NCLB or ECLB?

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource." John F. Kennedy

Education is a topic that most people can agree is an important one. However, it time and time again clouded up with politicians promising more money and standards and values to be put into the system, without really knowing what they are talking about. The further one is away from the actual classroom, the more power one can assert over it, it seems. I would hope that NCLB, "No Child Left Behind" aka, "no teacher left standing" , "no child left un-tested" or as I like to say, "Every Child Left Behind" (ECLB) has a serious revamping under a new Congress and/or President. The federal governments role needs to be more clearly defined to allow the funding to come (as it should, from Federal Taxes, Article I of the Constitution) but allow each state to develop there own measures of accountability. More and more states are fighting NCLB, in fact, more pro-Bush states are challenging the law that states that voted for Gore. And I realize that Dems and Republicans alike drafted the damn thing, but Bush is chanting is praises like he fixed American schools, and over 40 Democrats have since withdrawn their support when the funding didn't follow. If you think about it, it would be like saying, "Hey, Mr. President, you are charged with the responsibility of protecting this country and fighting terrorism. It will cost $10 billion to it. We'll give you $5 billion. Go to it." Likelihood of success? Nil. Many states were putting out high test scores and re-working assessments to align with curriculum before NCLB came along, and now they are forced, in many cases, to scrap their plans and force Square-peg into Circle-hole. Just not gonna happen! And, an entire nation's schools will suffer because of it. Mr. Bush's Education Secretary, Rod Paige, doesn't seem to get it either. But then, he has been out of a classroom for a long time.