The Seattle Times – Linda Shaw
“School may be out for the summer, but education news has not slowed down. Nationally, the biggest story is that Congress may finally overhaul its main education law, known as No Child Left Behind, which expired eight years ago. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray hopes to push through a bipartisan bill she wrote with Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. What’s at stake: Who defines school success — each state or the federal government. What happens if schools fall short. Whether test scores are used to evaluate teachers. Perhaps even what kind of tests students take. And much more, since this bill covers lots of ground, and includes billions in funding for the Title 1 program, which is aimed at helping students from low-income families. But annual testing looks like it’s here to stay. Both the House and Senate versions would still require yearly reading and math tests in grades 3-8, and once in high school.”(more)