Denise Juneau Comments on Education Report

Montana's Department of Public Instruction recently released its annual progress report showing that most students were not reaching proficiency standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The report looked at 820 Montana schools and found that 212 were not reaching the goals mandated by No Child Left Behind and that the State as a whole was not reaching its targets in both reading and math. Those targets are higher than ever due to the way No Child Left Behind raises the goals for school systems year to year.

Despite not hitting the federal goals, State Superintendent Denise Juneau says the report is "great news, because even though the bar went up more schools jumped over that bar."

State Superintendent Denise Juneau on Adequate Yearly Progress Report:

Juneau says that No Child Left Behind "really has to change" noting that it was designed with urban schools in mind and needs to be reformed for rural education. She says states should be in charge of setting there own standards instead of having to conform to a "one size fits all" standard.

No Child Left Behind has not been reauthorized recently and will most likely not reach the lofty standards it originally intended to meet by 2014. Juneau expects congress to take up the issue of education after the next election.