Nine years ago this week President George Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act that:
A. Stunted the creativity and critical thinking skills of American public school children
B. Prevented teachers from tapping into the full potential of their students
C. Fostered a school environment that values test-taking skills above all others
D. Stole the joy from teaching and learning
E. All of the above
Indeed, NCLB did all of that.
But given what is currently slated to go into law if the Obama administration gets its way on reauthorization, the Obama/Duncan No Child Left Behind Jr. will make Bush's No Child Left Behind look like the unschooling movement.
High stakes standardized test in every subject in every grade.
Teachers graded, paid and evaluated based solely upon those test scores.
5%-10% of the "lowest performing schools" around the country closed every year.
5%-10% of the "lowest performing teachers" around the country fired every year.
Many traditional public schools replaced by nonunionized charter schools. Many of those charters will be operated by for-profit education management organizations.
Title One money no longer distributed according to the number of students living below the poverty line in a given district. Instead, it will be distributed using a Race to the Top competition that will hand the money out to the most "reform-minded" of districts and stiff others who don't pursue policies approved by the USDOE.
Federal standards, federal curriculum and federal tests superseding every bit of local control over schooling that has survived the original NCLB.
Education policy made by a small band of corporate-friendly, Gates- and Broad Foundation-trained "reformers," most of whom have little-to-no actual teaching or classroom experience.
Nine years from now, after the Obama/Duncan/Gates/Broad/Bloomberg/Jeb Bush reforms destroy public education, destroy an entire generation of students and teachers, and dumb the country down even further than it already is, we may look back at George W. Bush's original No Child Left Behind law fondly and with nostalgia.
Scary, but true.
Change we can believe?
Uh, no.
More of the same - only much worse.
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