Posted on: Saturday, September 27, 2003

'No Child' forces state into hard budget choices

Advertiser Staff

The first thing to remember about the federal No Child Left Behind education law is that it uses the term "failing school" in a way that differs greatly from how an average observer might interpret it.

If your child is at one of the so-called "failing" schools in Hawai'i (and 64 percent of them do fall into this category), it doesn't mean that he or she is not getting a decent education.

A school can "fail," or more accurately, fail to make adequate yearly progress toward certain goals, if it falls short on an entire dashboard of measurements. That is, if absentee rates are above a certain point, if a certain sub-group of students (say, immigrants) are struggling, or if any one of many requirements are not met, it goes into the "failing" category.

And that's not entirely bad news, under a plan developed by the state Department of Education and revealed this week. The plan, a "Framework for School Improvement," calls for special resources and help to be brought into a school that is not making adequate yearly progress.

A better approach

That is a forward-looking positive approach. The alternative would be to let the school struggle to the point where it is simply taken over by someone else or abandoned by students whose families transfer them to other schools.

Neither outcome makes sense. So the DOE intends, sensibly, to take a proactive approach by pouring on the resources where needed.

And what is needed could vary from school to school.

In some, it might be extra help in English-as-a-second-language teachers. In others, it might be resources and programs aimed at convincing parents of the importance of regular daily attendance.

The kicker in this, of course, is the cost. And the Department of Education is apparently not ready to put a price tag on the program. That must change. Taxpayers have a right to know what it will cost them for this ambitious, but clearly needed, effort.

Federal support declining

Now, if Congress had properly paid for No Child when it first passed it, that would be no problem. But if anything, federal support for this mandate is declining, rather than growing.

There has been talk in some states — but precious little in Hawai'i thus far — of simply opting out of No Child at the price of giving up all federal support for local education. That does not appear to be a realistic option.

So the state is left with the job of picking up the tab. Unfair, but that's reality.

State lawmakers will be asked next year for more money for education and for this program in particular. To the greatest extent possible, they should provide it.

The alternative is a school system that drifts and increasing numbers of families abandoning public education to find private schools. That, in turn, will up the pressure for a voucher system.

Public education is far to important a part of our social fabric to abandon. No Child Left Behind has more than its share of flaws, but that should be no excuse for failing to do our best for our children.