Op Ed:
NCLB Badly Distorted,
In A Rich Get Richer Racket
Via Easy Federal Funding

Case in point: Neal Bush is now CEO of a media-producing firm furnishing NCLB-grantors expensive learning materials of questionable teaching value, “hard-sold for use in every classroom” and partially owned by Bush-family investments.

Art courtesy: pencilsdown.org

(BEND, Ore.) - Many in the education field in our United States Public School System feel very strongly that NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) --ostensibly providing assistance for neglected learners-- has become “a set of fast-flowing federal funding going heavily to tests, texts and tutoring”.

Thousands of educators, parents, and others involved have reached Congressional leaders, who reportedly are “feeling the heat” from constituents in every state.

However, finally, the demand “for real accountability” is forcing “investigation into flaws, errors, damaging rigidities; not really so-intended on passage” into this Bush Texas-born program.

Schools throughout Oregon have encountered the rigidities demonstrated by NCLB. “One-third of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson schools” were affected: Bend BULLETIN front-page lead 8/31.

Oregon’s Education Department --long a leader in “personal learner-growth” measurement vs ”standardized-test” approach lobbied by corporate/business interests-- lists many other schools suffering under this program.

That realistic-level of demand NOW definitely includes producers/suppliers furnishing “real research proving practical classroom success” for many new products that are up till now “practically now untested”; and for “tutoring --now often done by incompetents without professional license or experience".

Congress must make sure NCLB is NOW very-thoroughly revised to “preserve its ‘accountability’-strengths”; while eliminating “heavy-funding gains for tests, texts and tutoring suppliers” found across the nation.

Real weight is behind wide, broad, deep and intense complaints from both parents AND teachers; as reflected by an investigative study supplied to Congressional leaders.

The U.S. Office of Education has been far too lax-and-easy on many publishers of texts, tests and learning materials, allowing funding to proceed “despite lack of essential accountability as demanded in the law” itself, the study demonstrates; while STILL holding local school districts and states to overly-rigid requirements often seen as “forcing failures when true progress by other measures” was well underway.

This Internet news site produced and immediately placed into the public domain a 23-part, more than 250-page disclosure of many ongoing NCLB-funded situations, deeply-documented.

The information is also on DIATRIBUNE, found at http://www.diatribune.com or at: http://dailykos.com, which is one of most-often consulted Internet sites in computer-era history, known for daily visits daily by national leaders.

Heavy- flowing new federal-funding is emphasized by one AP-story report cited in Diatribune’s study: “$500 million spent per year to tutoring companies and other suppliers of supplementary services that are not held accountable.”

That documenting public-press report is found at: http:// www.boston.com/ and the essential dollar-number comes directly from Hillary Clinton, a leading member of the Congressional group most closely involved with NCLB re-evaluation.

Bush’s two Texas “educational counselors”, Margaret Spellings and Sandy Kress --one now U.S. Secretary of Education, the other a lavishly/paid lobbyist after designing the original essential NCLB structure-- and closely-allied family associates are well-benefited by those “newly-opened spigots for federal-flow” of wealth.

They ALL profit from “the latest example of ‘crony capitalism’ for the three major segments of educational services most heavily impacted” and well-populated by Bush cronies, as the Diatribune study documents.

Bush-brother Neal, of notorious Silverado Bank-failure “fame” --costing taxpayers at least one billion-- is now CEO of “a media-producing firm furnishing NCLB-grantors expensive learning materials of questionable teaching value”, with expensive equipment “hard-sold for use in every classroom” --partially owned by Bush-family investments.

The lead reading-learning program “Reading First,” the heart of NCLB-proposed media/methods, originated with a University of Oregon research-center professor and his major student.

Professor Ed Keme’enui and then-student Doug Carnine are now at the U.S. Office; in commanding positions, presenting conflict of interests since they benefit from publisher-produced versions of these materials.

That conflict came under federal investigation; Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are publicly pledged NOW to find out the facts --soon.

The study describes efforts of both U.S. Office participants, favoring usage of their lucrative products provided by “learning materials suppliers profiting from those fast-flowing federal-funding dollar-outlets”; enforced by the NCLB regulations they administer, backed by frightening sanctions built into NCLB; which can force schools to transport pupils to other schools, or to face loss of teachers, OR to supply broad tutor-support; all at cost of federal funding granted to the school, thus placed under considerable stress.

