Education is also Caught in the Politics of Denial

Dr. William Spady

First it was the environment; then the Constitution; then Iraq; then the Justice Department.  No matter the facts and their ominous implications, the President and his people insist on spinning them into rosy scenarios at odds with deeper truths.  Even the public’s protest in the last elections hasn't changed the pattern.  "Global warming isn't an emergency." "Warrantless searches are no threat to democracy."  "We're going to win in Iraq."  “Attorney General Gonzales didn’t know.”

Well, now it’s education’s turn, so get prepared to be told that the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is improving America’s schools.  If you buy that, you’re ready to believe that gas prices will soon hit an all-time low and stay there indefinitely. 

The issue at hand is the reauthorization of NCLB.  It's due to expire this year.  Controlling that process are Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman George Miller, Democrats who played key roles in shaping the legislation and shepherding its passage in Congress in 2002.    With the Act up for reauthorization, they’re faced with a painful choice.  They don’t want to see their baby thrown out with the Administration’s other dirty bathwater.  On the other hand, they’re facing an avalanche of severe, well-documented, deeply emotional criticism of NCLB from people across the country who know what they're talking about.  

The President’s allies in the big-business community see NCLB as education’s “silver bullet” and are investing heavily in its reauthorization and strengthening, largely because it makes schools “accountable.”   No, NCLB doesn’t make them accountable for fostering student creativity, critical thinking, a love of learning, global understanding, personal health, environmental awareness, leadership abilities, a responsible moral code, and other desirable, even essential qualities.  Nor does it make schools accountable for developing a future-focused curriculum, for attracting and supporting talented teachers, or for strengthening leadership and community engagement at the local level.  

No, the White House, Department of Education, and big business love NCLB because it makes schools stringently accountable for student performance on deeply flawed paper-pencil standardized tests in reading and math, to be given to all students on specified days, no matter what.  Too bad if the students are homeless, sick, or had no breakfast.  No matter if they've never been to a museum or more than five miles from where they were born.  No matter if they're new to America and just learning to speak English.  No matter if, although possibly brilliant, they're just poor test-takers. 

And what price are we paying for this highly regimented paper-pencil exercise?   Thoughtful and highly informed critics are saying that No Child Left Behind is driving experienced and talented educators out of the system.  It's creating enormous discontinuity in some schools’ staffing, funding, and connection with their communities.  It's ignoring the talents and uniqueness of individual learners.  It's reducing the learning that will matter in the 21st Century to what can be bubbled in on a multiple-choice test.  It's ignoring mountains of research on brain functioning, learning processes, human motivation, and child development.  It's forcing schools to reduce the richness and depth of the curriculum, imposing a narrow, single-method, ideologically-driven approach to instruction.  It's preventing teachers from teaching to their strengths.  It's overriding local goals, priorities, and values.  It's ignoring voices of experience.  It's eliminating incentives for schools to innovate.  It's boosting the profits of certain testing and publishing companies (at least one of which is now caught in an NCLB-related corruption scandal).  It's locking in place and reinforcing countless assembly-line/Industrial Age features of schooling that should have been discarded decades ago.  And it's paving the way for privatizing and corporatizing the system.

This is no silver bullet scenario; it’s a keg of potentially lethal rusty nails!  And it’s time for the public to see through the spin, call the President’s bluff, and demand that Senator Kennedy and Congressman Miller bring an end to NCLB.  And when the White House and big business run their predictable “Those who oppose NCLB don’t want educational accountability!” flag up the pole, don’t salute.  Instead, think about the environment, the Constitution, Iraq, the Justice Department firings, and the pathetic Politics of Denial that’s been passing for federal policy for the past six years. 

William G. Spady, ChangeLeaders, P.O. Box 4388, Dillon, CO  80435
Email:  billspady@earthlink.net     Phone:  970/262-1935