Is anyone surprised that the federal government granted North Carolina permission to opt out of requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law? Anyone?
Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island also received an NCLB waiver. As Education Week points out, six of the eight recipients also received part of the $4 billion Race to the Top fund. (Connecticut and Louisiana are the exceptions.) Obviously, some states play the game better than others.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan remarked, “These eight additional states are getting more flexibility with federal funds and relief from NCLB’s one-size-fits-all federal mandates in order to develop locally-tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges.”
Ok, Arne, if states need “relief” from “one-size-fits-all federal mandates,” then why not abolish those mandates altogether?
Just a thought.
