The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, passed January 2002 by President Bush's administration, addresses educational reform.The law reflects four educational reform principle promoted by our president. stronger accountability for results, include flexibility and local control (by state and local government), expanding options for parents, and emphasis on teaching methods that have proven to work.(Natrillo p.2).The reality of NCLB is that it acts like a smokescreen, design to make people believe the Bush administration has the educational system's best interest at heart and intends to limit the federal governments' control of our public schools.The true agenda of NCLB is slyly gut the educational system of its revenue and its public tax dollars to other Bush agendas, all the while dipping federal government hands into the fate of schools nation wide.The 2004 budget presented by Bush's administration requested $5 billion less in educational spending in the first year than what was authorized by the NCLB act.Further this budget is $100 million short of the 2003 budget and comes as the lowest increase in eight years.This poses the ultimate blow to the educational system.Cutting an already starved budget gives schools little to accommodate increasing number of school children or educational cost.It also diminishes the chance of "failing" schools obtaining promise funding entitlements under the NCLB.Other blows to educational funding comes from inaccurately publicized increases to special education spending, slashed funding to the Military Impact Aid (MIA) and from school vouchers designed for school " school choice" program.One seeming advantage of the NCLB is that it grants a $1 billon increase for special education funding. however, this funding came from elimination of forty -six separate programs that previously cost $1.5 billion.This is $ 6 billion less that what the president promised as part of the NCLB.Consequently, the special education funding that goes into the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) is still largely under-funded.At the rate of the increase allotment from President Bush's educational proposals, it will never be fully funded (PMCT p.2) Further, according the Congressional Research Service, "A first grader who was in school was first passed in 1975, will be 65 years old by the time the Bush administration's increase would even come close to fully funded special education" (PMCT p.3) Lastly the budget also eliminates funding for Perkins loan program, which support disadvantage students.MIA will no longer compensate school districts with large population of children whose parents work at military bases or other federal installation (Martin p.2) these parents are exempt from local property taxes, the primary source for school funding.It will however still provide to school districts in parents live in military bases, but not for those who live off base.Overall, the total deduction of funding is sixty percent to MIA, since the number of children living off-base nearly doubles the amount living on-base.Entitled, under Bush's educational budget are government fund called "school vouchers" which appear to promote parental choice provisions in NCLB.However, the real motive behind availability of these funds is to ultimately promote private schools.The reason to promote private schools is simply. they are privately funded.If you can discredit public schools and shut down schools forcing children to relocate to other districts, or private schools then the price of education is paid by parents and not by the government.The two school vouchers, a grant and a tax initiative, are specifically geared for private school programs.The irony of these vouchers is that they will drain over $300 million from the public education budget to fund them.So while paying these vouchers, public schools has to earn their voucher by passing test guidelines of the NCLB.Meanwhile private schools are totally exempt from testing guidelines.NCLB enforces accountability standard for successfully instructing our nation's children, lest they face the loss of federal funding.NCLB measures teacher's success through mandating testing on reading and math proficiency for certain grades in all public schools nationwide.If a school meet NCLB scoring requirement, then it will continue to receive qualified federal funding and will continue to operate on the local the level.Schools that do not meet test scores or show year-to year improvement for each of five racial and ethic groups, as well as for low-income students, those with limited English fluency, or learning disabilities are classified as "low-performing" or "failed" schools.(Martin p.2).The fate of latter is severe.The NCLB requires that all students should hire tutors, transfer to other school, or face state taking over or shutting them down.In the meantime NCLB forces schools to divert money from their own budget to develop obtain tests that will hopefully meet NCLB requirements.Federal funding is not guaranteed for schools that meet NCLB requirements or show marked improvement in year trends.The end-result. the federal government can decide the fate of public schools based on results of test and then turn their backs on those failing to meet criteria.Walter (2004), states that developed curriculum and a statewide test to identify whether their students are meeting standards for themselves in a position of rethinking, reshaping, and refunding their strategies.The NCLB act and its demands are forcing many states to "throw the baby out with the bath water" as states are forced to once again change curriculum and accountability measures.In areas that are currently struggling to staff schools completely, the NCLB raises the standards for identifying highly qualified teachers.According to (Bush & Keri 2004) this increase in the standard causes a harsher and even unrealistic challenge for small rural school districts.Bush has also ignored Dropout Crisis.Today 30 percent of kids aren't graduating high school, including about 50 percent of African- American