NCLB Reauthorization

President Bush made his annual State of the Union address this week. One of the issues he addressed was the re-authorization of his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill which was passed in 2002. In his speech, he proposed to strengthen NCLB by instituting higher standards to hold schools accountable for improving student learning. He also wishes to re-structure failing schools by promoting tutoring and vouchers for private schools. He wishes to increase “academic rigor” in science and mathematics by creating a competitiveness initiative. This added emphasis comes at a time when the NCLB is falling under increasing scrutiny from the general public. The Bush administration is under fire for its foreign policy and needs a successful domestic program to hold up as a positive achievement.

It is almost certain that NCLB will be extended in some form but many individuals and groups have asked Congress to halt some effects of NCLB as being harmful to public education and students. These concerns include a narrowing of the curriculum, an over-emphasis on testing, the use of sanctions to punish local schools, and unresasonable expectations for disabled students. The law’s simplistic approach to educational reform has made it difficult to chart educational progress. While the premise that all children can learn and should meet standards is laudatory and a goal of every school system, the devil is in the details and rules that surround NCLB have made it for the most part ineffective in raising student achievement.

The government asserts that NCLB has increased student achievement although there is little or no empirical evidence to confirm those assertions. Common indicators such as high school drop out rates, college admission test scores and NAEP scores have remained static. The government also claims that funding has increased to support the efforts of NCLB. The truth is, at least in our area, funding has dropped each year since the inception of NCLB. Polls indicate that there is no high level of public support for NCLB as it currently is constituted. It appears that there will be no success for NCLB until
we move past the test and punish philosophy of NCLB. Could it be that the real purpose of NCLB is to drive public schools out of business and create a private school system of vouchers that would greatly reduce the cost for Uncle Sam of a free and appropriate public education and at the same time destroy the opportunities for children throughout the country? Read more about this on the web at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/24/bush.education.ap/index.html