Bush Official Rules Out U.S. School Testing Standard

 

 

It's no surprise that the NEA opposes a national test that would allow us to better judge how well students, teachers and schools are doing because maintaining the fiction that all is well -- and, to the extent it isn't, the solution to all problems is to spend more money on more teachers -- is very much in their interest.  But it's disappointing that the Bush Administration is siding with them -- how ironic that Ted Kennedy is the bold one here!

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is due to become chairman of the Education Committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January, is pursuing a plan that would establish ``voluntary national benchmarks'' and then help states meet them, spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner said.

The administration's position is backed by one of its most ardent critics on education policy, the National Education Association, the largest U.S. teacher union. The 3.2 million- member NEA doesn't support a single national test standard, at least until other educational improvements are funded at the state level, union President Reg Weaver said.

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Bush Official Rules Out U.S. School Testing Standard

By Paul Basken

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSrBZ1LjXUG0&refer=home

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration has no intention of backing a single nationwide testing standard when it works with Congress to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law, a top Education Department official said today.

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