The politicization of education
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Jan Resseger is back complaining about No Child Left Behind education act... and she's just as enlightening as ever. From UC News:
As I mentioned last year, there may be sound and faithful reasons to disagree with the No Child Left Behind Act, but Resseger barely makes the case and leaves the strong impression that this is more about politics than education.
The National Council of Churches will sponsor a national conference March 9 in Arlington, Va., on "fixing" the No Child Left Behind education act.A year ago, Resseger complained how dropout rates were climbing under the No Child Left Behind education act. When we actually checked the facts, we found out that the dropout rates between 1990 and 2004 dropped from 12.1% to 10.3%.
Although the event will include secular participants, the involvement of the nation's largest ecumenical religious organization signals a growing grassroots concern about the 2002 law, which is scheduled for reauthorization by Congress this year.
"It's a complex issue, and we want people to get a handle on it so they can speak from their faith," said Jan Resseger, the UCC's minister for public education and chairwoman of the National Council of Churches' Committee on Public Education and Literacy. "We hope people will be well-prepared to speak to Congress."
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The NCC is among 105 organizations that have signed a statement demanding changes in the federal education law, including a call to decrease the testing burden on states and to ease up on sanctions against struggling schools and districts.
As I mentioned last year, there may be sound and faithful reasons to disagree with the No Child Left Behind Act, but Resseger barely makes the case and leaves the strong impression that this is more about politics than education.
