Introduction: Federal aid to local schools in the form of a supplement to local schools based on their conformity to established guidelines under a federal law called No Child Left Behind. This law was a bi-partisan effort to fix America's educational system which is seen as critical to America's long-term economic success and dominance.
1. The advantage of federal aid to local school districts is that the federal aid represents an important additional source of funding. Federal funding is particularly important when funding provided by the State does not meet the financial needs of the school districts in the State. The disadvantages of accepting federal aid involve the fact that this assistance comes at a price; in return for the aid the federal government provides, the federal government demands a say in the way students are educated and their progress is evaluated.
The No Child Left Behind legislation is a federal law intended to improve education in America, and in particular the educational opportunities of children of poor families and of minorities. The policy requires certain standards of excellence for teachers. It requires that schools accepting federal funds demonstrate improvements in math and reading scores on standardized tests. It provides for special funding for literacy programs as well as for program aimed at students not fluent in English. According to Reg Weaver in NEA Today (2003), NCLB has a catchy but misleading name. The legislation according to Weaver is deeply flawed, and once fully implemented this law will fail millions of children, while labeling many of our best public schools and most dedicated educators as failures (Weaver, 5).
According to Christina Samuels writing in Education Week (2005), the NCLB legislation also includes a significant increase in federal funding for students with learning disabilities. Studies suggest that students with disabilities now have more access to the gen...