No Child Left Behind Waivers Provide Stopgap, But Will Obama Lead on Education Reform?

Ten years after then-President Bush signed NCLB into law, the program has done little to improve the American education system. Initial assessments showed gains in math scores for fourth to eighth graders, but those results have plateaued in recent years. And while African-American and Hispanic children are performing two grade levels higher now than they were ten years ago, there remains a huge performance gap between minority and white students.  The failure of NCLB has led to a push for renewed education reform. In 2009, President Obama announced his “Race to the Top” program. This initiative made available $4.35 billion of additional federal funds to states to improve K-12 schools. The Department of Education evaluates states’ applications according to improvement in academic standards, teacher quality and expansion of charter schools. While this effort is noble in intention, “Race to the Top” merely rewards states which perform the best, rather than aiding those that most need the funds.  In this election year, education is one the most important issue for voters. According to a College Board survey in March, education is tied with healthcare as the the third most important issue this November, behind only jobs/​economy and government spending. While voters may put education at the top of their priorities, politicians and the media have ignored it in favor of other issues, primarily job creation and economic growth.  There is a drastic need for a change in education policy in this country, and while the NLCB waivers can improve the situation, they are merely band-aids on a much larger problem. Without a new set of reforms, the American education will continue to muddle along.