and Hispanic youth.No Child Left Behind contains specific provisions designed to ensure that schools are enabling more children to graduate high school but the Bush administration has failed to ensure these provisions, and has created incentives to drive up test scores by pushing low-achieving students out of schools.Under the NCLB law, schools with low graduation rates risk being designated as "failing." Schools can manipulate the figures with "pushouts," students who are pressured to leave school long before graduation in order to improve its statistics (Schafly 2003).The testing issues brought from the NCLB are significant.First reading and math test are administered via multiple choice tests versus problem solving test that generate knowledge, formulate new idea or stymie complex thinking.Furthermore, through NCLB does require science to be incorporated into tests by the year 2006, it fails to make room for social studies, second languages, art or music, which are increasingly left behind in curricula as a result of the emphasis on passing mandated test subjects.Secondly, NCLB does not include its own standard testing for school to administer-the schools are forced to shell out money to obtain them from industry giants such as Harcourt General, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin and others.Further, this expense balloons for struggling schools that are forced by the NCLB act to seek assistance in formulating their curricula and providing necessary assistance to students.Lastly, it is important to argue Bush's principle that testing is a "proven teaching method" in improving student learning.If this were true, then it could be plausible to expect states that have high test scores on the NCLB tests to also have high rising scores on other national tests.Apparently this is a false presumption.In a four year study by the University of Arizona on the impact of high-stakes testing in eighteen states, sconces did not rise for other national tests such as SAT, ACT, NAEP, or AP (University of Minnesota p.1).Lastly, a saddening effect of Club's testing assessments is that it has reported that some talented teachers have become frustrated with test and left the profession.Meanwhile, student who have not been able to succeed in their scores have dropped out.Upon implementing, NCLB was announced to the public amidst of sea of propaganda touting its value for forcing stinger accountability upon schools and teachers, increasing flexibility and local control, expanding options for parents, and enforcing tried-and true methods of teaching.However, NCLB is saturated with hidden federal government agendas, particularly those of George W.Bush, None of this benefit public education.On the contrary, NCLB succeeds only in granting federal government more power over public education saddling the states with majority of monetary educational obligations.First, the NCLB provides more detailed federal control over state funding and does not promise funding to school that "pass" NCLB guidelines.Second, it enables the federal government to force state to administrate and fund schools that fail federal standards with customary federal aid or guidance.The NCLB withdrew existing public education funding to create so-called "school vouchers" to subsidize private schooling of tutoring as on real option for parents with children in failing schools.Lastly, NCLB undermines the growth of our children by forcing high stake national tests that are depriving them from concentrating on a wider range of subjects.NCLB succeeds beyond anyone's expectations in these respect-narrowing educational curricula out of sheer necessity to stay afloat in the system it currently stands.This piece of legislation seems to have failed to meet any principles that Bush administration claimed it embodied.In fact, it ensures that taxes will rise while the federal government diverts the federal education budget funds towards other agendas.States will have to look to slash or match school programs and budgets to keep public education afloat.Meanwhile, the federal government does little or nothing to help.NCLB is a monster bend on devouring the remaining opportunity for our children to obtain a well rounded education previously guaranteed to them.In sum, it proves that Bush administration does not have the educational system at heart, nor do they intend to get the federal government out of our public schools.Bracey (2002) calls this act a trap, a grand scheme of social privatizes.NCLB act sets up public schools for the final knock down.References.Bracy, Gerald W.(November, 2002) THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. JUST SAY NO. Education News.Org.Bush, Laura & Kerry, John F.(May 13, 2004) Kerry Campaign. Another Bush Failure. President Ignores High School Dropout Crisis.U.S Newswire.Washington. Retrieved University Of Phoenix Online Library, from Proquest.Com May 15, 2004."Leave No Corporation Behind. Bush's testing initative".University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development.June 18 2002.Retrieved May 1, 2004.From [http.//education.Umn.Edu/research/testing-editorial.Html].Martin, Patrick."Bush Budget Plan Attacks Public Education" World socialist website (www.Wsws.Org).Written February 3, 2003.Retrieved May 1, 2004.From [http.//www.Wsws.Org/articles/2003/feb2003/budg-f15_prn.Shtml].Natriello, Professor Gray, "Education Urban Impact statement".Columbia University's Urban Impact Consortium.February 11, 2000.Retrieved April 27, 2004 from [http.//www.Columbia.Edu/cu/pu/00/02/urbanimpact/education/html/]."No Child Left Behind Education and Impact".PMCT.Org Retrieved May 10, 2004 form http//PMCT.Org/articles/03/nclb.Html.Schafly, Phyllis (Oct 2003) Leaving more Children behind. Vol.59, Iss.37; pg.10 Retrieved from University Of Phoenix Online, On May 15, 2004.Walter, James K.(May 2004) A closer look at the underlying issue of the NCLB Act. Vol.18, pg.1, 4 pgs. Retrieved from University Of Phoenix Online on May 15, 2004 from Proquest.Com.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The "No Child Left Behind" Act
