To the list of newspaper editorial board urging Congress not to move backward when they come up with changes to the federal No Child Left Behind law. They join others, like the Washington Post and NY Times in urging Rep. George Miller and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold tough amid all the pressure they are feeling right now from groups like the NEA.
The Detroit News editorial not only urges Congress to keep NCLB strong, it urges Michigan education leaders to get real about dealing with schools that have been failing their students for years. (They want 'em closed down.) They note that leaving things up to local school districts would be a great idea, if only the local districts we're talking about had the "political will or ability" to take drastic measures to turn around their schools.
"While we are strong advocates of local control rather than federal intrusion into education, too many school districts use that mantra as an excuse for local negligence," the Mo-Town scribes argued.
Meanwhile, in the Windy City, the Tribune editors concede that NCLB isn't perfect, but that proposals like one from Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy to eliminate testing requirements as part of NCLB would "allow states and schools to evade responsibility."