Isle education plan
gets federal approvalThe DOE estimates it will
take $211 million to meet the
No Child Left Behind Act
The U.S. government has approved the state Department of Education's accountability plan for complying with the No Child Left Behind Act. However, some local officials feel the federal law sets unrealistic goals for students and provides inadequate funding.
"These are very, very ambitious goals that this law sets, but at the same time, we're all committed to the idea that every kid can learn," said Brian Jones, senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "There is a significant amount of funding attached to this."
Jones visited Kauluwela Elementary School yesterday in downtown Honolulu, checking in on a kindergarten class, before announcing to a crowd of kids in the library that Hawaii was the 24th state to be named in compliance.
In its 50-page plan, Hawaii describes how it will hold schools accountable for student performance, spelling out how and when it will test students, track their progress and report the results to the community.
Several states have raised concerns about the law's strict mandates and its costs, and Hawaii's House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution saying the state should opt out of it unless the federal government fully funds it.
But doing so would jeopardize other federal money targeted to disadvantaged students.
"We've heard rumblings in various states," Jones said. "But I think nobody wants to say, 'We're prepared to write some kids off' or say, 'We're prepared to turn our backs on Title I funding.'"
The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to ensure that students make steady progress in reading and math, as measured by annual tests, until 2014, when all students are expected to be proficient.
Each category of students -- including different ethnic groups, those in special education and those with little or no English -- must be tested and reach the same academic benchmarks.
"Overall the intent was good, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty, it's almost impossible to comply," said Rep. Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades), chairman of the House Education Committee. "And then you exacerbate that with the lack of funding."
Jones said the administration's proposed 2004 budget would give Hawaii $116 million to implement No Child Left Behind.
Hawaii's Department of Education, however, estimated the price tag at $211 million that year, with money going to such things as testing, data collection and tutoring.
Kauluwela School is considered a local success story, one of just two high-poverty schools in Hawaii that have exceeded state targets for academic performance for four straight years.
But Principal Gwendolyn Lee said that if the most recent test data are broken down by category, as the new law requires, students learning English as a second language fall short.
"We'll be trying very hard," she said. "We've increased programs, tried to give them continuous instruction, summer school. But there are other factors involved."
Schools that fail to show progress in all groups must provide extra help, such as tutoring, and ultimately could face sanctions such as replacing staff.
The Congressional Research Service has estimated that 90 percent of the schools in the country will fail to meet the law's benchmarks, according to Rep. Mark Takai (D, Newtown-Pearl City), who introduced the opt-out resolution.
