OUR VIEW: ‘No Child’ should be left behind

The Utah House voted this week to become the first state in the nation to dismiss mandates from the No Child Left Behind Act. The federal education program, while it tries to reward schools for doing good, is hurting students and teachers.

House representatives cited cost as the biggest issue for scrapping the program. Cost isn’t the only issue, though.

Under “No Child” rules, every child with a certain IQ must take a strict standardized test at the end of each school year. All students must show a noticeable improvement at the end of each year. If not, the school fails and doesn’t get federal money. Those inner-city schools that bring students from the most ghetto of areas – who are just trying to get the kids to school – they will fail. The schools that pass will get money and do better. Those that fail will just get worse.

Another requirement for these schools to get money is for its teachers to be “highly qualified.” For many, that means going back to school to meet these federal mandates, which are too complicated to apply to 50 states that all have individual educational requirements.

Try and find a teacher who can financially take a few years off to go back to school. Basically, it’s no teacher left standing, not no child left behind.

Congratulations, Utah, for opting out. Sure, we’ll lose some money, but it’s money we never had in the first place. The program has good intentions, but it wasn’t thought through and hurts more than it helps.