States Setting Pace on School Change; Obama Agenda Stalled in Congress

Washington Post

Efforts to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law have failed to yield a bipartisan bill. There is a growing sense on Capitol Hill that the law enacted in 2002 under President George W. Bush will remain at least until next year, even though Obama pledged repeatedly as a candidate in 2008 to revise it. The law, which stresses annual standardized testing, is controversial in part because a third of public schools are now labeled as failing to meet standards. Despite pleas from Duncan and Obama, it also appears increasingly unlikely that the Democratic-led Congress will provide a bailout for schools this summer to prevent teacher layoffs and program cuts related to local budget troubles.

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