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Legislators, Educators Clash on No Child Left Behind

Legislators, Educators Clash on No Child Left Behind
12/4/2007
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Scholarships.com Staff

The No Child Left Behind act seemed like a great idea at first. The House and the Senate both agreed that the law would help schools pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In a you’ve got to see it to believe it moment, more Democrats than Republicans voted in support of President Bush’s proposal.

Rules mandated by the No Child Left Behind act were set up to pressure schools into living up to scholastic standards.  By 2014, students were to meet stated reading and math expectations, and gaps between students of different ethnicities and economic backgrounds were expected to close. These goals would be achieved by administering regular tests and by holding educators accountable for their students' performance. 

It has been five years since the bill’s passage, and feelings about the law’s success are more divided than ever. President Bush, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and supporting legislators believe the law to be near perfect, but many representatives side with educators in saying that an overhaul is in order. 

Cited faults include shortage of funding, lack of sliding scales and teacher compensation. Many educators were frustrated that score improvements rather than scores were not stressed. They argued that the government spends hundreds less per student each year in poor districts and that poorly-funded schools should not be expected to meet the same standards as better-funded ones. On the other end of the spectrum were those who argued that teachers with exceptional results should be financially rewarded, a thorny issue disputed during a recent Democratic presidential debate.

The No Child Left Behind act is a controversial topic, and Scholarships.com recognizes that. In an effort to assist students with their college funding efforts, Scholarships.com has announced its Resolve to Evolve $10,000 Scholarship for 2008. High school seniors can apply for the scholarship by writing about one of two topics, the No Child Left Behind act or the rising costs of a college education.

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