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Letter Re: NCLB in Hollister Free Lance

The following letter to the editor was published in the Hollister Free Lance.
   
  Letters to the Editor (March 3)
    Saturday, March 03, 2007
    No Child Left Behind Leaves Little Time for Real Teaching

Editor,

The Free Lance article about the No Child Left Behind Act ("Teachers Write No Child Left Behind Testimonials," March 1) raises important questions.

As a teacher at Sunnyslope School, I believe that NCLB should be repealed because it is a mean-spirited law that emphasizes punishments of teachers and students, dumbs down the curriculum and narrows teaching to preparing students to take tests and fill in bubbles.

While mandating that all children, regardless of their ethnicity and income levels, perform at the same academic levels, NCLB fails to provide necessary resources so that all children can be successful learners. 

NCLB uses tough language about rigorous standards, but in reality it provides the opposite for minority and low income students, who are subjected to remedial education and an overdose the same phonics-limited reading programs that failed them in the first place.

Lack of sufficient funding and resources, unrealistic standards, inadequate teacher preparation, an emphasis on remedial education, expecting children who lack academic English skills to function proficiently in English without adequate time to grasp the language are some of the roadblocks that schools face. 

The current drill-n-skill emphasis of NCLB has undermined teaching art, music, physical education, science and social studies. 

Teachers need adequate resources, ongoing training, and a curriculum that teaches children useful critical thinking skills and exposes them to a variety of literature. 

We also need meaningful assessments that are used to evaluate students throughout the year to give teachers useful information to help them improve their teaching. 

NCLB does not improve teaching or learning. On the contrary, it stifles education.

Joe Navarro

Hollister



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