[ProgressiveEd] Fwd: [rsct] NCLB and Iraq by Doug Noble
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An interesting take on no child left behind. What do people think about it?
Carol
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Even for those of you who may not agree with author Doug Noble's position on=
Iraq, the material on NCLB is well written and important. Monty
IN CONTEMPT OF EDUCATION
Bush's corrupt war agenda now invades our Public Schools
By Douglas D. Noble=20
=20
For several years I have been active against the high stakes sta=
ndardized tests in New York State, working with a grassroots organization in=
Rochester called the Coalition for Common Sense in Education. This past yea=
r, however, as we were preoccupied with Bush's invasion of Iraq, this import=
ant struggle against high stakes tests took a back seat to antiwar activitie=
s for many of us. The testing regime, however, has continued unabated in har=
ming children, especially poor children, by enforcing a single, inflexible a=
nd invalid standard without first leveling the playing field. Now Bush's fed=
eral initiative, No Child Left Behind, has compounded the problem, with even=
more mandated tests, for even younger children. =20
Refocusing my attention on these issues, I realize just how rema=
rkably the testing regime, especially at the federal level, parallels the Bu=
sh Administration's Iraq war machine, in its deceit, its hidden agendas, and=
its contempt for reasoned evidence and public outcry. The New York State Re=
gents testing administration suffers grievously from these faults, as we hav=
e argued these last few years. But the new federal initiative epitomizes in=20=
starkest terms the regime of punitive arrogance and cruel deceit that lies b=
ehind such testing systems. The parallels with the Iraq war are striking and=
instructive.
=20
Pretense of Liberation=20
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, signed into law in January=20=
2002 with strong bipartisan support, promises that through systematic testin=
g and federal mandates all children will at last receive an equal education,=
and, in particular, poor children will no longer be left behind by second-r=
ate education. Just as the Iraqi people were to be "liberated" through the v=
iolent US overthrow of the Saddam regime, so poor children will be liberated=
from the stranglehold of inadequate education through resolute federal over=
sight (and even overthrow) of failing public schools. A system of annual tes=
ts in the elementary grades will be used to determine the "adequate yearly p=
rogress" (AYP) of student subgroups within each school. Schools whose studen=
ts fail to show incremental progress on these tests will be labeled "failing=
," faced with such penalties as fired staffs, closed schools, even abolished=
districts. All to save the poorest kids.
In the Iraq war, remember, we were asked somehow to believe the=20=
Administration's stated humanitarian goal to liberate the Iraqi people, desp=
ite years of US-led sanctions that impoverished the Iraqi people, despite ye=
ars of US support for Saddam's regime against his own people, despite thousa=
nds of Iraqi people to be killed by a US war.
With the NCLB, the deceit behind the stated humanitarian goal is=
just as astonishing. Consider the evidence. As governor, Bush, according to=
one observer, "displayed a colossal indifference to the poor children of Te=
xas," which ranked third among all states in percentage of children in pover=
ty, third in percentage of malnourished residents, second in percentage of p=
oor children without health insurance, . and 36th in teacher salaries. Now B=
ush's 2004 federal budget includes severe reductions in all programs impacti=
ng children's learning, from food stamps, child nutrition, foster care, and=20=
health insurance for children, to childcare grants and various assistance pr=
ograms for poor families. The education cuts in Bush's 2004 budget, affectin=
g everything from dropout prevention to arts education to parent assistance,=
amount to over $1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Bush's budgeted increase through NC=
LB, only $1 billion, is almost $6 billion less than is authorized in the Act=
and a whopping $83.5 billion short of what state studies have estimated the=
y will require to meet the schooling needs of the nation's poor children. Ye=
t despite this clear accumulated evidence of Bush's flagrant disregard for t=
he nation's poor children, still we are asked to believe in Bush's stated ed=
ucation goal of liberation, to leave no child behind.
