One Point Two Million Left Behind

I've really had enough of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). It simply doesn't live up to its name. Of course, how many people are going to be willing to stand up and say that? Who wants to be the one to say, "That's a stupid idea!" and run the risk of being accused of not wanting to help kids? (Ignore the fact that the law really isn't helping kids. It's hurting those who need the most help.)

This morning, graduation rates were announced. Nationally, around 70 percent of high school students can expect to graduate. In Seattle, 67.6 percent of students will graduate. Seattle schools, and schools across the country, will be punished for not graduating 100 percent of their students (the unrealistic goal set by no child left behind). They will receive less federal money, and that money they do receive will have to be spent on new, government mandated programs rather than community outreach, parenting classes, drug treatment programs, English as a second language classes, and any number of other things that might be beneficial. Teachers will be fired or demoted because their students didn't perform to NCLB standards.

One more thing was announced today: 1.2 million kids will drop out of school entirely this year. They won't finish high school. They won't get diplomas. They will be doomed to lives below the poverty level, scraping a living at minimum wage or working higher paying but dangerous manual labor types of jobs.

Here's a profile of the kids in Seattle who won't be graduating this year: They will be poor. All of them. They will come from primarily single parent homes in which that single parent likely does not have a high school diploma. Most of them will have been going to school without breakfast and an adequate winter coat since they were small children. (Notice that nationally, the schools with the lowest graduation rates are in cities where poverty runs rampant: Detroit, with a 24.9 percent graduation rate, Cleveland, with a 30.5 percent graduation rate.) Many of them will be African American. Many of them will be drug addicted. Many of them will have been abused. Many of them will have a learning disability. Many of them will not speak English. (According to Seattle's primary ESL school, not a single one of their students has ever passed the WASL--Washington's NCLB test--and they don't expect any of them to pass in the future. The standard of being able to pass it after one year of English instruction is simply too unreasonable. Students who grew up speaking English still can't pass the test! Even though they are legal immigrants, they will be punished for not being born here.) Many of them have children themselves, although they're teenagers (thanks abstinence education). Many of them will have already spent time living on the streets. Many of them will have already been involved in prostitution. Many of them will have already done jail time. And yet these kids are included in the 100 percent compliance goal the NCLB has set. NCLB is intentionally weeding out the so-called "undesirable" kids under the premise that it is encouraging an equal chance for all children. NCLB does not leave a single door open for these kids. If they are incapable of meeting its standards, they are turned onto the street. Period. But as long as they don't come from homes with money, who cares, right? No one is going to protest. (Until someone steals their BMWs--and then the protest won't be about lack of a diploma.)

I should point out that NCLB has no suggestions and gives no leeway for students who cannot meet its standards. The GED isn't an option: it's not considered an acceptable outcome under NCLB. Only a high school diploma will suffice, so school districts desperately trying to keep federal funding are doing all that they can to eliminate GED programs and encourage kids who will never pass the WASL (or other state tests) to stay in school. Career Link, the program I for which I taught, severed ties with Seattle Public Schools last year. On the surface, this was because of funding issues, but the reality of the situation is that they were fearful of losing money if all the kids in the district didn't take the WASL. Career Link just learned it will be forced to close in June of this year.

Remember all those kids in Seattle who will not earn high school diplomas (over 30 percent)? After June (when they don't graduate with their classes and Career Link is forced to shut its doors), they will have one less place to turn. They will actually have been left behind.