The Choice Channel

“As students head back to school, Congress is preparing for its own schoolwork assignment due this fall: debating and voting on the future of No Child Left Behind. The outcome of this debate will have big stakes for the future of schools in your community. Passed in 2002, No Child Left Behind, or ‘NCLB,’ offered the most sweeping changes to federal education policy in a generation. The 1,100-page bill increased federal spending on K-12 education programs by 26 percent and created new rules and regulations governing the 96,000 public schools across the country. Most importantly, the law required states to test students annually and show consistent growth in academic achievement. It set a national goal that all children perform at grade-level in reading and math by 2014, when, thus, no child will be failing.” (08/29/07)