.=20
Contempt for truth, evidence and reasoned opposition=20
We all remember how Bush contemptuously dismissed the largest wo=
rldwide mass demonstrations in history opposing the Iraq war; how he ignored=
fervent dissent among our closest United Nations allies; how he disregarded=
reasoned predictions of social disintegration and a violent occupation; how=
he overrode his own intelligence apparatus, fabricating evidence instead fo=
r Iraq's Al Qaeda links and weapons of mass destruction. This contem=
pt for evidence, thoughtful opposition and truth is also the signature of Bu=
sh's NCLB. Scholars have accumulated mountains of evidence that most schools=
are being set up to fail with the new impossible-to-meet standards, that st=
ates already impoverished by the loss of federal funds cannot possibly affor=
d the costs of the NCLB mandates, that children without their basic needs me=
t are at cruelly unfair advantage, that punitive incentive systems don't wor=
k to motivate students and schools, even that yearly changes in test scores,=
the heart of the NCLB strategy, are meaningless, resulting mostly from rand=
om variations. Public opposition to high stakes tests meanwhile have been mo=
unted in states across the country, especially by parents of disenfranchised=
children who have been denied graduation or promotion based solely on dubio=
us test scores. And most major education organizations, including the Americ=
an Education Research Association, the National Research Council, the Intern=
ational Reading Association, and the National Education Association, as well=
as the professional associations of the test makers themselves, have offic=
ially opposed the use of single test measures for high stakes decisions.=20
Despite all this, the NCLB is going forward, as are the testing=20=
regimes in most states. Meanwhile, there is accumulating evidence of decepti=
ve practices in many states to maintain the pretense that students' scores a=
re improving. Scores are being manipulated, some students' scores are not co=
unted, damaging data are ignored, and test cutoffs are altered for political=
reasons. Deceit and lies are used throughout the land to maintain a semblan=
ce of integrity for a fraudulent system, and the same is about to happen wit=
h the NCLB, since Bush, as we know from Iraq, has little regard for the trut=
h.
=20
Power and punishment: Destroying the schools in order to save them
The protection of Iraqi social, political, historical and physic=
al infrastructure, and of Iraqi lives, was flagrantly ignored in Bush's rush=
to take imperious control of the country. Bush's "precision" bombs caused u=
p to 7000 civilian deaths, his use of depleted uranium weaponry has irradiat=
ed the country, he demolished basic services in the major cities with woeful=
ly inadequate plans to restore them, he destroyed the gainful employment of=20=
millions, he ignored scholars' pleas to protect priceless artifacts dating f=
rom the birth of civilization, and he offers only empty promises to establis=
h Iraqi political control of the newly occupied country. Echoing an earlier=20=
war, the country has been callously destroyed in order to save it.
The No Child Left Behind initiative is Bush's parallel "take no=20=
prisoners" attempt to assert imperious, impatient control over a recalcitran=
t public school system by demanding compliance through draconian threats and=
punitive measures. There is no consideration of the dire consequences for c=
hildren or schools that scholars predict will result. Estimates, even by the=
White House itself, of the number of the nation's schools that will be labe=
led "failing" by NLCB range from 75% to 90%, since the demands are impossibl=
e to meet, especially given diminished resources. Ironically, schools in tho=
se states with the highest current state test score improvements are predict=
ed to fail in the largest numbers, because still further yearly improvement=20=
will be harder to demonstrate. And a failing label will be assigned most fre=
quently to those schools with students suffering the greatest impact of pove=
rty (as the state tests already clearly demonstrate). According=20=
to a recent address by the president of the American Education Research Asso=
ciation, the NCLB proficiency targets for the year 2014, when presumably the=
schools will have achieved adequate performance, require that the schools i=
ncrease the current secondary level math improvement rate by a factor of 12.=
Observes one scholar, "This is a rate of increase equivalent to having the=20=
automotive industry by 2014 averaging 288 miles per gallon." These impossibl=
e demands have already begun to fuel fear in schools and districts, scrambli=
ng to comply through further narrowing of curriculum, abandonment of success=
ful programs, redirection of scarce funds to testing costs, increased pressu=
