School Beat: NCLB Strikes Out AgainLisa Schiffbyline‚ May. 29‚ 2008According to many of our elected federal leaders, in the year 2014 the United States will witness a miracle. At that time, 6 years from now, all children in this country enrolled in grades K through 12 will be absolutely “proficient” at reading. How can this be? Because, our federal education legislation has dictated it. Under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education policy, all public schools are required to ensure that all children enrolled in their schools meet this standard (without much thought to the required resources, of course). Wiping out social, economic and political realities in one legislative stroke, leaders in Washington—the President, various Secretaries of Education, Senators and Representatives--must imagine themselves filled with supreme powers to alter reality with mere scratches of pens and Congressional votes. |