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, passed January 2002 by President Bush's administration, addresses educational reform.The law reflects four educational reform principle promoted by our president. stronger accountability for results, include flexibility and local control (by state and local government), expanding options for parents, and emphasis on teaching methods that have proven to work.(Natrillo p.2).The reality of NCLB is that it acts like a smokescreen, design to make people believe the Bush administration has the educational system's best interest at heart and intends to limit the federal governments' control of our public schools.The true agenda of NCLB is slyly gut the educational system of its revenue and its public tax dollars to other Bush agendas, all the while dipping federal government hands into the fate of schools nation wide.The 2004 budget presented by Bush's administration requested $5 billion less in educational spending in the first year than what was authorized by the NCLB act.Further this budget is $100 million short of the 2003 budget and comes as the lowest increase in eight years.This poses the ultimate blow to the educational system.Cutting an already starved budget gives schools little to accommodate increasing number of school children or educational cost.It also diminishes the chance of "failing" schools obtaining promise funding entitlements under the NCLB.Other blows to educational funding comes from inaccurately publicized increases to special education spending, slashed funding to the Military Impact Aid (MIA) and from school vouchers designed for school " school choice" program.One seeming advantage of the NCLB is that it grants a $1 billon increase for special education funding. however, this funding came from elimination of forty -six separate programs that previously cost $1.5 billion.This is $ 6 billion less that what the president promised as part of the NCLB.Consequently, the special education funding that goes into the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) is still largely under-funded.At the rate of the increase allotment from President Bush's educational proposals, it will never be fully funded (PMCT p.2) Further, according the Congressional Research Service, "A first grader who was in school was first passed in 1975, will be 65 years old by the time the Bush administration's increase would even come close to fully funded special education" (PMCT p.3) Lastly the budget also eliminates funding for Perkins loan program, which support disadvantage students.MIA will no longer compensate school districts with large population of children whose parents work at military bases or other federal installation (Martin p.2) these parents are exempt from local property taxes, the primary source for school funding.It will however still provide to school districts in parents live in military bases, but not for those who live off base.Overall, the total deduction of funding is sixty percent to MIA, since the number of children living off-base nearly doubles the amount living on-base.Entitled, under Bush's educational budget are government fund called "school vouchers" which appear to promote parental choice provisions in NCLB.However, the real motive behind availability of these funds is to ultimately promote private schools.The reason to promote private schools is simply. they are privately funded.If you can discredit public schools and shut down schools forcing children to relocate to other districts, or private schools then the price of education is paid by parents and not by the government.The two school vouchers, a grant and a tax initiative, are specifically geared for private school programs.The irony of these vouchers is that they will drain over $300 million from the public education budget to fund them.So while paying these vouchers, public schools has to earn their voucher by passing test guidelines of the NCLB.Meanwhile private schools are totally exempt from testing guidelines.NCLB enforces accountability standard for successfully instructing our nation's children, lest they face the loss of federal funding.NCLB measures teacher's success through mandating testing on reading and math proficiency for certain grades in all public schools nationwide.If a school meet NCLB scoring requirement, then it will continue to receive qualified federal funding and will continue to operate on the local the level.Schools that do not meet test scores or show year-to year improvement for each of five racial and ethic groups, as well as for low-income students, those with limited English fluency, or learning disabilities are classified as "low-performing" or "failed" schools.(Martin p.2).The fate of latter is severe.The NCLB requires that all students should hire tutors, transfer to other school, or face state taking over or shutting them down.In the meantime NCLB forces schools to divert money from their own budget to develop obtain tests that will hopefully meet NCLB requirements.Federal funding is not guaranteed for schools that meet NCLB requirements or show marked improvement in year trends.The end-result. the federal government can decide the fate of public schools based on results of test and then turn their backs on those failing to meet criteria.Walter (2004), states that developed curriculum and a statewide test to identify whether their students are meeting standards for themselves in a position of rethinking, reshaping, and refunding their strategies.The NCLB act and its demands are forcing many states to "throw the baby out with the bath water" as states are forced to once again change curriculum and accountability measures.In areas that are currently struggling to staff schools completely, the NCLB raises the standards for identifying highly qualified teachers.According to (Bush & Keri 2004) this increase in the standard causes a harsher and even unrealistic challenge for small rural school districts.Bush has also ignored Dropout Crisis.Today 30 percent of kids aren't graduating high school, including about 50 percent