I'm always intrigued by the writings of feminist author and professor Camille Paglia, whose fresh thinking can't be neatly classified as either conservative or liberal.

In her monthly column at Salon.com, she writes on May 9, 2007 about U.S. schools:

"... my reading of last month's horrific Virginia Tech massacre... is that it is yet another warning, after the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, that our present educational system is an insane pressure cooker...

High school (which has become just a frantic, callow rat race for brand-name college admission) is not an eternal principle of the universe. It was invented relatively recently... Age segregation by grade, in my opinion, is a mechanistic atrocity that spawns ruthless social cliques, who oppress and enrage the losers in the provincial pecking order.

As I have argued for years, we desperately need a return to vocational training. The virtually universal conversion of American high schools to a pre-college track over the past half-century has watered down the curriculum to its present deadening uselessness. "

And yet, in its push for 2007 renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Bush Administration aims to add to it many new high school requirements, including additional academic testing standards.

Reform, Rewrite or Entirely Junk NCLB?
Education in public schools is an issue that cuts across partisan lines. Everyone (except the administration, of course) concedes that NCLB has generally failed to improve student academic performance.

And NCLB is a costly, nightmarish burden for local school districts to administer.

The only question is... should Congress reform, completely rewrite or entirely junk NCLB?

A large number of Congressional Republicans want to outright kill NCLB, saying that "While No Child Left Behind measures and confirms the failure of public schools, it is not doing enough to improve them.>"

Some Democrats in Congress want to reform NCLB, among them NCLB co-author Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

The Democratic candidates in the 2008 race for the White House, which includes 3 U.S. senators who will vote on NCLB, hold varying views on NCLB.

In her speech to the California Democratic Convention, Sen. Hillary Clinton clearly stated that she supports "fixing" NCLB in a way that "puts teaching in the center."

Sen. Barack Obama proclaimed that, as president, he plans to "recruit and support hundreds of thousands of new teachers across the country," and that the educational system needs to work with teachers, "not against them." Sen. Obama has been mum, though, about NCLB.

Gov. Bill Richardson regards education as a top priority, observing that "Education is the key to economc development." As president, he would guarantee a $40,000 minimum wage for every teacher, contingent on reaching certain benchmarks. Gov. Richardson has been successful in raising education quality in New Mexico, but has said little about NCLB.

About education, former Sen. John Edwards' website says nothing about NCLB, but does offer this:

"As president, I will create second-chance schools to help former dropouts get back on track with one-on-one attention and a chance to earn a diploma at night or at a local community college. I will also invest in expanding preschool programs, attracting and paying excellent teachers... "

Where NCLB Reauthorization Stands
Legislation to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act remains at the Senate Education Committee level, where all parties are working with the White House to shape its final form.

Senate debate on NCLB is slated to being in late May or early June. Proponents hope to take a vote before the Senate reccesses for the summer on August 3, 2007.

Related Reading
Sadly, Republicans Aim to Kill, Not Fix, No Child Left Behind
Pros & Cons of No Child Left Behind