Re: Fw: New Harvard Study Shows NCLB Is NOT Closing Achievement

[aburke5054@aol.com]

----Original Message-----
From: Monty Neill <monty@fairtest.org>
 To: care-strategy <care-strategy@yahoogroups.com>; 
care@yahoogroups.com; RScriticalteach 
<RScriticalteach@lists.execpc.com>; arn2-strategy 
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>; ARN-L <arn-l@interversity.org>; 
ARN-state@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:16:54 -0400
 Subject: [arn-l] Fw: New Harvard Study Shows NCLB Is NOT Closing 
Achievement Gaps...

 > Gary Orfield, director of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, writes 
the
 > "Forward" to the report. He concludes, "As it stands, the act can 
best be
 > understood to represent the theory that large gains in achievement 
and
 > equity can be quickly coerced out of the existing public school 
system
 > without additional resources or long-term systemic reforms that take 
years
> to accomplish."...
 
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This is complete nonsense. Nothing in NCLB implies anything like what 
Orfield says. NCLB requires states to improve their schools by 
providing the necessary resources. States have perverse incentives not 
to do that: they don't want to spend the money, they don't want to do 
the work, and they don't want to buck the special interests that want 
to keep going the way they always have. The federal government is not 
responsible for public education, the states are. Blaming NCLB because 
states aren't meeting their responsibilities is an exercise in 
silliness. If people want the federal government to take over public 
education, they should come right out and say so.  If they want more 
out of the federal government, they should say what they want.

Parents and children would be better served by discussion that focuses 
on the problems to be solved and on practical, workable solutions, 
instead of the unceasing weaving of conspiracy theories and the 
complete misrepresentation of what NCLB says and does.

Art

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