Mixed results from the Senate's attempt to fix No Child Left Behind's worst unintended consequences This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use. Earlier this year, the Bush administration attempted to get more flexibility from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation by proposing changes to how schools that are historically failures for minority groups are penalized. These schools were identified as needing additional funding and were given special oversight. With NCLB, however, when schools were not meeting NCLB’s strict academic standards, schools were taken over by the state education commissioner and handed over to the Federal Department of Education, which was tasked with fixing them. This caused great outcry among parents and school administrators, who did not agree with how the federal government was overseeing their school districts. Schools were closed and reopened, teachers were reassigned and fired. Students were shuffled to other schools to ensure that the state department of education met federal criteria. NCLB put more state school districts under the control of the federal government. Now, President Bush wants to fix the problem by allowing states to be less controlling. “Our focus is to help schools that are not meeting the goals set by NCLB because they don't have enough resources, they've got students who are not being taught how to read and write, or because they haven't had sufficient time to put into place the improvements that need to be made in order for their students to be successful,” Bush said. “One of the most important parts of No Child Left Behind is the creation of the state-level Accountability Commissions. These commissions bring together local and state leaders to make sure that the schools are improving and that the schools that don't have high-quality teachers are helping those teachers become high-quality teachers. But we think that these commissions need to be able to give flexibility so that a state can do a better job than we would do for them.” President Bush asked the Senate for the change so that they could give some flexibility to the governors and state education commissioners. However, the Senate was not keen on the President's plan, and some critics say that Bush is trying to back out of the No Child Left Behind program altogether, which would defeat its purpose. “A federal commission may have significant consequences that would be devastating,” Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said. “If we don't have a federal commission, you'd be right back where you were, and that was a law that was created and created it, by the way, by the Republicans. And we made it so that states have to meet these tests and if they do they have to spend more money for kids who are not meeting standards.” Now, we are faced with a great argument: Do we want NCLB to continue and have more control from Washington D.C. or do we want to keep our schools local and give more power to local education leaders? “States and local school boards have to be able to deal with these problems and we can't solve those problems from Washington, D.C. It's clear that we have a responsibility to ensure that every child in America has the opportunity to receive a good education,” Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) said. “We ought to recognize that this can't be done centrally; it can only be done locally and one size doesn't fit all. I think there are many who favor this and many who don't favor this but we ought to let this process work its way through. I think we'll see a great debate over this and we should have that debate. If we don't have a debate, and the President of the United States declares that the Senate or the House has agreed to change, it will be the end of No Child Left Behind.” With each side arguing their point in the press, Bush wanted to address both sides. “I've heard some folks say ‘This would gut No Child Left Behind and throw it out.’ Well, No Child Left Behind is the biggest accountability law that's ever been passed and I want to make sure that it doesn't lose its sense of accountability.” Bush said. “As President, I'm committed to making sure that America's children get the best education possible. It is important that we provide a safe, strong, and just society in which people can live and raise their families. But as I speak to school superintendents, and parents, and teachers, and scholars, and business leaders across America, I know that there are so many more effective ways to measure the performance of schools. We should ask whether education works. We should ask whether our children are doing well. And we should ask whether there are ways to measure those indicators without having No Child Left Behind as a central focus.” After much debate on the topic, President Bush did win some sympathy from both sides. “I would like to have it both ways. I think the Senate is probably right in that a small number of schools should be allowed to remain high performing, but the vast majority of schools should be called on to improve, and there needs to be greater flexibility as to what that means. I also think, by the way, there's been too much central control in this No Child Left Behind law,” Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) said. “And we need more flexibility. The states do need more flexibility on that.” President Bush ended the press conference with some thoughts on education, which may be what he has been waiting for from his supporters. “Well, education is vital to this country. We live in a society of knowledge workers, of technocrats and our children need the education that they can get at home so that they can participate in this century,” he said. “I think it's critical that we provide education in this country and so I'll continue to focus on education. The Vice President is doing the same. We've got to be focused on making sure that all of our students have the skills that they need to compete in a knowledge society and to participate in our great democracy.” At the conclusion of the press conference, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) said, “I think the President has done a good job in this press conference. It allows us to work on this and the President is on the right track to change some of the things that we ought to be doing.” Bush's plan may still stand a good chance of being approved by Congress. Congress still has some work to do to finalize this bill and President Bush has pledged to continue to work to change NCLB, but it could take up to two years to make these changes. “I applaud the work of the President in making sure that we have flexibility, but I think that there are probably better ways to do it,” Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) said. “There are a lot of things that are important. I think it's a bit over the top for something that was put in place so we could help kids, but really they're not being helped. So I think there are other things we should do, and I think it is probably worth looking at alternatives like the President has mentioned to make sure that we help the greatest number of people. I think we need to go ahead and consider other options to make sure that we're focused on that.” All in all, Bush's plan and more discussion on the topic may very well lead to further changes within the No Child Left Behind law. “I do believe we have to be able to provide our children with the very best we can possibly afford, and I believe there's no question that at this time as a society, there has been too much control from Washington,” Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said. “We need a greater level of flexibility and I think this legislation, if it continues the way it's headed, will do just that.”