Monday, September 24, 2007

The End of No Child Left Behind?

Well, in name, at least.

Today's Washington Post reports that Congress is considering a new name for the now infamous No Child Left Behind Act:
One reason, said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), a key sponsor of the original bill that transformed K-12 education in the country by ushering in an era of high-stakes standardized testing, is that "No Child" is inextricably linked to Bush. And Bush, he said, has become unpopular.

Furthermore, he said, people simply don't like the name.

"People find it an incredible insult [to suggest] that we are deliberately leaving children behind," he said.

Marian Wright Edelman, president of the nonprofit Children's Defense Fund, isn't a big fan of the name either. According to the Post, Edelman supports the change because it borrows from the CDF's own federally registered trademark, Leave No Child Behind.

Let's say Congress invited you to their focus group. What would you rename the act? And as an added bonus, they want you to name one major change you'd make to the law, on behalf of principals. What would you recommend?