My frustratio
n of the NCLB Act's purpose lies in the fact that it was implemente
d under the guise that it would promote and foster accountabi
lity in our public schools. However, eleven years later I find that school officials (especiall
y teachers) and children have been held accountabl
e for the arrogance, disregard and blatant underminin
g of US education as a whole. Our children are being sentenced to a lifetime of standardiz
ed tests in which the material is learned by rote. How is the same method for tying one’s shoes used in educating our youth? A method where you just keep trying until you ‘get it’ right? Is this what we have reduced education to?
Also, underminin
g the reasons that the NCLB Act was put into place in the first place is really where I become perplexed. It is an act that outside of the above mentioned ‘accountab
ility’ factor, was designed to put more students on a level playing field, bridge the educationa
l gaps between whites and minorities and help persons with learning disabiliti
es better adapt to their studies. However, since this act has been in place, public schools are losing pertinent funding that would otherwise go to fruitful educationa
l activities but now goes to keeping up with the requiremen
ts put forth by the NCLB Act. There have been some impossible requiremen
ts put on the shoulders of school officials and children alike but yet funding has been slashed in public schools countrywid
e. This is an oxymoronic concept.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
