Presidential Candidate speaks out on NCLB (Bill Richardson)

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> From: Stephen Krashen's Mailing List <krashen@sdkrashen.com>
>
>
> NCLB Fails Our Schools
>
> By Bill Richardson
> USA Today, Sept 7, 2007
>
> I have a one-point plan for No Child Left Behind:
> Scrap it.
>
> NCLB has failed. It has failed our schools, it has
> failed our teachers and it has failed our children.
>
> The Bush administration claims victories, but upon
> closer scrutiny it becomes clear that the White House
> is simply dressing up ugly data with fancy political
> spin. Far from leaving no child behind, President Bush
> seems to have left reality behind.
>
> Just look at the facts. The National Assessment of
> Educational Progress shows a slight narrowing of the
> racial achievement gap over the past three years. This
> narrowing, however, is due to a decline in overall
> reading scores, not to improvements in minority
> student performance.
>
> This is not progress.
>
> Review the figures, and you will see that our schools
> are not failing NCLB; the program is failing our
> schools. In some grades, reading and math scores have
> actually declined for Hispanics, African-Americans and
> others. The current pass-fail rating system is worse
> than meaningless ? it's counter-productive. If a
> school needs help, we should help that school. We
> shouldn't punish it, as NCLB mandates.
>
> We need to move beyond the empty rhetoric of No Child
> Left Behind. We must provide our public schools with
> what the National Education Association refers to as
> the three R's ? Responsibility, Respect and Resources.
>
> The key to this improvement is respecting teachers. I
> signed a law in New Mexico that pays teachers a
> professional salary. As president, I will fight for
> national average starting pay for teachers of at least
> $40,000 a year.
>
> Teacher salaries are just the beginning. Quality pre-K
> programs allow children to show up in first grade
> ready to learn. These programs must be available to
> all children.
>
> Finally, we need strong academic standards aligned
> with the needs of today's workforce. America's schools
> were designed for the 20th century economy ? this is
> no longer sufficient. Our children need to graduate
> ready to engage with the New Economy, not the old one.
>
> True education reform requires more than a set of
> unfunded mandates and a list of failing schools. It
> requires a vision for success, the state and federal
> funding to match, and the experience to bring real
> reform to America's failing schools.
>
> Bill Richardson is the governor of New Mexico. He is
> seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for presid
>
>
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