“How do you know if you don’t measure if you have a system that simply suckles kids through?” — George W. Bush explaining the need for educational accountability in Beaufort, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
Happy Birthday! No Child Left Behind turns eight-years-old today. And, in case you haven’t noticed, children across God’s America are exponentially smarter and better-equipped to face the “real world” than ever before.
Right? RIGHT?
Well, no, actually. Our children isn’t learning. Teachers is overworked and underpaid. In many schooles there ain’t enuff books for the childrens. Critikul thinking…huh?
President Obama wants us to think he’s doing something about our crumbling education system. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has described NCLB as “game-playing tied to bad tests with the wrong goals.”
However, not the kind to sound the alarm when the building’s on fire, Obama administration lackeys have been touring the country, talking to teachers and administrators, gathering information, supposedly preparing “to propose a framework for the successor to a law that is two years overdue for reauthorization.”
That’s how high of a priority education became to George W. Bush. After pushing through this disaster of a leveling program which has ensured that all kids are treated the same, whether they can barely read or are ready for a college-level curriculum, he dropped it like a steaming bag of poo, leaving it spread across the country like explosive diarrhea.
And yet Obama seems in no hurry to update this nefarious scheme designed to create a dimwitted, servile underclass of unskilled laborers unable to understand how, for instance, opposing health care reform will result in 45,000 of them dying needlessly each year.
So Happy Birthday, NCLB. You’ve done so much to learn our children smarter. Never mind that you expired two years ago. Education remains a high priority for the current administration. Probably.
What about a good Catholic education: No Child’s Behind Left Alone?
When did it become OK to joke about ass-raping, boy-loving priests who minister to (and suck off) NAMBLA on their days off? Huh? WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG, OH LORD?
eliminate the government. then we can take the money they spend on wars and BS and spend it on our childrens schooling, and also roads, police, or whatever we deem fit.
teachers should be millionaires.
And never forget the success of abstinence only sex education. It got Bristol Palin a high-paying gig.
Meh. Eliminate the Stop for Stopped
School Bus laws and watch the level of educability amongst our children shoot way up as the more useless are culled by passing traffic.
@ memzilla
WIN
Why should Obama “hurry” to change the education system?
Doesn’t it make sense to take the time to do the research to develop the solution (rather than inventing a solution that simply isn’t the same as the NCLB and assuming it will then be a better one?).
I don’t think you are being fair with that “no hurry” remark.
Consider all the deranged opposition that will be heard as soon as any proposal Obama makes is presented.
Consider that each state gets to shape its own curriculum and thus alter or undermine the effects of a national education program.
Bush was able to slam through the NCLB because it was simple to comprehend (stupid people embrace simple). Reform that actually does something for the kids and teachers instead of just satisfying a social ideology and an arbitrary political goal (as the NCLB did) is going to be open to all kinds of interference both relevant and stupid and from all sides.
Whatever reform is desired and/or theoretically best will have to be measured against the ability to ‘sell’ it and pass it and implement it.
I’m certain simply rescinding the NCLB reward/punishment system is a good idea—but it does not a strategy make.
In my vaguely informed opinion American kids get screwed year in and year out by what they are taught, when they are taught and how they are taught. I think this is a result of having no universal curriculum.
A typical high-school graduate from Alabama is simply not going to be ‘as-educated’ as a typical high-school graduate from New Jersey, because of the differences between the state curricula and what they emphasize as being relevant.
The other nations against which America consistently scores so poorly against have national standards of education, and a broader education too.
Of course if some nationwide federal standard were attempted by Obama—Indoctrination! Evil Socialism!
Anyway, that’s my two cents.
( P.S hat tip to the excellent Crooks&Liars that brought me here).
no one likes the government. why have them do anything? everyone knows private schools are better than public schools. and I’m sure most people would aknowledge that however efficient a government run health program is, it’s probably not as good as a really good private one.
So why don’t we allow people to spend as much as they feel they need to on their childrens education and their health care and deduct that from their income tax?
does anyone honestly think that the governments wars and concerns are more important than their own families? only a moron would.
first things first. our priority shold be health care and education.
[...] Birthday No Child Left Behind! After pushing through this disaster of a leveling program which has ensured that all kids are [...]
@lester: No government? Left behind? What?
I’m saying instead of taking 33% of our paycheck and handing it over to the government, why don’t we first extract enogh money from that for really good education for our children and really good healthcare for them and ourselves.
maybe those priorities sound arbitrary but I think most people would see them as alot more sensible than spending that money on committes to name post offices or ways of bombing muslims.
what do YOU think we should do? just vainly hope our govenrment changes priorities and starts valuing education and health? why on earth would they do that?
I take it these types of arguments are sort of new to you
Alright we might have to ban lester
I love Angela Merkel.
Me too, lester.
No matter what or when Obama does anything the opposition will act in a deranged manner.
I’m all for considered studying of the problem of education, but surely people have been studying this before Obama was elected. Why not use their input instead of starting from scratch with Obama’s policy wonks?
Regardless of all that water under the bridge, I find it strange that Obama has only really put his weight behind 2 big pieces of legislation — stimulus & health care, and not that much weight behind health care, considering he gave away the store before negotiation even started.
Education, health care, stimulus, bank reform — why can’t all these be legislative priorities? Reagan pushed through a whole bunch of garbage in his first year.
Obama has not made much use of the power of his office, and while he has certainly accomplished some things, his quiet way of going about it makes it seem like he’s not doing much at all.
He needs to be out, loud & proud & get out in front of his legislative priorities & ram them through Congress. If he leaves it up to lily-livered pansies like Harry Reid or “impeachment is off the table” Pelosi, then nothing gets done, or whatever gets done is so watered down as to be pointless.
Of course the greatest problem is how in the past 20+ years money has completely taken over the govt. This has always been so, but campaign finance “reform” and the rise of the financial oligarchy has accelerated the process.
The only solution, of course, is a war of the workers against the capitalists, the overthrow of the ruling classes of all countries…a the world socialist revolution.
“Debout les damnés de la terre
Debout les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cratère
C’est l’éruption de la fin…”
@shorts: Oh let’s keep lester, if only for the fact that he keeps his CAPSLOCK key off.
Lets take up a donation to send Lester dearest to Somalia so he can experience at first hand the kind of government free paradise he dreams of.
WTF!!!
Are having “serious” discussions now??
STOP IT.
wow. I’ve never had someone change my coments before. no wonder you don’t have many readers
no surprise that a pro establishment blog would have no scruples.
enjoy your perpetual war/ deficits status quo it’s not going to last much longer
Ohh Lester, please don’t go….
@lester: I don’t think you turned on the lights yet.
But Lester! We were having such a grande time! Now tell me about your plan for Privatizing the Mental Health & Child Protective Services Agencies?
@ jadeddissonance
they will go to Jesus clinics. In heaven.