Past experience with federal education programs predicts that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act will also fail parents whose children are doing poorly in school. The federal government has spent over $120 billion on Title 1 programs for low-income students since 1965. Yet the literacy rates for these children today are appalling, and the achievement gap between low-income children and their peers has not closed.
If the U.S. Department of Education wants to give real choice to parents, they should not be tinkering with a failed government-controlled school system that, by its very nature, strangles free choice and competition.
Americans have been blessed with a system that gives them almost unlimited choices in their daily lives for almost four hundred years-it's called the free market. If parents could pay for their kids' education in a totally unregulated, fiercely competitive education free market, free from government controls, parents would have all the school choice in the world. This education free market would also give their kids a superb, low-cost education.
Yet too often, government officials with their bureaucratic mentality, distrust the free market, the same free market that brings them their cars, clothes, computers, electricity, and fresh food. The No Child Left Behind Act adds yet another layer of federal regulations to the already strangling layers of local and state government regulations on education.
If the federal government truly wants to give parents more school choice, they should be working to remove local and state controls over education, not adding to those controls with the No Child Left Behind law and other regulations. That is like trying to cure a person dying of arsenic poisoning by giving him more arsenic.
Naturally, government education officials can't understand the fact that government control of education is not the solution, it is the problem.
Over the past fifty years, federal, state, and city governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to "fix" the public schools. They have failed, time and again. For example, in July, 2005, the Congress-mandated National Assessment of Education Progress showed that high-school students' dismal reading skills have not improved since 1999.
High-school drop-out rates in inner-city, low-income minority areas range from 30 percent to over 50 percent. High-school dropouts are far more likely to end up in prison during their lifetimes. A U.S. Bureau of Justice report estimates that approximately 47 percent of drug offenders and 75 percent of state prison inmates are high-school dropouts. Dropouts are also about three times more likely than high-school graduates to end up on welfare.
These are not just appalling statistics. These numbers represent millions of bright, eager chidren whose lives can be ruined by public schools that fail them.
Trying to repair the public-school system is futile, precisely because it is a compulsory, government-controlled monopoly. Trying to fix this system with vouchers, charter schools, or the No Child Left Behind Law is like trying to cure cancer with a band-aid.
Parents should not pin their hopes on any government-sponsored school-choice alternative. Vouchers, charter schools, and the No Child Left Behind Act are simply too little, too late. Also, powerful, entrenched special-interest groups in the public-school establishment fight school choice because they benefit from parents' and children's subservience to the system.
Parents should not expect the public schools in their neighborhoods to improve. If you want to give your children a decent education and a chance at life, you must take their future into your own hands, now. It is useless to hope that the public-school system has the will or ability to reform itself. It is a waste of your time, and your children's precious time, to deal with, plead with, or complain to public-school authorities or employees who benefit by the system.
Instead, do as the citizen-slaves of communist East Berlin did when they fled to freedom in West Berlin-vote with your feet. Consider writing-off the public-school system. Consider taking your children out of these schools, permanently. You and your children remain victims of the public-school system only by your own consent. The power to withdraw your consent is a power that public-school authorities can't stop. Withdraw your consent and refuse to be a victim any longer.
There are many other education resources that parents can use right now to give their kids a quality, low-cost education. These resources include the new Internet private schools, Internet tutors, low-cost, learn-to-read and learn-math books in libraries and bookstores, computer learning software, and home-schooling. I discuss all these great new education options in my book, "Public Schools, Public Menace."
Joel Turtel is the author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."
Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted ? 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
Recently, a parent came to me, conflicted over whether to... Read More
What do you mean average? Not good? Just doing good... Read More
In the last 20 years we've all been introduced to... Read More
As a parent, you probably know that the birthday party... Read More
I'm sure many of you have heard that old Hallmark... Read More
Child care costs are are one of the most expensive... Read More
Raising a pre-teen or teenage daughter (or son) is not... Read More
In the news, we hear and see an increasing number... Read More
Uh oh.Your kids arrive home with their school reports and... Read More
Choosing a good car seat for your child's protection is... Read More
Are you worried about your child's reading habits? Perhaps you... Read More
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the phrase that is... Read More
She slipped her small, soft eight-year-old hand into mine. Her... Read More
Most of our Founding Fathers, including Ben Franklin, Sam Adams,... Read More
Some children practically potty train themselves, while others struggle and... Read More
We are all so very happy to see that the... Read More
Many children enjoy TV, and they can learn from it.... Read More
Once the newness has worn off a little, you will... Read More
If there are any parents reading this who are thinking... Read More
Remember when cash was a tangible commodity in all of... Read More
The First Reason: For one thing, child development experts are... Read More
Strattera came out around January of 2003, and is becoming... Read More
Teens can freely access the Internet from computers at school,... Read More
Research has shown that the present generation of children worldwide... Read More
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine,... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Bannockburn ..We are all familiar with the stories that most students... Read More
Every year over one million parents have to talk to... Read More
There's a new trend for party entertainment. It seems as... Read More
Research literature, recent books, and common sense, all point to... Read More
Are you a professional?Notice how the questions differs from, "Do... Read More
Discipline is a necessary part of parenting yet it makes... Read More
The main thing we noticed since having a baby is... Read More
"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds... Read More
This year alone, 1,600 teenagers aged 15 to 19 will... Read More
"No thank you. Don't bother to send me the report... Read More
All too often, children with learning disabilities are seen through... Read More
Words are truly powerful things. They are something that becomes... Read More
In this form of treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder... Read More
My oldest boy is fifteen and was a real jerk... Read More
Once, as a Learning Support Teacher, I made my way... Read More
Oh yes you have! Suddenly, "Where's Bobby?" You instantly realize... Read More
Just as every snowflake is unique, so is every child.... Read More
Many of us have grown up drinking caffeinated diet sodas... Read More
You need to smart to be able influence adolescents. You... Read More
As the father of a toddler, I am an expert... Read More
Last night Tom's daughter, Sue, came out of her room... Read More
Does music need to be "dumbed-down" for kids? The answer... Read More
You have just received a call from your child's teacher... Read More
Your Virgo Baby..August 23 - September 22Virgo children are honest... Read More
By not planning for the future we guarantee that we... Read More
Parenting |