The possibility that Congress would suspend NCLB’s accountability rules brought supporters of the law out of the woodwork. Over at Swift & Changable, Charlie Barone says that civil rights’ community’s nearly unanimous opposition to the suspension was unprecedented in the history of NCLB.
Today, the Public Education Network released a poll that sheds some light on the reason why. Although the poll focuses on where education stands in the current political debate, the response to one of its questions shows that the minority community likes NCLB.
Forty-one percent of blacks and 39 percent of Hispanics believe that NCLB has helped improve their schools. Only 21 percent of African-Americans and 23 percent of Hispanics say the law is hurting their schools. (The rest says there’s no difference.) By contrast, 27 percent of whites say the law is helping schools, 31 percent say it is hurting, and 27 percent say it hasn’t had an impact.
Combine the three groups and here’s what you get: 31 percent say “helping;" 31 percent say “hurting;" and 27 percent say “no difference.” (See slide 21 on this powerpoint presentation.)
For all of the red-hot rhetoric against NCLB, it appears that the public hasn’t made up its mind. But the minority community is leaning in favor.
