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Local educators laud revisions to No Child Left Behind

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 9:48 PM Monday, February 1, 2010

HAMILTON — A statue of President George W. Bush outside Hamilton High School commemorates the day that he came to town to sign the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002.

Now, as that bill appears to be under some serious revision by the Obama administration as outlined in the presidents budget request released Monday, Feb. 1, local educators are owning up to its difficulties.

“We remain proud of the fact that Hamilton was chosen as the site for the signing on this historic education bill and have been firmly focused on meeting the individual needs of all of our students,” said Hamilton City School District Superintendent Janet Baker. “I’ve tried to be fair to the intentions of it because we needed to be held more accountable.”

Still, she said, “Hamilton is pleased that the No Child Left Behind Education Bill is being reviewed.”

One of the current administration’s biggest revisions to NCLB is the proposed elimination of the 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency, what local educators called “an ambitious time frame.”

Instead “the Administration will propose to replace the accountability system established in No Child Left Behind with a new system built around the goal of helping all students graduate high school college- and career-ready,” according to a Department of Education press release.

“We support students leaving high school college or career ready as opposed to the more strict 2014 deadline,” Baker said. “We’re pleased that teacher quality is being recognized as critical in improved student achievement.

“We believe that highly qualified and committed staffs make the difference in students’ results,” Baker said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.

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