[Winona Online Democracy]
Title: Legislative Auditor's Report on
NCLB
Given the local discussion of
public education it may be of interest to add the impact of No Child
Left Behind on Winona's Schools. Below is the exact text of the
Legislative Auditor's letter to the House Education Committee that
arrived Thursday, March 4th on Commissioner Yecke's remarks on the
Legislative Auditor's Report. It is unprecedented for the Legislative
Auditor to respond in this fashion. Please take the time to read it.
If you would like to see the Legislative's Auditor's Report on NCLB go
to www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us.
Rep. Gene
Pelowski
Date:
March 1, 2004
To:
Members
House Committee on Education Policy
From:
Jim Nobles
Legislative Auditor
Subject: Evaluation of No Child Left
Behind
My staff and I want to again thank you for the opportunity to discuss
our evaluation of No Child Left Behind. We hope it helped you
better understand the law and its impact on Minnesota schools.
As you know, Commissioner Yecke has criticized our analysis because we
did not factor in future changes to the No Child Left Behind Act. I
want to explain why we did not do that.
First, that is not what we were asked to do. The Legislature
asked us to analyze what impact the current No Child Left Behind law
is having * and will continue to have * on Minnesota schools. That was
our assignment.
Second, it is hard to see how we could have factored in future changes
to the law. We would need to know what specific changes will be
passed by the Congress and signed by the President and, unfortunately,
we do not have that level of knowledge. Therefore, we think it
is appropriate for us to base our analysis on the current requirements
of No Child Left Behind.
The impacts of No Child Left Behind we have identified are troubling.
All the more reason they deserve an honest and productive discussion.
That discussion will not occur, however, if our report is dismissed on
the assumption that the current requirements of No Child Left Behind
will be changed. The political process in Washington is too
uncertain and the challenges in Minnesota too serious for policy
makers to be diverted by that assertion.
cc: Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke, Ph.D.
Members, Legislative
Audit Commission
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