Sadly, Republicans Aim to Kill, Not Fix, No Child Left Behind
Sponsored by 5 Republican senators (DeMint of South Carolina, Cornyn of Texas, Kyl of Arizona, Martinez of Florida, Brownback of Kansas) and 57 Republican House members, this bill is a massive repudiation of the centerpiece education accomplishment of the Bush administration. Said Senator Jim DeMint:
"Republicans and Democrats agree that burdensome regulations are preventing our schools and students from achieving their best...Parents are expressing real outrage and frustration across the nation. While No Child Left Behind measures and confirms the failure of public schools, it is not doing enough to improve them. Schools should be accountable to parents and students not a federal bureaucracy."
Reluctant Democratic Frustration with NCLB
While most Democrats will not support the Republican's A-PLUS Act to allow states to circumvent NCLB requirements, Congressional Democrats are also admittedly frustrated by the dilemma of public elementary and secondary schools.
And that frustration, which is (of course!) with the Bush administration's intrusive tactics, cheapskate attitudes and ideological overreaching, may cost President Bush the demise of his own cherished educational legacy.
And it may cost teachers and federal, state and local governments to permanently lose all benefits from the 6,680,334 hours of annual implementation and paperwork invested since 2002.
Most Democrats agree with proponents of NCLB who admire its tenets to further democratize U.S. education, by setting standards and providing resources to schools, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disabilities or language spoken.
And Democrats support the use of standardized benchmarks to accurately gauge and equalize educational achievements on a national level, and to identify schools that need help. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and an architect of NCLB , explained:
"The bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act created a national commitment to public education – a commitment to improve America’s schools through accountability for results.No Child Left Behind established a state-prescribed testing system to assess the progress of students in reading and math, with the goal of closing the achievement gap between children from wealthy families and those from low- and middle-income households."
But...
George Bush Undermines NCLB
Bush budgets have consistently underfunded ( by many billions) its own NCLB mandate, forcing school districts to cut curriculum and programs... science, music, foreign languages, civics and social studies among them... to be able to meet federal requirements.
The Bush administration has intrusively meddled in state and local educational matters. For instance, on March 23 2007, the GAO released a damning report charging that Education Department officials "may have violated the statutory prohibition against mandating or directing local curricular decisions by effectively endorsing or directing the selection of particular Reading First programs," per the New York Times.
And then there's the usual Bushian political overreaching for ideological purposes that offends and irritates almost everyone, including (but certainly not limited to):
The sneaky insertion into NCLB allowing military recruiters to lure teenagers on high school campuses.The push to circumvent union-negotiated teacher contracts to transfer teachers involuntarily to failing and poorly-performing schools.
The Bush administration's avowed goal to use public education funds to pay for private religious schools.
The Tragedy of No Child Left Behind
The tragedy of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is that it's a noble democratic premise and an excellent start to improving the dismal level of U.S. education today. And President Bush was right to offer it as a major accomplishment of his administration.
But President Bush and his longtime political ally from Texas, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, are killing the very legislation that they profess to support.
And genuine conservatives, usually impatient with federal intrusions into local matters and bloated federal bureaucracies, are rising en masse to cut the head off the hydra of No Child Left Behind. And take public schools back to the days of unequal education and unequal opportunites for all students.
It's a tragedy to U.S. education if we come this close to reaching the democratic goals of equal, excellent education for all... only to entirely kill, rather than fix, the initiative. How deeply sad for the future of the United States!
Related Reading
Pros & Cons of the No Child Left Behind Act
Closing Public Libraries - A Death Knell of Democracy
New York Times, March 23, 2007: GAO: Reading Program Improperly Managed
Christian Science Monitor, March 21, 2007: 'No Child Left Behind' Losing Steam
Washington Post, March 22, 2007: Battling the 'No Child' Backlash
Comments
I don’t like to side with Bush on anything, but this is a direct symptom of the lack of a coherent Democratic position in support of NCLB. With majorities in both houses and the support of the president, the Democrats should be able to _easily_ save NCLB if they take the position that it’s worth saving. What I have heard about NCLB from Democratic leaders, since day one, is “it’s a flawed piece of legislation” or “it’s an unfunded mandate.” So when the president’s approval rating falls, why shouldn’t anti-public education Republicans take advantage of the opportunity to bring in a few strongly anti-Bush Democrats to help them kill it?
If the Democrats in Congress want to save NCLB, step one must be “President Bush proposed a really good piece of legislation here, we support the president on this, and we look forward to working with him to save No Child Left Behind.”
Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, has said exactly that, as have many other Democrats.
But I agree, Tom, that some Democrats… knowing that the public is disgruntled over NCLB, have watered down their views. OtherS are more conservative, and just don’t want federal control, regardless of the democratization of educational opportunity.
