In this article, the author discusses how after-school programs are very popular with the public. A series of annual voter surveys conducted by the Afterschool Alliance shows public support consistently running in the 90 percent range, with 76 percent of voters even going so far as to say they would be willing to pay additional taxes if more…

The pressure is on. For the first time in the nation's history, schools are being required to produce measurable evidence that all students are learning, and they are being asked to do so amidst fiscal crises at the state and local levels. While several legitimate criticisms have been made about No Child Left Behind and its unfunded mandates, few…

Rather than establish a national test, we should examine what other industrialized nations require of their children. Persistence and creativity are not easily tested, and results are bound to be oversimplified. Developing basic American education standards is appropriate only if every public school is equipped with adequate resources. (MLH)

As measured by the number of published articles in U.S. newspapers and wire services in the Nexis database, references to "adequate yearly progress"--the key benchmark for school performance under NCLB--nearly quadrupled between December 2002 and December 2003. State and local news outlets have devoted significant space to their state…