No Child Left Behind Leaves Many Behind

Regardless of whether your a conservative or a liberal, the failings of No Child Left Behind are fairly obvious to see. Since the Bush administration drafted the NCLB act, it has done more harm then good. When I think of the school system of my youth, I ponder what the implications of this act might be had it been enacted earlier. My school district was located in a small rural area of Vermont. Most parents worked 2 jobs and very few, if any, were college graduates. Of the approximately 400+ kids that went to my school, I can easily estimate that at least 10% of them were labeled "Special Education needs".

I know this because I was one of them: I have a Nonverbal Learning Disability and had to undergo a separate but school inclusive Special Ed program which was already understaffed and underfunded. Instead of being mainstreamed from the start, I was separated and underwent a exclusive style IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in the school. Eventually, after the school failed to educate my twin brother and I properly, we had to go to a private LD School. Under current NCLB law, because these disabled students grades would be counted along with their classmates, their failure would have meant government money would stop until they met the strict "1%" gap that showed they could do the same work as their peers. Only students with "Severe cognitive disability" as defined by the act would be allowed alternate testing. Special Ed teachers, in need of training and supplies, would find themselves at a loss to keep up with the strict testing and assessment guidelines of the act.

In a letter to Education Secretary Margaret Spelling from the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), the organization pointed out the unfairness of raising the 1% gap to attempt level the playing field for non-disabled learners:

"...we believe it is premature for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to allow any modification of the existing 1% Cap on the number of proficient and advanced scores from alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards that can be counted in adequate yearly progress decisions"