New Bill to Adapt No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind is an act passed in 2001 to regulate the public education system in the United States, requiring certain standards to be met.  This act has met many critics in education and administration.

A new bill has been voted through by a committee that would adapt the NCLB act, though it has yet to pass in either house.  This is the Harkin-Enzi Bill.  It was pushed through largely because the committee members were frustrated with the administration's offering of waivers to some states allowing them to avoid the law's key provisions.

The new bill would limit federal control in most public schools, while increasing the national government's oversight of certain schools with low performance.  Critique of the bill however, claims that it would inflate spending in a way that the government can not currently afford.  The bill would also require schools to begin keeping and offering records on what percentage of children went on to college level education and what percentage of those graduated.  However, there may be  flaws with this provision.  Simply counting students who attend post-secondary education is not necessarily an accurate measure of how many students were intellectually and educationally prepared for it.

What are your thoughts on the new bill?  While most agree the current No Child Left Behind laws are not what is needed, may disagree with this new option as well, for a umber of valid reasons.