No Child Left Behind

For many years I have been critical of the Bush-Kennedy federal education plan called "No Child Left Behind."

Here is some of what I said about it in 2006...

The second problem with NCLB is that the provisions of the act cannot be met. Do you understand me? They can't do it, even if they turned the entire nation into an absolute dictatorship police-state whose sole purpose was meeting the provisions of the "No Child Left Behind" act. Even if they did that, they could not fufill the goals of the act. What they are asking for is not attainable by government means.

The feds offered the states money if they would agree to do something that is impossible by 2014. Since it seemed so far away, they took the cash. Now the time is drawing near, and it is obvious that they are not getting it done. Nor can they. The goal is impossible.

It takes a vast view of government power, almost a communist idea that man can be shaped by his environment, to believe that anything Washington can do will ensure that each and every child will be proficient in reading and math by 2014 regardless of the home life, inate skills, or even level of desire to learn, of that child. A certain percentage of any group will be unable to meet the stated standards. A larger percentage of children will simply not be willing to put forth the effort required for them to do so, and any efforts to bring "pressure" on them and their family is a lot more likely to backfire, bringing ill-will and intransigence to the educational process.

 Sure enough, states are now screaming that they want waivers. Look, the whole unconstitutional program ought to be scrapped at once.  As I have maintained since 2006, the goal is not attainable by government means- and even if it were, it is not desirable.  Do we really want Washington D.C. to pick the destination?  Why do we trust them with our children's educational future when there is nothing else we trust them with?

When not every parent and student wants to go to the destination that the federal overlords in Washington select for them, "No Child Left Behind" is just a cute way to describe a forced march.