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No
Child Left Behind act challenged by states
Concerned
with public school education, President
George W. Bush created the No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) program in 2002. While Bush's
actions are honorable, his methods of measuring
improvements in education have come under
harsh scrutiny and are being challenged
by a number of states.
As
explained on the NCLB Web site, NCLB established
standardized testing to be administered
every year in every state. If schools do
not improve each year by a certain amount,
funding will be cut. If this continues for
too long then serious changes will be made
to the faculty. Teachers and administration
could be transferred to other schools or
receive a pay cut.
"The
No Child Left Behind Act has created a system
destined to fail because for each year a
school reaches their Annual Yearly Progress
they are expected to improve more the next
year, and the year after that, and so on
— with the idea that all students
will be proficient in all areas. All children
learn differently, which affects their progress,"
commented Joanne Attinello, a special education
instructional assistant at Del Rey Elementary.
Many
teachers and administrators feel too much
pressure is put on high school students
to do well on standardized tests. Teachers
may loose their jobs or receive pay cuts
if students perform badly on the tests.
"Parents
and teachers are feeling the pressure of
trying to teach their children standards
that may not be developmentally appropriate.
Kindergarteners no longer take naps and
simply learn to write their name —
now they are expected to be reading passages
when they finish kindergarten," said
Laura Bucedi, a special education teacher
at Del Rey Elementary. Also, the standardized
tests do not represent the average school
population. Special education students are
also required to take the test. Their scores
are averaged in with the scores of all the
other students and they are expected to
improve as much as the rest of the school
population.
The
state of Illinois is suing NCLB and the
United States Department of education over
the fact that NCLB requires 40 percent of
students in every subgroup, including special
education, to meet state testing standards.
Illinois is upset that special education
students are required to test at grade level,
even though they are unable to keep up with
what is taught at their grade level, which
is the reason they are in special education
classes to begin with. Hearings began Friday.
Connecticut
is also suing NCLB arguing that it forces
Connecticut to spend millions of dollars
on new tests without providing sufficient
additional aid.
"The
federal government's approach with this
law is illegal and unconstitutional,"
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
said in an interview regarding the upcoming
lawsuit.
The
Salt Lake Tribune reported that Utah is
also appealing the NCLB program, arguing
that education should be left in the hand
of the states and not the federal government.
Utah feels that its own system, called the
Utah Performance Assessment System for Students,
should be counted towards NCLB.
"It
is time to let the federal government know
that we, not they, are in charge of public
education in Utah," Rep. Margaret Dayton
said in a prepared statement Monday, adding
that Utahans must "regain control of
our own public schools."
Some
concessions have been made. For instance,
NCLB is increasing special education testing
at grade level requirements from 1 percent
to 3 percent meaning that 3 percent of special
education students do not have to take the
standardized test at their grade level.
While
NCLB has good intentions, it appears many
states are frustrated by its requirements.
This dissent is already leading to lawsuits
and it seems more is to come.
The
public school systems may need to be improved,
but it is not the federal government's responsibility
to improve education, especially in this
manner.
Improving
education should be left up to the individual
states.
Savannah
Tikotsky is a student at Cal State University,
Long Beach.
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