"No Child Left Behind" is the government's attempt to make us believe they really care. For starters, teachers are not allowed to tell parents/guardians they may opt out of the testing. It's buried in pages of fine print. Our teachers teach the test instead of the kids and are afraid to speak up.

At the end of 5th grade, we finally placed our oldest (12), who has learning problems connected with her cerebral palsy, in special ed. Previously, even with modified assignments and extra help, she was sinking further each grade and becoming really discouraged. In special ed, she's getting A's in 4th grade and some 5th grade work and in turn she's trying much harder. Mainstreaming, for her, didn't work. She just couldn't keep up. Problem was, they were, and still are, testing her at 6th grade level rather than performance level. This is idiotic.

Her next younger sister (now 10) has been in special ed classes since 2nd grade. She will be starting 5th grade and her reading is now almost up to grade level and she is beginning to function better in math. A thoughtful school administrator and excellent, caring mainstream teachers who agreed with me on her problems saved her. Unfortunately, they test her at grade level too.

Both my special ed kids are thriving and proud of their accomplishments. They come in smiling and waving performance awards and good report cards. It's been a while since they've cried before setting off to school in the morning.

The low test scores for children with special needs do not reflect the work being done by the students and the teachers.

The government, from its ivory tower, passes laws with insufficient funding and doesn't give the states and the local districts any flexibility. No wonder some states are telling the Feds to keep their money.

Children need good teachers, supportive parents or caretakers, well equipped schools, good nutrition, sleep, a work area at home, and enough free time to be kids. We need to bring back music and art - both of which help with math and creative thinking. Much of this is out of reach for too many of our children. The government cuts family and children's programs while the schools are sending form letters home about the importance of good nutrition, sleep, work area, etc. We're talking about 6+ pople packed like sardines in a one bedroom slum (or worse) which takes 3/4 of their income to maintain. Good parents still try and highly motivated children can learn under those conditions but more kids give up and turn to drugs, the streets, and the gangs. No Child Left Behind addresses none of these problems that I can see.

Teachers and local administrators may need oversight; they don't need the kind of interference mandated by No Child Left Behind.


Sorry this is so long - I've been editing for the past hour trying to cut it down but it's a very important subject.

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