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Education secretary defends No Child Left Behind

Despite widespread criticisms, Margaret Spellings says the goal of narrowing the achievement gap is a moral imperative.

By RON MATUS
Published May 6, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings offered a feisty defense of the No Child Left Behind Act on Friday, framing it as a civil rights issue and dismissing the notion that grumbling from a handful of states amounts to a rebellion.

She called the federal act's main goal, narrowing the achievement gap between white and minority students, "the moral imperative of the 21st century."

"It wasn't until 2001, with the passage of No Child Left Behind, that we as a nation finally took a good, long look in the mirror and said, "Enough is enough,' " Spellings said in a speech to the Education Writers Association.

The secretary took office in January amid some states' growing unease about No Child. The law is the centerpiece of President Bush's education agenda and the biggest shake-up in public education since the 1960s.

Criticism has come left and right.

Last month, lawmakers in red-state Utah passed a bill ordering state officials to ignore No Child provisions that conflict with state law.

The attorney general in blue-state Connecticut, meanwhile, announced plans to file a lawsuit over mandates he says are not fully funded. Two weeks ago, the nation's largest teachers union also filed suit.

Spellings, a longtime Bush aide who has described herself as an "earth mother type of Republican," said the real story is the "quiet revolution" led by the dozens of states that are carrying out No Child's aims.

"We have a few states that are loudly protesting, and a lawsuit from one union," she said. "I really wouldn't call that a rebellion."

The heart of No Child is a requirement that schools report test scores for different subgroups, including low-income students and minorities. That way, their performance isn't masked by what may be good scores among students as a whole.

If subgroups fall short, the entire school is deemed in need of improvement.

If they continue to struggle, federal directives kick in, including school choice options, free tutoring and the possibility of new management.

As standards tighten, some states say it will cost more money to meet them. By 2013, the law requires 100 percent of students to be proficient.

In the meantime, a slew of states are asking for flexibility on everything from teacher certification to rules for testing special education students.

"If you don't fix these things, you could have states and school districts that say, "We give up,' " said Diane Stark Rentner, deputy director of the Center on Education Policy, which supports No Child's goals.

Giving up would mean walking away from millions of dollars in federal money, but Rentner says the rifts are serious enough that some states might be willing to do that.

Spellings has promised to look at states' concerns. But she has also made it clear she is willing to crack the whip. She recently withheld federal money from her home state of Texas, another state bucking No Child.

The story is different in Florida.

Gov. Jeb Bush has embraced the federal law, and the Legislature hasn't made a peep.

That's not to say Florida wouldn't like to see some tweaks, too.

In March, Bush and Education Commissioner John Winn met with Spellings to request changes in how "adequate yearly progress" is measured.

The vast majority of Florida schools fail to meet that federal threshold for progress, even though they are considered A and B schools under Florida's grading program.

Spellings closed her speech with a reference to a Tampa's Robles Elementary School - an example, she said, of a struggling school that can rise above poverty and meet No Child's definition of success.

The only problem: Robles did not make adequate yearly progress, though it did come close.

"They have overcome lots of obstacles," said Hillsborough schools spokeswoman Linda Cobbe. "But you have to achieve pretty highly to achieve (adequate yearly progress).

Ron Matus can be reached at 727 893-8873 or matus@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 6, 2005, 17:49:01]