Laws moving past No Child Left Behind

  The day has come when we can finally say education has become a priority for our government. No Child Left Behind may soon be behind us. 

      President Barack Obama has waived 10 states of the strictest elements of the No Child Left behind laws. Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee were all approved to create their own educational goals in place of those required by No Child Left Behind. Although all public schools are required to follow the rest of the guidelines set up by the law, this is a major first step to finding a real education plan that works.

   No Child Left Behind, which was passed in 2002 by former President George W. Bush, required every public school student to be proficient in math and reading by 2014, at least in terms of standardized testing. Soon after its overwhelming approval in Congress, teachers and administrators began to protest the new law saying it took away the creativity of teaching. Schools spoke out against the law when it became clear that special education and English language learners were expected to score as high as everyone else.

   As an education minor, I hear about the dangers of standardized testing in almost every class. But my education about the No Child Left Behind laws started long before I began contemplating a career as a teacher. I was entering middle school when the law came in place and I began to see new rigid rules and teaching take over fun lesson plans and creative ways to learn.

   The power of the state was taken away when Bush and the Congress under him made all of public education meet standards mandated by the federal government. Finally, the states are regaining their power. Only the individual states know what they need and what their resources are. The federal government can't tell what each state needs or what their weaknesses are.

   Some of the opposition to this new plan for education happens to be in the field of education. In a CNN article Feb. 14, education policy expert Tina Trujillo said the new policy wasn't any different – the new laws are still based on standardized testing, which isn't better, she said.

   If I decide to become a teacher, I don't want my job to depend on a subjective test. I know from experience that standardized testing doesn't represent everyone's understanding better than a student's day-to-day work. I left high school with a 3.8 grade point average but my SAT and ACT scores were average. 

   These 10 states have had their plans approved for a more flexible and attainable goal. These new rules may not be the best option and it may not be the perfect situation, but at least it's a start. Federal and state governments are finally moving away from the strict No Child Left Behind standards and that's what we all need to focus on. This is just the beginning.