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Published on Monday, June 15, 2009 by Huffington Post
Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education
It is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program
The great mystery of education policy today is why the Obama administration is embracing the Bush program. I recently wrote in Education Week (June 10) that it is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. The overwhelming majority of teachers agree with me. Those who educate our kids know that NCLB is a failed program that is not improving our schools but rather turning them into test-prep factories and dumbing down our kids. Bush's main advisor Sandy Kress reacted with outrage on the website of Education Week, and Tom Vander Ark on Huffington Post called me an "edu-curmudgeon" for speaking plain truth.
Let me say it again: It is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. This is a program in which the federal government requires every state to test every student from grade 3-8 in reading and math every year. If states do not make "adequate yearly progress" towards 100% proficiency by 2014, then the schools face a series of increasingly onerous sanctions, ending with their being closed down. Vander Ark thinks that this punitive approach to school improvement is swell. I don't.If judged solely by test scores, the only coin that the NCLB crowd understands, the law has been a dud. Kids today are making less progress on national and international tests than they did during the Clinton administration years.
While our kids focus endlessly on preparing to take their state tests in reading and math, they are not learning science, history, geography, foreign language, the arts, or anything else but how to find the right bubble on a standardized test.
A California study in Science magazine predicted that by 2014, nearly 100% of all elementary schools would be deemed failures because of NCLB. This would unleash a flood of sanctions: closed schools, fired staffs, public schools handed over to private management (a remedy that has recently been proved ineffective in Philadelphia, among other places), and public schools handed over to state control (another ineffective remedy).
Now Secretary Arne Duncan promises to close 5,000 low-performing schools. The thought of closing 5,000 schools thrills today's so-called "reformers," although none of them has any idea how to make them better. Where will Duncan find 5,000 new principals? Is there an army of great teachers waiting to staff those 5,000 schools?
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965--which is the original law onto which No Child Left Behind was grafted--had none of these punitive features. It was premised on the belief that the federal government could help schools by sending more money. In fact, the federal government never sent much money, never more than 10% of overall spending, and often much less than that. No one today could visit a typical inner-city school and complain that its biggest problem was that it got too much federal money.
But with this leverage, the new mandarins of education want to control all of American education. For some reason, first the Bush people and now the Obama people believe they know exactly how to fix American education. (Chicago, their model, is one of the lowest-performing cities in the nation on national tests, and Texas was never a national model for academic excellence.) Their answer starts with testing and ends with data and more testing. If children were widgets, they might be right; but children are not widgets, they are individuals. If reading and math were all that mattered in school, they might be right, but basic skills are not the be-all and end-all of being educated.
A recent study by Common Core (Why We're Behind: What Top-Performing Nations Teach Their Students But We Don't) shows that the top-ranking nations do not spend endless hours preparing for tests of basic skills. Instead, in nations such as Finland and Japan, there is a balanced curriculum of science, history, geography, the arts, foreign languages, civics, and other studies. Meanwhile our children are learning to guess the right answer on a multiple-choice test!
The amazing thing about American education today is that the Obama people--who promised revolutionary change--have no ideas other than to tighten the grip of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program on the teachers and children of the United States.
© 2009 Huffington Post
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Show All"Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education"
Not simply education. Read practically "across the board".
"The thought of closing 5,000 schools thrills today's so-called "reformers," although none of them has any idea how to make them better."
This is now what passes for "reform" among Republicans and Democrats? Better results would come from burying every television set in the nation.
Right.
This and everything else.
Who could've possibly known it would've been this bad?
Vern, that's what we said about Bush. What's next?
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
I can't remember your real name, but I do remember that you were an extremely strong advocate of Obama. You said that your young daughter had convinced you that you needed to have faith in the candidate. Now it sounds as though you've changed your views. Is this true? Are you now convinced that your young daughter was maybe a little too idealistic and not seeing the candidate as just another politician and that maybe you should've had a talk with her about the reality of politics in Washington. I guess we can never expect to have good government as long as people are willing to let their kids do their thinking for them, huh?
