Kennedy Bill Would Give States, Districts Leeway

Leading Senate Democrats on education policy, expressing dismay with how the Bush administration has handled the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, have sought to take the matter into their own hands with a set of legislative changes unveiled last week.

The Democratic bill addresses a range of issues, such as giving states greater say in setting the qualifications for providers of supplemental educational services-including private tutoring-under the law, and easing the demands on districts that face the law's school choice mandate but lack spaces for student transfers. The bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, was one of the four primary congressional architects of the federal law.

"[O]n top of the broken promises to provide schools the resources they need to get the job done right, the administration has undermined the efforts of schools to comply with the law, and crippled reforms through its ineffective implementation effort," Sen. Kennedy contended in introducing the bill on Sept. 13. It was co-sponsored by seven other Democrats on the Senate Health, Education,...