E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Jacquelyn Martin / AP file
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered states waivers last year, saying No Child Left Behind forced school districts 'into one-size-fits-all solutions that just don't work.'
California has become apparently only the second state — and by far the largest — to be denied a waiver of requirements of the No Child Left Behind education program, state officials said.
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have won waivers from provisions of the 2001 law, one of the signature achievements of the administration of former President George W. Bush, while nine other states and Puerto Rico have received conditional approval or have applications pending, according to the U.S. Education Department.
The agency doesn't publicize which states have been turned down, but Iowa is the only other state to have publicly acknowledged that it has been rejected.
California officials got the news Friday by telephone, The San Jose Mercury News reported, quoting Michael Kirst, president of the state Board of Education.
Kirst told the Mercury News that California's unwillingness to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores was what sank the state's request.
Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
The denial wasn't a surprise — Kirst and state school Superintendent Tom Torlakson warned local administrators in an open letter Friday (.pdf) that federal officials had indicated that California's request would be turned down.
No Child Left Behind
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have won waivers from the 2001 No Child Left Behind law. Nine states (in addition to the Puerto Rico) have received conditional approval or have requests pending:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- Texas
- West Virginia
Two states are known to have been rejected:
-California
- Iowa
Five states haven't requested waivers or have withdrawn their requests:
-Montana
- Nebraska
- Pennsylvania (plans to request a waiver at a later date)
- Vermont
- Wyoming
Sources: U.S. Education Department; California Education Department; San Jose Mercury News; State of Iowa
"It is disappointing that our state's request — which enjoyed such strong support from parents, teachers, administrators, and education advocates across California — has apparently been rejected," Torlakson said in a separate statement.
Authorization for No Child Left Behind — formal title: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA — expired in 2007, and Congress hasn't acted to rewrite or refresh it. Last year, the Education Department told the states that they could apply for waivers pending a new law because the current law was "forcing districts into one-size-fits-all solutions that just don't work," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said at the time.
In the meantime, the old law continues to impose student test score standards that keep rising every year, to the point that many states say they're unrealistic in 2012. Critics contend that the law locks states into inflexible standards focused solely on reading and math, neglecting subjects like social studies, the arts, health and physical education.
Majority of states lining up to ditch No Child Left Behind
The old standards require a 100 percent rate of proficiency on standardized reading and math tests by 2014. The penalty for falling short is loss of federal funding for schools serving low-income children.
"On behalf of millions of parents, teachers, administrators and community members who fight for all children every day, we urge you to join us in prioritizing education by coming together to reauthorize and fix No Child Left Behind. We've waited long enough," Betsy Landers, president of the National PTA, wrote in an open letter to President Barack Obama last month.
Torlakson agreed, telling state educators: "The appropriate solution is for Congress to reauthorize the ESEA, replace its inflexible requirements with provisions that accommodate the differences in state policy approaches, and give districts adequate flexibility to improve student achievement."
But that doesn't appear likely to happen any time soon, with Congress transfixed by the looming "fiscal cliff" and immigration reform.
"At the moment, it's unclear if there is a real commitment and consensus in Congress for reauthorizing," Duncan told the Council of Chief State School Officers in a speech last month. "I wish there was a clear commitment and consensus."
More content from NBCNews.com:
Leave a Comment:
tell the Feds to take a hike
The Framers of the US Constitution reserved the organization and operation of education to the States, not to the Federal government. Teacher labor unions have managed to lobby Congressmen into interferring and encroaching State's right. The result has been predictable: corruption, graft, and waste.
Despite trillions of Federal dollars spent on " public education," the students have received little benefit. Too many students' test score remain substandard; drop-out rate nears 50% at many inner city schools; and HS graduation rate is just as dismal. Those who manage to graduate are barely literate. Among industrialized nations, the test scores of American students rank near the bottom despite American students receiving one of the highest education spending per student.
The discrepancy is obvious. Majority of the federal education money were siphoned off in the form of higher administrator and teacher salary. The remainder was spent of dubious teaching equiptment sold as political 'pork.' Most public schools intrastructure are in terrible shape as a result of deferred maintenance, or in reality the maintenance money was stolen for dubious purposes. The main beneficiary of Federal education grants are the labor unions who provided heavy political campaign support during elections. The losers are the student and taxpayers.
