Golden Gate [X]press : Education left behind

Golden Gate [X]press : Education left behind

Education left behind by [X]press Staff APRIL 6, 2010 10:34 AM
Great in theory, but a failure in practice. That is what education reform in California has turned into. As students and members of a public school institution, we are the products of the No Child Left Behind Act. Enacted in 2001, this program was started by President Bush with the hopes of making sure that all children in the public education system were able to graduate by giving them more funds and programs and by keeping a close eye on them. But as Big Brother usually does, he turned a blind eye to the younger siblings in elementary schools. In California, these programs that were put into place were merely just to pass children through different grades, making sure that everyone gets a diploma come senior year of high school. Students in more affluent communities were able to sore while students in poor communities were able to slip through the cracks year after year. After eight years of this program, the flaws are starting to show. In 2009, the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) for San Francisco Unified District results showed that there were less than 40 percent of students from grades 2 to 11 who tested at the advanced level for English skills. Only third and fourth graders ranked in the 40th percentile in math scores. The first act made the state and government responsible for the efforts and achievements of the students. President Obama's recent call for overhauling No Child Left Behind will put more pressure will be put on teachers, who are already underpaid and stretched to the maximum with classroom sizes growing every year. This reform also plans to give more