By:

Mileah K Shore

 

When it comes to having an opinion on school issues, the authorities in charge should not ignore the wishes of the people who just so happen to be paying the bills through taxes. These people would be the parents. Sure, parents are not the only ones who are paying taxes and therefore paying for our schools. Unfortunately for some of the lawmakers in this world parents should have a voice. If you were to ask the parents our views on he "No Child Left Behind" act most of us would probably have a different view of the program than we did when it was first pitched to us before its implementation.

 

I think the No Child Left Behind Act should really be called, More Children Left Behind and there are many statistical figures to back up such a claim. When Florida first instituted the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (the FCAT), in 1998, they did so under the hopes and dreams of renewing and refreshing Florida's education system. This was supposed to set the standard for school systems all over the country. On the contrary, it had the opposite affect. Sure, other states may be testing their students but they must be doing it better than the state who instituted the practice.

 

Florida now sits in the bottom ten percent of schools in the country as far as academic standards go. Test scores are down terribly. The politicians do not realize what they are doing to Florida's youth by instilling such a test requirement. Teachers are beside themselves and they do not know what to do to help the children.

 

They can have a straight A student in the third grade. They then give this student the FCAT test. If the student fails the test, he/she will have to repeat the grade. This student's report card means nothing when it comes to moving on to the next grade level. This is the same for eighth grade and tenth grade as well.

 

I personally know of a student who the FCAT could have possibly ruined his future. This test apparently scared him to the point of failing and he had to repeat the test in order to graduate. He took the test three times. This student achieved a straight A report card each and every time but yet failed the FCAT. This student, although stressed out, did graduate and is now studying to work at NASA. It was not the FCAT exam that got him where he is today. His hard work, dedication and perfect grades have garnered his success.

 

This practice of making the students pass the FCAT in order to move on to the next grade level is just beginning to show major negative implications in the school system. A perfect example of this is the fact that if a student fails the FCAT three times in a row they are moved up to the next grade level. This means that a third grader who has failed the test three times has been in the third grade for three years in a row trying to pass a test. After the third try they are moved on to the next grade level. Because of this, we now have children who should be in the eighth grade who are actually in the fifth grade. As a mother, I can tell you that there are tremendous differences between an eighth grader and a fifth grader. Do politicians know the term puberty?

 

The above example may also hold true for freshman students who should be seniors ready to take on the world and go to college. It is my fear that when some of these students reach that point they will just give up and not finish school. How much fun can it be to be eighteen-years-old and still be a freshman in High School. How devastating to a student's ego to be told that good grades and learning are not good enough, you must also now be a perfect test taker.

 

It is not only failing grade levels that are a negative aspect of the FCAT. Some school districts in Florida have deemed it mandatory to take an hour out of the day for students in High School to dedicate to an FCAT class. There is no credit offered for this class. It is just a class solely dedicated to the test. This, in my opinion, is a waste of an hour at school that the students could be using actually learning something. Students in the third grade learn absolutely no History or Social Studies until after the FCATs are over because there is no testing on those subjects. Teachers are actually forbidden to teach any history to any third grader.

 

It is this writer's opinion that the No Child Left Behind Act does not benefit the child in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it hurts them, more than any politician is willing to admit at this point. One can only guess at what the politicians would have to gain from this act that demoralizes children and stresses teachers and parents almost to the brink. I realize that the test scores determine how much money a school gets and that can be a good thing, but in the long run, when we hurt the children, then it really is a terrible thing. I feel that hindsight could be 20/20 when it comes to this act. The premise is simple but the reality is very different.