Re: Strong Letter

[aburke5054@aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
 From: shays@ccwebster.net
 To: arn-l@interversity.org
 Sent: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 9:06 AM
 Subject: Re: [arn-l] Strong Letter
 
 ...I do not understand the logic of saying that some funding is available to help support historically unsuccessful efforts at educating broad categories of children (but it has historically not been enough to do the job), and to accept this funding, you must come up with a statewide system to provide sustained support and improvement, but you don't have to spend any additional money of your own to make it happen because we know you don't have that money and it would be illegal for the federal government to require you to do that.... _______________________________________________________________
 You're confused partly because you misunderstand the role of the states and the federal government in public education, partly because you make a lot of dubious assumptions ("money available to support historically unsuccessful effort..." "we know you don't have the money..." "best thought out plans are the ones NCLB supporters reject.." etc.), and partly because you can't let go of the idea that NCLB is a stealth plot for the "states" or the Business Roundtable or somebody to take over the schools. 
 
 Public schools are operated by their states. All of them. Everywhere. All the time. NCLB requires states to set standards, devise tests, identify schools that need improvement, and improve schools that need it. The states do all these things. Not the feds. Are the feds looking over the states' shoulders? Sure and that's what you expect when federal law and fedral money are involved, but that's a lot different from the feds pulling the strings themselves You're simply not coming to grips with the fact that the feds can't take over state government, which is what NCLB would do if it in fact required states to raise more money and told them to spend it according to a federal, not state, vision of public education. If this a loophole in NCLB allowing the states to weasel out of their responsibilities - particularly their responsibilities to the most eductionally-vulnerable children? Maybe so. But that's the American way.
 
 If NCLB is to make any sense at all, states are probably going to have to invest more in their schools and schools are going to have to do a lot of things differently. These things sent some people nuclear: the people who don't want to spend any more money and the people who don't want to do anything differently if it's going to help somebody else and not them. Again, the American way. If you want your state to spend more money on its schools, the best thing to do is to convince your fellow-citizens what they should do, why they should do it, and that the cost is worth it. That, my friend, is really the American way. If you don't do it, who will?
 
 Art
   
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