Missouri education officials are studying the various aspects of the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act, which takes effect July 1st. Dee Beck, the Coordinator of Federal Programs for the State Department ofEducation, likes the idea of giving local schools more authority over spending issues. But Beck and others in the Department are concerned with the requirement that all students be proficient within twelve years. She says that will be difficult for Missouri because this state’s barometer for proficiency is higher than the barometer in many other states.
