A top official with the U.S. Department of Education turned up the heat on public schools Tuesday, saying it’s time to stop making excuses and start implementing the new federal law that lets children escape bad schools while giving them better teachers.
Undersecretary of Education Eugene Hickok said too many states are finding bureaucratic ways around the sweeping No Child Left Behind Act instead of developing creative means to make it work. He said the department will “step up” its efforts to ensure that school officials meet the law’s requirements. He offered no specifics.
“Watch us. We are going to get pretty aggressive,” Hickok said in a teleconference. “You will see much more activity in pushing states to implement the law.”
Hickok made his remarks after releasing the final regulations for the act. The sweeping reform law mandates annual testing of children from 3rd through 8th grades, insists that every classroom instructor be certified for the subject or grade they teach, and sets a 12-year timetable for closing the achievement gaps between minority and white children as well as poor and more affluent students. It also includes an increase in federal education spending that means an additional $240 million for Illinois.
The linchpin of the law is its accountability measure, which demands that districts allow children to transfer from schools that fail to show steady progress on standardized test scores, and that they provide tutoring for those students who remain.
Since its passage in January, some school officials have found ways to circumvent the law, saying a lack of space in good schools and a dearth of qualified teachers hampers implementation.
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In Illinois, more than 160,000 children attend low-performing schools and, according to the law, should have been able to move to better ones. But most were not offered an opportunity to transfer. In Chicago, only 29,000 of the 124,000 eligible students got the chance to move.
The story was similar in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
“We recognize that this is a considerable challenge and we are willing to work with state and local districts,” Hickok said. “But the idea that choice should be limited by a lack of capacity runs counter to the intent of this law.”
Hickok challenged school officials to come up with inventive solutions, such as developing cyberschools that instruct students via the Internet.
A spokesman with the community group ACORN praised Hickok’s comments. ACORN released a study earlier this month charging that states are ignoring the law.
“We welcome increased vigilance on enforcement, but the federal government also has to understand that this is a question of resources,” said Doug Timmer of the Chicago ACORN office. “The real crux is that in some places, such as Chicago, the law is so far from the current reality that it will take a huge infusion of resources to make it work.”
Kati Haycock of Education Trust also praised the department’s firm stance.
“However, tougher accountability by itself does not create higher achievement,” said Haycock, who heads the education research organization. “We worry about the lack of focus on teacher quality and public reporting.”