Horne calls for returning policy-making to states
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 25, 2007
Arizona schools chief Tom Horne delivered his blunt criticism of the current
No Child Left Behind law at a meeting of the Heritage Foundation in Washington,
D.C., on Tuesday.
Horne said he favors the basic tenets of the law: rigorous standards assessment
and accountability. But he is a staunch critic of how the law is written and its
"irrational" implementation by the U.S. Department of Education. Horne called
for the return of education policy-making decisions to the states.
In particular, Horne noted that the federal policy-makers are not giving
English-language learners enough time to learn English before taking assessment
exams."There has been a tidal wave of illegal immigration into Arizona, and we
have over 100,000 students that are English-language learners," he said.
Under the Arizona system of accountability, which predated No Child Left Behind,
schools had three years to bring English-language learners up to speed while
federal negotiators only gave them one year, Horne said.
Congress is considering possible changes to the law as part of reauthorization
of the federal law.
View Horne's full speech at ade.state.az.us.
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