The Obama administration has granted waivers of the federal "No Child Left Behind" law to more than half the states. While critics will charge that this is yet another example of President Obama's unconstitutional overreach--as when he unilaterally decided not to prioritize the deportation of law-abiding college students--these waivers make sense, if for no other reason than that the requirements of the law itself are ridiculous.
NCLB mandates that all schools in all states make all students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. An admirable goal, to be sure, but utterly unattainable unless we redefine "proficient in reading and mathematics" to mean something like "breathing." I am unsure any civilization in the history of ever has boasted 100% proficiency among its children in anything.
I actually applaud the federal government's involvement in education. As much as people clamor for local control, it makes no sense that the US, essentially alone among developed (and undeveloped) countries, has no coherent national educational policy. No one can seriously claim that a child in Mississippi has significantly different educational needs than one in Maine.
Of course national standards lead to a reliance on standardized tests, which has its own problems. And we'll discuss the best way to measure school outcomes later. For now, though, suffice to say that any legislation mandating 100% success is, pretty much by definition, doomed to failure.
Tell you what: When congressmen achieve 100% elimination of poverty among the citizenry, I will agree to achieve 100% educational proficiency among my students.
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