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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

SES/Choice switch is the right step

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday that states can apply to switch the order of school choice and supplemental educational services (SES) offered at schools identified as in need of improvement under NCLB, see here. NSBA welcomes the change, which is part of our legislative recommendations to improve NCLB. Currently, schools must offer school choice to all students in the first year of improvement and also SES to low-income students in the second year of improvement. The change would allow schools to offer SES in the first year of improvement. Here are the criteria states must meet to be eligible to participate in this pilot program. However, NSBA believes this option should be available to all states and school districts and should not continue to be a pilot program available only to some. Technically, the Department can only make the change under the name of a pilot program because the current offering of school choice and SES is written in the law. This illustrates why reauthorization by Congress is so critical to fix the flaws in NCLB. The Department does not have the authority to change all that needs to be changed.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 06, 2008 (boomark / email).