In my opinion this law change is very good as it helps the education system to alleviate itself of some pressure to perform, while also having to maintain a standard. The original law pressured teachers to push kids through, only preparing students for standardized testing as to not hurt their reputation. The result of that teaching method resulting in more students not being adequately prepared for post secondary education. By giving this leeway to each individual teacher, he alleviates the pressure off of the teachers shoulders, and allows teacher to teach not for a test score that looks good, but rather for the gain of knowledge. The education system is about learning, not testing, and this law brings this ideal back to the forefront.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Obama Unveils Education Plan
Admirable, but flawed. These are the words that President Barrack Obama use to describe the Bush Administration's No Child Get's Left Behind law. On Friday, Obama announced his intention to alter the law so that states will get the freedom to waive the basic parts of the law. Obama new law allows for states to buy time, as they will be allowed to free themselves of the deadline of 2014, at which time all students must show they are good at reading and writing, if they meet the required condition designed to prepare and test student in a better manner. The reason for the change Obama says is because teachers were forced to teach only to prepare students for test, and subjects like history and science were shortchanged in class, as a result the U.S was falling behind other countries in terms of education. The new changes have torn politicians and important figures in education with some saying it undermines congress, and weakens the law, while others disagree. With 82 schools due to be named failures next year, the law was in need of a tweak. That's what Obama has supplied.
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I agree that while it was admirable, Bush’s law was not ideal. Not everyone is meant for post-secondary education. That is how this world works. It is not to mean people who don’t go to post-secondary education are stupid. Many people have been successful without going to university or college. For example, Steve Jobs did not even finish a semester at college but look at the person he became. I agree with you that it seems like a forceful kind of move and that they are pushing kids to get a good test score. As mentioned in the article, with this system the United States of America are falling behind in history and science. Science is essential to have within your country and if it is not taught, many will not go into post-secondary science degrees. There is also potential that this was giving United States post-secondary education a bad reputation. I agree completely with you Chris in that if Obama had not changed the system there is no good guess at how big of a hole the United States could have dug themselves.
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