An Education Presidential Debate Question

Per the post below,  here is one that would be interesting to hear:

Mr. President, your administration issued waivers for states that wanted to have alternatives to the No Child Left Behind accountability rules.  Virginia, which I don’t need to mention is a pivotal state in this year’s election, used that flexibility to establish a new accountability system that only requires its schools to have six in ten Hispanic students and just half of their English-Language learners proficient by 2017 – five years from now.  The performance goals for low-income students are just 59 percent passing and 57 percent passing for African American students in five years from now. At the same time, Virginia’s standards are nowhere near as demanding as measures like the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  Are low expectations like that acceptable and what you had in mind with these waivers?

Governor Romney, you’ve said that states should have more flexibility from federal requirements on a range of issues, including education.  Given how important education is for individual opportunity and for our country’s economic future, what’s your reaction to these low-expectations that state leaders in Virginia have enacted?  Are they OK in your view?  Is there any federal role in setting a floor on educational quality in this country?

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