Repeal NCLB, Letter to Hollister Teachers

[Joe Navarro <jlnhca@yahoo.com>]

The following letter was distributed to all teachers by the Executive Board of the Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association in January.
   
  Time to Repeal the No Child Left Behind Act!
   
  It is time to repeal President Bush?s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an over-simplistic and politically motivated set of laws to supposedly address the inequalities in education.  As a result of NCLB schools are driven by unrealistic standards, endless tests and selective data to direct our teaching, while proven practices and sound education theory and data are ignored.  Higher order thinking skills are neglected.  
  All students suffer in one way or another from NCLB, but people of color are routinely subjected to inferior education, phonics-limited instruction, rote memorization, drill-and-skill instruction and denied access to broader skills, such as art, music, science and social studies.  Non-English speakers are forced to perform at the same levels as native-English speakers without the academic language skills needed to be successful.  
  NCLB forces many schools, including Hollister, to choose between teaching to the tests or teaching mastery of skills and a wide-range of subjects.  High-stakes assessments are used as a criteria for a system of punishments of schools and children, while the rest of the school year is spent preparing for tests, including wasting money on expensive consultants and test preparation materials.  Assessments should be important tools to give teachers information throughout the year to help them meet the children?s academic needs.
  Renowned education scholar, author and activist, Susan Ohanian, is co-spearheading an effort to petition Congress to dismantle the NCLB, and is asking parents and teachers to join her effort and sign the petition on www.educatorroundtable.org.   
   
  Sincerely,
   
  Joe Navarro


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