(Not all Democrats are alike, Tom, and they don’t think in lock-step on issues. The NCLB issue is more nuanced than a stark FOR or AGAINST.)
George Bush agrees significantly, although not wholly, with Democratic positions on such key issues as education and immigration reform.
But honestly, Tom, given the President incompetent and poorly regarded performance in so many areas… can you really blame Democrats for not shouting out “President Bush proposed a really good piece of legislation here, we support the president on this, and we look forward to working with him to save” anything?
He’s a political pariah to both Republicans and Democrats.
Tom, as always, thank you for your thoughtful comment!
I don’t think Democrats are necessarily responding to the fact that the public is disgruntled about NCLB. I think that there has been immense pressure, from day one, to ensure that Bush does not get to take home the “education president” mantle. This was especially the case in 2004, due to the presidential election, and I think that has flavored everything since then.
Re the queston of whether I can really blame Democrats for not supporting Bush on NCLB and immigration: I absolutely can, no question, and I feel completely comfortable doing that. This is the sort of thing that costs Democrats elections, because it sends the message that the heavy hitters in the Democratic Party care about winning, not about policy–i.e., that they have “no core values,” “no direction,” “no message.”
The Democratic Party is, ironically given the strong women in its leadership, behaving like the macho husband on a bad sitcom: Refusing to concede anything, even when there is an obvious need to do so; pushing its own self-interest above the interests of others; and trying, above and beyond everything else, to get its way. The fact that heavy-hitters in the Republican Party do the same thing is irrelevant.
This is why most Democratic leaders lack a coherent position on same-sex marriage, on abortion, on the Iraq War, on every other issue of substance. It’s all about keeping Bush’s numbers low–not about promoting sound policy, regardless of where it comes from.
A truly strong Democratic Party is led by people who are for or against same-sex marriage, for or against reproductive choice, for or against continued U.S. involvement in the Iraq War, for or against NCLB, for or against deportation of undocumented immigrants, und so weiter. Where a politician agrees with Bush, s/he should say so–even if this might boost Bush’s numbers. I’m not suggesting “bipartisanship” across the board. I’m suggesting consistency. If leaders refuse to stand up for NCLB in an election year, then they are taking a calculated risk that the legislation will be killed later on. We’re witnessing the fruits of that right now, and if leaders in the Democratic Party continue to refuse to take decisive, issue-oriented stands, then they will continue to lose the presidency, term after term after term, because Americans want leaders whose platforms and visions are internally consistent.
I am, and always have been, a staunch Democrat, and while I agree with Tom, I am also a teacher, and I can honestly say that I hope NCLB goes away! For those of us in the field of education, NCLB has simply become a Big Brother on our backs. It hasn’t improved education for any child; it simply has changed what is taught and how it’s taught. We’ve become a nation of test-taking classrooms, and EVERYTHING that we teach, practice, and design has the ridiculous NCLB-directed state test at its crux. The buildings are still neglected and some are literally falling down; the need to get 3-year-olds into schools (!!!) has begun to be pushed; the social ills of having a society where children are raised in child care can’t be addressed; the number of labeled “special education” students has risen dramatically; the music and arts programs are slain because of NCLB in many districts; and millions and millions of state money is spent on preparing for, giving, and grading the state tests. I think that the idea was a good one; the implementation wasn’t. Rarely, if ever, have classroom teachers been a part of any discussion of HOW to “fix” schools — and trust me, we are IN the trenches. We are not automatons — we think. More and more teachers are leaving the profession in droves, burned out by the direction NCLB has taken us. And to think that any “Joe” off of the street could get a quicky license and teach my students with the same expertise and ability —- and yet, another tenent of NCLB allows just that . . . ! There are many, many, MANY problems with NCLB, and I truly believe that changing a few things are the remedy — getting rid of it is. Children (and my job!) should NOT be considered a political gain or loss. EVER!!!
The end of that should have said that I truly believe that changing a few things about NCLB is NOT the remedy — getting rid of it is. Sorry . . .
Dawn-
As a parent, I hear you.
Also, when my engineer husband was laid off a few years ago, and took classes at the local university to retrain to be a high school math teacher, we were shocked at the problems heaped on teachers by No Child Left Behind.
We have four children… three of them now adults. Every teacher they all had earned our profound respect and our wholehearted support. And teachers today deserve all they support they can get.
I hear you on everything you say, and know it all to be true.
It just breaks my heart to see the U.S. entirely drop NCLB, with its noble democratic intentions of actually bringing equal educational opportunities to all students.
My sad guess, though, is that NCLB is such a mess, that it’s almost beyond fixing. It’s likely inevitable to be dumped, sooner or later.
Thank you for your comments!