"Who could've possibly known it would've been this bad?"
I knew, and I said so.
In 2008 when there were still three major-party presidential candidates, I repeatedly posted a comparison of their Senate voting records. Obama's Senate voting record revealed his agenda was closer to McCain's than to Hillary Clinton's.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/09/10244#comment-324994
July 13th, 2008 12:49 am
I posted Obama's statements of admiration for Reagan's style and many of his policies: increased military size and spending, free markets, anti-regulation, trickle-down economics.
I pointed out that in 2007 (as U.S. Senator from Illinois) Obama supported a corrupt, pro-NAFTA Chicago city council candidate over a pro-labor candidate in a hotly debated fight over allowing WalMart into Chicago, and he did so in the face of community opposition and university studies showing the net negative economic impact of Wal-Mart on communities. See: OBAMA'S FORGOTTEN WAL-MART ENDORSEMENT: PUTTING WORKERS SECOND AND GOING ALONG TO GET ELECTED by Paul Street; August 28, 2007
And, I pointed out several Obama campaign lies. e.g., his claim to have "passed" a bill to regulate radiation leaks from nuclear power plants, his pledge to rewrite NAFTA, his stated reason for voting against a 30% cap on credit card interest rates, and his opposition to a FISA bill granting retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. All were lies. And, all these things were known long before election day.
I said then that Obama was a Republican in Democrat's clothing.
Back then, people in these forums ignored all of that evidence. People told me they believed in Obama because he gave good speeches. They said his Senate voting record meant nothing . . . that he would reverse course as President. They said he would have to embrace progressive policies because he is black, and his black constituency would demand it.
I think my analysis then was correct. Obama is more of a Republican than a Democrat. Progressives who voted for Obama were hoodwinked, and are still being hoodwinked.
Hope is the opiate of the masses.
As J Paul Getty said, 'The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights.'
The Obama kool-aid and the Democratic Party Leadership kool-aid was drunk by many people who read this website, and how they failed to notice the BS that was floating in it is beyond me. It is simply different colored than the republican's (blue instead of red). Same great taste though.
Did Obama or Hillary speak up when Kucinich or Mike Gravel were excluded from the debates? No. I guess democracy is only important when it interferes with winning, as opposed to believing in it as a principle.
And don't forget the coverage that Nader and McKinney got on this website. Well, maybe you did miss the rare time when they actually were given a voice, but mostly it was to marginalize them as being 'unwinnable.' As if being winnable is such a great trait. see: Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush etc
People asked for Obama, and they got the whole corporate elite position that he represented. And if you're surprised at his recent actions you are either lying to yourself, ignorant, or a fool.
so it goes
Across the board is right !
In September 2008,during his campaign, Obama initiated the NO WALL STREET BANKER LEFT BEHIND program, which continues to reward those at the highest levels of white collar crime. Obama has not rescinded the 2003 Medicare Drug Extortion legislation that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices, so don't expect the NO DRUG MAKER LEFT BEHIND program to do anything but accelerate. It appears that "Health care reform" is turning into a NO INSURANCE COMPANY LEFT BEHIND program, and the NO AUTO EXECUTIVE LEFT BEHIND program is rewarding the biggest losers in the "market economy".
Do YOU have any CHANGE left in YOUR pocket?
One of the most scary indications that NCLB will be further advanced in the Obama administration is that upwards of $100 billion in "stimulus funding" available for U.S. education will be distributed under a system of distribution that, the Washington Post says, gives Arne Duncan an unusual level of power to influence the direction of change:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403523.html
The "direction" he will go? More testing to compare U.S. students with China and India---not the more inspiring examples of Finland and Japan mentioned by Ravitch. More intrusion of military recruitment and training in the schools. More "turn-arounds" like the one recently shown on a NOW special in which a chaotic bunch of ghetto kids is turned into a group of robots who move by the numbers. Obviously stimulus spending will stimulate more than "creating or saving jobs" in education (the announced purpose of stimulus spend). It will stimulate as well an accelerated slide down the slippery slope of corporate and military dominance of the curriculum and the conduct of our schools...with maybe some one $1 nacho lunches thrown in to placate the kids and some narco-terrorist shrinks ready to put them on psycho-tropics when they threat to buckle under the strains of malnutrition, bureaucratic regimentation and "high stakes" testing.
