The No Child Left Behind Act is a major piece of federal education legislation.
It was proposed by President Bush as a high priority, passed by Congress with bipartisan
support, and signed into law in January of 2002. The law applies in all states and
covers Kindergarten to 12th grade in the public schools.
As the name implies, No Child Left Behind is focused on the children. The federal
funds sent to schools are tied to whether the schools are achieving their purpose.
That purpose is that the children learn what is important to them, their
families, and their country.
In a nutshell, NCLB requires that every school receiving federal dollars must:
- set high expectations
for what all its students will learn
- measure how well
each student is learning – every year
- make those results
known in a clear way – to parents in particular
- and face meaningful
consequences if the children are not learning.
One of those consequences
is that parents may move their children to better schools, if they have been assigned
to schools where many children are not learning to read or do math at their grade
level.
Another consequence is that some of the federal dollars earmarked to the schools
are entrusted to the families instead. The families may use them to obtain tutoring
for their children – whether after school, during the weekends, or even in the summer.
Again, NCLB is clear – the primary purpose of the funds is to help the children
become educated.
Finally, NCLB provides that no children should be required to attend schools that
are persistently unsafe or where the child has been the victim of a violent crime.
NCLB again focuses on what is best for the children. It says that the funds meant
for their education must follow them to safer schools chosen by their parents.
We believe that NCLB is right in the fundamentals – insisting that the federal education
funds benefit the learners, that success be measured by rising student achievement,
and that the schools and districts be held accountable for that goal. Most especially,
we believe that NCLB is right in giving choices for the education of children to
their parents – who know them the best and love them most.
The best way to see that no children are left behind is to empower their parents
to make sure of it. That is what MyAmericanChild believes. We provide parents with the information they need to be the best advocates
for their own children.
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