Leave NCLB Behind

President Bush today voiced his intention to renew the No Child Left Behind Act, stating that

"No Child Left Behind is helping replace a culture of low expectations... As a result, the achievement gap is beginning to narrow.... There is more work to be done. So long as there is an achievement gap, we have more to do."

The truth is, about all No Child Left Behind has done is to institute a culture of increased bureaucracy - something our already bloated public education system definitely doesn't need any more of.

The problem with NCLB is that it tries to fix the education system through more testing...but our education system doesn't need more testing; what it needs is less regulation. Using standardized testing to reform the public education system is a grand case of failing to see the trees for the forest. If you stand back at a distance and look at the education system, NCLB looks great...but the truth is, NCLB is wreaking havoc at the classroom level, tying teachers' hands, forcing them to teach to the test, but preventing them from truly teaching their students. The further failing of NCLB is that it puts the responsibility for students' education squarely on the shoulders of public school teachers. The truth is, the most effective venue for a child's education is in the home: teachers introduce the concepts, but without reinforcement at home, it doesn't matter how hard teacher try, they will be ineffective. With this kind of legislation, it's no wonder that music and PE are being cut out of our schools: teachers not only have to introduce the concepts during school time, but they're forced to have students do what should be homework in class.

And all of that doesn't even include the amount of bureaucracy that NCLB adds to the public education system...at all levels. The federal government now gets more bureaucrats to impose further standards on teachers. The state governments now get more bureaucrats to impose even more standards and standardized tests on teachers. The local governments and school districts have to hire more bureaucrats to ensure that teachers are incorporating all of the district, state, and federal standards into their classroom teaching. The truth is, NCLB is leaving teachers behind: instead of doing whatever is necessary to teach students, they are regulated into teaching to the test.

President Bush is out there touting a narrowing in "the achievement gap." My question is this: is the achievement gap narrowing because low students are improving, or because high students aren't being educated properly? My suspicion, based on what I've seen happening in our public schools, is that it's the latter.

OBL for Congress

Well, Osama bin Laden is still around. Where he is, no one in the US is quite sure...but he released a new videotape the other day. You can catch the transcript of the tape here.

The funny thing is, if you take out all of the "Allah is great" garbage from the bin Laden transcript, it's pretty tough to distinguish between the radical Islamic terrorist leader and what the Democratic congressional leadership have been spouting.

I think Osama must watch CNN.

Iran: More of a Threat than Ever

Iran continues its belligerence: according to Iraq, Iran has continued its shelling of northern Iraq. There have also been multiple reports over the past few months that Iranian troops have been causing problems in the north. This is definitely not good news: Iran is getting bolder. President Bush recently warned them about their involvement in Iraq...but they're not listening. The truth is, aside from radical Islamist terrorist cells, Iran is the preeminent threat to the Western world today. They have openly supported Hamas and Hezbollah, among other terrorist organizations, they have made blatant threats against Israel, and it appears as though they are trying to provoke the US or Israel to attack, probably in order to try and justify some sort of retaliatory strike.

The threat of Islamic terrorism is ever-increasing...be wary of any presidential candidates who promote opening diplomatic ties with Iran.

Florida moves primary, Dean throws fit

Florida has jumped on the bandwagon of states who are moving up their primary elections in the hopes that they will be more important in the scope of presidential politics. Basically, everyone wants to be Iowa & New Hampshire. In response, Howard Dean has come out saying that if Florida doesn't move its primary back, its votes won't count in the choosing of a Democrat party presidential candidate.

Personally, I'm not a fan of this trend of states moving up their primary election dates...it's basically high-school style one-upmanship writ large: each state wants to thumb their nose at the other states & say "HA! I'm more important than you!" So, on one level, I agree with the DNC's pronouncement.

On the other hand, Florida is the 4th largest state in the nation, and no matter when their primary, Florida's votes definitely count. Threatening to remove Florida from the process shows to me that the DNC is more concerned with their rules & regulations than with actually choosing a candidate who truly represents America.

Personally, I think we should move to a single national primary...this way we wouldn't have to worry about the candidate being chosen in Iowa or New Hampshire...we could actually choose a candidate based on their merit, rather than basing votes on who has the most "momentum."

Survey sez: Most Americans are ignorant fools!

The latest Harris poll shows that most US adults don't know much of anything about world politics...or US politics, for that matter. Personally, I think this explains a lot...like just how Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 and John Kerry came through with nearly half of the vote in 2004.

The truth is, this really does explain a lot - when most Americans are more interested in American Idol than in the events that shape our nation, come election day, the useful idiots who actually do vote will look at issues more emotionally than logically...and Democrats' feel-good politics have more appeal to people who approach issues from an emotional, rather than logical perspective.