Wobama also supports "merit pay" -- i.e., kill teachers' unions.
Obama also supports taxing medical benefits for teachers and every other working stiff, thereby imposing higher taxes on those making less than $200,000 per year.
"Say it ain't so Joe" said yesterday that Obama does NOT support taxing medical benefits, but would not say that the bill would be vetoed if passed by congress.
At this rate, homeschooling without the excess religion crap of course, would be a much better option. There seems to be no room being given to making it feasible for socialization and self-development in public and private schools. It's all "either pass this or else". If/when I have kids, I might just switch to being a homeschool parent for a living for the love of my kids unless something changes by then for the better.
Home schooling could work in some ways but today, both parents have to work just to keep up with the rising costs of living and homeschooling requires dedicated parents long term. I still think that it would be better if we repaired our existing school system and improved education and basic interpersonal communications skills.
the rockefellers/nwo/bank debt machine own the country and i think the nclb is one of their initiatives to further their grasp on the nation's children
automatons don't grow on trees - they have to be made
and make them they will
most parent's lose contol of their children's life by age 12 already
they are lesser an influence than tv, video games, peer pressure and a dumbed down education system 100 years in the making
to find brother obama lacking on this level is to find him lacking as mordechai notes above : "Not simply education. Read practically "across the board"
the controllers own the schools, the government, the media except for the internet
they have their talking heads blabbing on and on 24/7 about the ficticious war on terror, the bail out, the korean threat, the iranian threat, the venezuelan threat, the chinese threat, the bird flu threat, the economic meltdown threat, the swine flu threat, the russian threat and on and on...........
they are, in simple words, psychotic
worse they have brought the world to the brink of doom
while we, the sheeple, try to get our minds our minds around this shitpile they get in there and steal the minds of the children
pure machiavelli
brother obama has enmbraced the imperium with all the glee and lots more style than the brain lesioned bush and that makes him much more dangerous
here is a qquote i copied from another post i made today - henry kissinger talking about brother o and the nwo:
"Henry Kissinger made headlines on Jan. 5 by proclaiming Barack Obama to be the architect of a “New World Order.” He told CNBC that “His task will be to develop an overall strategy for America in this period when, really, a new world order can be created. It’s a great opportunity, it isn’t just a crisis.”
But just as significant as this eye-opening statement was where Kissinger made it: the floor of the New York Stock Exchange"
so let us drop all these expectations of change and hope and burrow down for eight years with a truly dangerous president whose only truth appears from the teleprompter
odoco
Thanks Diane - you have been at the forefront of true educational reform for many, many years.
1. schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were originally created to A) socialize newly arrived immigrants, and B) prepare workers for the industrialized state.
2. NCLB's emphasis on testing only in select areas is the modern-day equivalent of the above. Problem is - there are no longer any industrial jobs to offer graduates, and we no longer care about 'socializing' newly arrived legal or illegal immigrants, as long as the empire builders can control the wages and benefits paid to them.
3. NCLB's secondary purpose was to 'document' the failure of public schools, allowing the privatization of same to occur after the rigged test scores were analyzed. Read what happened in New Orleans following Hurrican Katrina - killed the teachers' unions, gave federal funding to private charter schools (note: public monies to profit-oriented, hand-picked private firms with an ideological alignment to the Bush Administration and right-wing think tanks). Anyone besides me remember how the rigged bidding process due to ideological preferences allowed certain companies and individuals (Bush's brother) to get federal monies for the federally supported reading programs (Reading First) across the country?
