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When I was first accepted into my college's teacher education program, I was ecstatic. It was like being inducted into some exclusive club where I could finally receive all the experience, free stuff and advice related to teaching that I could get my hands on. What I did not expect, however, was the number of "secrets" I would be told as an aspiring teacher. I suddenly came to realize that I was diving head first into one of the most corrupt industries in America: Education.
Education in America is not terrible by any means, but it is certainly not the most accomplished task on the nation's agenda either. Today, education in many parts of the country is making a steady downfall into oblivion and in the eyes of most educators, the fault lies mostly on one man and his disciples. And I'm not talking about Jesus.
Once upon a time, there was a bill passed in Congress called the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure quality in
progressive education by means of established standards and check
points. Seven years ago, President George W. Bush took it upon himself
to adopt the ESEA as his own idea and renamed it the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001, or as my colleagues and I like to call it, the Every Child Left Behind Act.
The No Child Left Behind Act is an elaborate piece of irony created by
an administration of rich, white oafs who have not stepped into a
classroom since they were educated themselves anywhere between fifty
and one hundred years ago. They created the act to convince American
citizens that their children are getting more for less when it comes to
their education. Cut courses, focus on two subjects only, test kids
until their brains explode, and we will be the smartest country in the
world. It sounds more like a two-for-one bargain for toilet paper at
Wal-Mart than a way to sell education in the United States of America.
Unfortunately, this is the spell the country has been under for the
past seven years.
Since the act was established, education has been a sea that adults and
children alike do not want to cross. I decided to take the plunge
anyway. Here's what I've learned so far in my post secondary education:
The No Child Left Behind Act is the main contributor to the gradual
crippling of the American education system. The basic purpose of the
act is to put a dictator-like control over educational funding and make
it look like it is for the benefit of the children. The children,
however, would probably beg to differ.
The amount of funding a school district gets depends upon the
standardized test scores of its third through eighth graders. Putting
the future of a school district in the hands of a bunch of nine year-olds sounds great at first, but the more one thinks about it, the less
appealing it sounds. The problem is, in order for a teacher to squeeze
in test preparation relating to the almighty subjects of math and
reading (the only content areas recognized by NCLB) other non important
subjects such as science, art and music are put on the back burner, or
eliminated completely. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out
that focusing attention on minimal subjects is not beneficial to
teacher or child.
Kids need more than just an education of math and reading. While
these subjects are crucial without a shadow of a doubt, they are not
the keys to a successful, fulfilling life. Some students will never be
successful at reading or math during their entire lives. Unfortunately,
they will never know where their real talents lie since most of the
programs that enhance much needed moments of self discovery, are being
tossed like last week's issue of People.
As the viral NCLB Act creeps into school after school, children are
feeling the effects as they are pressured into making the best scores
possible on meaningless, irrelevant tests. What the government is
oblivious to however, is that their teachers, like myself, are being
educated under ideals of constructivism and hands-on learning that do
not jive in any way with the pencil pushing values of Planet NCLB. I
sometimes feel as though I am being educated in an underground cult
where our knowledge cannot be revealed to the outside world. It's like
my fellow teachers and I are sneaking around telling each other, "Let's
try to give the kids a meaningful education. Hopefully, the government
won't notice."
The way the education system in America is being handled is getting
shakier by the day. Schools that need funding are not getting it,
therefore their students are emersed in conditions that are not motivating or nurturing, making it nearly impossible for them to
achieve the ridiculous standards their country's leaders have set for
them. It's an ugly cycle that refuses to break. The pressure is heavy
on children all across the nation and teachers every where are throwing
in the towel in frustration. The approaching election gives educators
everywhere a promising look into the future, where hopefully there
really will be no child left behind. Keep your fingers crossed.
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