Email a friend  feed   Printer friendly  Comments

In her speech to area residents last week, State Superintendent of School Elizabeth Burmaster was on track with her comments about the federal ‘No Child Left Behind' law.

The concept of having every student educated to proficient levels and to the best of their own abilities is commendable.

However, many of the standards put in place with this law are not able to be met for all students and all districts on the same time line. The starting point is not the same.

If schools do not meet the standards set at the federal level they may be penalized. Taking away anything from schools that are already struggling is counter productive to the goal of education. If schools are having difficulties educating all children now, penalties will only serve to compound those challenges.

Burmaster spoke of the Advancing rural Wisconsin Initiative which she said is designed to tackle challenges facing schools and libraries in rural areas.

Educating children goes beyond a teacher standing in front of a classroom full of students. It means having buildings which meet code, transporting the children to school, having appropriately trained teachers for the varying needs of the students and having the appropriate curricular materials. The simple fact that each student is different - has different interests, learns differently and has a diverse background - means that you can't lump everyone into the same set of accomplishments.

Establishing state goals or standards is far more beneficial to the students of Wisconsin. We encourage Wisconsin to continue developemtn of its Advancing Rural Wisconsin Initiative.

Tell us what you think...

Comments »

Debra Craig wrote on Aug 20, 2006 8:19 AM: " Absolutely! As a public school teacher who works at a low socio-economic high school in California, your editorial states perfectly what's wrong with NCLB. However, while its goals are commendable, the fact is, it needs to be eliminated and be reincarnated in a brand new form. I urge all parents and local politicians to voice these views to the politicians in Washington D.C. This NCLB madness needs to stop before it does even more harm to our public schools, especially in the area of teacher morale, than it already has. " The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.

Post a comment (150 word limit) »

We will not post reader comments containing racial, religious or personal attacks, slander, profanity, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers or Web site addresses that are for personal or promotional gain.

Name: Email: (optional) Comments: Image Verification: (Case sensitive)

Thank you for your comments! Once your comments are approved, they will appear on the site.