Education NCLB ACT
NCLB (No Child Left Behind) should be called No Child Left a Dime. I hope with the democratic controlled house and senate in congress that they will do everything possible to get rid of this ridiculous law. If you want to see what republicans think of education look at the private schools. Teachers have no formal training in educational theory or psychology of how students learn, they are paid very little. If a teacher happens to or is brave enough to teach something that make the children think of something other than what some parents have brainwashed into their child. Then those teachers are removed from their position. There is no protection for teachers to freely teach what children should learn. The majority of private schools are white only and the Republican Party is reminiscent of the old Ku Klux Klan. Don't let them fool you they have not taken their kids out of public schools because of prayer or other excuses. They have taken their kids out of public schools because they are racist! And when I say racist I don't mean racist against other races of people I mean racist against the poor. They don't want their children to go to school with poor children. Republicans want control! NCLB is set up to make public education fail. The AMO (Annual Measurable Objective) for every public school is to have 100% of children proficient in every subject in every grade level by the year 2014. This AMO discourages teachers and decreases morale. Happy teachers are more productive and better teachers. I've heard teachers and administrators both make the comment "If No Child Gets Ahead Then No Child Will Be Left Behind." Is this really the mentality that we want our children's teachers to have? The smartest people in the world are not 100% proficient in everything. The republicans are setting public education up to fail so that they can achieve one of their goals/objectives and that is school choice (public school vouchers). If all public schools cannot meet the objectives then parents will complain and run to the republicans for help. Their solution (the republicans) will be school vouchers (school choice). Please notify all democrats that are in congress and urge them to do away with the NCLB ACT. It will be up for renewal in 2007. Please call your congressman and urge them to reform education and get rid of the NCLB ACT, for the safety of preserving democracy in this country. If the republicans continue we will soon live in a dictatorship and not a democracy.
education
Obama seems to be in favor of school choice. Many civil rights organizations see it as a way of moving poor student from horrible neighboorhoods. Some are concerned that many are in special ed. these are seen as inequities. Some think NCLB will fulfill the promise of Equal education. The reality is very different. The NCLB act instantly moved scores of kids of all races out of special services programs. parents are pleased that their child is no longer special, but is included in the main stream. of course this is just a way to deny services so public officials are also happy to give less and pay for less. This denial leaves every child behind! NYC has used NCLB for school re structuring. They open "small schools" inside the same buildings as existing schools, re direct the population to the "small school", hire cheeper new teachers and since the population has lowered in the existing school more expensive experienced teachers are excessed. The UFT is silent. Obama seems to ignore the fact that 4 out of five creators of NCLB Board are those who have made huge profits from the NCLB policies especially in NYC. The infusion of private evaluation companies, food providers and after school tutoring companies are stealing valuable public funds. Privitazation will do for education what it has done for health care. Stilll, all look to non teachers like they looked to non doctors to solve institutional problems. How can they when they have no instututional memory and keep using the magic bullet of privitization?
Obama tends to look fondly at the Charter School system...
most of us know that NCLB has failed miserably. It appears that it is good for Texas, and lousy for the rest of the nation.
Good teachers go to good schools. Unfortunately, beginning wages for teachers falls very short of what their education costs. $28,000/year for starting teachers fails to take into account their educational costs of $50,000/150,000.
As a result, new hire teachers are from the bottom of the schools turning out teachers.
Obama will not appreciably change the educational picture in the near future...or quite possibly...never.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
NCLB has failed and the students are the
ones suffering the most from this poorly planned
legislation.
When students in Special Education classes are required
to take many of the same assessment tests the regular education
students are taking, you know something is very, very wrong.
I am Home Teaching students who cannot attend classes
due to extended illness or injury. The classroom teachers
for the four core subjects I teach sometimes include a Pacer
Plan with the textbooks for each class. This plan outlines the
curriculum for the entire school year.
From late February until the end of the school year in June,
preparation for testing and testing takes place. Lessons
covering the State Standards are squeezed in between.
It's insane. The students and teachers are stressed to their limits.
Very little actual learning is taking place at this time.
NCLB has to go. It doesn't work and it hurts our students.