To: LindyBill who wrote (19597 ) 12/12/2003 11:06:08 AM From: LindyBill Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 793622 The Liberal view from the "New Republic" on "No Child Left Behind." It doesn't take more money to teach the basics. Just the will to do it. REFORM SCHOOL by Adam B. Kushner Candidate: Howard Dean Category: Domestic Policy Grade: A Not that he needs it in New Hampshire, but Howard Dean recently scored the endorsement of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association. And he deserves it. Dean has always been an avowed opponent of No Child Left Behind because of what it does to states. He is consistent and genuine. Back in April, he told me: I hate unfunded mandates like the No Child Left Behind Act, which I call the No School Board Left Standing bill. That's a huge unfunded mandate which basically takes over the school board's right to govern its own schools ... You're going to see a lot fewer unfunded mandates in a Dean administration and a lot more investment in infrastructure--schools, roads, transportation, water, and sewer. An unfunded mandate is a governor's worst nightmare. That's when the federal government demands a state to spend resources to meet a certain requirement--without giving the state any money to do so. That's what No Child Left Behind did to education. It mandated that states improve test scores and punished them when they didn't, all without providing them the resources to do so. It has left school boards strapped for cash, which has taken a predictable toll on teacher salaries. (Thus the union endorsement.) And, by cleverly labeling schools that fail to improve "failed," it helps build the political consensus for vouchers, which Dean has also opposed. tnr.com