The U.S. Department of Education announced on Friday that New Mexico had become the 19th state to have its No Child Left Behind state accountability plan approved. Following are excerpts from coverage of the announcement:
"Under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, schools are pushed to improve programs especially for minorities and low income kids. [Reginald Chavez Elementary School] Principal Michael Saavedra: 'Look at every child, and where they are at academically, and align all our programs towards meeting success for every child in school.' The incentive is more federal funding. New Mexico could see more than 252 million dollars! Congresswoman Heather Wilson: 'It means increased expectations for New Mexico and increased resources to go along with those expectations.' The lofty goal now for New Mexico's public schools is to now narrow the achievement gap between low income and middle class kids." -- KOB-TV
"'One of the things New Mexico understands is how to deal with students in small communities,' U.S. assistant secretary of education Robert Pasternack said after a presentation at Reginald Chavez Elementary School." -- The Albuquerque Journal
"The federal law requires states to describe how they will close the achievement gap between schools to make sure all students are proficient. Schools that don't make progress must provide such services as free tutoring. A school must make dramatic changes to the way it's run if it hasn't made year-to-year progress after five years." -- The Associated Press
"New Mexico's plan includes a number of accountability measures, from ensuring the presence of qualified teachers to allowing parents with children in underachieving schools to transfer their kids to a better public or charter school. A cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act is a commitment to getting kids ready to read by the third grade. ... 'We had already started down the path of saying we want our children to achieve,' [Congresswoman Heather] Wilson said. Getting the state's plan approved, Wilson said, means 'increased funds, but there are also increased expectations.'" -- The Albuquerque Tribune
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NCLB Extra Credit is a regular look at the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's landmark education reform initiative passed with bipartisan support in Congress.
If you would like the NCLB Extra Credit emailed to you, please send a request to Geoff Goodman at NoChildLeftBehindUpdate@ed.gov or call (202) 205-9191.
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Last Modified: 08/23/2003
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