Education/NCLB

The federal government needs to fully fund No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Unfunded mandates are a recipe for disaster. We also need to reduce class size, return discipline to the class room, and encourage preschool learning.

NCLB has good intentions, but the cookie-cutter approach creates an impossible standard for many schools in Hawaii. NCLB needs to have more flexible standards that are based on the individual schools.

Many schools that have been placed under re-structuring are seeing diversion of critical resources to measures required by NCLB. This makes it even more difficult for the schools, which are already operating with less than they need. In the end NCLB will be self-defeating if Hawaii's needs are not taken into consideration.

Re-vamping of the Student Weighted Formula to factor in the need for training/mentoring new teachers is critical to the success of NCLB in Hawaii.