Fingers Crossed for Waivers on No Child Left Behind Law in US

Despite several state and local education officials rebelling against the expendable No Child Left Behind Law and demanding reforms from student testing mandates, the Congress seems to be taking its own sweet time to take a stand. The schools will begin soon and the decision might take some more time. The Obama admin­istration is in favour of granting waivers.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system on Monday after hearing the “universal clamoring” from officials, who say they cannot meet the unrealistic requirements of the nine-year-old federal education law that expects them to reach complete proficiency. The standards set for the educators seems very high, hence making many to stand up for reforms.

The escalating goals of the NCLB, which is based on the belief that high standards can improve individual outcome in education, has caused heartburns in States and most district schools, as more and more schools fail to meet the goals as very few students pass the test.

“The states are desperately asking for us to respond,” Duncan told reporters on Friday.

Critics say, the benchmarks set to bring students to the math and reading standard brands schools as failures even if they make significant progress.

Administration officials said they will grant waiver to states that agree to other kind of educational reforms such as raising standards, helping teachers and principals improve, and focusing on fixing the lowest performing schools.