -- (applause.) I do so, so they can train workers for industries that are creating the most new jobs. By all these actions, we'll help more and more Americans to join in the growing prosperity of our country. Job training is important, and so is job creation.
Howard Dean will lose Arizona if he comes to AZ marketing his education policy. The example that Howard Dean uses of a science teacher was nothing but an example of a bellyacher. Some people just don't like change and that's too bad but sometimes a change is needed. But NO Child Left Behind was and is a good policy.
I think Howard Dean should change his policy as it pretains to NO Child Left Behind if Howard Dean is truly interested in the job of President of the United States.
Arizona votes on Febuary 3rd, so that doesn't leave much time to reorganize one's policies.
FOR the record, I still think that Howard Dean is the BEST overall person to give our Washington government a very badly need change, as William Saletan so accurately wrote today in his reasoning why it is that Sen. John Kerry isn't really "all that electable."
Sen John Kerry did nothing in the last four years in the Senate. There is No way I'd vote John Kerry, but than I'm NOT ABB.