no child left behind is absurd?
539408
Because it's nobody's fault. Everybody has rights and nobody has responsibilities. And we'll keep telling the kids that there are no winners and no losers and nothing matters until they have to go out and get a  job and find out the awful truth for themselves.
574617
YES . the term NO KID LEFT BEHIND means you cant fail they just keep passing you no matter what .
946910
No Child Left Behind is a joke.  The perception is that more money is the solution.  Offer private school vouchers and watch the cost become a fraction of what it does now.
808326
If you mean, the free education we have that has taught less than 35% of our children to read at a 3rd grade level,  low standards for children, lack of education for the educator and general chaos in our schools as the way we know it today.. I HOPE SO!   I really hope the new changes to the American Education Act (No Child Left Behind) really improves our schools.  The one good thing Bush gave us.  No one is accountable and our children are among the least educated in the world... shameful!
105275
I'm not sure if they're overstepping their boundaries but I can say that "No Child Left Behind" is idealistic and unrealistic.  Children were not meant to sit in a classroom all day.  They should be out playing and enjoying their youth.  Their education strengthens the country, but to assume that all children can get through school is ridiculous.  The children cannot adapt without performance enhancing drugs and programs so the schools will adapt.  And through this adaptation it is likely that the quality of education of the children who actually benefit from school will fall.  My biggest qualm with high school is that it was not difficult enough.  I breezed through school and then had a tough transition into college.  And this transition is very common.  \n\nThe Japanese are a dominant world power when it comes to technology.  Their school system is realistic.  They only take from what I've read about half of the middle school students into high school.  This fixes the curves that allowed me to breeze through high school.  The tests were too easy.  You don't need a high school education to be a janitor or to deliver pizza or any of the other easy jobs so why waste these kids' time?  I feel No Child Left behind takes education in the wrong direction.  Plus it puts emphasis on standardized testing which always just leads to teachers wasting time preparing the students for the test instead of preparing them for life.\n\nLet's go with yes, they are overstepping the boundaries!  This is a state issue like gay marriage.
807757
I understand your frustration.  As an educator I see this all too often.  It apears that the standards being put out by No Child Left Behind is shocking many students and parents alike.  I am only thankful that I was not subjected to such as a child.  6th grade is frustrating enough.  I would suggest doing the following:  1st speak again with the teacher and ask for the lessons ahead of time (by that I mean subject matter), 2nd since you are on the internet I suggest that you surf on over to www.edhelper.com and pay the small fee to join (no I am not connected to them in anyway other than i use this site for assisting me in my planning etc...).  Once at Edhelper you yourself can create tests with answer keys that can assist you in better preparing your child and as such help them to overcome test anxiety.  Lastly, remove the option to hold him back based on a single subject.  However, if he is failing multiple subjects then the option becomes one that is better suited, but I would first suggest Sp. Ed testing, but only if he is failing multiple subjects.\n\nHope this helps.\n\nJason
418652
Interesting question (I think it is a question.) Seems to me there is enough blame to go around...let's not stop with teachers. How about the students themselves? How about the parents? We have seen a huge dumbing down of students in the past 30 years...lowest common denominator effect, or "let no child be left behind." When students are pushed further into classes they cannot understand, when the quality of education is such that many students are left in the dark, when parents remain detached from their children and expect teachers to do it all, we have what we now have...a nation of illiterate kids graduating from high school Not all students are illiterate, but you don't have to look further than the questions/answers here to see that many kids cannot spell, cannot write a sentence, and cannot communicate clearly with written words. We have spawned a system where it is NOT cool to be educated, and certainly NOT cool to achieve anything in public schools. NERD is all but a curse word, isn't it? Yet it is the Nerds who inherit the jobs, the salaries, the world. Kids may think it is "cool" to be ignorant, but there comes a day when they must look around and wonder how they were left out ... of everything. IF I were to come home with a bad grade, IF I were to not do my homework, IF I were to mouth off to a teacher, I wouldn't sit for a week. So, to avoid the punishment, I did the work. Isn't it strange today that when a child misbehaves, the parents are up in the face of the teacher with accusations, threats, etc. Is it any wonder that teachers give up trying to educate a bunch of students who have no interest beyond text messaging? Teachers head into the career thinking they will make a difference. It doesn't take long for them to find out they are underpaid baby sitters of out-of-control thugs and brats. Unfortunatly, time has a way of evening things out. Sad to say, but I am glad I do not have to face the daily challenges of gangs, bullies, and "cool" people that students are surrounded by today.
