In essence, No Child Left Behind opened up a new frontier for corporate pioneers; it has not guaranteed improved public education. It has put the focus on tutoring options and transferring children from one school to another. But that shortsighted focus undercuts critical partnerships between parents and committed educators. It doesn’t focus on real local control and involvement in schools. Young people are inspired to learn when we pique their curiosity, keep parents involved and provide resources to facilitate learning. Thanks to NCLB, this vital dialogue has been muted at best and overtaken at worst by conversations about test preparation, tutoring companies and the power to choose from a diminishing number of schools that manage to meet some basic requirements. Families, school staff and school boards that want successful public schools for all youth are running out of options while companies looking for new industry niches are enjoying unlimited options.
For more than 30 years, National People’s Action, a diverse coalition of neighborhood groups, community organizations and ordinary people, has been fixing problems at the local level. We can do some things to fix this failing, profit-driven approach to educating our children: First, families and school staff need to be released from some of the limitations of NCLB and allowed to solve problems in their neighborhood schools.
Second, private companies profiting from public schools must bear the weight of success and failure. The business community that advocates for an open market in education must be held accountable for helping our children learn.
Third, we are crafting real partnerships with teachers and the business community to hammer out solutions to budget shortfalls and make smart decisions about where education funding should go.
A key element in this approach is sharing the responsibility for student success. The most important thing is educating our children and preparing them for the future–not corporate profits.
