Sign the petition to reform NCLB

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

As a teacher, this holds the greatest importance to me. NCLB is the worst education legislation to date. It doesn't need to be funded to work, it needs to be reformed. Funding it is an enormous waste of taxpayers money on standardized tests, not real solutions to the real problems in schools.

From Dean's webpage:

http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=nochildleftbehind

"This week millions of American children return to school, where they will face chaos and confusion caused by the Bush Administration’s “No Child Left Behind” education law.

President Bush signed the law with great fanfare, but he has never committed the federal money needed for real reform. It is estimated that local taxpayers would need to spend $85 billion trying to comply with No Child Left Behind, but the federal government provides less than one-seventh of that amount.

While education is primarily a local responsibility, the federal government should help local officials improve student performance, enhance school accountability and close the achievement gap between rich and poor students. The No Child Left Behind Act does not help it actually hurts local efforts to improve schools.

Instead of No Child Left Behind, the law should be called No School Board Left Standing. Sign this petition and we will deliver it to Congress"

[Egnever]

1. Done!

This thing could single handedly destroy our public school system. It is allready causing a ton of problems and its just getting started.

Thanks for the link :bounce:

[LWolf]

2. I'm so glad to hear Dean speak out about NCLB.

It's an issue that needs to be dealt with. While I was glad to read his remarks, I don't like some of the language in the petition, so I didn't sign it.

Here is what the petition says:

I want real federal help for education, not rigid and unrealistic federal mandates.

This part is right on target.

I want education policies that will close achievement gaps, not lower standards.

This part is suspect. The whole "higher standards" dogma has been used to decimate public ed. Sort of like a war veteran with PTSD, when I and many teachers hear those words, the shields go up and we get ready to be assaulted. NCLB itself purports to legislate policies in order to close achievement gaps. Great words opening the doors to bad policy.

I do not want schools to “dumb down” their tests just so it can avoid federal penalties.

More key words sending up the shields: "dumb down" and "tests." I want teachers and schools to decide what tests they need to give when to best inform instruction. And I want the state and the feds to keep their non-educator noses and PAC donator pockets out of the whole thing.

I want someone to admit publicly that the "dumb down" rhetoric is full of shit. Pardon me, but it is. When you "raise" so called "standards" (really long laundry lists of isolated skills...not my definition of standards) a year or two higher than the current generations of adults had to achieve, then find out that kids are having trouble cramming in that much that fast, that's not "dumbing down." The only reason to "dumb down" a test is when the legislation behind the test is statistically impossible to achieve. A convenient choice of words.

I want Congress to reform the “No Child Left Behind” Act so that it helps teachers and school administrators, without undermining local control of education.

This is pretty good. "Helping," not "punishing." I personally want NCLB repealed in entirety. The helpful portions can be re-legislated under a new bill that doesn't carry the GWB contamination.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

3. I can see your points

Here is Dean's stance on education, and why I trust that if in office, he will follow through with his stance that local and state government should have most control of what goes on in their schools.

"Vermont was several years ahead of the federal government in improving standards and accountability in our classrooms, so I was delighted when the President took up education reform early in his term. Unfortunately, the President's bill not only costs states a fortune, but also takes away local control of the schools, and it is essentially another unfunded mandate.

snip

Vermont, like many other states, already has a strong testing and accountability program. Now our system is at risk because of a new federally-dictated definition of quality. To add insult to injury, the President's bill mandates that schools certify that they allow "constitutionally" defined school prayer and that they send the name and address of every rising senior to colleges and to the military. These matters ought to be left up to the local school boards, not dictated by the President and Congress.

snip

I am proud of the Vermont approach. First, we require and pay for high standard (but not standardized) testing, and publish the school-by-school results annually. Second, we use professional development to help non-performing teachers and schools do a better job. The state can take over a failing school, although I'm happy to say that has never been necessary. Finally, the state pays a substantial share of new school construction.

snip

If we are serious about improving American education, however, we must not forget that the single most important factor in a child's learning has less to do with the quality of the building, the computers, or even the teachers. The most important predictor is the attitude in that child's home toward education. We must involve parents again; we must insist that they participate in their children's education, and we must make schools and school boards responsive to parents. But we must under no circumstances abandon the public schools, as the Bush Administration seems bent on doing."

I added the emphasis.

http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_statement_education

BTW, I received an interesting piece of paper regarding NCLB today. It seems that I, and all the teachers at my school (and I assume the district) are required to prove that we are highly qualified (or on our way to that point) by Thursday. I was shocked, since supposedly we don't have to be HQ until 2006. I have to submit transcripts, test results, and any other relevant paperwork in less than one week. Nevermind that the local district and the state board has all of that information, and that it takes a few weeks to get official transcripts from a university and official test results from ETS. Another waste of my time, money, and energy which could otherwise be used to educate my students.

I'm so disguisted with NCLB that I'm seriously considering leaving the field, since they don't allow me to teach anymore. I can make twice the money for half the stress if I go back to my old career...which is looking more tempting every day.

edit: added link

[LWolf]

4. Another teacher heard from!

Last night my 26 year old son called me to see how the first week was going. He told me, "Public ed is a sinking ship and you need to abandon it now. I know you love teaching. I know the kids are lucky to have you. But I can't stand to see they way they treat you. The way they don't respect what you do. Just get out, mom. You deserve better."

This evening a colleague came by to tell me that she doesn't think she'll stick it out beyond this year. The salary is nice but not necessary; her husband can support the family on one income. And she is so frustrated she doesn't think it's worth it.

Last year a teacher I know in Texas got so fed up he cashed in 19 years' worth of retirement and enrolled in culinary school. 2nd professional incarnation: chef.

I read Dean's stuff on education early on. One thing I've noticed about Dean; he consistently supports state's rights.

He's got a beginning. He's got part of it. Not all of it yet. He still uses tests to grade schools instead of students. I've been working under a state version of NCLB here in CA for almost a decade. Pete Wilson, GW, and Jeb were front runners in jump-starting the standards and accountability movement at the state level, and * just cloned it nationally with nclb. After a decade of dealing with it, I want it debunked totally, at the state level as well as the federal.

Still, I appreciate him speaking out against NCLB. It's a first step in the right direction!

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

5. Yup

Getting rid of NCLB altogether is the first step in actually fixing education. It's truly sad to see that every election education is at the forefront of issues, yet when the time comes to do something about it everyone seems to feel that it's not their priority or problem.

My sister has a 1 year old son. She's already been contemplating the school issue, wondering if she should put him in public or private school when the time comes. I told her the best solution is to home school, at least for the first few years since they are ultimately the most important. One on one attention is far better than any school setting.

It saddens me to see teachers feel their hands are tied. Politicians making decisions in educations is as smart as electricians making medical decisions for doctors. I hope things don't have to get too much worse before people wake up and force improvements in the system.

[JohnKleeb]

6. thats great

I like this too. Good for Dean and all others who oppose this.

[Egnever]

7. This thread needs

A :kick:

[LWolf]

8. Are you familiar with Susan O'Hanion?

She is one of our strongest voices speaking against NCLB.

Her site:

http://www.susanohanian.org/

And a thread highlighting an article she wrote in Phi Delta Kappan; I stuck it in H/E/SP to give it a longer life here at DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=117&topic_id=716

She responded to Dean about his petition at the dean site; I won't pass it on, since she hasn't made it public yet. It was similar to my previous post; good to hear a candidate speak against NCLB, but we need to hear candidates promise to repeal it.