Education

 

          Ensuring that the general public can access education is arguably the most critical component to an effective democracy. Since the beginnings of the republic, the American public education system has produced generations of graduates who have gone on to build this nation to what it is today. However, the future of public education in the United States faces some major obstacles, namely the No Child Left Behind Act and the Bush Administration's efforts to underfund education.

          Simply said, the No Child Left Behind Act is one of the worst pieces of legislation to ever come out of Washington. The No Child Left Behind Act limited the states' ability to set their own educational standards and instead required them to adopt Federal regulations that are centered around a single criterion: standardized testing. The “accountability” standards use standardized test scores as the basis for measuring a school's performance and schools that aren't measuring up face Federal sanctions. This effectively puts schools in poor impoverished areas in the position of competing against schools in affluent areas. Making matters worse, the Bush Administration has failed to live up to the funding commitments it made to fund the provisions in the bill, meaning that schools will not only be expected to meet lofty Federal standards but will also lack the additional resources needed to do so. In short, with its unrealistic standards, lack of funding and overall disastrous concept, the No Child Left Behind Act is setting up the public education system up for failure.

          Louis Vandenberg argues that public education would be better served by repealing the No Child Left Behind Act and instead allow the states to set their own educational standards. The money appropriated for the legislation should be redirected to the states to offset the cuts to public education from state budget problems, provide new money for student loans and enhanced training for educators.