[Vision2020] Fwd: Town Crier Column

[Tom Trail]

>>>>Visionaries:


This article appeared in the Town Crier today.  It outlines the impact
of No Child Left Behind or better said, "No Child Left Untested."  No
Child Left Behind was advertized as being fully federally funded.  It is
very apparent that states and local school districts are having to pick up
major costs of the unfunded mandate.

Rep. Tom Trail

>>>>		Testing 1,2,3Š
>>>>		Or four, or five BILLION dollars?
>>>>		By Elyse Cregar
>>>>
>>>>Try 1.9 to 5.3 billion dollars. According to 
>>>>a 2003 report by the Government Accounting 
>>>>Office, that's the estimated range of what 
>>>>states will spend between 2002 and 2008 to 
>>>>implement school tests mandated by No Child 
>>>>Left Behind. I am not optimistic about having 
>>>>more mandated testing then we've ever seen in 
>>>>our history.
>>>>
>>>>Four major testing companies will siphon off 
>>>>our tax dollars to compile and market 
>>>>so-called standardized tests to children 
>>>>throughout the nation. The above figures 
>>>>cover only the costs of developing, scoring 
>>>>and reporting the tests. There are many more 
>>>>extended costs such as teacher time in 
>>>>preparing students and offering essays in 
>>>>addition to multiple-choice questions, so 
>>>>that these figures could be tens of billions 
>>>>of dollars higher than 5.3 billion dollars. 
>>>>Additionally, in order to meet the NCLB 
>>>>requirement for Adequate Yearly Progress 
>>>>reports, states will have to store and 
>>>>evaluate test data.
>>>>
>>>>Consider the following common folktale: A 
>>>>peasant believes his small home is too noisy 
>>>>with crying children and a snoring wife. The 
>>>>wise person in the village advises him to 
>>>>bring home a cow, then a goat, a few hens, 
>>>>and, finally, a rooster. As each animal is 
>>>>added to his home, the noise only gets worse. 
>>>>The peasant throws up his hands. "Remove all 
>>>>of the farm animals from your house," the 
>>>>sage advises. The peasant does so and lives a 
>>>>peaceful life thereafter.
>>>>
>>>>In the early days of our country, parents 
>>>>taught their children at home and literacy 
>>>>rates were high. With industrialization 
>>>>children were mandated to attend public 
>>>>schools. "But are they learning?" some people 
>>>>would ask. And so the premise of 
>>>>accountability was instituted. Teachers 
>>>>tested children at the end of a day or week 
>>>>to see how much they had retained and could 
>>>>apply to hypothetical problems.
>>>>
>>>>For many years this was the norm. Tests were 
>>>>devised, administered and graded by teachers 
>>>>for those groups of individuals known to them 
>>>>personally. Teachers continue to test as part 
>>>>of the year's teaching time, as a way to 
>>>>learn for themselves which areas of study 
>>>>need to be reinforced and which children need 
>>>>extra help.
>>>>
>>>>Bureaucrats through the years cried for more 
>>>>accountability. They voiced concerns about 
>>>>whether our children were prepared for the 
>>>>workforce in a growing economy. They 
>>>>contracted with corporations to develop, 
>>>>distribute, and grade tests. They inserted 
>>>>media budget items in order to convince 
>>>>well-intentioned people that such tests are 
>>>>necessary for the future survival of our 
>>>>society.
>>>>
>>>>By the end of the twentieth century more 
>>>>bureaucracies sprang up to handle the growing 
>>>>"demand" for accountability. Were parents 
>>>>asking for this? Certainly children were not. 
>>>>Nor, I suspect, were most teachers. Their 
>>>>days are already crowded to the point of 
>>>>having to cut creative projects to make time 
>>>>for mandated test preparation.
>>>>
>>>>With NCLB entire school districts are being 
>>>>tested by the State. In spite of shrinking 
>>>>budgets and burgeoning social ills, schools 
>>>>need to "show improvement" or face being 
>>>>taken over by privateers. And the Swords of 
>>>>Damocles - school district success rates, 
>>>>federal funding, and high school graduation - 
>>>>hang over the furrowed brows of our children. 
>>>>How dare we put this kind of pressure on our 
>>>>kids? We already experience a 30% high school 
>>>>dropout rate nationwide.
>>>>
>>>>Donald C. Orlich, Professor Emeritus at WSU, 
>>>>has written "School Reform: The Great 
>>>>American Brain Robbery."  This 259 page book 
>>>>is an indictment against current federal 
>>>>education policy and NCLB.  The details are 
>>>>meticulously researched and the reader can 
>>>>only conclude that current federal public 
>>>>school reforms are undermining the democratic 
>>>>purposes of public education. PublishAmerica 
>>>>of Baltimore is bringing out this important 
>>>>book in August.
>>>>
>>>>After researching NCLB real expenditures 
>>>>online, I am revisiting the 3Rs: I'm going to 
>>>>Revolt, Refuse and Revise whenever possible, 
>>>>starting with the children in my own circle. 
>>>>I will support these children in their 
>>>>efforts to refuse to take the test. Wisconsin 
>>>>was the first state to pass an Exemption 
>>>>Provision from the state-mandated tests, 
>>>>thanks largely to efforts of the 
>>>>home-schooling community. If enough people 
>>>>gather together at local levels we can 
>>>>successfully protest this appalling waste of 
>>>>our resources - both human and financial.
>>>>
>>>>There is another common legend - about a 
>>>>fire-breathing dragon - who demands of the 
>>>>villagers their children as fodder for its 
>>>>bloated belly.
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>
>>>>Donald C. Orlich
>>>>SMEEC
>>>>PO Box 644237
>>>>Pullman, WA  99164-4237
>>>>(509)  335-4844   FAX (509) 335-7389
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>Donald C. Orlich
>>>SMEEC
>>>PO Box 644237
>>>Pullman, WA  99164-4237
>>>(509)  335-4844   FAX (509) 335-7389
>>
>>
>>--
>>
>>Dr. Tom Trail
>>International Trails
>>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>>Moscow, Id. 83843
>>Tel:  (208) 882-6077
>>Fax:  (208) 882-0896
>>e mail ttrail at moscow.com
>
>
>--
>
>Dr. Tom Trail
>International Trails
>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>Moscow, Id. 83843
>Tel:  (208) 882-6077
>Fax:  (208) 882-0896
>e mail ttrail at moscow.com


-- 
Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail at moscow.com
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