COLUMN: Bush is destroying public education
Bush likes rich people. He likes them too much. He likes them so much that he is working to get good education exclusively available to the rich and leaving the rest of the children behind. Bush has set out to damage the public education system in this country in order to pad the pockets of elitist privateers at the risk of depriving millions of children of a meaningful education. The first stage of this system has been implemented with No Child Left Behind; the second will come with the privatization and use of school vouchers.
The No Child Left Behind standardized testing policy has been a nightmare for students and teachers alike. It’s a failed policy that has not been adequately supported in funds. Teachers are feeling the burden of trying to get their students to reach mandates that come from a president who probably couldn’t reach them himself. Meanwhile, the funding to help students achieve what is considered “adequate yearly progress” is being cut drastically and repeatedly (These education funding cuts come from a stubborn president who fails to see the error of his irresponsible tax cuts during a time of war costing us a huge deficit, but I digress). No Child Left Behind is a big-government program that doesn’t understand individual, oversized-classroom needs. The real kick in the pants about No Child Left Behind is that instead of assisting schools that are not meeting the “adequate yearly progress” testing standards, the schools are punished. Schools that don’t pass the tests will risk losing more funding, losing more teachers and an ultimate possibility of getting shut down. This plan is oxymoronic, but helpful in burdening public education to the breaking point and ultimately shutting it down.
The quality of education cannot be judged by a test. The No Child Left Behind act also does not account for the demographics of the surrounding area or desire of students to learn. Ultimately standardized testing does not allow students to use creativity and does not allow teachers to foster independent thought because of the pressure to succeed on a Scantron. The quality of education under No Child Left Behind has been getting worse. So bad in fact, the Bush cabinet has had to dip into their bag of dirty tricks and actually pay pundit Armstrong Williams to endorse No Child Left Behind policies.
No Child Left Behind is a keen way to begin taking money out of the public sector of schooling, ultimately bankrupting it into an ineffective under-funded welfare program for students who can’t afford private schooling. However, for the lucky students who happen to be born into a life of privilege Bush has the solution, he’s going to give you more privilege. School vouchers are going to be tax dollars given back to the rich that will allow them to send their children to privatized schools. That’s right folks; the same group of people that have benefited from three previous tax cuts from this administration will be the ones able to benefit from one more government handout.
Republican privateers have used words like “choice” to entice the public to adopt a voucher policy. USU Alumni and Secretary-Treasurer of the NEA, Lily Eskelsen, said it best when she said that words like “choice” are “just market-speak for ‘We’re looking to erode a community service, so that we can give a for-profit opportunity to our cronies.’ That’s the bottom line.”
She’s right, while No Child Left Behind standards are eroding away quality education in our public schools, private schools that will be receiving the taxpayer funded vouchers. Private schools will not and cannot be forced to uphold the same educational standards (including No Child Left Behind testing). The accountability standards that are being forced upon public schools will not be there for private institutions. Private institutions are free to teach what they wish, however tax dollars in the form of vouchers should be going to public education where it’s serving the entire community and over 97 percent of Utah students who get their education in public school.
Cutting taxes for the rich, reducing education funding and imposing unfair standards is a recipe for disaster and is ultimately going to leave the majority of our country’s children behind. Instead of destroying programs such as education, the government, the Bush administration, needs to look at ways to fix them. This will take flexibility and adequate funding, as well as education enrichment programs such as Title I and after school tutoring. Our children should not be a for-profit commodity.
Cy Martz is a senior majoring in public relations. He welcomes your comments at cmartz@cc.usu.edu