Spellings favors wiggle room for schools
Spellings给与学校更多自由发展空间

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on Wednesday proposed "a more nuanced" way of evaluating
schools under President Bush's No Child Left Behind school reform law — one that would differentiate between schools that are close to meeting state math, reading and science standards and those that are "chronic, chronic underperformers."
美国教育大臣Margaret Spellings周三倡议以“能更细微区分的方式”来评估学校，这是根据布什总统的教育改革法案“不让一个孩子落后”提出的，用以区分数学、阅读和科学达到标准的学校以及那些乏善可陈的学校。

Under the proposed change, public schools with just a few struggling students could help students without being labeled underperforming. In the bargain, they'd avoid sanctions that can include firing staff, privatizing or even closing their doors.
在这一提议中，只有少数学习困难的学生的公立学校可以帮助其免予被贴上差生的标签。作为交换条件，学校可以避免包括裁员，私有化甚至倒闭。

The law currently doesn't differentiate between the two. It breaks down schools' test scores by at least 36 categories, and if even one group of students — for instance, Hispanic or disabled students — doesn't improve, the entire school misses its "adequate yearly progress" goal.
这一法令不区分2种。它打破了学校用分数来把学生分成36个等级。甚至如果只有一类学生，比如西班牙学生或者残疾学生---如果不改进的话，整个学校每年进步的教学目标就不能完成。

That has been a major source of heartburn for educators. Recent figures show that about 2,300 of the nation's 90,000 public schools are being "restructured" under the law. That number will likely grow as more students miss progress goals.
这一法令成为广大教育者的心头痛。现实数据表明整个国家的90,000个公立学校中有大约2300个因为此法令而进行重组。这一数字将像广大丧失进步目标的学生一样增长中。

The change, which Spellings floated during an interview with USA TODAY's editorial board, could quiet critics and help make No Child Left Behind more palatable as Congress prepares to reauthorize it. Spellings' spokeswoman, Katherine McLane, says Spellings has discussed the proposal with lawmakers.
Spellings在“今日美国”这一节目的采访中宣布的这一变化，可以使评论家保持沉默同时有助于“不让孩子遗留”这一法案更合国会胃口从而获得批准。Spellings的发言人Katherine McLane称：Spellings已经与立法者就此议案进行过相关讨论。

词汇：
wiggle
v.
(使)踌躇, 摆动
n.
踌躇, 摆动
 
nuance n.细微差别
subtle difference in meaning, colour, feeling, etc （意义﹑ 颜色﹑ 感觉等的）细微差异
e.g. be able to react to nuances of meaning 能够对意义上的细微差异做出反应 .

 

differentiate
v.  辨别 ; 区别 ; 区分
between A and B treat (people or things) in a different way, esp unfairly; discriminate 区别对待（人或事物）（尤指不公平地） : It is wrong to differentiate between people according to their family background. 根据出身不同而区别待人是不对的 .

 

chronic  adj.慢性的, 延续很长的

sanction
n.
批准, 同意, 支持, 制裁, 认可
v.
批准, 同意, 支持, 鼓励, 认可

 

Hispanic adj.西班牙的
of Spain and Portugal 西班牙和葡萄牙的 .
of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries 西班牙及其他说西班牙语国家的 .

 

heartburn n. 胃灼热 , 心痛 , 妒忌

 

palatable adj.美味的,合意的,认可的: The truth is not always very palatable. 事实真相并非尽如人意 .

 

proposal n. 提议 ; 建议 : the proposal of new terms for a peace treaty 缔结和平条约新条款的建议 .