President Celebrates First Anny of Ed Reform Bill
"No Child Left Behind" is the mantra in the land across U.S. schools. Some revere the law and speak it as it were a name for Jehovah; others shutter at the thought of speaking its name as those in Harry Potter's universe refer to the really bad guy.

Here's some highlights from the President's celebration/press moment last week:

A theme of the bill:
"Accountability for results is now the law of the land. "

The overtones of "schools as business" melody in the key of more testing for more information:
"In return for a lot of money, the federal government, for the first time, is asking, are we getting the kind of return the American people want for every child. The only way to be sure of whether or not every child is learning is to test regularly and to show everybody, especially the parents, the results of the tests."

A seemingly paradoxical statement...
"I believe in local control of schools. And this principle is inherent in this bill.
The key choices about curriculum and teaching methods will be made at the state and local level. Input will be given by parents and teachers and principals who know the local culture best. Parents and educators will not be bystanders in education reform. As a matter of fact, in our view, they are the agents of education reform. And this law upholds that principle, as well."

I would like to talk with those who opposed the law (not many) and see why they didn't vote it in. The plan seems logical, but school reforms haven't faired too well over the past century.