Despite our intentions, the truth can only be found in the consequences of our actions. The human mind may rationalize, but "good" morality is usually too thick a soup to be distinguishable from the bad in any objective way. Under this standard, The No Child Left Behind Act is a scam perpetrated by the federal government. It claims to promote accountability for academic performance while systematically stripping funds from the schools that need them most. Public schools are given a universal testing standard, denied money promised to help them reach these goals and stripped of funding when they fail. It is one of the great outrages of our time.
In the law’s short history, $56 billion of funding approved for the program has not been allocated to any schools or school systems, according to the National Education Association. Wisconsin is missing $539 million from the federal government, yet the testing continues and the punishments abound. Even worse, the underfunding gets worse every year. Nonetheless, according to President Bush, NCLB is working.
Even if it had been properly implemented, the bill is so fundamentally flawed that one has to wonder why so many Democrats or Republicans (the small government party) supported it in 2001. I know what you’re thinking: post-9/11 consensus. But even a terrorist attack is no excuse for our elected representatives to sell out American children to a series of tests. The real tests of leadership occur in times of crisis: Who remembers principle in a haze of nationalism and fear? Not the Democrats and not the Republicans; that much is certain. Let's hope their arms aren’t still tired from all those pats on the back. Despite the continued debate, no one seems able to solve the case of the missing money.
Holding kids around the nation with varied socioeconomic and educational backgrounds to a standard of testing that baits states into dumbing down their curricula just to stay afloat is in no one's interest. Some Democrats say the bill has failed because it hasn’t been properly funded. Let's hope they are ashamed of their votes and don’t actually endorse its fundamentally flawed concept. Thus far, it's not looking good for the Democrats, with talks of weak revision pervading the discussion. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., has even proposed adding language to stop bullying in schools. With the bill up for reauthorization this year, the Democratic Congress should show some backbone and gut it. The educational gap in America is the catalyst for much of our crime and domestic strife. It is the one thing Americans throughout the political spectrum can agree on, yet still, the federal government has done little to address it. But hey, at least they’re pretending to build a border fence.
Why has the approval rating of the Democratic Congress dropped so markedly over the past year? Because we don’t hear enough about the basic issues that Americans elected them to resolve. Investigations and oversight are critical, but let's face it, Middle America turned on the Republicans because they lost touch with the issues of everyday Americans, not because Alberto Gonzalez is a crook.
The Democrats can’t afford to fall into the abyss of endless partisanship that swallowed up the Republican majority. They’ve only got so much political ammo — best to get more by improving the basic infrastructure of the country before emptying the entire clip on Mr. Bush’s cabinet. When partisanship becomes the highest value, national parties fall into the "Big Brother" trap. Appeasing special interests may win elections, but it doesn’t help you govern. NCLB killing creativity in the classroom by mandating that schools teach to a test in order to survive was simply Big Brother’s Republican manifestation. And most Democrats, like helpless sheep, went right off the edge as well. Later, they followed Mr. Bush into Iraq.
What public schools lack is adequate funding from their respective states for quality teachers and smaller classrooms. There is no shortage of innovative and dedicated local policymakers. The arrogance of the Congress and the executive in recent years, who have fashioned themselves as a sort of school board, has been nothing short of appalling. Government should empower the states to improve citizens' lives in whatever way the people choose. Finally, Congress is learning the consequences of tyrannous control over local institutions.
A number of Republicans who voted for the original measure, in an effort to support the president, are now helping to jettison it, and odds seem poor that it will be approved. Maybe if we fund our schools for long enough, our kids will someday be smart enough to let parents, teachers and administrators decide whether a school is failing.
Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.
