Detroit Free Press--In “Education should lift all children” Susan B. Neuman discusses the reality that six years after the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind law, there is little evidence that it will close the achievement gap between low-income, minority children and their middle-class peers. Are you surprised? I'm not…
“Schools educate middle-class children well but struggle to function as remedial, clinical institutions. Once a child starts falling behind in school, catching up is mostly a pipe dream.” And it took 6 years of No Child Left Behind to figure that out?
“The impetus for change built into NCLB was to effectively ‘shame’ schools into improvement. We now see that the shame game is flawed.” Yep...
“Schools fail not because they lack resources, or quality teachers. School influences are overwhelmed because so many children are molded by highly vulnerable and dysfunctional environments. The rhetoric of leaving no child behind has trumped reality.” So agree!
"Shaming schools has become the cure to everything but the common cold, distracting attention from the devastating effects of poverty. We need to move beyond touting school reform as the magical elixir. It is important, but we need to mobilize other institutions to help solve this problem. Hallelujah!
The answer? “a group of national experts, from diverse backgrounds, areas of expertise and political beliefs, calling for a "broader, bolder approach" to education. www.boldapproach.org
And finally? “All this suggests that perhaps schools don't have exclusive rights to education.”

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