David Wasserman II

["pwmjoy@earthlink.net" <pwmjoy@earthlink.net>]

The following delusional, silly, wacky, vapid, ignorant statement from this off-the-cuff commentator regurgitates more of the same half truths and denial that fill ARN space and time much too often: ?NCLB is "fascist?" This must be an example of serious conversation  about assessment that Monty tells me that ARN is about. I think just about everybody would like to see significant changes to NCLB. But only in the delusional world of ARN are NCLB's accountability provisions a "fascist" tool to privatize public education. La Raza, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, and leading progressive and legal advocacy organizations support NCLB, in its widest outline if not in every detail. Kind of hard to paint them and George Miller and Ted Kennedy as "fascists." Except, of course, in the wild, wild world of ARN.?

In fact, it is NCLB?s accountability provisions that have been criticized by the NAACP, signer to the ?Joint Statement on NCLB?. Here?s a piece from the statement:regarding concerns about NCLB: ?Among these concerns are: over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning; over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using sanctions that do not help improve schools; inappropriately excluding low-scoring children in order to boost test results; and inadequate funding.? 

LaRaza?s openness to changes in NCLB was made clear by its president, Raul Gonzalez, who said: ?..we¹re very open to a constructive conversation about how we should approach renewal of NCLB.  We¹re really not wedded to any specific policies or strategies right now (underlining is my own) and would love to hear from outside-the-beltway experts about how we can achieve better instruction, curriculum development, and assessment for ELLs? (http://sdkrashen.com//pipermail/krashen_krashen_sdkrashen.com/2006-September/000608.html). This same web reference ends with a response from Jim Crawford, Stephen Krashen, and Kate Menken who point out that what LaRaza wants from NCLB cannot be delivered by it without a major overhaul. One must conclude that, like the NAACP and given its openness to discussing changes in NCLB, it too will see the light and sign the ?Joint Statement?.

It is now cavalier of the off-the-cuff silly-willy commentator to admit that there must be ?significant changes to NCLB?, something absent from many earlier rants of this naïve huckster. What ?significant changes? does  this non-deluded,  non-wild, wild world stalker of absolute truth have in mind? Such should be his commitment to the readers of ARN to post . He probably won?t for fear of echoing the very people he has so maligned.

As for his difficulty with the connection between NCLB and fascism: (1) Individuals of all kinds make mistakes. Miller and Kennedy signed on to the spirit of NCLB only to find its implementation far short of the desired outcome. They are responsible for mistakes they made supporting it and are currently attempting to correct them. On November 1, 2007, Kennedy stressed the importance of the arts in education in a talk at Walnut Hill School. He said that ?A student whose life is enriched by the arts has a better chance of staying in school, achieving in school, and succeeding after he or she graduates from school. Academically and socially, through self confidence and improved communication skills, a young  mind is broadened and a life enriched."
(http://kennedy.senate.gov/newsroom/press_release.cfm?id=C2791749-BA10-4962-B953-6F2635E6B102.)  The tragedy of NCLB is the reduction and elimination of art, music, dance, and other artistic experiences because of the insane reductionistic focus on testing.Kennedy is moving in the right direction however misguided his original impulse to support NCLB, a lie that emerged from all the fakery that went on in the Houston, Texas, school system which is well documented for those who care to look. (2) The classic definition of fascism is the wedding of corporations with the state. This administration is the most fascist government we have ever had. Everywhere one looks, there is a corporation ruling the government roost with Bush et.al doing corporate bidding, e.g., Blackwell in Iraq, the Exxon-Mobil fiasco in California, and the recent veto by Bush rergarding health care for children, something he said the state should not get too involved in, i.e., this is the territory of private enterprise. The same with NCLB, a boondoggle opportunity for corporate profit and influence and the pressure to streamline and lock-step the delivery of curriculum. This is fascism. It is all around us, and our off-the-cuff commentator is simply playing ARN for all he can get out of his misguided and cliché riddled burps.
 
pwmjoy@earthlink.net
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