4. And, as correctly pointed out by Jerry D. above, once control in firmly in place, privatization has occurred, then you will see the full onslaught of the military machine hover over your children in an environment that has nothing to do with a broad-based educational system, but one having everything to do with fostering an ingrained allegiance to the policies of the ruling elite. Just like every other fascist country's history . . .The No Child Left Behind Act also gave recruiters virtually unlimited access to student records (contact information), and if the school's denied them such information federal funding was threatened. The students could 'opt-out' of information sharing, but many, many districts throughout the US failed to tell students of their right to withhold info. Also, the ASVAB test (allegedly an aptitute test), which the military provides free of charge to public schools, is another tactic they use to get private contact information from students. Most students and parents are totally unaware of these tactics - especially those already at-risk, in lower socio-economic straits, or language deficient.
5. Ask the new Secretary of Ed. about the public schools in Chicago that were literally handed over to different branches of the military, allowing them to staff and administer the same at public expense. Military indoctrination of at-risk kids, thereby supplying a never-ending suppy of cannon fodder for the US war machine.
Excellent analysis. Thanks
3. NCLB's secondary purpose was to 'document' the failure of public schools, allowing the privatization of same to occur after the rigged test scores were analyzed.
-ding!
Bush may have been the idiot fascist, but Obama is turning out to be The Great Disappointment, education being one in a list of things Obama is handling wrongly.
are the top-ranking nations in 'education' advocating for a return to agrarian, non-electric living? If not, look for their school systems to shift from make-em-smart to make-em-dumb, too, as that's the way to keep the pollution and debt flowing...smart folks tend to stop making crap to sell each other, and to stop going into debt to buy it, when it becomes apparent that they, and their children, are dooming themselves to toxic hell thereby...
and to think Obama won the hearts and minds of so many teachers.... (outside of Chicago)
"The amazing thing about American education today is that the Obama people--who promised revolutionary change--have no ideas other than to tighten the grip of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program on the teachers and children of the United States."
This is disheartening to the max. No revolutionary anything here.
odoco
Ever noticed how history and the social sciences are left out of any type of accountability procedures that would insure a well-rounded student information base? Not that I am in favor of testing history and the social sciences using NCLB type instruments, but it is obvious to many that the humane, civilizing influences of the social sciences have been intentionally disregarded.
Just a thought . . . . .
odoco, "just a thought" and one I have often had as well at the paucity of anything approaching history or social science literacy being promoted by our schools, let alone the literacy of literature, as "English" is thought in the grammarian's way of technical sentence construction. Don't blame TV and iPods (exclusively) for the literarcy of our people; the schools get their share of the blame as well.
And thanks as well for highlighting the point about the military intrusions that are not just permitted but virtually mandated by NCLB; at least the access to the schools of military recruiters and now, apparently, the comeback of military apprenticeship instruction as highlighted by San Francisco's re-instatement of JROTC and the "pioneer" state of that development in Duncan's Chicago.
its not the "civilizing influences" that concerns oligarchy. Social sciences is where critical thinking is taught. It is where the razor of intellect is honed. THey want the kids to be able to read and add, but not think.
Punishing schools is like urging slow runners by breaking their legs.
If Johnnie can't read then gouging his eyes won't help very much.
Leave No Child Untested is another give away to the corporations that run the test programs.
The populace is being intentionally dumbed down and the president gets his orders from the powers that will benefit from it.
odoco
Not just 'dumbed down,' but intentionally 'guided' in a specific direction. First comes the nation-wide testing, next comes the nation-wide curricula, next comes the complete privatization of the system, next comes the little Limbaughs, Hannitys, Von Brunns and Roeders.
I honestly try to be open-minded about these things, but Obama, in so many ways, has not just disappointed his base, but I think now more obviously - intentionally lied during the campaign to camouflage his true political orientation. I felt the same as "Natural" on this point.
I am both a veteran and a retired teacher. His continuation of Bush's war policies, as well as his mechanistic, market-driven perspectives on education color him as only more intelligent than Bush, but fundamentally made of the same cloth.
This telling personal story was sent to me back in May about the effects of NCLB in her 3rd grade classroom.
