Keep "No Child" moving forward

The federal No Child Left Behind education law needs revamping before it is worthy of congressional reauthorization.

The law has been hobbled by its inflexibility. Schools are as different as the students within them. Benchmarks and measurements in education cannot come in a one-size-fits-all box. But the net effect of the law, and its undeniable beauty, has been its unwavering emphasis on injecting rigor and accountability into a system that previously had little of both.

Making these changes will require a nimble balancing act and a serious discussion about education funding. A cautionary note: the Bush administration, which created the law, is not the one to fix it. That task ought to fall to the next president and the individual selected to run the U.S. Department of Education.

Changes made in the waning days of the Bush administration would not be felt in the classroom until a new president is in office. Forcing a new administration to implement wholesale changes made by a previous one is a recipe for failure.

Waiting does not discount proposed changes recently put forth by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Indeed, some of the proposals ought to transfer to her successor — particularly a plan to allow states to use multiple tests within a subject area as well as different types of questions. That's a welcome signal of flexibility.

Another idea requires more debate: Proposed changes in how states report graduation rates appear to place too much emphasis on "on-time" graduation. This is a distraction from the real work of moving struggling students through the system. Some students will graduate from high school in four years, others may need more time. A timer set by the feds is unnecessary.

Close scrutiny of these proposals is necessary. This cannot be done in the short time left to the current administration. The federal government's effort to reform public education has always been a work in progress. The law has come a long way in six years. It has further to go. Nothing will be lost here by holding things in place until the next administration takes over.