“No Child Left Behind” Pushing Education System Back in Time

I was shocked to hear President Bush openly praise the success of “No Child Left Behind,” during his recent State of the Union Address, especially considering my own observations with this backwards attempt at improving education. In 2002, President Bush signed the bill claiming that every child deserves ‘high quality’ education and no child should be denied that. This of course sounded great, especially considering the state of many inner city schools, but in reality, it was just one more step backwards. Bush’s plan was based on a decades old school system, that was designed to produce efficient machinelike workers during the industrial boom of the early 1900s. At the time, the purpose of public schools was to mold able children into skilled laborers ready to enter the working class. Many would even argue that the school system of the 1920s, encouraged unfit workers to drop out and take up low skilled jobs, similar to how the “No Child” act fails schools with students who are unable to take the test, such as those with disabilities. With that in mind, the “No Child Left Behind,” has been a great success, producing standardized graduates, who are proficient in multiple choice test taking, as well as following rules, which gives them great potential as laborers.
I recently discussed the “No Child Left Behind” act with the president of the school board, in a city that in the past has been noted for its impeccable public schools. I must also note, that some of their schools recently failed according to the “No Child Left Behind,” because a handful of children with disabilities were unable to take the test. The president of the school board summed up the act by saying, “It is a one size fits all solution,” and went on to explain “There is an unbelievable amount of testing, reporting, and rules.” He also mentioned the fact that the act does not work in middle schools where teachers often have to teach multiple subjects, because “No Child,” forces teachers to get certified in a single subject and there is not enough money for more teachers to cover the other subjects. On the subject of funding, he explained to me, “Its not funded correctly, its trying to put everyone in the same box and supposedly bring kids that are behind up, but its not improving the kids that are already there.” After talking to the school board president, I realized he was completely right, “No Child Left Behind,” puts all children in the same box, generalizing an entire diverse community into one standard. Basically, teachers are being forced to transform children into a single mold of what the “No Child Left Behind,” says is intelligence.
Looking at the overall picture of public schools, we have taught our children to do the minimal because success in learning is not measured in how much they actually grow intellectually, or how well they understand the world, it is measured in grades and statistics. For example, concerning my last post, U.S politics are taught in a way that can be standardized, which means the complex ever-changing nature of politics is minimized to a series of definitions that can easily be memorized and then forgotten. This is also true for all non-linear subjects, such as philosophy, psychology, the arts, and any other topic that is not supposed to have a single right answer, but have been minimized in our educational system. That is of course if a school can still offer those subjects, considering the “No Child Left Behind,” doesn’t cover those areas and in turn doesn’t fund them. By minimizing all subjects to a standard, it becomes easier to judge a child's success based on grades, that can then be easily compared to any other child in the country. Standardized multiple choice tests such as the SATs, move even farther away from real learning, reducing a person’s overall intelligence to about 100 questions. One of my biggest pet peeves is how much time the public school system dedicates to teaching children how to take tests, specifically multiple choice exams. I would really like to know how understanding strategies of a standardized test are going to help our children one day contribute to this country? Why does the US have a school system, that besides teaching students basic skills such as reading and writing, provide none of the tools they need to successfully enter the real world?