Teaching was so much fun this year. I didn't have the ridiculous classroom management horror stories that I've been able to collect over the course of the previous two; my kids are eager, energetic, and generally seem to buy into my working-hard-is-good propaganda campaign. And, though I have yet to concretely pinpoint how Hobbes and Locke are relevant to the third grade classroom, social studies was very obviously my students' favorite subject. (Something that has never happened before...and now, during reading and math, kids are saying things like, "This stuff sucks. Can we do social studies already?")
Sadly, as of May 28th, I'll be yet another Teach For America stereotype who leaves the classroom after a brief stint. I feel sad and guilty and sentimental and about fifteen other things, but when it comes down to it, I don't like the direction that my school is going. Last year, we were told to only teach reading and math the month before testing, and this year, we were told to only teach reading and math--I'm a rebel who closes my door every afternoon in order to do science and social studies. BUT...in the fall, I'm starting a PhD program in Government, and the idea is, I'll study ed reform as a political theorist for five to seven years, move to D.C., and raise some hell. And if that doesn't work out, I'll move out into the woods somewhere, build a cabin out of materials recycled from dumpstered FEMA trailers, and start a charter school.
Wonderful prospect, this hell-raising Ph.D. in ed reform and former 3rd grade teacher? How can we follow her career? What will the establishment do to try to stop her?
Oh no, here's another thing like Afghanistan. Just what happened in that White House meeting between Barack Obama and George W. Bush?
HURRAH!! I was beginning to despair of the moronic "dialogue" about education. What is occurring in our schools today is a form of child abuse. It has been shown that kids that have time to play and have less homework actually do better than the kids who are pumped with busy work so that they can pass tests. And, as Diane Ravitch points out, testing is not what education is all about.
Our educational system is in crisis. That is true. But the crisis is administered by people who have no idea of what teaching is about. The level of teaching was infinitely better in the 1930's, when my mother graduated from Teacher's College, Columbia, then it is today.
Thank you, Diane, for reaffirming my faith in pedagogic intelligence.
WORDS:Wrote this awhile back;means more today.
Teach thus to the young or to any who would wish that life with others be of benefit to self and others.
Reason: Is there reason in what is brought in words or deed to others of whatever clime or persuasion? To reason is one of the tenants of thinking and aids in putting word to deed .
Logic: In a world of words, spoken and written, where is truth, that it may be seen if logic and reason enter not? For truth is and to hear words and words read will not of itself intelligence breed .
Civility: War is a loss of civility and is the most vile of human endeavors . history is a great tool for the knowing of what civility and war can accomplish.When looking at old civilizations do you see what is left standing or what used to be? Which is civility and which is war ?
Dissent : In the course of humanity's desire to taste the true meaning of freedom it has been shown and proven that reason , logic and civility cannot exist without the right of dissent .Ah ! The human heart and mind , as different as the sands by the sea . To know this is to go far .
Debate : Two ears and one mouth and yet they must be equal in debate and the arbiters must be reason, logic, civility and dissent and for all this to be, the mind must be engaged so that the words used may better self and others.
Math and science give you a living but these word will give you life .
Tony 4/4/06
Education in America has been going down hill for decades, not just the past one. Actually, according to Ron Paul it was the creation of a national educational board that excellerated this spiral downwards. Education, not a responsibility specifically assigned to the national government SHOULD be the responsibility of the states. Yes, I am aware that there were glaring inequities along ethnic and racial lines that needed to be addressed, and rightfully so. In his book, The 17 Principles, Ralph Nader recalls his father asking him if he'd learned to think, or if he'd learned to recite in school. Therein, perhaps, resides the problem in schools today. The teaching staff never learned to "think", therefore can NOT pass on to the children how to be critical thinkers. No Student Left Behind has this basic flaw, it only cares about data a student can regurgitate, not the thought process needed digest data given and extrapolate potential results. The wealthy don't really care, they have and will continue to use private schooling to pass on to the next generation the methods of ruling over those of us not in the upper class. I suspect that schooling will become a "corporate" function in the future, with children learning just what corporations want and need for the work force. Thus began public education, so shall it return. (IMHO)
Diane Ravitch is hardly liberal when it comes to school reform, so I am surprised she speaks out so strongly against NCLB. As a former teacher, I could see the harm that law was doing to our children. If I had school-age kids who were ready to enter school, the first question I would ask any school official would be: Do you structure curriculum and instruction in such a way as to achieve high scores on the state assessment tests? If the answer is 'yes', then I would be out of there so fast the locker doors would all open from the draft of my passage. The only trouble is, only private schools will sometimes answer that they have more important goals than increasing children's competence on multiple-choice tests. Like instilling a love of learning. A love of inquiry. An appreciation of the arts.
