Bush's Footprint on Education

As we come to the close of eight years of one president it is an important time to look at the legacy that will be left behind. President George W. Bush was elected twice to lead our country in times of war and peace. He was tasked with the most prestigious and perilous job in the world. While we all have opinions on his effectiveness, focus and general actions both at home and abroad I want to focus on one very deep impression he left on our education system.

In 2001 President Bush along with the Congress promised us the most comprehensive school reform bill ever passed by the federal government. This was both a campaign promise and a focused effort by the first Bush White House. The administration offered us the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The bill was debated and written with bi-partisan support. While it only required 51 Senators to pass the bill was received with 87 yeas and only 10 neas. Representatives from every state in our nation except Minnesota, Nebraska and Vermont voted for this bill.

If you read the text of the bill (hit the link and it will take you to the complete text) you will find that it offers a promising opportunity to advance our educational system. It addresses a wide variety of situations and needs, offering both carrot and stick to improve schools across this country. Overall the bill gives our municipalities, states and federal government a guideline for improvement and excellence. It sets the rules of the school report card and offers new financial support.

All of these things seem to be appropriate and hopeful. Our nation has been screaming for school accountability and improved consistency for decades. As we trust our most precious asset, our children, to the government we expect that they are doing their very best to teach and prepare our kids and can be held accountable when they are not. Public Education has always been one of the greatest gifts our country has given to its people. No Child Left Behind was written to provide a scorecard and face lift to this system.

In reality the law has failed to provide the type of impact that was touted. The translation of a federal law into practice has taken a hopeful practical document and muddied it up with the realities of inconsistency and the complications of locally run school districts. In every town, in every state parents, educators and administrators have all had to learn, what does NCLB mean to me? For administrators it has been a challenge to rework hiring practices, training, and ultimately budget priorities to meet the requirements laid out by this law. For teachers it has redefined many careers placing a new title of 'highly qualified' into a field that has not been highly regulated beyond the stages of initial license and tenure. For parents it has redefined how we measure if schools are succeeding or failing. More importantly it reemphasized a major burden on our children, the standardized test.

The ultimate impact of NCLB has been the role of the standardized test in our society. Regular consistent testing of our children has been around for decades. The SAT was started in the 20s and has played a key role in the transition from secondary education to higher education. NCLB has forced our schools to focus their attention on the subject matter, process and results of regular testing starting in the fourth grade if not before. While testing is not necessarily a bad thing, the time, focus and impact of these tests has become disproportional to a well rounded education. We are seeing children focus more of their time on how to answer multiple choice questions rather than the critical thinking development we need for our society to succeed.

While that probably oversimplifies the issue the key point is time. Our children spend a limited period of time in our public schools. That time is precious and should be used in a way to prepare each person for the next stage of their lives. NCLB promises accountability and is an effective way to evaluate teachers and schools. Unfortunately its evaluations are based on a very narrow criteria of testing around reading, math and cognitive skills. We need our schools to be accountable, but we need our children to be capable, interested human beings who can engage the problems of our world in a meaningful way. The 'real world' is not a game of checkers or go fish, but a game of 3d chess with potentially tragic results if you loose. Our schools and government need to recognize this challenge.

President Bush left an indelible mark on our education system. It was a mark made with good intention and the support of many of us. His impact will be felt for the years and decades to come as we come to terms with the true meaning of Accountability, Educational Reform and ultimately the success and failures of No Child Left Behind. As he leaves office it is time it dust off the documents, reports and laws that were generated by his administration and learn from both their successes and failures. NCLB is not necessarily a 'bad' law, but currently it is not well understood. Our challenge now is to learn how best to use it to its full potential.