American public education is better off without the Federal government's intrusion by the Department of Education and their bureaucrates. Like the War on Poverty, War on Crime, and War on Drugs, the No Child Left Behind program is another Big Government fiasco that has wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars.
Why does Tennessee get to opt out and not California? There is absolutely NO reason why Tennessee should be allowed to leave George's Every Child Left Behind Act. California is 5 times larger thus they should be allowed to leave.
And thats my opinion
It's a dumb program. Kids that want to be stupid will be stupid....mostly because of lazy, terrible parents. It doesn't matter how good or bad a teacher is. Teachers should be evaluated by their superiors.
The DOE is a total failure. Since being in control since the 70's, the American kid has consistently fallen behind other countries. The reason is that other countries value education and do not dumb down the material to make sure little Johnny's feelings don't get hurt with bad grades. Time to increase the standards and tell the kids to learn it or learn how to dig ditches.
Actually the responsibility was to the townships/local towns to hire a teacher who was supposed to teach the kids. If the teacher wasn't adequate, they got fired.
Realistically, having the fed set goals in the national interest is fine. Even the state establishing state wide goals is fine. The biggest responsibility for the state should be to insure that school districts that are poor can have adequate facilities and schools.
Our problems are related to instead of government being a guide that it becomes a top down dictatorship that intervenes in ways that makes matters worse instead of better.
Because it is top down, instead of guiding, you have Government mandated politically driven social engineering, Political driven ideology, Politically driven Science, and now politically driven Medicine being indoctrinated on the youth of America.
It is Now "We, the government" instead of "We the people'.
"We the people" is what made this nation so great, so advanced.
With California being, now, second to last in scores in education, they should NOT be opted out. It's the politicians of this states fault for the mess the school system is in. Paying ridiculous wages for lousy 'teachers', while inundating our school system with kids from the third world. There are whole school districts on the free lunch programs, with kids who can't read, write, understand English, much less speak it. And, I'm not referring to just those kids born to or they themselves are, illegals.
There are too few schools left doing a decent job graduating students who are ready to become productive members of our society, almost none can be found in California...
I cannot speak for California but in Illinois, District 299 (Chicago) no child left behind was nothing but a JOKE. Additionally, most of you teacher bashers, have NO IDEA how difficult it is to attempt to EDUCATE children that have no idea or respect for education. I am not going to go into the MANY issues that impact public education, however, I will say this: 99% of the problems you see or read about in reference to under achievement, BEGINS IN THE HOME.
Wade..
Would you agree that if the system doesn't work.. it should be changed?
and if... that change doesn't work.. then it should be changed until a solution that does work, is found?
Angela LD,
What does free and reduced lunch have to do with anything??? Students have to eat. Would you rather they starve? Do we not feed the students who can't read or write? That would exclude most kindergartners across the country. What is your point?
We have a population. It needs to be educated. Get over the teacher bashing and understand that what comes in the door isn't perfect and no amount of money, teaching, counseling, or berating will ever make for perfection. Humans aren't perfect and miracles are rare. We get what we get and work at improving things. It is just that simple. Don't blame the schools. They have to work with what they get when it comes to students and other factors.
To Angela LD, it is obvious that you have never taught a day in your life. Your blanket statement about illegal immigrants being the reason that there are so many problems in schools is ridiculous. Not all immigrants are illegal! Furthermore, there are MANY teachers who work extended hours each day and weekend to make sure that their students are ready to be productive members of society. As a public school teacher, I can tell you that I am paid a ridiculous wage for the work that I do... RIDICULOUSLY LOW!!! I have a Master's Degree and more than 12 years experience in my field, and yet I am underpaid for my educational level and experience, not to mention the number of hours I put in each day and week on the job. My day does not end when the students leave each day. There are still papers to grade, lessons to plan, phone calls to make and e-mails to send to parents about their child's progress or behavior in my classes. I am not a babysitter like some people think; I am not there to entertain the students or to be their "buddy" but I am there to teach them how to read, write and speak in standard English and how to act like a civilized person with respect and morals. I do teach in California at a school that has low-income families, and the students in these households work harder than those in more affluent areas I have worked in. The family's income level does NOT dictate a student's academic success, nor does it determine a person's future success, and I would know from personal experience. Please think before you post such ignorant and biased statements!
