No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a major federal education law that
applies to all states. Its purpose is to assure that all children learn
to read and do math proficiently as the keys to becoming educated and
responsible citizens. The goal of NCLB is that all of America’s
children will perform at their grade level in reading and mathematics
by 2014. In the years before then, all states must set rising
percentage goals leading up to 100%.
Under NCLB every school receives a rating each year based on the
percentage of its students that achieved proficiency in reading and
mathematics. If they have, the school is said to have made Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP). For the 2006-07 school year, the AYP
benchmarks in Florida are that 48% of the students will be proficient
in reading and 51% in mathematics. This seemingly modest standard set
by Florida is actually higher than that set by many other states.
NCLB gives choices to parents whose children are assigned to schools
that do not make AYP:
- All
students who attend a Title I school that has not made AYP for two
or more years must be offered the opportunity to go to a different
public school that is not “in need of improvement.” A Title I school is
one that has a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged
students and receives federal funds to assist them. This option is
referred to as Public School Choice (PSC).
- All
low-income students who attend a Title I school that has not made
AYP for three or more years must be offered free tutoring outside of
regular school hours. This option is referred to as Supplemental
Educational Services (SES). Those students can choose between tutoring
or moving to another school – between SES or PSC. All the other
students, who are not low-income, remain eligible for PSC. They may
transfer to a better public school.
NCLB also
gives school choice options that are tied to student safety:
- Any
student attending a school that has been identified as “persistently
dangerous” by the State must be allowed to attend a different school
that is deemed safe.
- Any
student who has been the “victim of a violent crime” while in or on the
grounds of his or her public school (whether or not it is designated to
be “persistently unsafe”), must be allowed the choice of a different
public school.
The
school districts must notify all parents who are eligible for SES
and/or PSC. They must also provide the SES parents with a list of the
state approved providers from whom they can obtain tutoring for their
child at no expense to the family.
Most families in Florida and throughout the nation do not know whether
their children are eligible to attend better schools or receive free
tutoring under NCLB. On average since the program began, less than 2%
of the eligible families moved their children to better schools and
less than 20% took up the offer of free tutoring.
Click on Learn More below for links to additional information
on NCLB.
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