Talk to Power continued…

Talk to Power host Judy Woodruff interviewed Senator Thad Cochran in November of 2007 in response to hundreds of questions and comments from Yahoo readers.  Several topics were addressed. Today, the topic we are featuring is Senator Cochran’s view on No Child Left Behind. Click here to read the previous topic, “Saving Social Security.”

No Child Left Behind

MS. WOODRUFF:  And in that - continuing in the vein on education, Senator, a self-described assistant administrator in the Washington, D.C., public school system has written:  “I am concerned about the many weaknesses of the No Child Left Behind Act, particularly the many unfunded provisions that place a burden on states and school districts that are currently unable to meet the basic funding needs to maintain and build high standard, effective education programs for kids.  Please tell me how you view that current implementation of the NCLB Act, and address the issue of providing federal funding to assist states and school districts the adequate dollars to ensure the best value of the act.”

SEN. COCHRAN:  Well, here in the Washington, D.C., area, we are experimenting now with some charter school funding with assistance from the federal government to see if some alternative programs can be established to give people more of a choice about where they send their children to school, still in the public school system.  And this is, of course, something that’s being tried around the country as well. 

I’m hopeful that we can provide significant levels of funding from the federal level to support state and local initiatives.  We do that through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Title I program was designed to provide teachers with specialized training in areas where students have special needs.  I know - I mentioned my mother was a mathematics teacher.  At one point in her career, she was the Title I mathematics coordinator in our area of the Jackson, Mississippi, school system area, the county system.  She would go around and teach teachers how to teach the new math.  This was a long time ago.  People have forgotten about the new math.  It is old math now, I suppose. 

But we’ve tried a variety of things, and we’ll continue to explore options, and if you have suggestions for specific things we should consider, send them in.  Who knows?  We might adopt your proposal.

Next: THE STATE OF EDUCATION so Stay Tuned!

Click here to see video footage of Senator Cochran’s response. Also, click here to see the full article on Yahoo News!