re on teachers, and wily manipulation of data, none of which serves the inte=
rests of education or children. This predicted destruction of the best of pu=
blic schooling falls on deaf ears in a Bush administration used to inflictin=
g such misery without flinching.=20
=20
Privatization in disguise
It has become clear that the hidden Bush agenda behind the Iraq=20=
war was the privatization of Iraqi industries, lining the pockets of multina=
tional corporations in bed with the Bush administration. The latest uncontes=
ted contracts of Bechtel and Halliburton, both with close ties with the Admi=
nistration, are just the tip of this iceberg. Naomi Klein has called the Ira=
q war "privatization in disguise," whereby the country is destroyed precisel=
y to create lucrative opportunities and markets to rebuild and profit from t=
his destruction.=20
For years, education critics have warned that continuing federal=
and state impoverishment of public schools greases the skids for efforts to=
privatize schools through vouchers, for-profit school management, and other=
competitive measures. Heavily invested for-profit enterprises have hovered=20=
for a decade to take advantage of opportunities to profit from public school=
failures. The NCLB is their latest, most blatant, chance in this direction.=
Bush's original NCLB proposal included provisions for vouchers to let child=
ren attend private schools at taxpayer expense. Congress removed the voucher=
provisions, no doubt mindful of recent resounding voucher defeats in Califo=
rnia and Michigan, but the impulse to privatize remains central in the minds=
behind the NCLB. Some critics have charged that the hidden agenda in NCLB i=
s to dismantle the public schools through impossible testing targets and oth=
er demands, so that they might be turned over to the private sector through=20=
vouchers and through for-profit school management by such firms as Edison Sc=
hools, Inc. (which, though started with great fanfare a decade ago with prom=
ised voucher plans by Bush Sr., has yet to turn a profit or produce signific=
ant school results, despite questionable accounting practices). "Supplementa=
ry services" provisions in NCLB leave the door open anew to such firms, as p=
ublic schools begin to be labeled failures. Could Bush be attempting intenti=
onally to dismantle the public schools to privatize them? Isn't this all too=
farfetched and mean spirited? Ask the now destitute Iraqi people about Bech=
tel and Halliburton.
=20
Fakery, faith and fodder
Bush's resolve to invade Iraq was grounded in his fundamentalist=
Christian faith, while his shifting rationales for war were concocted under=
cover of national security. Immovable faith and a shifty secrecy lay at the=
heart of the Bush war machine, which ultimately relied on the unquestioning=
patriotic allegiance of countless young troops.=20
The NCLB was similarly concocted in secret, leaving precious lit=
tle time for Congress to consider its merits before the vote. Also, the fede=
ral funds originally committed to states to meet the new mandates were shift=
ed steadily downward in subsequent budgeted appropriations. Such sleight of=20=
hand leaves the severe mandates intact without the resources to address them=
. =20
Two provisions secreted into the NCLB with little public notice=20=
reinforce Bush's fundamentalist faith and his call to the troops. One provis=
ion demands that all schools must verify that they have no rules which would=
in any way impede students' use of prayer in school. Another provision requ=
ires that all high schools must provide student records - including names, a=
ddresses and phone numbers - to military recruiters, unless parents specific=
ally opt out, in writing. (Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld sent letters this f=
all to all the nation's school officials, cosigned by Education Secretary Pa=
ige, pointedly reminding them of this requirement in the NCLB.) These two pr=
ovisions clearly have nothing to do with quality education, but they do furt=
her the very same Bush faith-based, militarist agenda that lay behind the Ir=
aq war.=20
=20
*****
If we have learned one thing from the Iraq war, it is that the B=
ush administration really is as arrogant, mean spirited and contemptuous as=20=
it appears. Critics of his education agenda must hold this firmly in mind as=
they question the latest federal regimen of high stakes tests and punitive=20=
mandates in the nation's schools. At one antiwar protest in Washington DC th=
is winter I saw a sign bearing a picture of an Iraqi child that read "No Chi=
ld Left Alive." The spirit behind the Bush No Child Left Behind education ag=
enda is just as sinister, even if it only slaughters the hopes and dreams of=
its young victims.=20
=20
Sources=20
Gerald W. Bracey, NCLB - A Plan for the Destruction of Public Education, =20=
=20
NoChildLeft.com, vol. 1, no.2, February, 2003
