No Child Left Behind
A Principal's Perspective
Education is in a continual state of change. With our country’s “No Child Left Behind” initiative, educators are working diligently to raise our children’s knowledge base and success rate. No matter what you might think of our country’s movement toward improving our educational system, I feel that it is a necessary step.
What does “No Child Left Behind” mean? It means exactly what it says; that it is no longer acceptable to place a child in the back of the classroom because he or she is a challenge to teach. The bottom line is that the high percentage of kids, who in past decades, dropped out of school at their first opportunity, now has to be among the top priorities for educators.
Should the government become involved in educational accountability? My question is: If they don’t, who will? I had a colleague say to me once, “You can’t EXpect if you don’t INspect.” In the history of our country’s educational system, by who were educators held accountable? When you work in a “business” where employees (teachers) are, in essence, “untouchable” due to their strong labor unions, how do you eliminate the weak links that are dragging the educational system down? The sad thing is that in my experience, these weak links comprise only about five to ten percent of teachers, as the overwhelming majority is truly hard-working, dedicated professionals, but this small percentage of people have very loud voices and carry very large sticks. For this reason, our country’s government had to step up to the plate and set mandates for accountability and improvement, and although the improvement is gradual, I feel it is working.
What can a parent do? Three simple words: Support the school! Be aware that every school in our country is being held accountable for adequately improving their school’s performance. Be aware that our country’s schools are better now than they have ever been in history. Be aware that one of your child’s most valuable “life lessons” is to learn to conform and adapt, not only academically, but socially. Be aware that next to you and your family, nobody cares more about the success of your child than his or her educators. Not only do they “love” them, they are accountable for them and their education.
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