Obama Education Plan Abandons Accountability

President is weakening No Child Left Behind, writes Karl Rove
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2010 5:24 AM CDT
Obama Education Plan Abandons Accountability
President Obama gives an address about strengthening America's education system during a visit to Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin.   (Getty Images)

President Obama's education plan will gut one of the few parts of the Bush legacy that this administration claims to respect, writes Karl Rove. Obama's plan would destroy No Child Left Behind's accountability system by requiring that only the lowest-performing 5% of schools take action to improve test scores, Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal.

The current system is far better at identifying students at risk of failure early on, Rove writes, complaining that making students "college or career ready" is too amorphous a goal. Obama also plans to weaken school choice provisions, despite the fact that giving parents options helps brings about change, Rove writes. "It would be disappointing if Mr. Obama weakened two essential planks of school reform," he concludes. "For America's students, it would be downright harmful." (More education stories.)

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