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When it comes to having an opinion on school issues, the authorities in charge should not ignore the wishes of the people who just so happen to be paying the bills through taxes. These people would be the parents. Sure, parents are not the only ones who are paying taxes and therefore paying for our schools. Unfortunately for some of the lawmakers in this world parents should have a voice. If you were to ask the parents our views on the "No Child Left Behind" act most of us would probably have a different view of the program than we did when it was first pitched to us before its implementation.

I think the No Child Left Behind Act should really be called More Children Left Behind and there are many statistical figures to back up such a claim. When Florida first instituted the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (the FCAT), in 1998, they did so under the hopes and dreams of renewing and refreshing Florida's education system. This was supposed to set the standard for school systems all over the country. On the contrary, it had the opposite effect. Sure, other states may be testing their students but they must be doing it better than the state who instituted the practice.

Florida now sits in the bottom ten percent of schools in the country as far as academic standards go. Test scores are down terribly. The politicians do not realize what they are doing to Florida's youth by instilling such a test requirement. Teachers are beside themselves and they do not know what to do to help the children.

They can have a straight A student in the third grade. They then give this student the FCAT test. If the student fails the test, he/she will have to repeat the grade. This student's report card means nothing when it comes to moving on to the next grade level. This is the same for eighth grade and tenth grade as well.

I personally know of a student whose future the FCAT could have possibly ruined. This test apparently scared him to the point of failing and he had to repeat the test in order to graduate. He took the test three times. This student achieved a straight A report card each and every time but yet failed the FCAT. This student, although stressed out, did graduate and is now studying to work at NASA. It was not the FCAT exam that got him where he is today. His hard work, dedication and perfect grades have garnered his success.

This practice of making the students pass the FCAT in order to move on to the next grade level is just beginning to show major negative

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