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Recently the Congress was challenged by President Obama. This was with regard to the No Child Left Behind program. He said that there is universal agreement on the need to make significant changes in the law to improve it as soon as possible. He stated that he would like a reform bill to be sent to him before the commencement of schools next year. This is an era filled with partisanship and this is a great opportunity to break through and make an important bipartisan effort.

There is no doubt that NCLB’s goals are indeed commendable. There is a strong support on all fronts for the idea that education outcomes must be focused upon by the K-12 schools in our country. As students must inevitably compete on a global level for higher education and job opportunities, it is imperative to bring into practice a national standard of education achievement.

NCLB focuses on narrowing racial achievement gaps and on the key concepts highlighting student population segments such as the low income students, under-served students, students of the ethnic subgroups and racial groups and disabled students apart from those who are high performing, talented and gifted.

There are many problems that must be addressed quickly to make this program more effective and result oriented. This includes expectations like making every student 100 percent proficient in math and science by the year 2014.

A revision must definitely be made also in the annual student achievement requirements. According to estimates released by the Department of Education, at least 82% of schools are not in a position to meet next year’s achievement goals.

School performance evaluation must also be made very realistic, say experts. If a single sub class of students in a school misses their goal, the school is unfortunately labeled as under-performing during the evaluation. Schools that are labeled under-performing are considered to be failing schools. This unfair evaluation in turn harms the reputation of the school in the eyes of the public and harms the school system on the whole.

NCLB’s way of evaluating students has always been attracting controversies. However, that is not the issue right now. There is no doubt that in order to get jobs, people must prove their skills and knowledge in tests, even for obtaining driver’s licenses, admission to military, professional designations and acceptance to universities and colleges. So, it is not really an unfair assessment tool or an unrealistic expectation to ask K-12 students to pass achievement tests.

Teacher accountability is another important aspect of the NCLB. This is a highly sensitive subject as teachers in public schools do not really have a say in the kind of students handed over to them. They also do not have a control on the background of students assigned to them. However, it is time to raise the red flag if there is a lack of teacher performance for consecutive years.

Workers who under-perform are not tolerated by any business. A closer look is required here at the NCLB to ensure fairness. It is the need of the hour to enhance the quality of K-12 education in our country. The sooner NCLB laws are improved, the better.