The Time Has Come to 'Just Say No' to NCLB

NCLB legislation has been with us for a long enough time to realize that it brought some good to education.  The purpose of the legislation was to improve student performance by identifying subgroups of children to make certain that they weren't being 'left behind'.  That helped those of us in the business of educating children to realize when we were missing some children. 

When we realized that we were missing children, we (educators) were then able to develop new, highly focused instructional strategies that could help close the gap between our most successful groups and less successful groups.  Schools have made great progress toward that goal.

There is a problem though.  With each passing few years, the bar was raised for acceptable performance.  Schools made great progress reaching those goals, but this year the goal for math was that every subgroup now had to have 88.6% of its students pass math.

Imagine that!  A laudable goal, but not very realistic!  As that bar goes up, so do the expectations for passing the tests.  Children with limited cognitive ability, for example, are expected to perform at or above grade level.  

Though this is a worthy goal, it is a fact that although we need to try our best with all children, they are like we adults.  We have different talents, different intellects, and different native ability.  

Why say 'No' to NCLB?  It's simple really.  When schools fail to make adequate yearly progress, they suffer punitive actions.  I heard of a school with an African American subgroup that was targeted with special strategies to help them close the achievement gap in math.  They had great success.  But, the bar went up this year!  In spite of tremendous growth, the school will suffer punitive action.  The message to the staff and its parent community is, "Do everything right, and you can still be singled out as a failure."  

Our public schools are doing a great job.  When children don't do as well as we would like, the Federal government should offer resources to the school to build its capacity to help students even more.  Instead, the government points a finger and says, "You failed to make AYP."  The irony is that even a school that earns the honor of being a NC School of Distinction can also be on the "Watch List."  Imagine, a school that successfully grows children can still be painted with the brush of failure.

NCLB is supposed to help children, not vilify the educators who work so hard to care for their students, nor the families that work hard to support those schools.

It is Inconceivable

I find the pluck of Republican Presidential candidates to be unbelievable!  I heard on CNN today that Mitt Romney laughingly referred to himself as one of the unemployed.  How sensitive he must be to the suffering of the millions of those who are unemployed!  Poor unemployed Romney ... only about $200 million in the bank!

Thanks to North Carolina's Republicans, aided by a handful of Democrats, per pupil spending in North Carolina is now 49th in the United States.  Forget about competing with the Chinese for jobs!  Now we can see if we will be able to compete with graduates from South Carolina!  

But don't worry too much.  Senator Apodaca (R) says everything will be ok when school starts again ... as usual.

No One Goes to Bed Hungry Tonight Drive

     I don't know how it happened, but I suddenly have really figured out that as a Democratic Party Chair, I must actually be a politician.  The problem with that is that I often scoff at politicians for not really knowing what is going on in the world. The current dilemma in Raleigh is perfect evidence of that. 

     The Republicans were swept into office, I believe, because they promised a solution to the huge problem of unemployment.  As the most powerful act of their newly discovered leadership, what do they do?  They work to destroy public education and in the process put thousands of school employees out of work.  

     That brings me to the topic of concern.  Hunger.  Congressman Shuler is trying to organize a large food drive.  I am certain he means well, but it is, at the end of the day, a gesture.  Perhaps an important gesture, but still not enough in light of the suffering.

      As a school administrator, I see too many children go home at the end of their day to inadequate meals ... if any.  Long ago, I learned that on Friday some of my fourth and fifth graders would stuff their pockets with their lunches, to have food when they get home.

       My wife, Shelley, commented that a real difference in the lives of poor families would happen when we people of Transylvania County agreed that none of our families would go to bed hungry.  

       I'm not quite certain how to make that happen, but I am open to suggestions. I believe that if a bunch of us put our heads together, maybe we could make a truly long term commitment ... not just a single shot for the sake of an event.  

       Yes, we have food banks.  We even have a soup kitchen.  Why then do we still have hungry families? You see, it is not just a lack of food ... there is something more to the problem of hunger here and everywhere.  If you have some comments, perhaps we can figure out, together, how to really make a profound difference for our children, every day, all year.

       I suppose that in spite of budget battles, lost jobs for people in the education business, and, most terribly, lost opportunities for our children ... we will go on.  Ironically,   the best solution to poverty is an education.  Sadly, hungry people don't seem to advocate well for themselves.  I guess they are too busy looking for their next meal.  I suppose that is why we need politicians.  They should be protecting, solving problems, and saving people.

You Go Gov!

     If I have read it once, I have read it a dozen times!  The Governor is going to veto the budget.  With the help of a handful of 'turn coats' it would appear that the Republicans have the votes they need to over ride the Governor's veto. What seems to be the problem?

     One of the most astounding differences is that the Governor's budget includes a .75 temporary sales tax.  By continuing that sales tax (it was 1% last year) the State would get nearly a billion dollars more to work with.  It would save tons of jobs.

     I thought the R's promised to create jobs if they were elected.  Apparently I was wrong.  

     In so far as education is concerned they clearly have chosen to damage our children, the future of North Carolina!  

     I hope that anyone reading this blog will write legislators here in North Carolina and tell them what you think.  BUT, more than that, I hope you'll join me in doing everything I can to get these Republicans out of office.