The federal law “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) required that ALL children must be proficient in math and language arts by 2014. It was a noble goal, but it was unrealistically naive. Now states want relief…..

One of the concepts in the federal Race to the Top initiative is the evaluating of teachers and administrators to reward–or punish–them according to their “effectiveness”…. but this view does not recognize or attack the deeper problems.

The federal Race to the Top program includes a plan to hire and fire principals and teachers on the basis of the students’ assessment scores. This has already begun to cause problems…