Area school superintendents met in a recent town-hall meeting with lawmakers and community members to discuss academic and financial performance.
Two common themes were voiced: Schools need more money and the No Child Left Behind Act isn't working.
"No child left behind. That sounds great, but, in fact, there are so many children who are going to be left behind as a result of this legislation,"
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the process by which schools are taken over after they fail to meet standards for five consecutive years is ambiguous and potentially harmful.
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...state funding has been primarily aimed at failing schools...
"There is funding for Watch List schools," Jordan said. "Fortunately, we can say it today, 'We aren't on the Watch List.' (But that also means) we can't get any funding."
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Willie Mack, superintendent of District 88, said that while NCLB, which was created in 2001, isn't working, the political discussion as it pertains to education has always been the same.
"Get rid of some of those unfunded mandates on teachers, if we're serious," Mack advised. "(In Springfield,) What they were saying in the 1970s, they're still saying today."
Mack also assailed politics at the local level for interfering with education, calling it a "fight."
"Fight indicates some sort of contest," Mack said. "I know some people would like peace and harmony and that would be nice, but we are up against forces who do not have children foremost on their minds."
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"Don't go into the board room looking for peace," he warned. "Go in there looking for justice for the children."
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"I really think that No Child Left Behind was a wake-up call for us because what we were doing wasn't working," Cole said. "I think it's been used to expose what we need to focus on."
Davis disagreed with Cole.
"It's a wake-up. But a wake-up to what?" he asked. "And with what consequences?"...
Exactly.
anti nclb
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