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Past Extra Credits August 18 All issues

"Delaware is a decade into serious school reforms with high-stakes accountability for students, teachers and schools. Some good things are beginning to happen. You can imagine the consternation then when only two of the state's 19 school districts managed a 'superior' rating, none rated 'commendable,' and all the rest are now under 'academic review,' which puts them under the gun for two years."

"Of course, there was an immediate caterwauling from school officials that the federal standards are unfair: another right-wing conspiracy to destroy the public school system with vouchers and charter schools. (Never mind that charter schools are public schools without the usual bureaucratic baggage.) This is a cry that will ring from coast to coast—and it is phony."

"No Child Left Behind is a double whammy. It leaves no shelter for those who prefer to accentuate the positive while disowning the negative as something totally beyond their control. No Child Left Behind says that if the kid makes it to school, the school is ultimately responsible for that child's proper education no matter what. That's as it should be. Codified into law, this is a radical concept."