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The No Child Left Behind initiative, may sound like a good thing when it comes to the education of our nations children but it fails in its attempt to provide adequate education for all of the children. It is a good idea to have standards for education and hope that every child can meet those standards but the standards set are basically the only criteria that the government bases how good a school or school system is when it decides to dispense funding.

To the dismay of schools that serve areas that have circumstances that are not conducive to learning, the schools are being left behind and told that they are doing too poorly to qualify for additional funding to improve the quality of education in the schools. There lies the problem the law was suppose to improve the quality of education for all but it instead is being used to hurt those in areas that have issues that have little to do with the education process itself but does spill over into the schools.

It is a proven fact that issues in one area of an individuals life can spill over into other areas of their lives causing problems for that individual and possibly others. In the education process we cannot just look at the standards that the government sets, we also have to look at what is going on in the communities to see what is deficient enough to cause concern that it is likely to spill over into the schools. No Child Left Behind if written as it should have been written would take societal and community based problems into account when setting the standards so they have a better understanding of how to address the problems and how to implement the new standards.

There are also other concerns that the government needs to look at which is physical and mental abilities when adopting standards due to the fact that not everyone has the physical or mental acuity to be able to live up to those standards when it comes to the way the education process is done at this time. When it comes to a physical, mental impairment or even an inability to test in a manner that would show what they have learned, we need to seek alternative ways of dealing with those students rather than allowing them to continue to fall through the cracks.

The law as written is good for the politicians due to the fact that they get recognition for trying even though it is a half hearted attempt at doing something right. On the other hand as written it is bad for our country as a whole due to it lending a hand to the widening gap between social classes in the United States.

The only way I can see it being renewed is if it is reworked to take into account the societal problems that hinder performance along with physical and mental impairments. If we are to live up to the premise of the law and to do right by the future generations we will not have the needed skills to make sure that the future generations have what they need to equip themselves with the ever changing world.

Learn more about this author, Sean Davis.
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