We have two teachers in our family that work in Southern California.They are not paid enough and it is the parents who stand in the way of their children receiving a quality education.Throughout the state it's our administrators who are overpaid and useless.Its not easy teaching kids whose parents aren't actively involved in their children's educational success,the kids come from gang families,they have no grasp of the English language and no respect for those who are trying to educate them.You can't believe the amount of parents who cuss and threaten these teachers because Johnny or Suzy received an F due to not turning in homework all year,not passing tests on the subject matter and poor attendance.If I were a teacher I'd feel in danger of the parents at conference time more than I would driving through a sketchy neighborhood at night.
Many be the rest of California's public education system is doing OK, but the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is so dysfunctional and inept that it should be dismantled and re-organized as several independent school districts. Students of LAUSD has the highest drop-out rate, lowest achievement scores, lowest graduation rate, and highest illiteracy. Meanwhile, LAUSD's admin and teachers continue to receive one of the highest compensation in California for their fiasco -- some would call it a crime against humanity.
The No-Child-Left-Behind Program is nearly 30 years old. Little has changed in LAUSD. With the powerful teacher labor unions encircliing Sacramento and the countless corrupt politicians eagerly receiving graft, California's public education, especially those resembling LAUSD, will remain the public factories that mass produce gang members, drug addicts, pan handlers, and criminals.
Why try? As so often happens, a good idea falls prey to unintended consequences. The laudable notion that education should be available to anyone who wants it has been perverted into the situation where disruptive and uninterested students can't be removed from the system. In fairness to the teachers, this is due to the administrators who ask for funding based on butts in the seats.
I say leave them there.
Hi, DB.
What you said.
The administrators don't care what the teachers put up with or whether the students learn anything as long as the seats are filled.
That's one of the reasons they demand (at least in Alabama) a note from a doctor's office for every sniffle a child is kept home from school for, ensuring that sick children are forced into the classroom by parents who can't afford to take time off from work to sit half a day in a doctor's office just for a member of the medical profession to tell them their child has a sinus infection, a bad cold or a poison ivy rash that can be cured by Calagel.
Our children are pumped full of unnecessary antibiotics or sent to school with contagions they could be kept at home with and left to run its course if administrators were not seeking every dollar to line their own pockets with. That money does not go into education... it goes into pockets and pet projects that are spun into political favors.
Wow, Somehow I'm not surprised posters on this site failed to understand my post or it's implications...
BTW, I agree with all those posters who mentioned anything that has to do with administrators, they ought to be laid off FIRST, as with anyone else who doesn't step foot or have direct contact with children in the classroom. The school system is way too top heavy.
"Wall", I'm from Long Beach. The schools here are almost as bad as those in L.A.
Kristina Sudduth-Ramos
Oh Please. I, too, have teachers in the family. When you only work less than 8 months a year, get every holiday know to man off, once you establish your classroom and teaching method/routine, get the kids to grade each others papers and homework, you have it pretty easy and are way way way over paid as oppose to those of us who work a regular 9 to 5 with only a few weeks off during the year and maybe Christmas. Nor do we get a job for life like you do once you obtain tenure, which ought to be revoked.
I'll agree that some of it has to do with parents. But, not always. When teachers/schools have a significant dropout rate, or incidences of pervasive illiteracy, that falls squarely on the shoulders of the teachers, period. Even if those children do not speak the language or regardless of their background. Children are suppose to learn in the classroom, not be shuffled along and become someone else's problem.
If those 'poor' kids worked so much harder than the rest, how come all the bad schools are in the lower economic neighborhoods or are the schools (with bussed in kids) that have the most 'economical disadvantage' (free food kids) have the worst test scores and dropout rates?
