The goal of No Child Left Behind is clear from its title, but hundreds of Ohio students with special needs would be left in the dust if at least one state legislator and the head of America's largest teacher union have their way. They would return to the days when the federal government spent billions of taxpayer dollars without seeming to care if students get shuffled through schools without learning the basics. Rep. Rep. Larry Wolpert R-Hilliard introduced a bill in 2005 (HB 411) that would reverse Ohio legislation that builds on NCLB by tagging school districts with lower report card ratings for leaving behind certain populations of students (i.e., African American, special needs students, etc.). Separately, while speaking at an education conference at Central State University, National Education Association President Reg Weaver criticized NCLB on grounds of unfairness. In particular, he criticized the law for expecting special education students to pass the same tests as other kids. Parents of special needs children, however, overwhelmingly favor more mainstreaming, not less. As former Education Secretary Rod Paige explains"...The new law (NCLB) says that we as a nation will not tolerate schools that practice the soft bigotry of low expectations."
Ohio's neediest kids are making progress. According to the Ohio Department of Education, over the past five years there has been a 27 percent statewide increase in the number of fourth grade African American students who pass the reading proficiency test and a 19 percent increase in the number of disabled youngsters who pass it.
Now is not the time to start backtracking.
Relevant Reading:
"Teachers' union boss rips federal school law," by Scott Elliot, Dayton Daily News