of African- American and Hispanic youth.No Child Left Behind contains specific provisions designed to ensure that schools are enabling more children to graduate high school but the Bush administration has failed to ensure these provisions, and has created incentives to drive up test scores by pushing low-achieving students out of schools.Under the NCLB law, schools with low graduation rates risk being designated as "failing." Schools can manipulate the figures with "pushouts," students who are pressured to leave school long before graduation in order to improve its statistics (Schafly 2003).The testing issues brought from the NCLB are significant.First reading and math test are administered via multiple choice tests versus problem solving test that generate knowledge, formulate new idea or stymie complex thinking.Furthermore, through NCLB does require science to be incorporated into tests by the year 2006, it fails to make room for social studies, second languages, art or music, which are increasingly left behind in curricula as a result of the emphasis on passing mandated test subjects.Secondly, NCLB does not include its own standard testing for school to administer-the schools are forced to shell out money to obtain them from industry giants such as Harcourt General, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin and others.Further, this expense balloons for struggling schools that are forced by the NCLB act to seek assistance in formulating their curricula and providing necessary assistance to students.Lastly, it is important to argue Bush's principle that testing is a "proven teaching method" in improving student learning.If this were true, then it could be plausible to expect states that have high test scores on the NCLB tests to also have high rising scores on other national tests.Apparently this is a false presumption.In a four year study by the University of Arizona on the impact of high-stakes testing in eighteen states, sconces did not rise for other national tests such as SAT, ACT, NAEP, or AP (University of Minnesota p.1).Lastly, a saddening effect of Club's testing assessments is that it has reported that some talented teachers have become frustrated with test and left the profession.Meanwhile, student who have not been able to succeed in their scores have dropped out.Upon implementing, NCLB was announced to the public amidst of sea of propaganda touting its value for forcing stinger accountability upon schools and teachers, increasing flexibility and local control, expanding options for parents, and enforcing tried-and true methods of teaching.However, NCLB is saturated with hidden federal government agendas, particularly those of George W.Bush, None of this benefit public education.On the contrary, NCLB succeeds only in granting federal government more power over public education saddling the states with majority of monetary educational obligations.First, the NCLB provides more detailed federal control over state funding and does not promise funding to school that "pass" NCLB guidelines.Second, it enables the federal government to force state to administrate and fund schools that fail federal standards with customary federal aid or guidance.The NCLB withdrew existing public education funding to create so-called "school vouchers" to subsidize private schooling of tutoring as on real option for parents with children in failing schools.Lastly, NCLB undermines the growth of our children by forcing high stake national tests that are depriving them from concentrating on a wider range of subjects.NCLB succeeds beyond anyone's expectations in these respect-narrowing educational curricula out of sheer necessity to stay afloat in the system it currently stands.This piece of legislation seems to have failed to meet any principles that Bush administration claimed it embodied.In fact, it ensures that taxes will rise while the federal government diverts the federal education budget funds towards other agendas.States will have to look to slash or match school programs and budgets to keep public education afloat.Meanwhile, the federal government does little or nothing to help.NCLB is a monster bend on devouring the remaining opportunity for our children to obtain a well rounded education previously guaranteed to them.In sum, it proves that Bush administration does not have the educational system at heart, nor do they intend to get the federal government out of our public schools.Bracey (2002) calls this act a trap, a grand scheme of social privatizes.NCLB act sets up public schools for the final knock down.References.Bracy, Gerald W.(November, 2002) THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. JUST SAY NO. Education News.Org.Bush, Laura & Kerry, John F.(May 13, 2004) Kerry Campaign. Another Bush Failure. President Ignores High School Dropout Crisis.U.S Newswire.Washington. Retrieved University Of Phoenix Online Library, from Proquest.Com May 15, 2004."Leave No Corporation Behind. Bush's testing initative".University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development.June 18 2002.Retrieved May 1, 2004.From [http.//education.Umn.Edu/research/testing-editorial.Html].Martin, Patrick."Bush Budget Plan Attacks Public Education" World socialist website (www.Wsws.Org).Written February 3, 2003.Retrieved May 1, 2004.From [http.//www.Wsws.Org/articles/2003/feb2003/budg-f15_prn.Shtml].Natriello, Professor Gray, "Education Urban Impact statement".Columbia University's Urban Impact Consortium.February 11, 2000.Retrieved April 27, 2004 from [http.//www.Columbia.Edu/cu/pu/00/02/urbanimpact/education/html/]."No Child Left Behind Education and Impact".PMCT.Org Retrieved May 10, 2004 form http//PMCT.Org/articles/03/nclb.Html.Schafly, Phyllis (Oct 2003) Leaving more Children behind. Vol.59, Iss.37; pg.10 Retrieved from University Of Phoenix Online, On May 15, 2004.Walter, James K.(May 2004) A closer look at the underlying issue of the NCLB Act. Vol.18, pg.1, 4 pgs. Retrieved from University Of Phoenix Online on May 15, 2004 from Proquest.Com.
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