Excuse me, Newsweek. What the hell do you think went on in schools before NCLB? Were all the teachers incompetent? Did everyone just sit around and do absolutely nothing all day in all the public schools across the USA?
Well, Thank the Lord for the great savior of America's public school children, George "the humanitarian" Bush.
As usual, Newsweek panders solely to the republican agenda and ignores the truth. Must be nice to sit up there in your ivory tower of what used to be credible journalism and pass judgement on something you kinow absolutely NOTHING about. NCLB has been a disaster. Deal with it.
Chuck France
/
AP
Spellings: 'No Child Left Behind turned up the heat. And not everyone is comfortable with that.'
EDUCATION
‘Things Can’t Go Back’
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has had the thankless task of being the primary spokesman for No Child Left Behind. But her commitment has never wavered.
Apr 10, 2008 | Updated: 5:59 p.m. ET Apr 10, 2008
- Share:
-
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
It can't be easy for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. She's passionate about all things to do with school. "This is my life's work, my calling," she says. Yet, here she is, in the final year of the Bush administration, and instead of continuing the grand work of remaking America's schools, she's stamping out brush fires in college-lending caused by the credit crunch and rattling the cages of fat cats in higher education. She doesn't like to say it out loud, but despite her very best efforts, things haven't worked out like she (or her boss) had planned.
At lunch this week with NEWSWEEK, she was determined to look forward, not back. She's had a great ride. She came to Washington, first as senior domestic policy adviser in 2001, with a popular Republican president who promptly wrested education away from the Democrats, the ones who had traditionally dominated the issue. Back then, President Bush spoke loud and often about the raw deal poor and minority kids were getting in public school. Instead of a bleeding heart, he showed a kind of flinty compassion for the poor by condemning what he famously called the "soft bigotry of low expectations" that plagued our inner cities. He coupled that with an inspired can-do attitude about making real, lasting change that disarmed even his fiercest opponents.
Within a year, the president had, with bipartisan support, come up with what seemed like a clear-eyed solution—passing the wide-ranging No Child Left Behind reform, which Spellings helped draft. Finally, someone was holding teachers and principals accountable for the chronic and systemic failure that was plaguing America's schools, particularly the poor ones. With the support of Congress, the president forced states to set goals for schools and put pressure on them to meet them. In 2004, Spellings became Education secretary—and the torch bearer for one of Bush's signature domestic policy.
That was then. Seven years later after the law was enacted, No Child Left Behind is chiefly known by its flaws. Yes, states have standards, but some are laughably low. Local leaders, frightened by failing schools further eroding already tanking property values, have turned many schools into test-prep factories where teachers slavishly follow "standards" to teach the most basic curriculum, often in the most boring way. Kids endure weeks of teaching to the test and, in some locations, attend test pep rallies before the big day where they cheer each other on to get higher scores.
Because of the law, some formerly lackluster schools have become engaged in an often-heroic struggle to teach disadvantaged kids more, but because of the act's broad language, many are still designated as "failing." At a time when the numbers of Latino children in our public schools are skyrocketing—and schools are held responsible for making sure they learn—we still haven't mastered the process of making sure native Spanish speakers keep up.
To make matters worse, the rhetoric between the teachers unions and policymakers has rarely been more harsh. "No Child Left Behind may be the most negative brand in America," Rep. George Miller of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee told The New York Times. He should know. His attempt to broker some kind of nonpartisan agreement on how to fix the controversial law blew up in his face last fall.
- 1
- 2
- Next Page »
- Share:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
