No School Board Left Standing -- Statement & Petition by Dean

[Khephra]

No School Board Left Standing

September 6, 2003
Governor Howard Dean issued the following statement regarding the President's radio address on the No Child Left Behind bill:

"Today the President used his weekly radio address to praise his education bill, No Child Left Behind. Behind his glowing rhetoric is an unfortunate reality: Another broken promise by this President, who has broken his pledge to fund the statute's new demands, creating crushing burdens for local school boards and teachers throughout America. The funding is simply not there, and local leaders already burdened by widespread federal program cuts and strains created by mismanagement of the economy are struggling to find new resources to pay the bill. All too often, the only solution is to raise property and state taxes, giving lie to the notion that this President is a tax cutter. He is simply a tax shifter.

"Secondly, we all applaud the notion of accountability, but the methods in NCLB to measure accountability and promote reform are dangerously flawed. Schools from Texas to Colorado are being forced to dumb-down their tests so that they can ensure "progress" from one year to the next. This is a sham, and a disservice to our children. Worse still, in too many places, struggling students are reportedly being held back or even pushed out of classes and schools in a tragic game to boost average tests scores. Meanwhile, to help schools actually improve, the Administration provides rhetoric without resources.

"It's time we had school reform that works and really does close the achievement gap not empty sloganeering that burdens our schools and sticks local taxpayers with the tab."

Sign the Petition:
http://deanforamerica.com/supportkids

[Eloriel]

1. Even if you don't support Dean

a petition like this deserves your signature.

Eloriel

[RevolutionStartsNow]

2. I signed it

I have 2 kids in elementary school, and I have seen first-hand how flawed the testing is. Test scores are used to sell houses where I live and there is immense pressure to bring the scores up every year, but I see very little benefit to the kids.

Meanwhile the school budgets have been cut to close to nothing.

[Frances]

3. I also signed it

n/t

[usregimechange]

4. yep

Signed! Keep this going... :kick:

[liberalmuse]

5. My best friend is a school teacher...

the stories she tells me are appalling. Teachers are punished if their kids fail. She is paid a pittance, but tells me how teachers are under constant pressure and the threat of losing their jobs now due to Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' act. Good thing she loves her job and is an excellent teacher who likely won't have to fudge on tests in order to save her job.

I saw an informative news piece a few years ago about what Bush has done to the Texas school system. The teachers 'teach to the test' all year, just so the students will pass and their schools won't lose funding, and they won't lose their jobs. Many of these kids end up dropping out of college before finishing their first year because they do not have the skills to handle it. They are taught how to answer the questions on the test correctly, not how to think and solve problems. Very sad. It scared me then, when Bush was only a candidate, and it terrifies me now that he's trying to turn the entire country into Texas.

[stevedeshazer]

6. Just this sentence alone:

"All too often, the only solution is to raise property and state taxes, giving lie to the notion that
this President is a tax cutter. He is simply a tax shifter."

Enough to get me to sign, even though I'm not a Deaniac.

The LNCB Act is a stunning failure.

[JNelson6563]

7. signed

I am sick of unfunded mandates from Washington.

Julie

[Pastiche423]

8. Signed

and forwarded to others.

[Evanstondem]

9. No School Board Left Standing

Signed,and forwarded to others!

[Athame]

10. Signed and passed along to friends and family

Dean is really speaking out on the important issues. What a pleasure it is to support him especially in this cause.

Ma

:bounce: :kick: :bounce: :kick: :bounce:

[FlashHarry]

11. Definitely not LBN.

I'm a Dean fan, too, but let's stick to LBN Rules

"4. NO polls, petitions, or other action items."

[Rose Siding]

12. The petition is secondary

to the release of a response to bush's radio address by the leading Democratic presidential candidate. That's LBN.

[FlashHarry]

13. Since it comes from Dean's Web site, it's not LBN.

I hardly think deanforamerica.com could be considered a bona fide news source, since it is solely intended to further the views of a single candidate. This is a press release, not 'late-breaking news.'