Gerald Coles, Learning to Read and the 'W Principle', Rethinking Schools,=20
Summer, 2003=20
Naomi Klein, Privatization in Disguise. The Nation, April 28, 2003
William J. Mathis, No Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits, Phi Delta Kappa=
n, www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm
=20
Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 fax 617-497-2224
[email protected]
http://www.fairtest.org
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Even for those of you who may not agree with author=20=
Doug=20
Noble's position on Iraq, the material on NCLB is well written and important=
.=20
Monty</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >IN CONTEMPT OF EDUCATION<?xml:namespace prefix =3D=
o ns =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Bush=92s corrupt war agenda now invades our=20
Public Schools<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal>By Douglas D. Noble </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>For several years I have been active against the high stakes standard=
ized=20
tests in <?xml:namespace prefix =3D st1 ns =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:=
office:smarttags" /><st1:place><st1:PlaceName>New=20
York</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, worki=
ng=20
with a grassroots organization in=20
<st1:City><st1:place>Rochester</st1:place></st1:City> called the Coalition f=
or=20
Common Sense in Education. This past year, however, as we were preoccupied w=
ith=20
Bush=92s invasion of=20
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>, this=20
important struggle against high stakes tests took a back seat to antiwar=20
activities for many of us. The testing regime, however, has continued unabat=
ed=20
in harming children, especially poor children, by enforcing a single, inflex=
ible=20
and invalid standard without first leveling the playing field. Now Bush=92s=20
federal initiative, No Child Left Behind, has compounded the problem, with e=
ven=20
more mandated tests, for even younger children.<SPAN > </SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>Refocusing my attention on these issues, I realize just how remarkabl=
y=20
the testing regime, especially at the federal level, parallels the Bush=20
Administration=92s=20
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> war=20
machine, in its deceit, its hidden agendas, and its contempt for reasoned=20
evidence and public outcry. The New York State Regents testing administratio=
n=20
suffers grievously from these faults, as we have argued these last few years=
.=20
But the new federal initiative epitomizes in starkest terms the regime of=20
punitive arrogance and cruel deceit that lies behind such testing systems. T=
he=20
parallels with the=20
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> war are=
=20
striking and instructive.</P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B ><o:p> </o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Pretense of Liberation <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, signed into law in January 2002=20=
with=20
strong bipartisan support, promises that through systematic testing and fede=
ral=20
mandates all children will at last receive an equal education, and, in=20
particular, poor children will no longer be left behind by second-rate=20
education. Just as the Iraqi people were to be =93liberated=94 through the v=
iolent=20
US overthrow of the Saddam regime, so poor children will be liberated from t=
he=20
stranglehold of inadequate education through resolute federal oversight (and=
=20
even overthrow) of failing public schools. A system of annual tests in the=20
elementary grades will be used to determine the =93adequate yearly progress=94=
(AYP)=20
of student subgroups within each school. Schools whose students fail to show=
=20
incremental progress on these tests will be labeled =93failing,=94 faced wit=
h such=20
penalties as fired staffs, closed schools, even abolished districts. All to=20=
save=20
the poorest kids.<I><o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN>In the </I><st1:country-region><st1:place><I >Iraq</I></st1:place></=
st1:country-region><I > war, remember, we were asked somehow to=20
believe the Administration=92s stated humanitarian goal to liberate the Iraq=
i=20
people, despite years of US-led sanctions that impoverished the Iraqi people=
,=20
despite years of </I><st1:country-region><st1:place><I >US</I></st1:place><=
/st1:country-region><I > support for Saddam=92s regime against his own=20
people, despite thousands of Iraqi people to be killed by a=20
</I><st1:country-region><st1:place><I >US</I></st1:place></st1:country-regi=
on><I > war.<o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>With the NCLB, the deceit behind the stated humanitarian goal is just=
as=20
astonishing. Consider the evidence. As governor, Bush, according to one=20
