New Head of Teacher's Union Attacks NCLB
Randi Weingarten, the new president of the American Federation of Teachers, called this week for overhauling No Child Left Behind, saying the education law "has outlived whatever usefulness it ever had" and that "it is too badly broken to be fixed." Weingarten's sharp attack on NCLB puts her at odds with U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who in her last six months on the job continues to defend NCLB. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with business leaders in Washington, Spellings said she "vigorously disagreed" with Weingarten and expressed hope that a new administration won't abandon the law's goal of having every child read and do math at grade level by 2014. "We need more NCLB, not less," Spellings said during her remarks to the Business Roundtable group, which on the same day released a report expressing alarm about the stagnant number of U.S. scientists and engineers.
The education czar urged business leaders to resist the "lofty rhetoric" of the presidential candidates and other elected officials who may be trying to undermine the law's core principles of accountability and transparency. (The country's two biggest teachers' unions have said they don't oppose accountability but resent the punitive nature of NCLB and want other measures besides testing to gauge student learning.) Spellings credited the business community for its efforts to promote math and science education, though she took some indirect criticism because the federal government has not made good on its promise to fully fund the America COMPETES Act, which was passed three years ago and calls for more emphasis on preparing students and teachers in math and science.
Tags: teachers | Margaret Spellings | No Child Left Behind
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Reader Comments
What children learn from their parents
ZERO! In most cases, especially the more impoverished households.
Which is why teachers are having such a witch of a time trying to educate them. Maybe this lack of jobs will get more mothers at home that will actually try to help educate their offspring for a change..but then again, you can't teach what you don't know. LIKE COMMON SENSE.
Teaching in today's classroom is no cake walk
I became a school teacher later in life after I had a lucrative career in sales/marketing. What I have found during my time teaching in today's classrooms is that the job is extremely demanding. In fact, it is the hardest job I have ever had (which says a lot considering my former career). The current climate in schools today has become quite oppressive and hostile towards teachers. Teachers are constantly having to change curriculum and "best practices" because school districts often panic and make changes to accomodate the latest state tests (which are constantly changing). What teachers are seeing is that they are required to teach in a way that will raise their students scores up the highest. It is all about the data and the focus is on how to make the numbers. It has become a very sad state of affairs with stressed out teachers (who are underpaid) and nervous students who are asked to work longer and harder. I work about 55 hours a week and come home stressed out every day. During my summers, I work part time and I attend workshops to keep my teaching certificate updated. The best teachers are the ones who have excellent classroom management and work hard and fast to improve as many students as possible. Teachers must work at a frantic pace in order to get all of their work done. School districts continue to add on responsibilities and take away precious prep time. Teaching is no cake walk and I urge all critics to teach in a Title I public school for just one year. They will find that their stress levels will sky rocket and their health will decline, all in the name of NCLB.
Issue 4 Apology
Children don't know better to have the responsibility to receive the education. It is the school staff, parents, and others willing to promote, who teaches responsibility to them.
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