On Saturday evening, the US Education Department released A Blueprint for Reform, the administration's proposal for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. AASA's Executive Director, Dan Domenech, received widespread media coverage responding to the blueprint, including a frontpage story in yesterday's Washington Post. Here are the highlights:
Obama: Revise No Child Left Behind law
By Nick Anderson, Washington Post, March 14
President Obama proposed overhauling the No Child Left Behind law that was his predecessor's hallmark education initiative, aiming to eliminate several of the measure's controversial mandates on public schools but adding new ones...
On Friday, Education Department officials briefed reporters, governors and interest groups. "From what they showed us, we like it," said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. "It looks like a significant departure from No Child Left Behind and the kind of thing we'd like to see done sooner rather than later."
Education groups vary in response to White House plan
Greg Toppo, USA Today, March 15
The Obama administration's plan to make sweeping changes to the 2002 No Child Left Behind education law is getting mixed reaction among educators: Teachers unions complained that teachers are being scapegoated by the overhaul; a school board leader praised it but called for more flexibility; and an administrators group said it was just glad to see NCLB go away…
Daniel Domenech, who heads the American Association of School Administrators, said he likes the outline he saw, calling it "more realistic, more valid and reliable" than NCLB. "It really makes us feel the urgency to have ESEA reauthorized, the sooner the better, so we can get out from under the restrictions of No Child Left Behind," he said.
Duncan wants 3 ratings for schools in education overhaul
Greg Toppo, USA Today, March 13
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will ask Congress to toss out the two-tiered pass/fail school rating system of the No Child Left Behind education law and replace it with one that labels schools one of three ways: high-performing, needs improvement or chronically low-performing, according to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan...
Daniel Domenech, who heads the American Association of School Administrators, said he likes the outline he saw, calling it "more realistic, more valid and reliable" than NCLB. "It really makes us feel the urgency to have ESEA reauthorized, the sooner the better, so we can get out from under the restrictions of No Child Left Behind," he said, adding, "We're very encouraged by this proposal. This is a view at 50,000 feet and we like it — but the devil is in the details."
Obama promise: Brighter education futures for kids
Associated Press, March 13
ATLANTA — President Barack Obama is promising parents and their kids that with his administration's help they will have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries.
The nation's first federal education law — Elementary and Secondary Education Act — was passed in 1965 as part of Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty. The law has been reauthorized several times since, most recently in 2001 under President George W. Bush…
It was criticized by educators for focusing too much on testing and not enough on learning. Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said he is glad to see No Child Left Behind go away. "We're delighted over that," he said. "We have not been a fan of No Child Left Behind."
Administration Unveils ESEA Renewal Blueprint
Education Week, Alyson Klein , March 13
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has released broad principles for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that seek to address perennial complaints that the law’s current version—the No Child Left Behind Act—is inflexible and doesn’t set a high enough bar for academic achievement…
“We’re excited about this and would like to see it pass,” in part to get relief from the current law, said Daniel A. Domenech, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, in Arlington, Va. While he cautioned that the “devil is in the details” and said there were aspects of the proposal he would like to reshape, he gave the department high marks for seeking to replace the current accountability system with what he considers to be the more “meaningful” measure of college and career readiness, and for proposing to include a mechanism to reward high-performing schools.