At 4, NCLB Gets Praise and Fresh Call to Amend It

Washington

A coalition of school, civil rights, and child-advocacy groups handed a list of 14 recommendations for changing the federal No Child Left Behind Act to congressional staff members at the U.S. Capitol last week, just a day after President Bush vigorously defended the law on its fourth anniversary.

Consequences of the law demand these “critical changes,” Reggie Felton, the director of federal relations at the National School Boards Association, said on Jan. 10 to more than 30 congressional staff members.

The No Child Left Behind law, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was signed by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, and is scheduled...