Current Education Debate

Amidst the Hurricane Sandy relief bill, gun control legislation following the Newtown Connecticut shooting and President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address during his second term, public education is still a vital current event. Currently, President George W. Bush’s education act, No Child Left Behind, is under further review in Congress. Legislators are contemplating the effectiveness of that education law and the feasibility of academic progress. Congress is asking how the states’ responsibilities to improving students’ academic success can be measured and/or regulated by the federal government. There is much debate on how much influence the federal government has in this matter. Would it be better left to the states? The No Child Left Behind Act, which passed in 2001, made schools accountable for student performance on standardized tests. The repeated failure to meet a certain threshold could result in the transfer of students to a better school within the district or replacement of all schoolteachers.

In 2011, the Senate education committee reported a bill to the floor that did not require schools to evaluate teachers based on standardized test scores. This has not yet been voted on in the Senate. With its bipartisan support, would this bill lead to the goal outcome: better test scores? Is there another way for states to evaluate their teachers aside from standardized testing? All of these questions can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. It depends on the district and its population.

The topic has been discussed heavily in since passion the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, but no legislation within the last five years has been brought to a vote. No Child reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, a piece of legislation that oversees all public schools that receive federal financial support. 

For more on current education debate: New York Times Article: "Holding States and Schools Accountable"