The U.S. Department of Education threatened yesterday to take "enforcement action" against Virginia if any school districts defy a federal mandate to give reading tests to thousands of immigrant students. An update to this story on washingtonpost.com shows that some districts aren't backing down regardless of possible consequences.
In a sharply worded letter, Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon said he is "greatly distressed" that some school districts, including Fairfax County, might violate the No Child Left Behind Act. Simon urged Virginia to enforce the law. If it does not, he said, federal education officials could step in, possibly withholding funds.
Simon said in an interview that students learning English must be tested on grade-level material to determine whether they are making progress. He asked Virginia state Superintendent Billy K. Cannaday Jr. to ensure that local school districts comply.
Cannaday said that he is "profoundly disappointed" in the federal response and that he joins educators statewide who are frustrated by the prospect of giving children who don't grasp the nuances of a language test that may cover concepts such as metaphor, hyperbole or analogy.
There is nothing wrong with challenging laws that seem unreasonable. Isn't reasonableness a category on some state math tests? Maybe politicians need to reconsider the reasonableness of using a "one test fits all" and expecting all students to learn at the same rate. Talk about leaving someone behind.