Many states that are overloaded with new “Americans” are suffering with the same problem—-how can their kids possibly do well under the federal ‘No Child Left Behind’ testing requirements when many get here from their home countries with little or no schooling. Manchester, NH is going to buck the feds and not test those kids.
From the Union Leader(hat tip: Jay):
MANCHESTER — The Board of School Committee voted on Monday to end the federally mandated standardized testing of newly arrived immigrants with poor English skills.
The proposal passed unanimously and without debate. It is a policy board members have said in the past they support.
Students enrolled in Manchester schools who have recently arrived from another country will not be required for two years to take the annual standardized tests required under the No Child Left Behind law. If those same students had never been to school before — in the United States or their native country— then they would not have to take the test for five years.
[….]
It is still uncertain what consequences Manchester will face for not following federal guidelines mandating testing of all students, said Brennan, but he hopes working with the state Department of Education will ease the path toward a compromise.
Manchester has already been labeled a district “in need of improvement” under the NCLB law because of standardized test scores.
Next thing you know we will be paying for separate but equal school systems for immigrant kids. Oh, yes! Dekalb County, Georgia is already doing that, here. What a coincidence, that county is the setting for the novel “Outcasts United.”
As is so often the case, the comments to this story at the Union Leader are more interesting than the story! Check them out!