Everey Child Left Behind?

It's a pretty much agreed on fact that U.S. schools ain't that great. (K-12) From our falling scores in Math and science compared to other industrialized nations, to a new survey that reports between 60-70% of high school graduates cannot think critically, it's clear that something needs to be done. So enter our hero, G.W. Bush and the infamous No Child left Behind act. With schools providing yearly testing to compete for federal aid, (the higher a school's average score, the more federal money they receive*) we can once again sleep soundly that our youth is gettn' themselves some educationism! But then we pinch ourselves, and sadly watch as this colorful fantasy melts away before our very eyes.

So what's the deal behind No child left behind? Is this the long awaited miracle that's going to save our children, or is this creating a worse problem then we have now? Because of the extensive amount of information on NCLB, we will split this story into three segments, the first going back to where it all began, with a little thing called the "Huston Miracle"

The Huston Miracle - The U.S. hasn't sold it yet!

In many ways, Huston represented the core of our nations education problems. The drop-out rate was at 67%, most who did make it never went to college; to put it simply you might have asked: what Huston education system? But, while G.W. was still Governor of Texas, along came along one Mr. Rod Paige, the man who was then in charge of the Huston school district. He worked day and night with Governor Bush to find a solution to their education malices. Then, on a cold December night, while sipping a cup of warm hot chocolate, the answer appeared! The idea was to introduce a standardized test (the multiple choice kind, where you pick A, B, C or D) for the whole district, and based on the scores, schools would receive an extra incentive for their hard work! The teachers of the schools who could lower the drop-out rate, and provide top scores would receive a pay raise! This revolutionary idea worked so well, that within ONE YEAR the drop out rate for Huston proper dropped to under 19%! It seemed standardized testing was the answer!

But could this have been to good to be true? First, under the new provisions provided, in order for a student to be considered as a "drop-out" it had to have occurred in their senior year. Moreover, teachers were encouraged to "hold kids back" who they didn't think would make the grade. If after four years of being held back and the student chose to leave school, they were considered to have simply "been transferred". (Students who were held back in their freshmen, sophomore or junior year weren't allowed to take the test.) Could the Huston miracle just been the result of some fuzzy math? If so, then their is no way Rod Paige would have been allowed to keep his job, much less ever achieve a higher position in the government.

But wait, that same Mr. Rod Paige is now U.S. Secretary of Education, appointed by a now President G.W. Bush due to his excellent efforts in Huston. He is also one of the masterminds behind our current federal No child left behind act!

So, to conclude Part One of our No Child Left behind inquiry, I will leave you with a question: can we trust a program that has such seedy roots? Part Two will look at the underfunding of the program on 02-16-2006.

Cody Hobbs

*So schools that really need the funding are getting less money!

Sorce provided from CNN documentery: No Child Left Behind