Regarding California.....................it sure is too bad that 'people out there even Senators n Reps dont have any predictive ability with cause and effect relationships'. Ya do this and this is gonna happen..........HEY! do this and this will happen. The bottom line with LNCB and Californ. is no organization-infastructure + its lowering the Bar on expectations.....Now the person whom divised all of this is a sittin on that Bar sayn 'told ya so.... dont pass GO ya dont get $200!' Here it is in black and white........INVEST IN YOUR YOUTH YOU INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE-duh go in debt for it aspire to it raise the bar. As far as the guy sittin on the Bar? He shouldnt give a test he couldnt PASS HIMSELF Amen
It is not necessarily the politicians fault for this mess. Partly it is the fault of parents who continue to have more children than they can financial support, provide for in all ways, and parent, and who leave the raising, caring for and educating of these children 100% up to the school system. Raising a child should not left up to the schools. Parents are supposed to feed, nurture, and assist in the education of children. The schools are supposed to teach the children math and sciences, but the parents should be reading to them, helping them with homework, etc. If they can't do that, then they should be using birth control instead of blaming the government for their children's slow progress. No government can shoulder the burden of raising children if the parents are not participating. Not only are many of these parents not participating, but some of them do not speak English, and the children are struggling with burdens at home that children should not have to face. The government is being pushed to care for the handicapped, the disadvantaged, the elderly, and the care and control of millions of children as well, and no one wants to pay more taxes. If you want things, then vote for more taxes to pay for them, you don't get something for nothing.
the problem is that many parents are uneducated also
smart plan, cut off funding to those children who require the most help, what dumb a-- came up with this plan
Bush
What dumb a_— came up with the idea that God Almighty, Jesus Christ, the Bible, prayer, the Ten Commandments, objective truth, Christmas, and the Judeo/Christian ethic are all destructive to the upringing and education of American youth?
Secular humanistic liberals.
I find it funny that NCLB expired in 2007 and no one in Congress or the sitting President thought they should do anything about it. Five years have passed and nothing has been authorized to change this faulty legislation. It is not possible to get 100% of any group to be 100% Proficient without making Proficient the new average. A 100% passing rate is wonderful but implausible, since the tests meant to measure proficiency are not the same nationwide, so proficiency in one state is not the same as it is in another state.
100% passing rate proves that they are good test takers.It doesn't necessarily mean that the test takers actually know the material or can lead a successful life with a rewarding career.And that in a nutshell is what is wrong with all of these tests.
Alderson,
Who came up with the plan? "one of the signature achievements of the administration of former President George W. Bush"
Let's see now. Wasn't he our "duh, duh" president that got us into such deep doo-doo every where you try to step? So the most ignorant president we've ever had tried to fix education? What do you expect, then?
Not surprising the teachers and school administration support the option out waiver to remove any accountability. Certainly not surprising since both do not want teacher evaluations based on student test scores. Evaluations based on test scores would show the number of incompetent lousy teachers we have in one of the most costly and worst school systems in the country. The wealthy California Teachers Union has democrats scared of loosing their endorsements and campaign contributions to attack the mess they have created over the years. SAD THE TEACHERS UNION CONTROL THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION SYSTEM with deep pockets by intimidating candidates from city council members to the governor. Not supporting them will result in huge sums spent on negative ads to prevent election. EVEN MORE SAD is California voters listen to this BS.
Once a teacher has tenure it is a lifetime job regardless of competence or performance. The teachers union protects the deadbeat lousy teachers and it takes an act of god to fire one even a child molester. "Save our kids" ads paid for by the union is a joke. They are not interested in educating our kids but to get public support for more money to pay the present outlandish benefits and pensions plus future increases.
California schools will never improve until there are teacher performance guidelines. There must be a means of eliminating the lousy teachers. Reduce the outlandish benefits and pensions plus increase the years required for retirement eligibility. The majority of funds allocated for educating our children go to teachers or administrators salaries and benefits not to student education. If the school system was a business it would have closed long ago with the pay, benefits, and pensions given to teachers thanks to the union.
California needs to become a "right to work" state. All public service workers not only teachers pay, benefits, and pensions need to be addressed and adjusted. They are all completely far above the private sector and out of control. California taxes and business restrictions have changed the state from the land of milk and honey to a debt ridden state.
Why is the USA the only country in the world that requires dual language classes and documents? No other country spends billions each year to teach foreigners. Learning the language should be the responsibility and cost of the immigrant not the US taxpayer. Will other dual language classes other than Spanish be added in the future? Vietnam, Chinese, and other Asia population is increasing.
Tom,
"SAD THE TEACHERS UNION CONTROL THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION SYSTEM" should read, "Sadly, the teachers' union controls the California education system."