529227
Unfortunately, the public school system in america is not taken seriously enough.  Further, the students who attend our public school system (even through college) are continuiously torn down by teachers, principals, and even unknowingly, their parents.  This is done by teaching the youth of america that they should "Go to school and get a good job", when what that's actually doing is teaching a person to wear a slaves collar for the rest of their lives, be it blue or white.  A slave to the economy, to the boss who says when you can have time off, when you cant go to your kids birthday party, and how much money you should be paid per hour.  But then, there are people like me who try to teach, who show our fellow Americans that there is a way to regain their freedom, to life a life not having to give away 40+ hours a week to a job they hate, to a boss who on a bad day can put that persons name on a piece of paper, and end their job on the spot.  This country was founded on Free Enterprise, on farmers and merchants who owned businesses, however small some might have been.  Other countries, Japan for instance, still teach that kind of mentality.  Yes, education is important for it, but a major part of the problem is the angle that American schools take - and that is to teach people to be employees, not to be the employeer.\n\nSo it falls to us who try to help people after they get their flawed education, to try to free them from the system.  Show them a way to take back their lives, to decide themselves how much they will make an hour.  What hours they want to spend working, even if that's none at all.  Far too many people have had the dreamlessness of the failing American Dream drilled into them too hard anymore though, and it's impossible to free a person who prefers the collar.  Ah well.
548968
looking at no child left behind... I almost start to wonder if this isn't trying to destroy an already underfunded education system... \n\nWith no public education...the wealthy would be the only ones that could afford to become educated and then keep control of their wealth through that control of education... \n\nah... capitalism at it's best...\n\nDon't you just love how freetyme813 insults basically every American with his rants on public school... almost everyone attends public school and if we're all that "stupid" then why did the majority vote for conservatives?\nTest scores are at all time highs... so if he's calling today's kids dumb... and you graduated a long time ago like I did... then he's calling all of us really dumb....\nI think we all know who the "dumb" one is here...\nSorry we didn't go to private school because our daddy was rich like you apparently did... some of us have to actually work for what we have...
29032
Well, very few kids are being left behind, in theory it appears to be working. That said, the quality of education that everyone is getting has been greatly reduced.  So, no one is left behind, but now they are all dumber than before.  Teachers have to only teach the TEST now, otherwise the school fails the tests and they say its because the teachers are bad.  So, learing has been reduced to what is on a standardized test to make test scores look good.  Teachers hate it, it hampers their ability to teach.
776974
We would "just teach" if we were allowed to. Unfortunately, the powers that be dictate to us what we can and cannot teach.  Classes are now geared towards the children being able to pass exit level examinations and just for education for education's sake. It's not the teachers fault, its something that begins at the Federal level.
636775
so who is setting this definition of "undesirables"\nand no, i don't think it will help my children, i have no need to teach them to be xenophobic, and there are even many very smart illegal children in the school system that can run rings around the rest of the kids there.  and overall, from what i can tell from your post, i would much rather have my kids go to school with illegals than someone with your type of attitude.  way to stick it to a third grader by the way, but it feels good to deny a child an education, especially one who has no control over what country he goes to school in.
581776
well i think school systems vary in different states. i always hear about the NY school system where i live, and i think its on the right track right now. also, its a little known fact that the United States has one of the lowest standards of learning in the world. out of the top educated countries(i think about 12) were 10th!!! how embarassing.
155793
Every child and adult in America falls under some kind of learning disabled label.  Apparently, EVERYONE has something wrong with them.  Its unrelated to your article, but I've got this sneaking suspicion that the problem doesn't lie within the student, but the teacher.  Remember when one classroom for all grades was the pinacle of education.  When people didn't fit in there was something wrong with THEM.  Ponder please.\n\nHappy trails.
260298
...a difficult problem in this period\nof "no child left behind" when curriculums\nare dictated and the test results is all\nthat matters.  Challenging them to do \nbetter on the tests?  Challenging them to\nsucceed in life?  ...a big difference.\nStudents must be made to realize that the\nchoice to succeed is theirs to be made and\nwhat they are learning is relevant to their\nworld now and in years to come.  Your own\nenthusiasm and efforts to inspire will go a\nlong way.  Good luck; with society the way\nit is, you have a lot to overcome, but \ncontinue to do whatever you can to be part\nof the answer.
757609
The Catholic church has ruined any chance of resurrecting the idea of private schools, not to mention that the average joe like me who would like to put their kids into private school can't even come close to affording it. I tried it and just can't afford it. I was raised catholic, and the amount of money my family put into the collection plate every week would astound you, and for that dedication for over 20 years, we get high tuition at these schools. Plus, don't forget the priest scandals. This has forced many to remove their children. I remember a time when George Bush said he'd provide vouchers to families, but as I understand it only the city of Washington D.C. has gotten them. Sound a little biased? What happened to no child left behind? I am all for religious schooling. My kids at regular public school are being pushed at an overwhelming rate to learn things that they are not ready for because the U.S. wants to produce more intelligent kids like those in China. Well, they are only hurting our kids and education reform is necessary in the immediate future or our kids are going to pay the price even more.
424481
(1) The government doesn't know how to properly handle education so it encompasses ALL students\n\n(2) They're trying to fix problems that have their roots in centuries-old practices \n\n(3) They want to make it look like they're doing something useful for American education\n\nBasically one of the underlying issues is "separation vs. inclusion", and no one knows how to properly address it. Probably because there will always be some types of students who fare better in inclusive classrooms, and others who do better with separate instruction. It's too much of a "problem" for the government to figure it all out so everybody gets what they need, so they try to offer a solution that STILL excludes some children.