Telling It Like It Is on Public Education

At the time of its passage in the early 2000s, the No Child Left Behind Law sounded good and right and timely to much of the American public and a majority of Congress, who had been persuaded that America's public education system was on the verge of collapse. Leading politicians from both parties and conservative education groups warned that only this sweeping new reform could rescue public education -- and the millions of low-income, disabled, and minority children it consistently left behind. But to people who read the law closely and carefully considered it implications, nothing could have been further from the truth.
As the years passed, and the law's effects were scientifically assessed, it turns out that those who were against this law were right. In a huge way.
In fact, instead of rescuing "left behind" children, the law has made their dismal education experiences even worse and damaged considerably the institutions and the people charged with giving them the social, emotional, and cognitive experiences that would prepare them for a productive and more prosperous life.
The law is now up for re-authorization and the Obama administration has issued its "blueprint" of changes to fix many aspects of the law that have created big problems for schools, teachers, and children. But the Obama administration doesn't go far enough in removing the punishment and sanctions in the law, which as Education Lawyer and Advocate Gary Ratner wisely predicted three years ago "...could permanently undermine the public's support for public education."
To Ratner's voice now comes that of Diane Ravitch, a former Bush Administration Assistant Secretary of Education. Ravitch, who has released a new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, says that if she could do one thing to improve NCLB, she would "remove the sanctions!" for the very same reasons Ratner suggested. As it turns out, the public's support for public education has been severely undermined. And that has made the working conditions in schools extremely difficult for principals and teachers, which makes their tough jobs even tougher, and hurts their ability to give our children -- all children -- the education they so richly deserve. I know. I have hosted readings, workshops, trainings, and other speaking engagements on education for nearly 25,000 teachers, children, parents, and members of the general public over the past eight years. I have taught children how to read and write in classroom settings, alongside their teachers, or alone. I have tutored children who were up to 7 grade levels behind in reading and seen them jump three grade levels in six months. I have been in just about every kind of school this country has -- predominantly black, predominantly white, predominantly Latino, rich schools, poor schools, urban, suburban, and rural schools. The best way to help schools is to give schools and teachers the resources they need to succeed. Beating them up and berating them will result only in the kind of stagnation and decline that we have witnessed in recent years. It will not change them for the better.
A wise someone once said, "The plant you water is the plant that grows." Let's help public schools -- which educate about 90 percent of American children -- grow and thrive -- by encouraging the Obama White House and Congress to remove sanctions from NCLB and replace them with even more resources for success. Our children will thank us.
For more information about Ravitch and her views or Gary Ratner and the Citizens for Effective Schools, click the following links. http://www.dianeravtich.com http://www.citizenseffectiveschools.org