Bipartisan privatization attack on public schools hits snags…
NCLB reauthorization stalled in Congress, offering both victory and defeat to supporters of public schools
Editor’s Note: The following news is abridged from the Educator Roundtable November Bulletin of November 6, 2007. Educator Roundtable: "Working with teachers, students, parents, scholars, activists, and other concerned citizens to dismantle NCLB." - [http://www.educatorroundtable.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=427]
No Reauthorization This Year
NCLB will not be reauthorized this year. This is both a victory and a defeat. While we are excited and hopeful about the growing movement to end this legislation, the real losers here are children, teachers, communities, and prospects for a more democratic United States of America.
By early November, Democratic Party leaders in both the House and Senate admitted that they could not reach a compromise that would satisfy critics of NCLB from the left, right, and center. Senator Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate committee trying to fashion a bill, admitted the problems as reported in The New York Times November 6 (“For a Key Education Law, Reauthorization Staffs”).
U.S. Rep. George Miller also acknowledged that he was unable to reach a compromise bill in the House Education Committee.
Neither Kennedy nor Miller, however, was willing to admit that the reason for the problems their legislation faces is that the majority of Americans oppose No Child Left Behind or have strong misgivings about it, and only polls that misrepresent their questions come up with support for the law. As the Phi Delta Kappan pool showed, the more people know about No Child Left Behind, the more strongly they oppose it.
But the failure of reauthorization doesn’t mean and end to the law. The law continues until it is repealed.
Teacher explains horrid impact on children
Minnesota teacher Peter Henry explains the situation more eloquently than I:
“So, another year of continuing to test kids until they bleed and vomit, more schools failing AYP, more threats, more school takeovers, more of everything, except the kind of innovation and quality schooling that our kids need in the 21st century.
“This kind of myopic, stalemated, Byzantine bureaucracy is precisely why I will argue until I die against a national curriculum, national standards and a national exam. Once the power is in Washington, it never comes back, it never improves people’s lives and it never even gets off the bathroom floor.
“Never give away our local control in education. Ever.”
We are in for a long haul, and we sincerely thank all of you for contributing with letters, phone calls, email, and of course tax-deductible donations. The number of people who have signed the Educator Roundtable petition is now above 30,000, despite opposition from some strong places.
Educator Roundtable petition continues towards goal of 1,000,000 signatures as eloquent comments flow in
As more and more people sign the Educator Roundtable petition, it becomes the voice of democracy echoing across the USA. Here are some quotes from recent signers:
“Are we a nation of free individuals or serfs in a corporate state?”
“After witnessing my mother in law’s stress factor as she works relentlessly to keep up with non stop assessment, not only are her students being left behind, she is as well. Even my parents, who are educators, deal with this insane law. I question how Congress could even consider NCLB to be effective. It is destructive and destroying our educational system.”
“This law is as senseless as the war in Iraq.”
“I became a teacher because I want to teach, not be a data analyst. I fear that I will leave all children behind in order to study data. I believe that I am a good teacher. I do, however, question whether I will continue in this profession because my love for student achievement far exceeds data entry.”
“As a highly qualified educator of 17 years, I am appalled at the apathy of allowing NCLB to dictate what is of the best interest of our children and students by people who have not stepped foot in a classroom and witnessed firsthand these unrealistic expectations. As I walk away from public education and commit career suicide with my retirement, I will know that I will sleep at night by not being an enabler to a law that has demoralized and traumatized teachers and students. This is not democracy.”
“Yes, we need accountability and better management of our schools, but this system squelches creativity, passion and love of learning. Since when do teachers need charts and graphs and percentages to teach? What happened to the individualized creativity each teacher was given? The NCLB act is a disaster, and the bleeding has to be stopped. Pull it now before it’s too late.”
“I and far too many excellent science education specialists can no longer work in the USA.”
“There are numerous reasons why the NCLB act must be changed if not done away with all together! Our children are not the government’s inventory, nor are they all the same in their leaning abilities. Dismantling the NCLB act would be the most honorable & just action for our Congress to take right now!”
We encourage you to invite others to sign our petition. Our original goal for this project was 1,000,000 signatures. It looks like we have at least an extra year to obtain them. You would be doing children, teachers, and communities a great service by helping us reach that goal.
If you have suggestions about how we can use our resources better, please join our conversation at http://www.educatorroundtable.net.