Your English teachers would be disappointed in you.
Why the dual language? Because the elite in our "new world order" want to unify the whole of the western hemisphere into one political unit, and by the US being truly bi-lingual it will put us in the driving seat.
"The appropriate solution is for Congress to reauthorize the ESEA, replace its inflexible requirements with provisions that accommodate the differences in state policy approaches, and give districts adequate flexibility to improve student achievement."
So everyone understands.. This is "education speak" for "Let the teachers return to grading on the curve and issuing social advancements so the students self esteem doesn't suffer.
As for losing emphasis on the arts and sports, I mean,, "physical education", we are the only industrialized country that funds arts and sports using education dollars. They do have REAL physical education classes though not particularly rigours. The "arts" are something that parents hire private tutors for or is provded by charities. Sports are provided by local sports clubs and gyms. Often for free but sometimes there is a charge if the parents are willing to pay for advanced training.
We are about #17 in the world on math, science, and language but by golly we lead the world in Olympic medals. This shows exactly where the emphasis is placed in our schools.
Let all those rich Democratic f*gs in CA help the schools out
arne should talk to the teachers who "serve" a lot of these children and see what they go through on a day to day basis.i definetly would not want to be a teacher in a low income minority school district.i know several that are retired and counted the days to retirement.
As I recall, the reason for this legislation is the graduating students ( a low % as I recall) could not read or write above a 3rd grade level (or there about). Get the job done or get out of the way and let those that can do.
I can and DO on a regular basis, since I am expected to teach those that do not want to be taught from families that think that their child is perfect and that they can do no wrong. They do not want to hear that their child is acting inappropriately or not doing their work or ____________— (fill-in the blank of bad behavior or habits), because it is all my fault that their child is not getting an "A" in the class I teach. I hold my students accountable for learning, and I am allowed to fail a child who fails to learn, but the child is still allowed to move onto the next grade level even though they failed to learn the material, so who's at fault there???
"Critics contend that the law locks states into inflexible standards focused solely on reading and math, neglecting subjects like social studies, the arts, health and physical education."
Of the jobs I have held since graduating high school over 30 years ago, the reading and math I took were the only courses that really provided any knowledge I needed on the job.
Start reading professional publications and you'll find hundreds of people in very good paying jobs pointing out how much time and money they wasted on courses that gave them nothing they could use in their careers or life.
Teachers are clinging to an outdated, outmoded form of education with support from the industries that serve it, as a result, even if a kid gets straight As in school, he still comes out the other end with no real skills other than those needed to continue into college, which of course does nothing for those who can't go to college.
In the meantime businesses have learned that they don't even have to provide on the job training, all they have to do is say they can't find skilled employees, a community college will trumpet it and get funding for "training" and then force people to take classes they don't need and sink themselves into debt for a job that won't pay enough to cover the debt AND basic living expenses. Public education is as much a profit driven scam as any fly by night "correspondence school"
Its a little short sighted to think that exposure to educational subject like social studies, art, music, physical education etc are of little or no use. Social studies especially, encompassing topics such as history, geography and civics, are necessary and if more attention was paid to them, our country might be functioning better than it currently is. The arts provide access to elements of our cultural history that create a shared understanding of our own society as well as exposing us to some understanding of societies and cultures we would not normally be familiar with. This becomes important in a world driven by global rather than regional forces.
Years ago my teenage daughter complained she didn't understand why she had to study Shakespeare much less "Julius Caesar." I gave her that same "cultural history and understanding" explanation. She didn't buy it. A few years later while watching a comedy TV show, the punchline to a comic exchange between the characters was "et tu Joe?" She sat straight up and said "that's from Julius Caesar!" That's the reason, I explained - if you hadn't read Shakespeare you wouldn't have gotten the joke.
No everything we need to and should learn is, must be, or should be related to what we do to earn a living or even how we live day to day. These things are essential, however, to our ability to think rationally and creatively about our world, lives, other people and the future.
Blue skies smiling at me... nothing but blue skies do I see...
Accountability... what a concept....
Responsibility... a revelation!
Math?
What's a deficit???
Good place to start.. one thing at a time.
