Why Our Children Are Being Left Behind by Bush's 'No Child Left Behind'

When President Bush declared, in January of 2002, that 'no child will be left behind', it was my understanding, that he meant that every child in America would be given the chance to receive a decent education. Imagine my joy when I pictured in my mind an America where every child would be taught to read, write, and do math. Children who wouldn't need a calculator to give someone their change, an America where children could write an intelligible sentence, an America where the most commonly spoken word was not 'huh'. Well I suppose it's my fault. I set myself up for a major disappointment.

It seems what our Commander in Grief was really trying to say was that no matter how miserably our children failed, they would not be held back, i.e. no child was left behind. They would, however, be educated for twelve years on how to take a test.

I have more than one personal experience concerning this matter. Just a few years ago my son Peter was in the eighth grade at a TUSD public school. He tried real hard, however he had problems in the reading and writing arena. At the end of the year, after many attempts to get him extra help so he would do better, he had below average grades. With three Fs, 2Ds, and an A, in Math, I was certain that he would be required to repeat the grade before moving on to High School. However, to my surprise the school councilor suggested that he be promoted to the 9^th grade, the first year of High School here.

Needless to say, my response was not very enthusiastic. How could a school councilor suggest that a child with a grade average below a D move onto the next grade? When I was a kid one needed at least a high D average to move onto the next grade, and even then it was suggested that the child be held behind until he or she was ready to move onto the next grade level. So I brought this question to the councilor. The response was almost as ridiculous as the original notion. He said that it was essential to the social development of the child to be educated with other children of the same age.

Well this made perfect sense to me. Of course it was more important that my child make lasting relation ships with people of his own age, than it was for him to be proficient in the subjects that he was there to study. What was I thinking? A child couldn't possibly make it in this world if he didn't go to school with children his own age. After this shocking revelation, that the public school my child went to was run by complete idiots, I decided to look at some of my alternatives.

In the city of Tucson there are several magnet schools which are funded by the school system, however, are designed to be more geared toward students who may not fit into the proverbial box. After talking to some of the other parents in my area, and doing some searching on my own, I decided to enroll my son into one of the local magnet schools. Well, wasn't I proud of myself? I achieved the impossible and found a 'public school' that would do their best to cater to my individual students needs. Finally my son would be taught to read, and write with some proficiency. Something I would have liked to have time to do myself, however, in a two income family who was still below the poverty line, time was sparse indeed.

So, now my child was enrolled into a magnet school where he would be given individual attention so that he could begin to achieve what I already knew he was capable of. Or, was he? Well, apparently not. It seems that instead of individualized attention, and extra help, all he received was much easier work to do, and therefore got better grades. Now I am all for getting good grades, as long as a child is getting them for work that actually challenges him, not work he was taught in previous years. Is an A in fourth grade material really helping an eighth grade student? I think not. So what to do next?

Well then I decided to move out of the city into a smaller town. Fewer students, less competition for individualized attention, right? Apparently, this is not so. The school in the small town was a little better than the schools in the city I had moved from, and my child was getting better grades; in High School. So you would think I would be happy. Not quite. My son turned 16 halfway through the school year. Naturally being a teenager, and with money as a motivation, my son took a job at a local fast food joint. Great! However, due to long hours at work he began to miss some of his classes. After a few weeks like this, the school notified him that he had missed too many classes and was in danger of not getting credit for the year. What to do?

He talked to his boss at work about his hours but had little luck there as well. Basically he was told that if he couldn't work the hours required, he would be no longer needed at that job. So now what? The decision was painful but easy to come by. He decided, along with his mother and I, that school would just have to wait. Sounds silly but when you don't come from money you realize that a jump on the job market and building experience is much more important than graduating High School. In current times, a GED is all but equal to a High School diploma; at least in the poor persons' job market.

The sad truth is this. There are two basic types of young people in this country, no small thanks to our current Commander in Grief. There are the upper middle class and higher who can afford to graduate High School, and go to college with some help of the family in some way financially. Then there are the ones who hope to someday work full time, sometimes more than one job, and go to school. However for those of us who have tried it, it becomes clear that it is hard enough to get through college without working full time. It also becomes clear that it is hard enough to work a full time job and pay all your bills when one is not shelling out thousands of dollars a year to go to college. So how many actually succeed in doing both? Not many.

Let's say for argument sake that you are able to accomplish these super feats, and get your degree. Now, your in your twenties, you have little job experience, and your trying to get a good paying job using your degree. Well, you have to make twice as much as before because to get through college while working full time and paying all your bills you had to take out student loans. Now you have a degree but your also thousands of dollars in debt; to the government. So, you try to break into your field making say $30,000 a year to cover all your bills and not have to work two jobs.

Now, you have no experience in your field, however to get a job, you have to have experience; to accomplish this you must first work as an intern, for no money. Ok, you just have to work one paying job, still close to minimum wage to pay your bills, than also work as an intern, for free, for someone else.

Let's take stock. You went to college while working to get your degree. Now you have to work a paying job, and a free one, to get job experience. Now it's say four years later, two to get your associates, and two as an intern working for free. Now you can get a good enough job to pay your bills without working two jobs. Or do you?

While you were going to college, and working as an intern, and working paying jobs to get by for four years, you apply for that good paying job.

Sorry, no openings! Why? Because six years ago your class mate dropped out of school to get a job to help his family. In that six years he worked very hard for the same company and got raises and promotions, now he is the general manager of a John in the Cube, and makes $48,000 a year. The same management position you applied for sighting your associates' degree in business management, and your two years of intern experience.

See, while you were out there working yourself to an early grave, the other guy was working his way to the top. Why is this the best way for us poor people to make it? Simple; we can only make it if we are there when that once in a life time opportunity comes up. When your shift leader leaves to take a job elsewhere as a manager, you have to be there to fill the spot. Then, when suddenly your shift manager gets caught stealing money, you have to be there once again to fill the spot. Likewise when your general manager gets killed in a robbery, again, you have to be there to fill the spot. See we don't have rich dads' or connections from our frat school buddies to help us get in; we have to work our arses off and hope for those types of opportunities. Otherwise, we will get no where.

How is this possible in a democratic society where capitalism rules and everyone has equal opportunities? Simply put, there is no such thing. People who come from money have more opportunities, and the system is designed to perpetuate this reality.

How do the well off get it done? Easy; first it helps if your family can pay for you to go to college as well as all your room and board. Now you can concentrate on your studies, plus you have a little extra cash in case you need it to buy a test, or thesis, or professor. Then you have time as well to make connections. One of the ways the rich stay rich is by giving opportunities to other rich people. Family members, friends, or friends of the family, are your most likely first employer. It helps too if your family has given a similar opportunity to the family member of your employers. It really is a social world, if you come from money. In this world it is your social contacts that give you a leg up.

So why would there be a system designed this way? It is this way simply to help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Our system, in the disguise of democracy and equality, is designed to be a feudal system, therefore creating two castes of people, the super rich imperialists, and the below poverty worker bee slaves.

Thanks again President Bush for implementing another one of your fiendish plans to keep people down.