During the presidential campaign, FairTest paid close attention to the candidates whenever they addressed No Child Left Behind. It will be some time before President-Elect Barack Obama takes action that will flesh out the mostly vague statements he made while campaigning, and even longer before anything specific happens with the federal education law. In the meantime, here is a compilation of his comments on NCLB from his web site and the campaign trail.
Supporters of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law use many arguments to defend the controversial law. The strongest-sounding arguments have little to do with the law’s actual provisions, while others are simply false. We have prepared this fact sheet to help people reply to the various claims made in defense of NCLB; sort, pick and adapt the points you need.
The Presidential Candidates on NCLB – Update, October 2008
With just two months until the presidential election, the Democratic and Republican parties have had their respective conventions and produced party platforms, which gives us an opportunity to see if the candidates are saying anything new about NCLB. The short answer is, nothing very specific. Independent candidate Ralph Nader, on the other hand, specifically calls for the law’s repeal. Libertarian Bob Barr and other candidates have also weighed in on the law since our last update in June.
FairTest Article on NCLB in AFSC journal Peacework:
The September issue of Peacework focues on education activism, providing a rich set of resources for parents, educators, students and other activists. FairTest's Monty Neill's lead article focuses on overhauling federal law (at http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/beyond-no-child-left-behind). Issue contents are summarized below. You can read all the articles on the web at http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/.
After six years, there is overwhelming evidence that the deeply flawed “No Child Left Behind” law (NCLB) is doing more harm than good in our nation’s public schools. NCLB’s test-and-punish approach to school reform relies on limited, one-size-fits-all tools that reduce education to little more than test prep. It produces unfair decisions and requires unproven, often irrational "solutions" to complex problems. NCLB is clearly underfunded, but fully funding a bad law is not a solution.