Obama, after all, is a product of private schools. He knows nothing of public schools, though his wife does. Like most politicians, he feels he knows all about education because, because...well, he went to school. For that reason he will never consult teachers, building adminstrators, and students about what is best for education. He doesn't need to. He already knows the answers.
Can you say this with a straight face with NCLB?
Bessie’s Birthday
A mythic conversation of some importance between Elvis and Liberace.
Liberace: You know sometimes it would be nice to be “The Way We Were”.
Elvis: Yea, but “Don’t Be Cruel” talking about it.
Liberace: Well, “I Don’t Care” just thinking about the “Cement Mixer “ to stop the “Slaughter On Tenth Avenue” brings fond memories
Elvis: You know? I was staying at that “Heart Break Hotel” because I was a “Poor Boy” but I did have my “Blue Suede Shoes”!
Liberace: You know what can happen with “Strangers In The Night” and “I Don’t Care” who knows, believe me it was “A Story of Three Loves. One flaky “Lover” who loved “Malaguena” and was “El Bimbo”.
Elvis: “My Baby Left Me” when I asked her for some “Money Honey” I said “Treat Me Nice” but She called me a “Hound Dog” all I could say was just take me “Any way You Want Me” otherwise I’ll be “All Shook Up”.
Liberace: “We All Need Love” and “I’ll Get By” so long as that “Finger Of Suspicion” is not pointed at me for those “Dancing Skeletons” which is just one of those “Tales From the Vienna Woods”. “I’m Loved” and “I Want My Mama” to be “Under Paris Skies.
Elvis: “I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine” and there are “A Mess Of Blues” being “In the Ghetto” might lead to the “Jailhouse Rock” and a hard spot and I can’t be “King Of The Whole Wide World” working for the “big Boss Man” and a “Big Hunk Of love” like the “Guitar Man” or a “U.S. Male who would keep me like a “puppet On A String” that is not “Fame And Fortune”.
Liberace: We can “Yakety Yak Polka” this to death, a little humor here, lets gather some “Star Dust” find some angels and get a jam session going. You sing pretty good and you do a mean wiggle.
Elvis: That’s “All That I Am” a wiggle and a voice? Well “You Don’t Know Me” that well and I did make it here. “My Wish Came True” and you’re not the “Devil In Disguise” are you? Just kidding. Lets find a “rock-A-Hula Baby” or a “Bossa Nova Baby” out there, just for dancing of course, “When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again” then we will have “Peace In The Valley". You do a mean piano and that smile is to die for. Party on!
Tony
And what does your information have to do with the article?
Bring America Back !!!!....Obama gives us Bush' Third Term on everything else....why not Education as well...!!!
**The Education community needs to begin to back a solid Progressive for the next election 2012.
**If Dennis Kucinich will turn Progressive, he will give us the 'revolutionary change' we were promised, but denied!
Obama clearly is not the President we voted for and his Team has not a Clue on US Education reforms.
Well, maybe. They do have a clue if their plan is to privatize and make education a for profit enterprise, in which case they know exactly what they are doing.
NOW will I be believed when I say that
it's not clear that Obama is much better than McCain, if at all.
There doesn't appear to be any mystery in this. Public education in the U.S. is a trillion dollar a year business. In order to convince the public that it should be turned over to the private sector, you first have to destroy any real value in public education. Once in private hands, the process of maximizing corporate profits can begin. No doubt, the HMOs in the health industry will look like philanthopists by comparison.