AFTie Confusion

In critiquing my post on Richard Rothstein, AFTie John can't figure out the difference between the title of a law and what the law actually says.

Or he thinks Rothstein can't tell the difference, or Congress can't. I'm not exactly sure.

The larger point being, the phrase "close the achievement gap" can mean equally legitimate but very different things. It can mean "erase all academic performance differences between poor and non-poor students," or it can mean "make sure that both poor and non-poor students reach a defined (and in most states, not particularly high) level of achievement."

Since Congress chose the latter definition when the wrote the actual provisions of NCLB, it seems safe to assume that they also had that definition in mind when they referred to closing the achievement gap in the title.

It's also safe to assume that Rothstein, who is obviously a pretty smart guy, understands the distinction. That's why his tendency to switch back and forth between the two in rhetorically slippery ways is so maddening.