By Victoria M. Young

To stop the harmful consequences of No Child Left Behind , I was told that I must pressure Congress. Implied is that my voice is equal to a corporation, but is it? The business model of outcome-based education, as demonstrated through No Child Left Behind , has led to control of the education profession by those in the business of education.

Forgotten is the purpose of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It was to strengthen and improve educational quality and access to opportunities. Funding was targeted to support the educationally deprived children produced by the inequality that has been accepted in poorer communities and their schools.

No Child Left Behind , the 2001 version of this same law, aims “to close the achievement gap with accountability , flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind .” Achievement , judged by standardized tests, is the basis of the accountability system. It has not held itself accountable for the high cost and little results of the last ten years. Flexibility disappeared from classrooms whose children most needed it, and choice hasn’t included common-sense community solutions. No Child Left Behind has not funded gains for quality or equality!

To save our schools, we must hear the other side of the story.