By no means is the No Child Left Behind Act a cure-all for what ails the nation’s public school system, if anything the NCLB Act is a grotesque burdensome manifestation of federal authority that does nothing to improve America’s disgraceful academic standing among industrialized nations. While the concept of teacher accountability and academic progress are noble, it should not be the domain of the federal government to institute heavy-handed, top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches, when what is needed is a local effort. Schools need greater autonomy and greater community involvement; schools also need competition in order to weed out poor performing schools that serve only to punish children, provisions which are distinctly ignored in the NCLB.

Opposition to the No Child Left Behind Act has been fierce in some sectors, though not all oppose the act because of its centralized approach to education reform. Some organizations like the National Education Association (NEA) oppose the NCLB for very different reasons. The NEA is the largest labor union in the United States, and like most labor unions, its primary goal is self preservation: maintaining the union itself and that of its members. Its name, the National Education Association, is misleading as education is of secondary importance to the union. This is evident in its vocal opposition to any measure that requires greater accountability for teachers or threatens the job of any teacher, even an inept one.

The NCLB includes provisions on teacher accountability and requires certain levels of training and education for all teachers, such provisions threaten teacher jobs and thus the NEA opposes such provision. The NEA and the like minded and equally leftist American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has opposed these measures along with attempts to introduce school choice or vouchers, arguing such efforts would undermine public education. In reality the only ones who are harmed in competition are those firms or organizations who offer an inferior product, those who win are consumers through enhanced quality and lower costs.

In education the consumers are the children and their parents, who are now forced, thanks to organizations like the NEA, to choose an inferior product and the costs are indeed astronomical as they are measured in terms of a child’s future or lack thereof in many cases.

America is hopelessly adrift when it comes to public education. Soon these short comings will begin to manifest themselves in diminished productivity, inefficiency and a reduced standing on the world stage. Statists who firmly embrace the government monopoly on education serve only to protect their own interest while children suffer in the process, teacher’s organizations, as well, are self serving with the interest of children again taking a back seat to professional babysitters afraid of competition. Sadly, even many parents aren’t looking out for the interest of their children, caring more about their child’s popularity or success on the ball field rather than their academic prowess, small wonder that the status quo has been maintained for so long.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-07-10-nea-no-child_x.htm
http://www.nea.org/index.html