Let's break apart from McCain.
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The lawmakers who thought No Child Left Behind, (NCLB) was a good idea were elitists who never cared about the underprivileged children who needed more funding for education. Guess who? The Bush administration has done it's level best to promote private education, and ruin public education. Believe me, they have already come dangerously close to their initial goal. They have now left millions of children, nation wide, far, far behind.

Due to the teach to the test model of NCLB, teachers have to assign books that are on the required tests. It is a limitation not without it's educational sacrifice.
Funding is awarded to schools that excel, and schools in need are deprived.

The reward and punishment system adopted as the accepted method of class/school control, destroys character and robs the student of their intrinsic motivation. It is very sad to see our public school systems systematically destroyed because of ruse and manipulative ploy to promote private education for the affluent and remove public education for the needy.


We need to get rid of NCLB, all together. We do not need Bush's destructive legacy lingering on after the White House is Blue. Naturally, I like Obama's plan to pay teachers more, but we care about the kids who are not getting their needs met due to the destructive nature of NCLB.

Schools that test high, get money stay open, schools that need the most money and help, close, where do those students go?

They overcrowd existing schools. The system is a cancer, it cannot be changed or helped. NCLB must be eradicated, like the cancer it is, so that learning can once again be the priority, not testing for money.

McCain says he will keep NCLB but make changes. Obama needs to differ from McCain on this issue to a more progressive degree and take a real stance against this destructive manipulation of America's Public School system.

If Obama promised to remove NCLB and replace it with a more comprehensive and compassionate system of true learning assessment, the American Federation of Teachers would be totally supportive. Obama would also gain more solidarity from other core groups as well, more of the women's vote, more of the working class whose children attend public schools, more of the elderly vote who prioritize education and youth even more their own well being.

Speaking out against NCLB will liberate and bring real change from the bondage Bush has imposed on our public school system with his "No Child Left Behind" ruse. Please write to Obama and ask him to reconsider his thinking on NCLB, and ask him to take a different stance, a much different stance than McCain!

Reader Comments
  
Let me say
By DeeDee Obama-Biden 08 Jun 18th 2008 at 12:56 pm EDT
That no child left behind is crap I was in school when they started it and it to me seem like it made the school worse. They begin doing everything just be standardized test its was no longer general curriculum everything was done by the test.
Absolutely!
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:02 pm EDT
Right on Dee!

It is nothing but crap.

To allow Bush's destructive NCLB legacy to linger, in name or any other faction, would be a travesty and a contradiction to the very core of democratic ideals.
Re: Let me say
By Sandi Jun 18th 2008 at 1:16 pm EDT
Who sponsored that bill?
Re: Let me say
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:18 pm EDT
It was a Bush, demon, baby.
  
I agree
By Liz Jun 18th 2008 at 1:01 pm EDT
It has such a horrible association with Bush.

NCLB should really be an acronym for "No Corporation Left Behind"

That would be more reflective of what this administration has accomplished.
Thank you Liz,
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:04 pm EDT
Any ideas on how we as democrats can be clear on this in regards to Obama, I and millions of others in the education field, would really like to hear Obama denounce NCLB once and for all.
Re: Thank you Liz,
By Z Rho Jun 18th 2008 at 1:12 pm EDT
He has spoken out about this in the past, but I think he needs to talk about it a lot more.
Re: Thank you Liz,
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:16 pm EDT
Yes, but he has said only that he would reform the existing NCLB, and we are asking that he reconsider, and denounce it all together.

It is now nothing more than a symbol of destructive deception, and to maintain it would be a sign of stagnation, not change.
  
I am
By SPIRITED DONA Jun 18th 2008 at 1:06 pm EDT
for McDonald's!
nix McPang!
lol!
You bet Dona!
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:11 pm EDT
Nix all the repos!
  
Two comments on NCLB
By CaroleB Jun 18th 2008 at 1:10 pm EDT
First, what the Bush administration and Republican Congress failed to say was that they intended for no child to be left behind by assuring that no child got ahead! (Anyone remember the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut?)

Second is a quotation from a farming friend of mine whose wife is a teacher: "Just because you weigh the pig more often doesn't get it ready for market any faster."
Great comments!
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 1:14 pm EDT
So true, all it does is slow the learning process, impose limitations on learning, add stress which makes both learning and teaching more difficult, and reduce help where help is needed most.

Kurt is one of my all time favorite authors, have read everything he ever wrote, twice, that story stands out as a perfect analogy.

Thank you for your wonderful comments!
  
Good post - I will write
By Hollywood Jun 18th 2008 at 1:34 pm EDT
and ask others to write, too.
Thank you Hollywood
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 4:09 pm EDT
I knew I could count on you!
  
According to...
By SciBlue Jun 18th 2008 at 2:08 pm EDT
a recent issue of the NEA member journal, Senator Obama is not in favor of scrapping NCLB altogether. He wants to just make changes to it. John Mccain wants very little to change. Senator Clinton, by the way, wants it totally thrown out.
Re: According to...
By Vidya Jun 18th 2008 at 4:12 pm EDT
Yes I know, that's why I want Obama to denounce it all together.

It can never be corrected or helped, we just need to get rid of it.

NCLB, now means nothing more than bullshit, and that one legacy of Bush, should not be allowed to remain in any form,not after all the harm it has done. Obama needs to send a very clear message to parents, educators and students, where this issue is concerned, he needs to end NCLB, once and for all.