Editorial Editorial (April 16, 2004)

'No Child' law needs tweaking

One of the reasons most elementary and secondary education matters are left to the states is the difficulty of designing national legislation that can sensibly be applied to the thousands of school districts across the U.S.

And nowhere is that difficulty more visible now than in President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" legislation that is beginning to worry the superintendents of local school districts. For while most educators would agree that the goals of the legislation are admirable, a "one-size-fits-all" policy simply is not appropriate for California's schools, probably the most diverse in the nation.

In its most basic sense, the "No Child" legislation decrees that all school children reach grade level "proficiency" by 2014, as measured by the STAR test, which is administered in April to all students, regardless of whether they are in special education or English language learner classes. And by the 2005-2006 school year, all teachers must be considered "highly qualified."

To reach the first level of the goal, 13.6 percent of students in schools like Mountain View's Castro Elementary -- where some 80 percent of the students speak a language other than English at home -- must pass the STAR language proficiency test. Sixteen percent must pass the math test. And next year, the percentage of students required to pass will jump to 24.4 percent in English, and 26.5 in math.

A major part of California's problem is that well before Bush's bill was passed by Congress in 2001, California had adopted a very high definition of "proficient" as it applied to state education, compared to other states. As it applies now, students who are proficient are said to be college-bound, a level that some local administrators believe is too high, considering the diversity of the schools in Mountain View.

Three Mountain View-Whisman schools -- Castro, Landels and Graham -- failed to meet the STAR test criteria last year, although this year administrators vow to achieve a passing grade for all nine of the district's schools. But given the ambitious goal of the president's legislation, to achieve 100 percent proficiency in the next 10 years, it is difficult to imagine how all of the schools in Mountain View, let alone statewide, will pass. Students in the Mountain View-Los Altos high school district have passed so far, but no one expects perfect scores by 2014, when every student must make the grade.

When schools do not pass, they are subject to varying degrees of punishment under Bush's legislation, beginning with a requirement that students must be given the option to transfer to other schools. And state or federal aid received by the schools could be forcibly shifted to pay for tutors, extra academic support for students or transportation.

Local administrators continue to do their best to prepare students for the STAR test, which is only administered in English. They agree that "No Child Left Behind" is a nice goal, but its one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work in this diverse area, especially given the high level definition of "proficient" already adopted by the state.

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