Issue Position: No Child Left Behind

Issue Position

No Child Left Behind:

No Child Left Behind doesn't work. It's underfunded, it relies on punishments instead of rewards, and it's not responsive to the needs of individual communities. One of the most important things I've learned during my lifetime of work on complex issues like education is that you can't make fundamental changes to things like how we teach our children without asking for input from the people who actually teach our children. Ask any teacher and they could have told you they need more classroom time to teach real concepts and skills, not less time because they're teaching to a test. They could have told you their schools are already under-funded even without the unfair and excessive burden of meeting No Child Left Behind. And they could have told you that improved performance - for anyone - comes from rewards, not punishments. Our schools desperately need help at all levels, but the solutions we need must be innovative, inclusive and, above all, fair to everyone - teachers, communities, and most importantly, students.

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