Federal Federal File

Press Secretary

May 17, 2005 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

People in the news media are missing the real story in education these days, according to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

As she put it recently, broadcast and print news organizations should be focusing on how many states and schools are using the federal No Child Left Behind Act to improve student achievement and hold public schools more accountable.

Instead, many news outlets are focusing on what they view as a crisis in education, and the ways a few states and organizations have begun a backlash against the federal law.

Ms. Spellings, speaking May 6 at the annual convention of the Education Writers Association, held in St. Petersburg, Fla., singled out coverage of states that are being particularly rebellious toward the law. The EWA is a Washington-based professional organization for reporters and editors interested in education.

Utah, which may risk the loss of its federal education aid with a new law asserting the primacy of the state’s accountability system over NCLB requirements, “has one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation,” she said, noting disparities in Utah between white and Hispanic students. “They must explain their actions to the state’s Hispanic parents.”

In Connecticut, which is threatening to sue the Department of Education over the costs of the No Child Left Behind law, black 4th graders trail their white peers by dozens of points in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, she said.

But while some states take issue with the law, “there are dozens of others that are quietly going about their business” and implementing it, she said. “I really wouldn’t call that a rebellion.”

She lauded Wyoming for high test-score targets under the law, and she cited the narrowing of gaps in test scores in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New Mexico.

Ms. Spellings, who noted that she had taken several journalism classes in college, also pointed out that nowhere in the No Child Left Behind Act is the term “failing school” used.

“Yet this anxiety-provoking term is commonly used in headlines and in the bodies of your stories,” she said. She noted that the statute refers to schools “in need of improvement.”

At one point, the secretary even joked about the flap over the Education Department’s public relations contract involving the commentator Armstrong Williams, which was signed during the tenure of her predecessor, Rod Paige.

“You don’t have to be paid off like pundit Armstrong Williams to like No Child Left Behind,” she said.

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

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

Federal An Ed. Dept. Staffer's 6,000-Mile Journey to Find Closure After Abrupt Job Loss
Jane Hodgdon took to the road to visit schools she had worked with in her 25 years at the U.S. Department of Education.
7 min read
Jane Hodgdon, a former 25 year employee of the US Department of Education, stands for a portrait with her dog Maxine, while touring Shelby County Public Schools’ Magic School Bus summer program on Thursday, June 5, 2025 in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
Jane Hodgdon stands with her dog Maxine while touring Shelby County Public Schools’ Magic School Bus summer program on Thursday, June 5, 2025 in Simpsonville, Ky. After an abrupt end to her 25-year career at the U.S. Department of Education, Hodgdon embarked on a road trip to visit schools and educators she had worked with during her time at the federal agency.
Luke Sharrett for Education Week
Federal Trump Admin. Was Moving Ed. Dept. Programs Elsewhere Before a Court Intervened
The department had penned agreements with the U.S. departments of Labor and the Treasury to move programs, but was halted by court order.
8 min read
A Morehouse College student lines up before the school commencement, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. The Education Department announced on July 18, 2024, that it is cancelling an additional $1.2 billion in student loans for borrowers who work in public service.
A Morehouse College student lines up before the school commencement on May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. The U.S. Department of Education had started to work with the U.S. Department of the Treasury on transferring its student loan portfolio, a new court filing shows.
Seth Wenig/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Adds Project 2025 Author to Education Department Staff
The appointment comes as Trump has already begun to embrace plans outlined in the controversial 900-page conservative policy agenda.
4 min read
A copy of Project 2025 is held during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
A copy of Project 2025 is held during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. The Trump administration has added the author of the conservative policy document's chapter on education to the U.S. Department of Education's staff.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Pauses Ed. Dept. Layoffs After Judge's Order
The U.S. Department of Education is slowly complying with a federal court order to reinstate staff.
3 min read
Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the office of general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025, the last day of work for hundreds of agency employees. The Trump administration has had to bump back the day it planned to stop paying laid-off staff.
Jose Luis Magana/AP