Drinking the KoolAid

On my schedule today is to stop by the middle school to pick up my son’s MSA scores. Interestingly enough in the news today is the decision of the Secretary of Education to allow waivers from “No Child Left Behind” requirements to states that are willing instead to adopt new policies favored by the current administration.

I think most of us in this area think of “No Child Left Behind” as the reason for the current trend of teachers teaching to the test. Or as my favorite librarian, Barbara Gosnell, would call it "No tree left behind" due to the amount of paperwork generated.

Anyway, I’m not sure that many of us even think about the policy or its requirements until we get the annual report showing which schools FAILED to make adequately yearly progress.

I have a hard time labeling a school as a failure due to a percentage of students not improving enough. The schools are being judged on the scores of non-English speaking students, special education students and then separating out races.

The teachers I have had the opportunity to observe work with a classroom of diverse students—possibly a group of mean girls, maybe some ADD students, a bully, an overly shy student, the annoying star of the class who knows the answer to every question and wants everyone to know it, and oh yes, there may be a black student or an Asian student or a Guatemalan student—but our children are taught to be color blind and accepting of all differences.

Why does testing have to run so counter to that?

Some schools have transient populations. Should a teacher or school be judged on the progress of a student who has to move every two years? Other schools may be dealing with issues far greater than a test score, such as making sure every student is able to have breakfast and lunch.

I don’t think we need to be concerned with the achievement gap between races—we need to be concerned with giving learning opportunities to every student.

Let’s bring back our talented and gifted program and allow the children who are ready to take things to another level the freedom to do so. Let’s give our special education teachers the resources they need to work with a population of students that have diverse issues. And finally, let’s give our teachers the freedom to teach.

So while “No Child Left Behind” obviously has problems, it sounds like the next plan is even worse. It is called “Race to the Top” and in essence will use students' test scores to judge teachers.

Oh, that should really fix things. Let’s not only keep the bad testing plan, but now teach our students that they are not responsible for their education—it is all the teacher’s fault.

I have two teenage boys, and believe me; they have tried many times to blame a poor grade on a teacher. That doesn’t fly in our house; and our government certainly should not endorse it. Though it does seem consistent with current politics, where pointing the finger as someone else easily solves the blame for every problem.

Perhaps far more important than ABCs and 123s is teaching our students personal responsibility, tolerance and pride in doing a job well. Neither “No Child Left Behind” nor “Race to the Top” does this.