Reiterating, "No Child Left Behind (My ass)"

caught in the middle

Colleague from, "Caught in the Middle," has very great reason to call the "No Child Left Behind Act," bluff. I too can contest to the problems and the emphasis on the taks testing because I to have children. After reading through the links provided and finding out more information about this issue, I realize that as a country and our government that's for the people; we are missing the big picture. We are too focused on money that the minorities are failing educationally. We have done nothing to fix this rising number of failing students and because we don't make as much money as the middle or upper class families we get dealt the short end of the stick. How are the low income families suppose to teach their children to break the cycle of not succeeding educationally, if they are not given a opportunity to do so? I want to know which state representative, or which governer came to visit the schools that are shutting down and taking teachers away from. Have we been on the inside to see where the problem lies? Are we  making judgements based on what these test scores tell us? So instead, we do as my friend "caught in the middle" stated, we stamp our schools as failing and never question what the school is needing or missing. These are real life situations for the poor and the needy. My friend "caught in the middle," makes a very good point saying this, "You can pass all the laws you want but you can’t legislate a perfect world. At some point you have to pull your head out of the clouds and deal with the realities on the ground. At the same time that entitlements for the poor are under attack, we are demanding more of the children of the affected families under pressure and not giving them the skills they need to make a living." This is not a perfect world and never will be, but we can strive to be a thriving world which grants the same opportunities for each and every individual; no matter your color or sex. This opportunity starts at home and then given through the educators which have a bigger influence on our kids than we as parents do at times.