The LAUSD has been broken since the early sixties. There is enough blame to go around. However until Parents make it an issue nothing will be done. I'm not talking about PTA meetings either. I'm talking about priorities. When the majority of parents decide to make their children their number one priority things will begin to happen.
Parenting is not easy. It's not suppose to be easy. It should take both couples and single parents all the energy and resources they can muster to give their children not only the means, tools and resources to learn. They need to give their children the desire to learn to succeed. Easier said than done, but it comes down to priorities.
No dollar left untaxed.
No income left unmolested.
The hell with reading , writing, math and science.
I want to study poetry, pottery and learn to speak Farsi. Maybe get some P.E. credits for learning Mixed Martial Arts.
No Child Left Behind -- another disaster brought to you by George W. "Wrong Way" Bush.
Forty years ago an elderly neighbor of mine told me that in the next 100 yrs. secondary education would no longer exist as we know it today. He said that there would no longer be any free education beyond grammar school. - I laughed at the thought, now I'm not so sure. It seems that each and every year we hear about how poorly American students compare to students in other countries. Costs for public school education continue to skyrocket while student achievements declines. The time is near at hand, if not already here, to give serious consideration to a pay as you learn program. In other words, each student that wishes to be educated beyond the eighth grade would be obligated to pay for that education out of their own, or rather their parent's, pocket. Cities, towns, states and even the Federal government would save many millions of dollars annually. New private institutions of secondary learning could buy the unused schools from beleaguered school districts, resulting in moneys saved by not having to maintain partially used buildings and at the same time increase revenue through taxes on these same buildings. States would be exempt from dictating curriculums and paying the salaries of administrators and staff. Teachers would have to negotiate with the individual learning institutions regarding their salaries and retirement programs rather than have to deal with inflexible school committees. Serious students would be in an environment more conducive to learning, the disruptive and unmotivated would not exist as an impediment to those truly desirous of learning. For those that come from homes with lower incomes, student loans, scholarships and grants could be available on a limited as needed biases.
The federal government really has no business screwing around with the education process in the states. There are much more important things for Congress to do than tell states how to run their business.
Having recently been involved peripherally in administering a school testing program, I am horrified by the amount of paperwork and documentation created to administer these tests. Having worked in the public sector for many years, I understand that much of this type of documentation is the result of legislators and courts responding to political winds and creating system wide responses to protect against a unique case issue.
Special education teachers (the ones with the actual Master's degrees in the specialty) are the ones tasked with creating the education plans and doing the paperwork and meeting with the parents, other teachers, administrators etc. They do not actually teach the children with special needs - they tell the high-school- graduate teacher's aide what to do. What's wrong with this picture?
Perhaps part of the problem is the fact that children of Spanish speaking parents do not learn to speak English at home. Parents get a free ride when all directions are written in two or more languages. I purchased a small electronic and it had four separate languages in the directions. Perhaps if we returned to old school and forced people to speak English (like our grandparents and great grandparents) some of the problems would disappear in the schools. As a teacher who started in the 1960s I am appalled at what is not being taught. Forcing teachers to teach to tests was never a good idea and is indefensible.
No child left behind requires teachers to teach and students to learn something other than Heather has two mommies. Of course we blame the test and the system because to admit that the last 2 generations of American students are kind of stupid might hurt their self-esteem.
It is easy to blame the teacher but when the parents dont care and always takes the childs side against the teacher well the kid is not going to learn. Face it California is pretty much worthless money pit.
No child left behind aims at a lower common denominator. Get rid of it. Just like teacher's unions keep the better teachers on the same par level as the under performers. Get rid of them and the Department of Education which intrudes on good teachers. A real question for those who aim at the least common denominator is: are we teaching the right stuff in schools. If you care to read any of the trends in JOBS, middle class jobs will require an education in computer technologies, even manufacturing which is going more toward robotics. We teach our kids how to socialize and respect other cultures but we don't prepare them for the future. Stupid tests given to everyone and the teacher's unions, the goal of which is to protect jobs for all, stand in the way of our future. (by the way, I used to teach so don't tell me what it is like in the classroom)
Teaching kids to be adept in subjects that really matter, how novel.
No more liberal arts and liberal anything, just a skillset to get a real job.
The unions will hate this, too funny.
Now, do your job and teach the kids.