observer, =93displayed a colossal indifference to the poor children of Texas=
,=94=20
which ranked third among all states in percentage of children in poverty, th=
ird=20
in percentage of malnourished residents, second in percentage of poor childr=
en=20
without health insurance, =85 and 36<SUP>th</SUP> in teacher salaries. Now B=
ush=92s=20
2004 federal budget includes severe reductions in all programs impacting=20
children=92s learning, from food stamps, child nutrition, foster care, and h=
ealth=20
insurance for children, to childcare grants and various assistance programs=20=
for=20
poor families. The education cuts in Bush=92s 2004 budget, affecting everyth=
ing=20
from dropout prevention to arts education to parent assistance, amount to ov=
er=20
$1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Bush=92s budgeted increase through NCLB, only $1 bi=
llion,=20
is almost $6 billion less than is authorized in the Act and a whopping $83.5=
=20
billion short of what state studies have estimated they will require to meet=
the=20
schooling needs of the nation=92s poor children. Yet despite this clear=20
accumulated evidence of Bush=92s flagrant disregard for the nation=92s poor=20
children, still we are asked to believe in Bush=92s stated education goal of=
=20
liberation, to leave no child behind.</P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>. </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Contempt for truth, evidence and reasoned=20
opposition <I><o:p></o:p></I></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN>We all remember how Bush contemptuously dismissed the largest worldwi=
de=20
mass demonstrations in history opposing the Iraq war; how he ignored fervent=
=20
dissent among our closest United Nations allies; how he disregarded reasoned=
=20
predictions of social disintegration and a violent occupation; how he overro=
de=20
his own intelligence apparatus, fabricating evidence instead for Iraq=92s <S=
PAN > </SPAN>Al Qaeda links and weapons of mass=20
destruction.</I><SPAN > </SPAN>Th=
is=20
contempt for evidence, thoughtful opposition and truth is also the signature=
of=20
Bush=92s NCLB. Scholars have accumulated mountains of evidence that most sch=
ools=20
are being set up to fail with the new impossible-to-meet standards, that sta=
tes=20
already impoverished by the loss of federal funds cannot possibly afford the=
=20
costs of the NCLB mandates, that children without their basic needs met are=20=
at=20
cruelly unfair advantage, that punitive incentive systems don=92t work to mo=
tivate=20
students and schools, even that yearly changes in test scores, the heart of=20=
the=20
NCLB strategy, are meaningless, resulting mostly from random variations. Pub=
lic=20
opposition to high stakes tests meanwhile have been mounted in states across=
the=20
country, especially by parents of disenfranchised children who have been den=
ied=20
graduation or promotion based solely on dubious test scores. And most major=20
education organizations, including the American Education Research Associati=
on,=20
the National Research Council, the International Reading Association, and th=
e=20
National Education Association, as well as the professional associations of=20
<SPAN> </SPAN>the test makers themselves, have=20
officially opposed the use of single test measures for high stakes decisions=
.=20
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>Despite all this, the NCLB is going forward, as are the testing regim=
es=20
in most states. Meanwhile, there is accumulating evidence of deceptive pract=
ices=20
in many states to maintain the pretense that students=92 scores are improvin=
g.=20
Scores are being manipulated, some students=92 scores are not counted, damag=
ing=20
data are ignored, and test cutoffs are altered for political reasons. Deceit=
and=20
lies are used throughout the land to maintain a semblance of integrity for a=
=20
fraudulent system, and the same is about to happen with the NCLB, since Bush=
, as=20
we know from Iraq, has little regard for the truth.</P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Power and punishment: Destroying the=20
schools in order to save them<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN>The protection of Iraqi social, political, historical and physical=20
infrastructure, and of Iraqi lives, was flagrantly ignored in Bush=92s rush=20=
to=20
take imperious control of the country. Bush=92s =93precision=94 bombs caused=
up to=20
7000 civilian deaths, his use of depleted uranium weaponry has irradiated th=
e=20
country, he demolished basic services in the major cities with woefully=20
inadequate plans to restore them, he destroyed the gainful employment of=20
millions, he ignored scholars=92 pleas to protect priceless artifacts dating=
from=20
the birth of civilization, and he offers only empty promises to establish Ir=
aqi=20
