No Child Left Behind?

by Chris Mercogliano

I awakened this morning to a Washington Post report that certain states are starting to rebel against the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, George Bush III's 1000-plus-page attempt to bully students and teachers into higher academic performance.

Now how could anyone not want to line up single file behind our 43rd president and his “deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America,” as he is quoted in the introduction to the NCLB legislation? How could anyone be opposed to the idea of paying attention to the educational needs of all students, regardless of race or social class?

Perhaps it is the transparency of Mr. Bush’s rhetoric. The only way he plans to assess whether or not children are being left behind is by administering them once a year high stakes achievement tests. This means that his noble sentiments will be instantly doomed by the extensive and well-documented research indicating that the only things standardized tests actually measure are income and socio-economic status.

Savor the Orwellian irony here. The same president whose economic policy has radically widened the already gaping canyon between rich and poor pledges to punish, and even shut down schools containing too many low-scoring students. Thus, with the very first stroke of his legislative pen, Mr. Bush has taken the great American myth of equal opportunity to a whole new, and I repeat Orwellian level.

Meanwhile, while out on my morning walk I pondered what a society that really wants to leave no child behind might look like. Here is what I came up with:

It would first of all base its economy on a more equitable distribution of financial resources. It would not be a country like ours where the top one-half percent of the population possess as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent, and where over thirty-five million citizens continue to live in poverty.

Even more importantly, it would make the support of vulnerable families with young children one of its highest priorities. Initiatives like Healthy Families Florida, directed by my cousin Carol McNally, would be universal. Carol’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect by eliminating their root causes. Her program serves primarily young single mothers and begins working collaboratively with them—before their children are born or as near birth as possible—to address the full range of each new family’s emerging needs. If necessary, services continue for up to five years. The program currently has more than 10,000 enrolled families and its success rate is phenomenal. Ninety-eight percent of children in participating families reveal no signs of abuse or neglect a year and a half after leaving the program. Moreover, the parents are demonstrating increased rates of high school graduation, home ownership, and ongoing father involvement.

Ironically, Healthy Families Florida enjoys the staunch support of Governor Jeb Bush, President Bush’s younger brother. Here’s hoping that one day soon Jeb will sit George down and show him what it looks like when government truly intends that no child be left behind.



The Directory of Democratic Education		Everywhere All the Time



How to Grow a School		In Defense of Childhood



Making It Up as We Go Along		Teaching the Restless