No Child Left Behind, or as I call it No Child Learning Science

Hello again, loyal readers. I have a hot topic today. One that truly burns at my inner being with a hot white flame that makes me want to scream when I even think about the current situation. This country will be nothing in mere years if our children do not get the proper education that they deserve. And that education entails a myriad of things, not just english and math. The current policy we have is the No Child Left Behind Act. This is a good idea in the minds of some. I agree that a national standardized test would be a great tool to accurately determine how well a student is doing compared to their peers as well as how well school systems are doing. The SAT's and ACT's are that tool for juniors and seniors, but by then it could be too late. I don't believe, however, that there needs to be an assessment every year. I've seen how the current system works and it hurts the children and teachers alike. This annual thing is one of two reasons that I don't like the current system...
First: I've completed my schooling through High School, done some college, and have also done the Nuclear Power School in the Navy. In all cases, we have been taught for the exams. Some people will deny this fact, but there's an easy argument in my defense. The tests cover the important topics that you need to know. The teaching also covers the important topics that you need to know. Therefore, one is taught for the tests. It just wouldn't make any sense otherwise. I see nothing wrong with the testing methods that were in place prior to the No Child Left Behind Act. They were fair in their knowledge requirements and were not the focus of all teaching.
Second: The way the current system is set up, if your school does not get at least a certain score on the annual tests, your school does not receive federal funding. This ensures that the topics of English and Math are taught. These are the basics, right? Reading, writing, and arithmetic... the foundation for all other learning. That's great, but I have talked to more teachers than you can imagine and I hear the same things over and over. Their hands are tied when it comes to teaching anything else. Their focus is so heavy on the teaching to the federal tests that their teaching of other subjects have suffered as a result. What does this mean to our children? When I was in school, they started cutting back on the Arts programs in schools due to the costs of things. The Arts are necessary. They open a child's mind to a whole new way of thinking and therefore, make them more educated. It also gives them a hobby and instills pride in accomplishing something. Oh yeah, it also might just keep them out of trouble by giving them something to do. Now they are taking away Science and History. Science?! This country has done some incredible things in the field of science in our two undred and some years of history. We would not have the healthcare (as far as care goes, not the policies) that we do or the military might that we have had and continue to have without our school systems teaching Science. And History?! There's a little saying that has been thrown around as long as I remember, and it's pretty accurate. It goes "Those who do not learn from History are bound to repeat it". Our children are not being taught these subjects effectively and it will only hurt us in the future. Why is this happening? I think I know exactly why, but I won't share at this time. All I ask is that we all open our eyes and do research into why. It may just make you sick to your stomach though.
Okay, so I have voiced my concerns over the current system and you may be wondering what I would do different? Here it is...
I would require a national test in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grades only. This would keep tabs on how the children are doing, but require less taxpayers dollars to do it. And it would be more of an incentive to keep our youth learning in the 12th grade. This would be a great method for scholarship selection as well. And I would get rid of (gladly destroy is more like it) the current policy of "teach what we say or you lose federal funding". This is the biggest crock of something that I have ever heard and I cannot believe that our government has the gall to try to enforce this to the people that they serve. If you pay taxes, you get Federal funding. Period. If the school does not do well on the national exams, it is a mere reflection of the community. Maybe then the parents and other community members should actually spend the time to go to the school board meetings. maybe actually vote for and know who's on the school board. Crazy idea, isn't it? To actually do your part in your community instead of having everything handed to us on silver plates. One might argue they don't have time for it. My answer is make the time. If a family needs three jobs to survive, the only way to change it is to get involved in the community to change things. It's not easy, and I'll agree that it's easier said than done, but it's also necessary. our forefathers could have said the same things about goign to war with England for our independence. It would have been so much easier to go home after work every day, relax, and let the King make the decisions. but they wanted things changed, so they put the effort into it.
I would also slim down the people getting paid with tax dollars that are meant for education. When you add all the tax dollars that go to education in our country, we are spending well over $20,000 per student each year. How much of that is actually seen in the classroom? We have gotten so bloated in our education system with nonsense that the spending is out of control. Let's take a class of 20 kids. If we gave a teacher $400,000 and said, do you think you could effectively teach these children this year, what do you think the answer would be? Kids would not be sharing textbooks, I can tell you that. There would also be real field trips like when we were kids, to real locales so we can have our eyes opened to new things. Now, I understand that we need a Secretary of Education and Superintendants and Principals and such. but I wanted to ask that question in that way on purpose. Why? Because that's how our schools were started. They hired a teacher, gave him or her money, and asked "can you teach our kids on this budget?". The community handled it all. I would not be opposed to that again in a sense. I want to give more power back to the community, which would save money by making the decisions come from volunteers rather than from someone getting fat on taxpayer's dollars. The local communities need to decide how much they should pay for their youth's education and what should be taught. I'm a firm believer that when we get Federal government involved in something, it ends up being a huge black hole for money that never actually accomplishes what it was meant to do.
One last thing for this topic... The money paid in Federal taxes would be divided equally between all schools. I don't believe in more money for Beverly Hills, California than Garden City, Kansas. Okay, sorry I ranted for so long about this topic today. Hopefully you all agree with me. I just get so upset when I think about the policy of "do what we say and teach what we say to and use the text books that we demand or you don't get the money that you paid into for education!" Ludicrous.