What IS Left Behind Redux
Left behind by 'No Child Left Behind'…
We have reached a critical crossroads in our educational and national history. As No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB’s) reauthorization or expiration takes center stage in Washington, American citizens who care about the future of our public schools and our democracy must be heard. Our shared future is not an abstract political possibility but, rather, one that breathes in every son or daughter, every niece or nephew, every grandson or granddaughter, every neighbor’s child, and every one of our own students who enters the schoolhouse door.
While Secretary Spellings and legislators from both parties stubbornly proclaim that NCLB is working —despite of all the empirical evidence indicating otherwise — and as politicians boast that no child is being left behind, let us pause to consider what has been jettisoned. Let us take a moment to think about what has been left behind, what has been dumped, what has been pushed out the door because there is no longer space or time for it in the