Fla., Ga., Ind., Ill., Md., Ohio win flexibility in plans to comply with No Child Left Behind Act

The U.S. Department of Education this week allowed six states to write their own plans for complying with the No Child Left Behind Act, a law that has proven troublesome for many rural school districts. The states are Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland and Ohio. They "have come up with plans to more closely tailor solutions to individual schools' problems and focus resources on schools in the worst shape," The Associated Press reported.

The states that sought flexibility and didn't get it were Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings "has said up to 10 states will be allowed to try to participate in the pilot program," AP's Nancy Zuckerbrod reported. "The Education Department plans to review additional state proposals this fall."

Approved states will no longer have to "take certain steps at specific times for missing math and reading testing goals. Critics have complained that the approach is too rigid and treats schools the same regardless of whether they miss the mark by a little or a lot," Zuckerbrod noted. "Examples of changes the states plan to make include requiring schools to offer tutoring earlier than is currently called for and a greater reliance, in Indiana for example, on testing throughout the year to catch academic weak spots."

Maryland will put more emphasis on training principals. "It's common under the law for failing schools to replace their principals," Zuckerbrod noted. "In Georgia, the state is spelling out that schools can become charter schools, which are public but operate with broad independence, earlier than is currently called for, said the state's superintendent of schools, Kathy Cox." (Read more)