Should the architects of "No Child Left Behind" be held accountable for predators victimizing schools?

No

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by Marcus Brooks

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Recently, a case in Reno, Nevada surfaced on a Dr. Phil episode. A female student was kidnapped from her university. A few weeks later, her body was dumped along a highway. She was raped and strangled. She ended dead, like dozens of young women that day. Predators either stalked them or attacked at first opportunity. In the world we live in, bad things usually happened to good people.

For decades, sexual predators prayed on schools and other learning institutions. They used the playgrounds and windows to classrooms as their hunting grounds. Each day, thousands of registered, sex offenders prowled within striking distances of our children. They watched them walking to school with their friends. They watched them walking from school alone. They used whatever tricks or manipulation to assault our children. Some criminals even took to going on the Internet. They logged on to websites and chat room to discuss ways of bypassing the legal system, to committ better crimes and to conceal evidence. Some discovered new locations to grab children. Some discovered new techniques to get close to their potential victims. Some included taking jobs that gained them access to children, such as janitorial or custodial work for school districts. Some used their education to become volunteer mentors, Big Brothers or Big Sisters. That allowed them promixity to at-risk or troubled kids, like children with no father or mother at home, latchkey children, "system" or foster care children. Amoral individuals preyed on our younger generation and set back progress made through the legal system.

However, critics blamed the rise of sex crimes among children on "No Child Left Behind". Somehow, a program made to uplift disadvantaged students into the 21st Century received blame for the recent kidnappings, assaults and murders of kids.

When Polly Klaas was taken from her bedroom, did "No Child Left Behind" open her window? When a girl from Florida was grabbbed by a man on a surveillance camera, did "No Child Left Behind" help her assailant? In both cases, the victims died in horrible fashion. They were raped and strangled by their male killers. A case occurred near Charles City involving a girl's body being found in a corn field. Prior to her death, she was held prisoner and repeatedly raped by two brothers. Later on, she was beaten and strangled. "No Child Left Behind" wasn't a 40-something year old man raping a 12 year-old! But, politics took the focus away from the real criminals and placed blame on a program bettering our nation's poor and impoverished.

Even the renowned, John Walsh had his share of political bootstrapping. He always knew who killed his son. Adam Walsh disappeared from a Hollywood, Florida mall during summer of 1981. Investigators found his head floating in a canal hundreds of miles from where he disappeared. For over 20 years, a father sought justice for his son's murder. The police department made crucial mistakes with the case and a predator remained at large. But, in 1996, the alleged killer confessed. A few years later, he recanted. And then, he confessed again. And finally, he died a slow, painful death deserving! However, a new police chief re-opened the cold case. After a thorough investigation of the evidence, the dead killer was proven guilty. And, it wasn't "No Child Left Behind".

In 2001, this program was started so our nation's next generation could move us forward. Urban schools began receiving more updated textbooks and school equipment. More, qualified teachers were hired. States got more involved in the funding of their schools. Parents and school administrators decided to work together, instead of being at odds. "No Child Left Behind" enabled thousands of students to graduate and enroll in secondary education. Without it, another generation would've been lost like the one that returned from Vietnam.

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