political control of the newly occupied country. Echoing an earlier war, the=
=20
country has been callously destroyed in order to save it.<o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>The No Child Left Behind initiative is Bush=92s parallel =93take no=20
prisoners=94 attempt to assert imperious, impatient control over a recalcitr=
ant=20
public school system by demanding compliance through draconian threats and=20
punitive measures. There is no consideration of the dire consequences for=20
children or schools that scholars predict will result. Estimates, even by th=
e=20
White House itself, of the number of the nation=92s schools that will be lab=
eled=20
=93failing=94 by NLCB range from 75% to 90%, since the demands are impossibl=
e to=20
meet, especially given diminished resources. Ironically, schools in those st=
ates=20
with the highest current state test score improvements are predicted to fail=
in=20
the largest numbers, because still further yearly improvement will be harder=
to=20
demonstrate. And a failing label will be assigned most frequently to those=20
schools with students suffering the greatest impact of poverty (as the state=
=20
tests already clearly demonstrate). <SPAN > &n=
bsp; =20
</SPAN>According to a recent address by the president of the American Educat=
ion=20
Research Association, the NCLB proficiency targets for the year 2014, when=20
presumably the schools will have achieved adequate performance, require that=
the=20
schools increase the current secondary level math improvement rate by a fact=
or=20
of 12. Observes one scholar, =93This is a rate of increase equivalent to hav=
ing=20
the automotive industry by 2014 averaging 288 miles per gallon.=94 These=20
impossible demands have already begun to fuel fear in schools and districts,=
=20
scrambling to comply through further narrowing of curriculum, abandonment of=
=20
successful programs, redirection of scarce funds to testing costs, increased=
=20
pressure on teachers, and wily manipulation of data, none of which serves th=
e=20
interests of education or children. This predicted destruction of the best o=
f=20
public schooling falls on deaf ears in a Bush administration used to inflict=
ing=20
such misery without flinching. </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Privatization in=20
disguise</B><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN>It has become clear that the hidden Bush agenda behind the=20
</I><st1:country-region><st1:place><I >Iraq</I></st1:place></st1:country-re=
gion><I > war was the privatization of Iraqi=20
industries, lining the pockets of multinational corporations in bed with the=
=20
Bush administration. The latest uncontested contracts of Bechtel and=20
Halliburton, both with close ties with the Administration, are just the tip=20=
of=20
this iceberg. Naomi Klein has called the </I><st1:country-region><st1:place>=
<I >Iraq</I></st1:place></st1:country-region><I > war =93privatization in=20=
disguise,=94 whereby=20
the country is destroyed precisely to create lucrative opportunities and mar=
kets=20
to rebuild and profit from this destruction. <o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>For years, education critics have warned that continuing federal and=20
state impoverishment of public schools greases the skids for efforts to=20
privatize schools through vouchers, for-profit school management, and other=20
competitive measures. Heavily invested for-profit enterprises have hovered f=
or a=20
decade to take advantage of opportunities to profit from public school failu=
res.=20
The NCLB is their latest, most blatant, chance in this direction. Bush=92s=20
original NCLB proposal included provisions for vouchers to let children atte=
nd=20
private schools at taxpayer expense. Congress removed the voucher provisions=
, no=20
doubt mindful of recent resounding voucher defeats in=20
<st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> and=20
<st1:State><st1:place>Michigan</st1:place></st1:State>, but the impulse to=20
privatize remains central in the minds behind the NCLB. <SPAN ></SPAN>Some=20=
critics have charged that the hidden agenda=20
in NCLB is to dismantle the public schools through impossible testing target=
s=20
and other demands, so that they might be turned over to the private sector=20
through vouchers and through for-profit school management by such firms as=20
Edison Schools, Inc. (which, though started with great fanfare a decade ago=20=
with=20
promised voucher plans by Bush Sr., has yet to turn a profit or produce=20
significant school results, despite questionable accounting practices).=20
=93Supplementary services=94 provisions in NCLB leave the door open anew to=20=
such=20
firms, as public schools begin to be labeled failures. Could Bush be attempt=
ing=20
intentionally to dismantle the public schools to privatize them? Isn=92t thi=
s all=20