But I'll defer, of course, to the wisdom of the Mods.

[VolcanoJen]

14. Not LBN... moving to Politics & Campaign Forum

This article really doesn't contain any breaking news, and is more like a position statement. Also, it implores DUers to sign a petition, and, as the LBN Rules state, the posting of action items is prohibited in the LBN forum.

This was not an easy decision, but I'm certain the article will receive a better response in P&C.

Thanks!
VolcanoJen
DU Moderator

[Cha]

15. I didn't even see this last night!

I'm so happy Dean is On this!

Children are our Most Important Resource!

Course the barbarian bushies wouldn't understand this!

My sister is an educator and so are a lot of my friends and I'm getting some personal feedback on the need for some more money in our education system! :kick:

[DrFunkenstein]

16. Kerry Stongly Supported The 2003 Kennedy-Harkin Amendment

To increase education funding by $6 billion. The omnibus appropriations bill includes an increase of only $1 billion, falling $4.65 billion short of the level authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Kerry also supports giving a great deal of flexibility to individual states, rather than putting them in a one-size-fits all program. The issues rural states deal with is very different than those of the big cities. He knows because Massachusetts has both rural AND urban areas.

"Where the Bush Administration sought to cut funding for school reform and issued restrictive guidelines, John Kerry will fund the new effort and ensure states have the flexibility to meet the goals of the law."

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/education.html

Kerry's sister was a middle-school teacher who got laid off this year because of budget cuts. They have frequent conversations about education issues.

Kerry is a big believer in both Head Start and after-school programs. He has also been a vigorous opponent of vouchers, and includes schools in his larger plans for a massive rebuilding of public infrastructure (the invisible subsidies businessmen don't like to admit).

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

18. sheesh

start a thread on Kerry's education stance. Why try to derail this thread, which is an intent to get people to sign an important petition regardless of their choice of candidate?

Seems like grasping at straws, to me.

BTW, Kerry wants to fund NCLB...not the right stance IMO. It's the single worst federal law on education to date. Why would we want to fund it?

[DrFunkenstein]

19. Derail The Thread?

Do Dean supporters really prefer talking to themselves? I know a great blog if you do!

Meanwhile, you reinforce the distortion that always accompanies "Dean on education" threads - that other candidates (meaning Kerry) support an unfunded mandate that creates too many restrictions at the local level.

Perhaps I should have been more confrontational, but I simply wanted to put out the information without having to attack Dean. Sorry to derail your petition drive (which violates DU rules, apparently).

BTW, the man behind "single worst federal law on education to date" was Ted Kennedy, hardly the biggest opponent of education.

<>

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

20. LOL

Even Kennedy can be wrong. He's not perfect, ya know. He's a politician. BTW, your candidate is wrong too.

[havocmom]

17. added remarks

in the comment field:

Playing a numbers game via juggling scores/criteria for tests does nothing to enhance children's education. Children are not cogs to be stamped into a uniform size and shape to fit into some massive industrial machine. Humans need variance of experiences and educational options in order to reach potential. Too much pressure to perform on overused standardized tests results in ‘teaching to the test’ and does nothing to actually educate anyone! One size does not fit all!

In trying to find common denominators while implementing excessive testing, society is losing the essence, creativity, and potential of these children. We do this to the extreme peril of our future.

Do not allow the bean counters to do to our kids what they have done to American economy! Do not allow them to juggle the figures so they can give a rosy report when we need real information to evaluate what individual districts need. Do not allow the current administration to cook the books on this one like they allowed all their corporate buddies do in business! The future of our nation should never be put in danger by those who would juggle tests and results for a glowing quarterly report while actually squandering resources and denying essential funding schools need to carry out their mandates. Parents, and all members of society, are not shareholders to be misled by numbers and stats!

We are watching. And we are tigers fighting for our children!

Edit: typo

[LWolf]

21. Discussed at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=33374