The editorial "No Child Left Behind," which appeared in the January 24th, 2005
Edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, clearly brings up important issues that need
to be addressed with the current No Child Left Behind law before shifting gears to
other areas of students coupled with education. The editors state, "After refusing
to spend all the money Congress authorized for his promising No Child Left
Behind law, Mr. Bush now wants to expand the law's mandatory testing
requirements to high schools. He also wants to spend an extra $52 million to
make advanced placement programs more widely available to high achievers."
I do not disagree with what Mr. Bush wants to do at the high school level and for
the high achievers but we must start from the base level of our education system.
Sometimes I wonder whether or not Mr. Bush really understands that the quality
of our public schools directly affects us all as parents, students, and as US
citizens. Too many children in America today are being segregated by low
expectations, illiteracy, and self-doubt. Children will continue to be left behind
in this constantly changing world that demands more and more complex skills to
enter the workforce if something is not put into place soon.
The editors point out a couple key issues that Mr. Bush needs to address and
one that I agree is most imperative is to increase the spending for tutoring
and teacher training. It makes little or no sense to expand the law's mandatory
testing requirements in high schools without first building a good foundation for
the grade schools. Without a good solid starting point children will continue to
fall behind in their basic academic skills such as reading and mathematics if we
continue to cut funds and shift money to other areas of education. As the editors
state, the No Child Left Behind law "
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