too farfetched and mean spirited? Ask the now destitute Iraqi people about=20
Bechtel and Halliburton.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B ><o:p> </o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B >Fakery, faith and fodder<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN>Bush=92s resolve to invade Iraq was grounded in his fundamentalist=20
Christian faith, while his shifting rationales for war were concocted under=20
cover of national security. Immovable faith and a shifty secrecy lay at the=20
heart of the Bush war machine, which ultimately relied on the unquestioning=20
patriotic allegiance of countless young troops. <o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN></I>The NCLB was similarly concocted in secret, leaving precious litt=
le=20
time for Congress to consider its merits before the vote. Also, the federal=20
funds originally committed to states to meet the new mandates were shifted=20
steadily downward in subsequent budgeted appropriations. Such sleight of han=
d=20
leaves the severe mandates intact without the resources to address them.<SPA=
N > </SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>Two provisions secreted into the NCLB with little public notice reinf=
orce=20
Bush=92s fundamentalist faith and his call to the troops. One provision dema=
nds=20
that all schools must verify that they have no rules which would in any way=20
impede students=92 use of prayer in school. Another provision requires that=20=
all=20
high schools must provide student records =96 including names, addresses and=
phone=20
numbers - to military recruiters, unless parents specifically opt out, in=20
writing. (Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld sent letters this fall to all the=20
nation=92s school officials, cosigned by Education Secretary Paige, pointedl=
y=20
reminding them of this requirement in the NCLB.) These two provisions clearl=
y=20
have nothing to do with quality education, but they do further the very same=
=20
Bush faith-based, militarist agenda that lay behind the=20
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> war.=20
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal align=3Dcenter><B>*****<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >  =
; =20
</SPAN>If we have learned one thing from the=20
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> war, it=
is=20
that the Bush administration really is as arrogant, mean spirited and=20
contemptuous as it appears. Critics of his education agenda must hold this=20
firmly in mind as they question the latest federal regimen of high stakes te=
sts=20
and punitive mandates in the nation=92s schools. At one antiwar protest in=20
<st1:place><st1:City>Washington</st1:City> <st1:State>DC</st1:State></st1:pl=
ace>=20
this winter I saw a sign bearing a picture of an Iraqi child that read =93No=
Child=20
Left Alive.=94 The spirit behind the Bush No Child Left Behind education age=
nda is=20
just as sinister, even if it only slaughters the hopes and dreams of its you=
ng=20
victims. </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B ><I ><U><o:p><SPAN > </SPAN></o:p></U></I></=
B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><B ><I ><U><SPAN >Sources</SPAN></U></I></B><I ><SP=
AN>=20
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >Gerald W. Bracey, <I >NCLB =96 A Plan for the=20=
Destruction of Public=20
Education, <SPAN > =20
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></I></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><I ><SPAN><SPAN > =
=20
</SPAN></SPAN></I><SPAN>NoChildLeft.com, vol. 1, no.2,=20
February, 2003<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >Gerald Coles, <I >Learning to Read and the =91=
W Principle=92,=20
</I>Rethinking Schools, <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN ><SPAN > &nb=
sp; =20
</SPAN>Summer, 2003 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >Naomi Klein, <I >Privatization in Disguise</I>=
. The Nation,=20
</SPAN><st1:date Month=3D"4" Day=3D"28" Year=3D"2003"><SPAN >April 28, 2003=
</SPAN></st1:date><SPAN ><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN >William J. Mathis<I >, No Child Left Behind: C=
osts and Benefits,=20
</I>Phi Delta Kappan<I>, <SPAN > </SPAN><A href=3D"http://www.pdkin=
tl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm">www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm</A></I><o:p>=
</o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN ><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Monty Neill, Ed.D.<BR>Executive=20
Director<BR>FairTest<BR>342 Broadway<BR>Cambridge, MA=20
02139<BR>617-864-4810 fax 617-497-2224<BR><A href=3D"mai=
lto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A><BR><A href=3D"http://www.fa=
irtest.org">http://www.fairtest.org</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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