No Child Left Behind -- A Utopian Dream

President Bush is intent on seeing the NCL law reauthorized. It is a wonderful, Utopian, dream to have 100% proficiency among students. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every child were to be able to do grade level work. The only problem is that reality and dreams don't always coincide.

That there are aspects of the education system that need to be reformed and improved is obvious, but putting unachievable burdens on schools and then punishing them if they fail, is simply silly and unconscionable. I've long believed that NCL was an attempt to discredit the public school system and provide the foundation for a vouchers law. The reality is, that public schools are the foundation of our society, and by law they are required to take in every child. A private school can be selective. It can refuse to admit children who are disabled or intellectually challenged, simply on the basis that they are unprepared to make provision for these children. By requiring everyone to be at the same level fails to take into consideration that some children/some people will never be up to grade level standards. Intellectually they simply are unable to do so. To punish schools for this is ridiculous.

And then there's the student's responsibility. As they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The same is true of students and learning. And then there's the whole issue of test taking. Some kids do great at it, and others freeze up. By simply basing everything on tests, we have forced teachers to teach to the test in the hope of retaining jobs and more.

So, if we reauthorize the NCL law let's move from utopia to reality! I want to see every child succeed, but there is more than one way to define success. As a Christian, I believe in grace. A system that is without grace is, in my mind, immoral, and NCL is a system without grace.