By Mark Boshnack
Staff Writer
"The devil will be in the details," Unadilla Valley Superintendent Robert Mackey said about a recently released plan for overhauling the federal education policy.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act "" designed to serve as a guideline for replacing the No Child Left Behind policy passed in 2002 "" was presented by President Barack Obama to Congress on Monday.
In his Saturday radio address, Obama said this plan recognizes "that while the federal government can play a leading role in encouraging the reforms and high standards we need, the impetus for change can only come from states and from local schools and school districts."
The plan not only sets a high bar but also provides educators the flexibility to reach it, he said.
The blueprint calls for "states to recognize progress and growth and reward success, rather than only identify failure through testing."
States will also be asked to recognize districts making progress and focus support and intervention on the lowest-performing schools.
Under No Child Left Behind, the federal government increased standardized testing in grades 3-8 and held districts accountable if they did not score according to standards.
"There are parts of the plan that look really good," Mackey said.
This includes the call for more local control, but Congress will need to decide exactly what that looks like, he said.
"It would be nice to secure a reprieve from standardized testing," he said.
While this would require setting benchmarks based on state or national standards, the current tests have "zero instructional capability," he said. "It would be nice to change the focus."
He was glad to see the plan calling for higher achieving schools, including most in this area, to be allowed to continue to grow according to their abilities, he said. Mackey said he will be looking so see what the particulars are in reporting achievement, as Congress takes up the issue.
"Overall I think it's a good thing," Oneonta City School District curriculum coordinator Karen Rowe said about what she has read concerning the guidelines.
The change of emphasis "" from high test scores to actual learning growth "" is really important, she said.
"That is what all teachers are trying to achieve," she said. "Initially, it sounds like it makes sense."
But she was hopeful that things would be different in a new educational policy because Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had also been a school superintendent.
He's looking at the problems "objectively" and wants to consider such factors as student attendance and graduation rates in rating schools, she said. Unatego Central School Superintendent Charles Molloy said that the discussion is occurring while his district faces at least a $600,000 reduction in state aid to education.
"We are given a tremendous amount of regulations from the state and federal government we can't meet with the current economic problems," he said.
Franklin Central School Superintendent Gordon Daniels said that if and when Congress approves the changes, it will take some time to put into effect. But, it's time that something was done to even out the differences in the states that the plan tries to tackle.
The school has been successful under the No Child Left Behind policy, Daniels said. But students would benefit if the district had the flexibility to provide more of a challenge to those that need it.
