We Need Real Solution to the Crisis of Public Education - NOT NCLB
NCLB sets up schools to fail. This year NCLB labeled one out of every four California public schools a “failing school”. Instead of punitive measures, we need a system that provides assistance and resources to help all students succeed. We need to end NCLB and instead focus on reforms that work. Congress should restore and enhance the federal class size reduction program, with priority given to our schools in greatest need. We need expanded children’s pre-school programs, funding for quality teacher training, and a massive infusion of resources into our public schools.
The logic of NCLB leads to merit pay. The NCLB reauthorization plan that failed to pass last year, proposed a new federal mandate to pay and evaluate teachers based on student test scores. Test scores don’t fairly measure student achievement and cannot accurately evaluate and fairly determine pay for teachers. Paying teachers based on student test scores will result in more teaching to the test and will end up driving the best teachers away from lower-performing, inner-city, majority-minority schools – the very ones that need them the most.
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Chilren need to be taught and educated. NCLB forces teachers to teach to the test. We all know that while teaching to the test is good for the economy of our schools , schools get more money the better they rate, it is NOT good for the child . The child remembers little of what was taught and often what was taught (for testing purposes) is not relavent to the course cirriculum.
Education happens in several ways, each child is different. There are 3 basic learning methods, but when a teacher is forced to teach 33 children how to do well on a test in less than 30 days, there is one one method and that is push, push, push. We need to remember that the children are still responsibile for regular work while at the same time striving to 'study' for the tests.
Tests are supposed to be an indicator of how well a student is comprehending what is being taught. NCLB reverses the process. When the process is reversed learning seldom happens.