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<span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt">On <em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'">Newsmakers</span></em>, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he will release a proposal to update the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law next month. He said it is “punitive” in its current state and that schools need more “flexibility” and “autonomy” on how to educate children. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt">Duncan announced earlier this month that he is allowing schools to apply for waivers to exempt them from repercussions for failing to meet student proficiency requirements, the central component of NCLB. The Bush-era policy was supposed to be renewed in 2007, but Congress has instead continued to pass one-year extensions of the law. Duncan said he hopes Congress improves and renews the law. </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt">Even though he supports more leniency on proficiency standards, Duncan said teachers and schools should still be held accountable, but not all the weight should be placed on high-stakes testing. He said the “waiver package” will allow teachers to “breathe a sigh of relief.”</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt"><em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt">Newsmakers</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt"> airs Sunday at 10:00 am ET and again at 6:00 pm ET on C‑SPAN.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> More »