NCLB-actions are keyed and triggered by “standardized”-tests --long a favorite for state-legislative pressures by corporate/business interests over the past three decades.

That testing-approach is highly controversial, long a battleground for educators faced with necessities to achieve demonstrable learning.

The professional investigation by Diatribune supplies some forty Internet-URL “single-click links” for access to daily newspaper, national magazine and other sources-cited. They provide intriguing, unchallengeable details of inestimable value on the most controversial federally-funded program ever to impact our educational system.

That demonstrates the great public value of Internet-access and resulting reporting today.

Such Internet-based action is being hailed nationally as among early demonstration of depth and detail now available to the public from the Internet; compiling, consolidating and reporting essential local, state and nationally revealing information often neglected by more-traditional media channels; for whatever ostensible reasons-cited. Which is why we cite it here on Salem-News.com in some depth and detail.

In contrast comes anguished words from Margaret Spellings, now Secretary of Education, with Congressional investigators and the vaunted Washington press-corps.

Her address was to a business-professional group. She did NOT mention any difficulties with NCLB; brought to light only by questions from reporters. She castigated Congressmen on trying to implement changes that are now being demanded due to the failing NCLB programs. (9/10/07 New York TIMES)

She charged that the new flexibilities, and removal of many proven operational-rigidity difficulties “could be a significant retreat from accountability.”

The House draft Spellings publicly attacked was created to preserve student-proficiency goals while broadening student-progress demonstration of results.

The Senate version makes other demanded changes brought to attention by constituent and participant responses nearing the million-count.

Coming from her, this statement is ironic in tone, intentionally or not, with her own role in NCLB offering a professional, if not economic, conflict of interest.

Spellings was Bush educational advisor in Texas, working closely with Sandy Kress, Texas educator.

Both came to D.C. with Bush.

Kress was original instigator of most of NCLB’s controversial plan, protocol and legal requirements.

The Diatribune study makes this flat statement:
“For those who created this odious law, the goal was never to educate children. The goal was to make money.”

Then the piled-high documentation is supplied, complete with easy-access links to statements from original sources.

The Bush administration attitude towards the NCLB hard-sell was outwardly exposed early-on when it was revealed that a $250,000 payment had been made to Armstrong Williams, an on-air personality, to tout and praise the program with his key audiences.

Media critics characterized that action as strongly reflecting the administration belief that: “Education is only another business and its product another commodity”; to be treated by business standards and values.

Most American parents and educators will disagree very strongly with that value, believing much more is both possible and demanded for their progeny.

Information in the new study documents our government's close cooperation, if not complete surrender, to objectives and goals of the Business Roundtable: 300 corporate CEOs known for efforts over past decades to shape and modify state-level standards in education, at high cost.

Their efforts, reinforced over decades by “corporate campaign contributions” in many states, ran into rough review in the late ‘80s.

The backlash forced drastic modifications including far less pressure for charter schools --seen predominately among educators as “privatization primarily for profits” but also for economic and cultural control.

The Diatribune study outlines two semi-racketeering --and surely profiteering-- channels; by which “many current and newly established text, test and tutor suppliers are now tapping those flowing faucets” of federal funding.

Too many are profiting without supplying the law-required findings of proven and state/standards-based “educational research to provide substantial documentation for learning progress results.”

It’s impossible herein to summarize many aspects, rigidities and difficulties found in NCLB since its rushed arrival; via a Congress mostly uninformed and far too much under strong corporate control.

This Op Ed proves to YOU the value of “seeing with own eyes” in the heavily-documented study reported here, for YOUR interested-citizen and deeply-concerned parent responsibilities.

CHECK OUT these links --and MANY MORE at Diatribune-- for “easy access” on deeply-felt need-to-know about NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. This is much more than an opening Bush-gun and corporate-backed attack to overwhelm and take/over American education.

Like other Bush administration initiatives and actions, it is a direct-attack on our Constitution, built on Founder-created and long world-praised principles of equality and a level platform for all “in pursuit of happiness”.

Today, in the Seventh Year of our 21st Century, more than in any previous century in world history, those very principles demand precisely that starting point for every child, at any level of our economy, or our culture, OR our social classes.

THEN let your voices be heard, by OUR Congress. Only thus can the wit, wisdom and will of the Americans be heard-AGAIN in OUR Capital, Washington, D.C.