Teacher Boycott Showed Follow of NCLB

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

TEACHER SHOWS FOLLOW OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

(Madison, Wisconsin) Capital Times -- November 7, 2997
by Dave Zweifel

David Wasserman, the Sennett Middle School teacher who was threatened 
with firing when he refused to administer one of those questionable No 
Child Left Behind tests, needs to be commended for having the courage to 
open a few eyes.

Wasserman eventually administered the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts 
Exam when he learned his protest was a firable offense. He was prepared 
to accept a reprimand, but, like most of us, he needs his job and the 
family health insurance that goes with it.

His actions, though, served to get the NCLB issue on the table where it 
needs to be thoroughly examined not just by educators, but by everyone 
concerned about the direction of our schools. It's one of those tough 
ones to oppose -- who, after all, doesn't want to make sure that no 
school child is left behind? -- but it's just another example of how 
this administration has succeeded in hoodwinking the country with empty 
and optimistic promises. A quick war in Iraq, but one example.

Rather than training young people to be well-rounded adult citizens, the 
act has forced teachers to teach only for tests that are focused on 
mathematics and reading, subjects held in high regard by corporate America.

Meanwhile, courses that make up the bedrock of good citizenship -- 
history, social studies, arts, music, geography and science -- get short 
shrift because if the kids don't do well enough in those reading and 
math tests, their schools will be penalized.

Just last week the Chicago Tribune ran a story on Huntley High School in 
the city's suburbs, a school that has doubled its student enrollment 
over five years and has had to hire 30 new teachers fresh out of college 
to take care of them.

But, because the NCLB act allows no consideration for any outside forces 
that may impact a school, Huntley High is given no slack as it works to 
get those 30 teachers up to par. Education experts say it takes teachers 
two or three years just to learn the school climate.

Another story detailed how the act requires that special education 
students meet the same test standards.

"It's a great theory. Of course we want all students to do well, but it 
doesn't always work that way," one teacher lamented.

In Illinois, 297 schools failed to meet the NCLB standards this year. A 
third of them did so solely because their special ed kids couldn't meet 
the requirements.

Problems like that have been reported throughout the country, but the 
administration and Congress act as though everything is going well. Just 
this week, a congressional committee that was working on improving the 
act signalled that it wouldn't get to it this year.

Maybe -- just maybe -- teachers like David Wasserman can wake them up.

Dave Zweifel is the editor of The Capital Times.

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/255528