The National Education Association has asked U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to provide more flexibility in some key areas of the No Child Left Behind Act.
The union’s requests, contained in a letter dated Nov. 15, include more leeway for districts on the rules about highly qualified teachers and changes to the adequate yearly progress yardstick, which requires schools to test students in reading and math annually in grades 3-8 and once during high school. It also calls for more flexibility for schools in testing students who are in special education and English-language learners.
The Obama administration has said it wants lawmakers to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, of which the NCLB law is the latest iteration. But with the changes in Congress as a result of the midterm elections, education stakeholders question how soon that will happen.
