Failing Schools Strain to Meet U.S. Standard

For chronically failing schools, the No Child Left Behind law, now up for renewal in Congress, prescribes drastic measures: firing teachers and principals, shutting schools and turning them over to a private firm, a charter operator or the state itself, or a major overhaul in governance.

But more than 1,000 of California’s 9,500 schools are branded chronic failures, and the numbers are growing. Barring revisions in the law, state officials predict that all 6,063 public schools serving poor students will be declared in need of restructuring by 2014, when the law requires universal proficiency in math and reading.

“What are we supposed to do?” Ms. Guadalupe Paramo asked. “Shut down every school?”

--> No Child Left Behind is probably one of the most vile policies the Bush Administration has put forth. With NCLB, schools that fall short of the standard are subject to using proprietary curricula, testing, and tutoring programs from certain companies who have long business relationships with President Bush. Not only that, but the focus on standardized tests narrows the teachers focus on a narrow, and often short-sighted curriculum. We won't even get into how the law allows faith-based tutors to profit from public money. With failed policies like this, we still wonder why our kids can't point out Iraq on a map.

(More via NYT)