One of the main focuses of the Senate this week has been the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known in this iteration as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Heritage has been at the forefront of the opposition to the massive federal overreach in centralizing Education. Click here to …
Last Tuesday, Senator Tom Harkin (D–IA) introduced a much-anticipated proposal to rewrite No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and has announced that committee markup on the legislation will begin this Wednesday. Those hoping for a package that would follow in the footsteps of the House Education and the Workforce Committee by …
For decades now, spending on public education has been increasing significantly, while academic achievement has remained stagnant. What if, instead of pouring money into failing schools, we give the money to parents and allow them to spend it any way they see fit on their children’s education? Well, in states …
While the House is moving to put greater control of education into the hands of parents, the Obama Administration is working to tighten the federal government’s grip on the nation’s schools. Since the 1960s, Washington’s control of the U.S. education system has swelled. And No Child Left Behind (NCLB) only …
“Congress hasn’t been able to do it, so I will.” With this bold statement, President Obama announced last Friday that he would unilaterally replace the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with conditions-based waivers. Obama’s waiver strategy is an alarming misuse of executive power that undermines the …
For the past few decades, the federal government has continuously increased its power over local schools, through funding with strings attached, with depressing results. Since the 1970′s federal spending on education has nearly tripled, yet student achievement has remained flat and graduation rates have not improved. However, that increased spending …
President Barack Obama is slated to give a speech tomorrow lauding the benefits of granting waivers to states for the burdensome provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Obama, unhappy with the pace at which Congress is undertaking NCLB reauthorization, has decided to grant the conditions-based waivers to states to fulfill his own …
Senator Marco Rubio (R–FL) urged Education Secretary Arne Duncan to remember the constitutional limitations placed on the executive branch in a letter to the Department of Education Tuesday. What prompted Rubio to express his concerns is the Obama Administration’s intention to, on the one hand, grant waivers to states for …
“No Child Left Behind [NCLB] and the Race to the Top [RTTT] grants are likely to be the high water mark of federal involvement in schools,” says Jay Mathews in a Washington Post editorial this week on why the Obama Administration’s further overreach into national standards will fail. His argument? …
