Nearly everyone in the education community agrees that the time has come to end, or seriously repair, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); however, the process of doing so has become drawn out and contentious. With Congress not moving quickly enough to reauthorize the law, President Obama has announced a way to help states get around NCLB's…

Administrators must have a strong command of education and special education law. Case law rulings, additions to procedural safeguards, and legislation in the area of special education are demonstrative of the need for additional training in the area of law for preservice administrators to increase their competency level. Valesky and Hirth (1992)…

The 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) changed school law in the United States. Public schools can utilize federal funds to purchase only those educational products subject to scientifically based research. No dedicated certification intermediary (CI) exists to determine individual…

Preparing teachers for special education in the United States is a reflection that is not merely another attempt to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it is an investigation to learn from the past, use applications today in order to secure concrete and measurable goals in the diversified future of special education in America. Several historical figures…

In recent years, public charter schools in Connecticut and around the United States have proven that students living in poverty are capable of high achievement. President Obama said in a July 2009 interview, "Charters, which are within the public school system, force the kind of experimentation and innovation that helps to drive excellence in…

When the Cleveland, Ohio, school board had to make radical cuts in its budget last spring, it was forced to eliminate 540 teaching jobs. There wasn't a whole lot of mystery about "which" teachers among Cleveland's 3,500-member teaching force would be the ones to lose their jobs. The state's hard-and-fast seniority rule--last hired, first…

The call for American students to meet world-class standards in the federal Goals 2000: Education America Act (1994) and No Child Left Behind legislation, as well as state standards and accountability legislation, has been explicitly inclusive: All students must be held to these high standards. Litigation offers the potential to leverage…

The passage of Public Law 94-142 (the Education of All Handicapped Children Act) in 1975 established the rights of children with disabilities to a public school education in the least restrictive environment. Fifteen years later, it was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (PL 101-476, 1990), still intended to…

Federal laws address some of the factors that have been associated with school failure, specifically poverty and disability. The primary federally funded legislation that addresses the needs of at-risk youths in public are the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 and No Child Left Behind (2002). This article reviews the intended…

The "Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994" ("GFSA") was reauthorized by Section 4141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as amended by the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001" (Public Law 107-110). "GFSA" requires that each state or outlying area receiving federal funds under the ESEA…

In the latest disclosure about the education department's public relations efforts, the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams acknowledged that he had accepted some $240,000 in federal money for ads on his syndicated television show and for other help in promoting the No Child Left Behind Act in various forums. Williams was a subcontractor…

Depending on who's talking, the Bush administration's signature education law either imposes an onerous financial burden on schools or provides enough aid for states and schools to administer it. This article discusses the study released by the Ohio Department of Education estimating that the state will spend about $1.5 billion a year to meet the…

Cathy Grimes has become something of an expert on the No Child Left Behind Act. She keeps a copy of the hefty federal law at her desk--and has actually read it. Ms. Grimes is not a school administrator or state education official. She does not work at a think tank, either. She's the education reporter for the "Walla Walla Union-Bulletin"…

The upcoming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will be contentious, especially given the size of the act and the role it gives the federal government. When making decisions about reauthorization, it is important to consider the early evidence about the act's implementation and effectiveness. The first important finding about NCLB is…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has made substantial changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). These changes range from new assessment and accountability provisions in Title I that affect states, school districts, and schools to increased flexibility in use of funds for several programs, including the ability to consolidate…