Money Matters

Campus Report ^ | October 3, 2007 | Bethany Stotts

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Money Matters

by: Bethany Stotts, October 03, 2007

The numerous problems with the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have sparked criticism from both liberal and conservative policymakers. The National Education Association (NEA) has pushed for higher teacher salaries, smaller classrooms, and ‘indicative’ longitudinal testing. In contrast, the libertarian CATO Institute education policy analyst, Neal McCluskey, argues for the end of federal and state government intervention in education.

Although increased funding has not translated into educational gains, special interest groups continue to push for increased expenditures. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2006 Education Report Card, between 1983 and 2005 “per pupil expenditures have increased by 77.4 percent (after adjusting for inflation), student performance has improved only slightly—71 percent of American eighth graders are still performing below proficiency in Math” on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. At a recent CATO book forum, Vice President for National Programs and Policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Mike Petrilli likened Congressional education policy to an earmark factory, characterizing Congress as obsessed with producing legislative pork. “But it’s worse than that,” he argues; “It’s not just wasteful. . .It also pulls schools in all kinds of directions that’s not good for kids.”

The 2001 NCLB legislation creates a tension between federal and state governments, simultaneously requiring universal proficiency by 2014 while leaving the proficiency standards to the discretion of state officials. According to McCluskey, this legislative sleight of hand has rendered state level proficiency standards virtually meaningless, initiating a nationwide “race to the bottom, where the standards are at these rock-bottom levels and we’re calling proficiency something” which the NAEP would label “basic or below basic knowledge.”