More NCLB Action

Well, since the house bill was introduced last week, there has been a flurry of activity in the House of Representatives regarding NCLB. As Education Week notes, much of that activity has been centered on introducing bills and amendments. One of the more interesting potential amendments comes from Senator Russ Feingold who plans to introduce measures that would allow local authorities to create student assessments, which, basically would take us back to pre-NCLB days where much of the assessment decisions were at the local level.  

               

Anyway, the next couple of weeks should be very instructive about whether a reauthorization is possible this year. If it can happen, it needs to happen very quickly and somewhat under the radar. Given the increasing attention to the Iraq issue this September, that could provide the political cover to Congressional leaders working on NCLB. So, there is a window. However, as we are seeing emerge, there are still a variety of opinions about what to do with education and there will be a plethora of bills and amendments to debate over the coming weeks. Given the tight time frame, the sheer mass of amendments and debate may prohibit anything from passing.

I am still feeling this reauthorization is not possible within this timeframe, but it certainly appears that George Miller and Ted Kennedy are going to make every effort to get it through. If it is going to pass, a lot needs to happen within the next couple of weeks.