Education

How Long Will Wait Be for Next NCLB?

December 04, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Last week, I asked: Will Congress take four years to reauthorize NCLB? After all, it took lawmakers that long to come to an agreement on changes to Head Start. And they still haven’t settled on a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, also four years late. BoardBuzz read that as an ominous warning that NCLB might be in place until 2011.

I didn’t mean to scare school board members or predict the NCLB will go unchanged until this year’s kindergarten class enters 4th grade. But I did want to point out that Congress has been postponing reauthorizations of education bills. The delay on NCLB reauthorization is routine.

Take a look at the past three reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Act. In 1988 and 1994, Congress was one year late. In 1999, several bills to reauthorize ESEA programs cleared the House, but they died in the Senate when the presidential campaign was in full gear. When President Bush signed the NCLB bill, it was two years and three months behind schedule.

Back in January, Washington insiders predicted that NCLB would be reauthorized after President Bush leaves office. (See this Education Week story.) So far, their prediction looks to be on target. Beyond that, nobody knows for sure.

A version of this news article first appeared in the NCLB: Act II blog.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: April 16, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Quiz ICYMI: Do You Know What 'High-Quality Curriculum' Really Means?
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Image of curricula.
iStock/Getty
Education Quiz ICYMI: Lawsuits Over Trump's Education Policies And More
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Image of money symbol, books, gavel, and scale of justice.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Quiz ICYMI: Trump Moves to Shift Special Ed Oversight And More
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP