From a Saturday Chronicle story:
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings fined Texas $444,282 Friday for the state’s continued defiance of the No Child Left Behind Act.
For the last two years, the Texas Education Agency has exceeded the federal cap on how many students with learning disabilities can be exempted from regular state testing, mandated by the act, in favor of an easier exam.
In a stern letter addressed to Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, Spellings said “the TEA has not shown cause why” she should not withhold the money from the agency’s 2004 federal grant.
So, after reading that, I think that the TEA was fined because it allowed more special ed students to take the easier TAKS test than NCLB allows.
But wait — there’s a correction today:
The Texas Education Agency was fined by the U.S. Education Department for not providing state test results to school districts on time, not for exceeding a federal cap on special education testing exemptions, as the Chronicle reported on Page A1 Saturday. See story, this page.
Oh my! That’s quite an error.
And today we get a new story:
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Shirley Neeley said Monday a federal fine levied against the agency would not affect the state’s classrooms.
The agency was fined $444,282 by the U.S. Education Department on Friday for not providing state test results to school districts on time. The Houston Chronicle erroneously reported Saturday that it was for exceeding a federal cap on special education testing exemptions.
Now, the Chronicle does admit in the story that it got the original story wrong — which is a new development — but still…that’s something.
