No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

NCLB is the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that funds the majority of federal K-12 education, including American Indian education, teacher training, Head Start, early literacy, school libraries, bilingual education, technology, and school safety, as well as, of course, Title I, which remains at the center of the legislation. In 2003, Title I gave $11.7 billion to schools serving low-income children, 64% of whom are students of color, in approximately 47,000 (about half of all) American public schools.

Although federal oversight of education has been in place since the Sputnik era, NCLB represents a dramatic increase in federal control over local educational decision making. While previous versions of the ESEA focused on fiscal accountability, NCLB demands accountability for outcomes, expressed as student ...