What do you think of the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT? Is it leaving MORE children behind?

I believe that NCLB has taken the imagination out of teaching and learning. My biggest pet peeve is that I used to work in a middle school helping at-risk students with life issues so that they could focus better on school. Well, my job ended because of NCLB because they wouldn't let the kids out of class for my program. So now, they have kids in class that have numerous issues such as extreme poverty, parental substance use, neglect, violence, etc. and they expect the kids to learn if they have been up all night being abused, listening to abuse, are hungry, etc. etc. There is no where anymore for these kids to get a grip and then they are expected to learn.

Lol, Lol!! Its a joke. There is no funding available. Schools have less and less. Students share books dated in the 90's. Classrooms are packed with more students and less teachers. Behavior problems interrupt other students learning. There are no aides available. Learning support children get left behind and forgotten about. Good students go unnoticed due to the behavior children. O yeah a teacher is suppose to teach each one of these children. Its a darn shame that illiteracy exists in the country. Now you have to be punished if you can't get children to learn the material and pass a standardized test. The public schools have bigger problems than No child left behind. Nobody wants to address the real issues. The problem is only going to get worse. There are less people entering the education field. What happens in 10 or 20 years when we all retire and the positions can't be filled? I love to teach and have fun with the students. Its hard to do that now.

We are not only leaving more students behind, but we are losing many good teachers because of NCLB

No Child Left Behind looks good on paper but in practice it has a lot of problems. It is causing schools to teach to the test and it takes any fun that was left out of teaching. It places unrealistic standards on poorer and less funded school districts. I know of several schools who are having to result to recycle bells as a way to bypass having to have low scoring children taking the state standard tests so that the schools can keep their accreditation. I am not saying that some children should be left behind because I believe everyone has a chance, but I do believe that a lot more children are being left behind now more than ever because of the fast paced standards that educators have to follow. Not all children can learn at such a fast pace and I don't know how it is for other states but in Virginia, we have to have the state standardized test about a month before school gets out. Once the teachers have crammed as much information as they can into the students heads and they take the test, they are burnt out for the rest of the school year. It is pointless to have teachers rush to teach to a test only to have a good month to teach all the other stuff that wasn't important enough to make it onto the test.

I had no idea how messed up this NCLB act was. I'm just learning about it. I still don't even know what the debate surrounding the FAPE and LRE is. I know what they both mean but not in terms of what is involved. These comments have gave me new perspective. Thanks

Yes!! and Yes again!......There is too much pressure on the teachers and the students. Teaching is not fun or pleasant for the teacher. Students cannot enjoy education anymore. We have come full circle and we will fail our students if the government does not give back the power of education to the teachers. We know what is best for our students. teacher of elementary reading in elizabeth nj

Right on.

NCLB is a joke! what about the kids that excel in art or music and not in math and reading? If I were a business owner, I would want to hire kids that can express themselves. Imagination is worth something, isn't it? We are teaching these kids how to take tests, not how to live. We should be preparing kids for life after school. We need to teach kids to be successful in life, to be creative, to invent things, to THINK FOR THEMSELVES! NCLB is destroying our education system!

The NCLB Act is flawed because Bush signed it into law without any federal funding. That leaves the onus on the states to fund the programs necessary to bring failing students and schools up to standard. The scope of subjects is too narrow. Important classes like the arts are relegated as unimportant. Most school boards force teachers to teach to the test. Therefore, more students may fail because of language barriers or learning disabilities.