"No Child Left Behind" a Flawed Ideal

     Now, five years later, the law has proven just how poorly thought out it was. The non funded mandate has placed pressure on schools in many areas to do the only thing they could; they have lowered their tests to meet student’s abilities rather than pushing students to reach the proper education levels. Many states are questioning what is happening, with two states recently in the news; Maryland and Tennessee, asking the question if the students are getting smarter or the tests are becoming dumber.

     The schools are under a great deal of pressure to improve scores and improve them quickly. Failure to have all students in their district able to pass their tests by 2014 will mean the feds will intervene. The two actions the law states the government will be able to take against schools are to either reduce federal dollars or close the school entirely. Such actions are totally impractical and show how flawed the law is.

     First off, cutting funds to a school that already is under funded won’t bring scores up. Secondly, in a day and age where smaller student numbers per class are being pushed, closing schools will only overcrowd others.

     Once again it seems government has placed the onus of a good education on the school and that is a good place to build a foundation. But it is only one of the three necessary components for a good education. Without the family involved as well as the student, there is only so much a school can do for a child. The law doesn’t take into account that there are families who spend little time with their children pushing them academically. The law also doesn’t take into effect the fact that many students are more interested in everything around them than school. To make a school accountable for offering a quality education is an excellent idea. To place the blame on the schools when that education isn’t taken advantage of by students is patently wrong.

     To show just how difficult the requirements of the law are; to date only 600 schools have reached the current scholastic benchmarks. That is less than 1 in every 300 of the current 18,000 high schools in the country.

     A cursory look at the passing schools shows them to be primarily smaller schools or affluent school districts with only a few dozen schools in economically blighted areas making the grade. This is nothing new to the educational statistics as such results have been the same for years previous to the law going into effect.

     Education is the fundamental answer to the national equation of a good job and an opportunity to become a part of the American economic dream. It is something that needs to be ingrained into our youth by a family system of values as well as a nurturing of personal pride and growth. Thinking a school can overcome a lack of family support or personal commitment by the student is why tests will continue to become easier and easier until they have no value at all. Then it can be said that no child was left behind. The question then will be; Where are they and can they count?

Comment by Danny Davids^(13,494) (220 days 1 hour ago.)