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Editorials & Backgrounders

Is No Child Left Behind A Sham?

By Christy Levings
February 2004

I can not imagine that any of us would build a house without hiring and consulting a professional builder. Would any of you try to have a tooth repaired without an appropriately trained dentist? How about trusting your legal affairs to a lawyer who graduated from a university that lacked accreditation or an attorney who does not have a license?

These are what our students refer to as the "well, duh" type of questions because the answers seem so obvious. How can anyone expect to understand what is needed without consulting the professionals who work in that field. Would you make plans or buy materials without consulting the people who will do the work of building your home? Even though you have a pretty good understanding of the process of repairing a cavity would you do it yourself on your child?

Two years ago the U.S. Congress completed the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as No Child Left Behind, and it was signed into law. Many of us were excited to hear that Congress and the White House were discussing meeting the needs of all children - an issue the NEA and its nearly three million members had been championing for years.

There was, however, an element of concern as the law came into fruition. The ideas and the voice of the people who would do the work were absent. An 1,100-page document that was written by elected officials and their staff would become the most prescriptive educational law in the history of the United States, and even its regulations written at the U. S. Department of Education would lack the involvement of mainstream educators.

The explanation I heard from the federal Department of Education staff was a repeated chorus of, "Education professionals are not to be trusted because you have done nothing to address the needs of public education." Did you say nothing? How about going to work every day and helping students succeed without appropriate plan time, or teaching in a converted closet, or without the textbooks, paper or resources you need? Is it nothing to work with every child who arrives at your door whether or not they speak English, have enough food or are even abused physically or mentally? Is it nothing to get a smile out of a troubled child or see someone succeed in college who never even thought they had the right to dream of a higher education?

This contempt of the profession was similar to blaming the weather service for the tornado that develops from a storm. Holding educators responsible for the lack of support for public schools is equal to holding Congress responsible for a natural disaster. We have spoken long and hard for the needs of our schools, colleges and universities but the resources have not been provided.

In the last two years President Bush's NCLB and its regulations have started to raise questions, and not just from folks in the profession. While our questions were brushed off as just whining by the profession, we were called the "protectors of mediocrity" by the secretary of education.

Those same questions are now being asked by mayors, governors, congressmen and the press. The miracle results of student achievement in Texas that was the model for the highly regulated components of the plan now appear to be a sham. It was not the bringing of every child along that modeled this law. It was the putting out of school those in the most need, and the denying of services to the most at risk and covering it up.

The questions in Congress are being asked by folks on both sides of the aisle. Republicans and Democrats alike are asking where are the resources we believed would accompany this law? Some members of our Kansas Congressional team have been out front in asking questions and in leading the way in committees and on the floor to correct some of the problems with this law and other educational issues.

I want to thank Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore for introducing legislation to stop the implementation of sanctions until the necessary resources needed to implement this law are provided. Thank you, Mr. Moore, for your leadership in representing the needs of Kansas schools.

I also want to thank Congressman Jerry Moran for working to keep the support of public education as a key congressional issue. Thank you, Mr. Moran, for your support of Kansas schools and especially for recognizing the importance of quality public schools in the rural areas of Kansas. Finally, I want to thank Senator Pat Roberts for his continued work to bring about the full funding of special education. This is a vital issue for every Kansas school district and we thank you, Senator Roberts, for your ongoing efforts.

After two years with this law, I have real frustration with the president and the secretary of education for the slowness of their response to the needed changes in the implementation of their NCLB. Some of the few changes we are seeing are based on pure politics and some are based on a growing and much clearer understanding of what is required to serve the students of today and their families. "Well duh," as the students say. We could have told them had they asked the professionals who serve the schools.

Kansas NEA will continue to provide information on the needs of Kansas schools, students and education employees. We thank those elected officials who hear them and we question the commitment of those who ignore the information of those who make schools work!

Christy Levings is the president of the Kansas National Education Association. An elementary teacher on leave from the Olathe School District, she lives in Osawatomie.

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