http://www.recordnet.com/articlelink/102502/news/articles/102502-gn-2.php=
End creative teaching, official says=20
Assistant secretary: no waivers of No Child Left Behind Act=20
By Victor Balta=20
Record Staff Writer=20
Published Friday, October 25, 2002=20
Susan Neuman said the new federal No Child Left Behind Act,=20
if implemented the right way, will put an end to creative and=20
experimental teaching methods in the nation's classrooms.=20
"It will stifle, and hopefully it will kill (them)," said Neuman, U.S.=20
assistant secretary of education. "Our children are not laboratory =
rats."=20
Neuman, who is principally responsible for implementing President=20
Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, was in Stockton on Thursday night=20
to speak at University of the Pacific's Faye Spanos Concert Hall.=20
Earlier in the day, she visited Clairmont Elementary School in Lodi=20
and spoke to reporters at Pacific.=20
Neuman mainly discussed the sweeping law, which is the first major=20
federal educational reform since President Lyndon Johnson's 1965=20
Elementary and Secondary Education Act.=20
The law aims to improve student performance by making schools=20
accountable and giving aid to schools that need it most. It also calls=20
for states to have fully credentialed teachers in every classroom by=20
2006 and directs federal funding toward "research-based programs=20
that have been proven to help most children learn."=20
"I think the federal government in the past has done a little of this, a =
little of that," said Neuman, who received her doctorate in reading=20
education from Pacific in 1977. "It seems like we were into a new=20
trend every other year. No Child Left Behind is a bold change in=20
the way we do business."=20
Neuman acknowledged that the federal mandate is a "complex law,"=20
but she said state education departments already should have been=20
doing much of what it requires.=20
"They shouldn't be shocked," Neuman said, noting that her first day=20
on the job, she was welcomed by a stack of 18 letters from states=20
and territories asking for waivers on various federal education=20
policies. "The previous administration was waiving this and waiving=20
that. This administration is serious. We don't intend to waive any=20
of the requirements."=20
Neuman explained that No Child Left Behind seeks to give parents=20
alternatives before taking action against a school. The law gives=20
parents the opportunity to move their children out of low-performing=20
schools or to have the schools pay for special tutoring or other=20
additional help. Sanctions include audits by the U.S. Department of=20
Education, state takeovers of schools and, ultimately, closing schools.=20
Neuman said the law is a new phenomenon in that teachers have=20
never been trained in terms of getting results.=20
"There doesn't seem to be a good grasp of accountability for our=20
profession," Neuman said, adding that good teachers can overcome=20
other historically negative circumstances, such as violent, run-down=20
neighborhoods.=20
"One of the key variables (in a student's educational environment) is=20
good instruction," Neuman said. "If you have good instruction,=20
children can learn regardless of what the neighborhood looks like."=20
* To reach reporter Victor Balta, phone 546-8272 or e-mail=20
vbalta@recordnet.com
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