Advocate Condemns NCLB

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

> From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
>
>
> The speaker described in this news article is the former corporate 
> executive who wrote the famous "Blueberry" story
>     http://www.jamievollmer.com/blueberry_story.html
>
> ADVOCATE CONDEMNS NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
> Evansville (IN) Courier & Press -- August 3, 2007
> by John Martin
>
> The federal No Child Left Behind law is "taking us straight to hell."
>
> That was the assessment Jamie Vollmer, a professional public speaker 
> and education advocate, gave local educators attending an annual 
> conference Thursday at the University of Southern Indiana.
>
> Vollmer, an attorney who also spent several years as an ice cream 
> company executive in Iowa, urged the audience of several hundred 
> teachers and principals to work on building more community support 
> for public schools.
>
> That's important, Vollmer said, because emphasis on standardized 
> tests have created a "box score mentality" with the public that can 
> reflect badly on schools.
>
> Vollmer was invited to address the Evansville-Vanderburgh School 
> Corp. annual summer training conference, hosted by USI.
>
> Vollmer said No Child Left Behind is well-intentioned but based on 
> what he called a flawed premise that all children can learn at the same pace.
>
> He said some children show up at school less prepared to learn than 
> others, yet teachers are under the gun to teach all of them 
> government-established standards in a timely manner.
>
> "We have a system designed to leave children behind at a time we 
> can't do that anymore," Vollmer said.
>
> Once a critic of public education, Vollmer says he left the business 
> world and become an education advocate once he decided his long-held 
> assumptions about public schools were wrong.
>
> He said used to believe schools were profoundly flawed, that 
> teachers were to blame and that public schools could be better if 
> they were run like a business.
>
> Vollmer, who served a two-year term on the National PTA board of 
> directors, said certain elements of the private sector can be placed 
> in schools, but the two entities are hardly equal.
>
> "You have to take whatever parents send you," Vollmer told the 
> audience, "and I'm sure they aren't keeping the good ones at home."
>
> He said teachers can build public support by focusing on positive 
> aspects of their work and sharing those publicly.
>
> He also encouraged teachers to not bad-mouth one another.
>
> "If you're going to complain, complain to your spouse. That's why we 
> have them," Vollmer said, drawing laughter.
>
> While praising public education, Vollmer also said he realizes that 
> schools must adapt to changing times.
>
> Just teaching the three "Rs" isn't enough these days, Vollmer said.
>
> Schools have to switch focus now to teaching what he called the 
> three "Ts," thinking, technology and teamwork.