The STAR TELEGRAM comments on the loopholes in the NCLB act calling for the Bush administration to be held accountable for its failure to meet its own goals. While I commented on this a few days ago, it is worthy of repeating. NCLB does not work at any level and needs to be removed from our national debate on education. I am afraid that won't happen given the power of the conservatives and the religious right in this country. NCLB, in spite of its lofty goals, is, in reality, a radical right ploy to destroy public education in this nation and replace it with private (code for faith based) schooling. Here is some of what the article offers:The goal of No Child Left Behind is supposed to be the inclusion of every student, and there is agreement that the students most likely to be on the low side of the achievement gap are students of color, poor kids and those who come to school with English as their second language.
We need to know how these students are doing if we are ever going to help them get a better education.
But Texas reports no scores for all its 65,000 Asian students and none for its American Indian students. It has dropped 257,000 students from the second level of No Child Left Behind reporting. In California, that number is 400,000 students.
The United States is the wealthiest nation on Earth and should be able to provide better for all our students.
While I disagree with the premise that NCLB is about inclusion, I am in clear agreement with the last sentence here. We can and should do better. But then, I live in Illinois where the state is 48th in providing funds for K-12 education. That is 48th in the nation, a place traditionally held by states like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The world has turned upside down.
Star-Telegram | 04/28/2006 | No Child Left Behind? Are you sure?
Sunday, April 30, 2006
No Child Left Behind? Are you sure?
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