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Should ‘No Child Left Behind’ continue as law of the land?

President Bush called today for renewal of his “No Child Left Behind” federal education law.

As a writer and a former teacher, I’m all in favor of education, literacy, and all those other good things associated with an intelligent culture. But every time I read or hear anything about this particular federal law, I cringe just a little bit.

Many have criticized the measure and the reasons are as varied as the critics: it’s either non-funded or at best poorly funded; it sets artificial goals that ultimately diminish special, personal student learning needs; it unfairly penalizes teachers, etc.

My dissatisfaction has more to do with the way the NCLB act reinforces a troubling educational and cultural trend that I believe has been building for years: It shifts most of the burden for learning away from students and parents and lays it on teachers and school systems.

For several decades, at least since the late-’60s or early-’70s, parents and children have behaved as though teachers and schools are responsible for their education. Here’s a news flash for you, parent and children: YOU are responsible for your education and your children’s education. Yes, YOU.

The teachers and school systems are really just tools that YOU must use.

It seems so obvious to me that demanding teachers and school systems to somehow “make our kids smart,” really is irresponsibility at an appalling level. Since when can the world’s best teachers, working with the finest computers and textbooks, MAKE a kid learn — if that kid doesn’t want to learn and his/her parents don’t know or care one way or the other??

Maybe something needs to be done to wake up parents and children and make them accountable for their own learning — THEN give them the teachers, school buildings, computers, and other tools to learn. Then, truly, no child will be left behind.

Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.

[tags]No Child Left Behind, education, parents, children, learning, accountability, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]