Should Arizona opt out of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and lose millions of dollars in federal funding for schools?
Reporter Betty Reid writes about how this would affect some Phoenix school districts:
Some Phoenix school district officials are concerned about their financial futures after learning the state House of Representatives agreed to drop the controversial No Child Left Behind policy starting in 2010.
House Bill 2392, approved Wednesday, proposes Arizona schools opt out of President Bush's 6-year-old education policy. School districts would lose $600 million s in federal education money, however, by not being in the program.
State lawmakers agreed that if Arizona does not reimburse districts, the state would stick with the federal policy. Some school district leaders, however, admit they favor portions of the policy but disliked other elements. Read her full story here: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/0328phx-nochild0329....
Reporter Mary Jo Pitzl also wrote about the Arizona Legislature's discussion about saying No to No Child Left Behind and its federal money attached. Read her story here: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0327nochild0327....
Do you think it's worth the loss of the federal money to not have to meet the No Child Left Behind rules?
Lori Baker is mom to two daughters, 21 and 23 years old. She is
editor for the Valley and State section's Education and Environment pages in the Arizona Republic.
Arizona schools are
Arizona schools are depending on budget overrides to just keep staffed at the current levels. Voters proved at the last election that they are unwilling to put money into education - most of the budget overrides failed at the last election. Yes, NCLB is not a great program, but without federal funding, we're in a world of trouble - we proved at the polls that we are unwilling to step up at the local level. Demand that the program be fixed, don't opt out of it.