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Sweeping No Child Left Behind reforms unveiled in Detroit
date: April 22, 2008
SOURCE: The Detroit News
By: Karen Bouffard
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings chose Detroit -- where as many as three-quarters of students drop out of school without a diploma -- to unveil a package of new regulations aimed at tightening accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act and boosting the nation's low graduation rates.
The expansive package of regulations will tighten the reins on school districts, giving them fewer options for how to improve schools and greater accountability tied to financial penalties.
In town to speak before the Detroit Economic Club at the Masonic Temple, Spellings deplored the Detroit Public Schools district's abysmal graduation rate -- the lowest in the country at 24.9 percent, according to a national study released this month. Fewer than half of students graduate in 17 of the nation's largest cities, and 1.2 million drop out annually, according to the study by America's Promise Alliance.
But Spellings also praised Superintendent Connie Calloway for tough actions aimed at turning around the city's schools.
"Some of the things Connie is doing, and is going to do, are going to make people uncomfortable. But they are the absolutely right things to do," Spellings said. "(Calloway's) allies understand better than anybody that your schools are in urgent need of improvement, and without that your city will not move, not grow and not be the successful city that it must be."
A key component in Spellings' reform package is a uniform method of calculating graduation rates, which states have calculated using a patchwork quilt of formulas -- some of which have vastly inflated the number of kids getting diplomas. States across the country, including Michigan, are expected to see graduation rates drop under the new method Spellings plans to require. The state previously compared the number of seniors each fall with how many graduate nine months later, a method that pegged Detroit's graduation rate at 66.8 percent.
For the first time, schools will be obligated to inform parents of their rights to switch schools or get tutoring help if their child's school is failing. Schools will be able to pay for letters home and other community outreach with money from the federal Title I program, but the government will have oversight of the quality of tutoring provided. Districts will have to pay the money back to the U.S. Treasury if they don't use it for the intended purpose, rather than reallocating it to some other use.
"(Spellings') remarks support the need and urgency for change, and we need to pay attention," Calloway said.
Increased regulation is welcomed by some education leaders in Michigan, which has been a front-runner in implementing tough education standards. The state has suffered because the number of schools that have failed to make Annual Yearly Progress has increased as Michigan has implemented some of the toughest graduation requirements in the nation, as well as a rigorous new Michigan Merit Exam. Schools may appear to be faring better in states where standards are lax.
"This is a good start," said State School Superintendent Mike Flanagan. "We will be shedding more light on how schools are doing, and how tutoring services are doing and letting parents know when tutoring is available.
The regulations announced by Spellings will be made law following a 60-day public comment period.
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