Obama administration encouraging states to opt out of NCLB.

Courtesy of MSNBC:

States are lining up to drop out of No Child Left Behind, the education initiative that was promoted as a historic achievement of the Bush administration. 

Since President Barack Obama announced last month that he would sign an executive order allowing states to request waivers from mandatory participation in the program, at least 27 have signaled that they will ask to opt out, and most others are reviewing their options. 

Obama said states could seek waivers as long as they adopt higher standards than those mandated under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as No Child Left Behind is formally titled. The Education Department said most states had already done that, presumably making them eligible for waivers.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan — who himself had to follow No Child Left Behind when he was chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2008 — isn't just offering the waivers. He's actively encouraging education officials to apply for them, he said, because "No Child Left Behind is fundamentally broken." 

"It's far too punitive, far too prescriptive," Duncan said. The 2002 law "led to a narrowing of the curriculum. None of those things are good for children, for education or, ultimately, for our country." In a letter to state education officials, Duncan cited "innovations and reforms" at the state and local level that "were not anticipated when the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was enacted nearly a decade ago."

That's why, he said in an interview with NBC News, "I'm actually giving away the power. ... We are giving the power to states and districts."

In my opinion there are still some very serious issues to be addressed concerning education in this country, but I am also very aware that those will not be dealt with as long as teachers are solely focused on meeting the rigid testing standards laid out in the NCLB program.

Removing that yoke from their neck should be the first step. And I have to say that simply handing the responsibility back to the individual school districts is an ingenious way to keep the Republicans from arguing against eventually doing away with NCLB altogether. (After all how could ANY Republican really argue for a Federal program versus a state solution?)

However my problem with Obama's Race to the Top program is that it encourages states and school districts to compete against each other for Federal dollars.

In my experience that is antithetical to the very thing that makes teachers tick. 

Teachers love to share their wealth of knowledge with other teachers, and they also love to learn new methods of teaching the same old subjects to their next class of students.  This inspires them and keeps things fresh and interesting.

The best teacher to have is an enthusiastic teacher in love with the idea of teaching. NOT a teacher working everyday to keep her job and worried that another state (I.E. another teacher) will get the funds that they so desperately need in THEIR schools. That kind of stress only further weighs down a professional who already carries the weight of her student's futures on her weary shoulders.

These amazing people need to be supported, not restricted. Admired, not undermined. And rewarded for their achievements, not castigated for failing to perform miracles.

The opportunity to learn is a gift, and for many people the opportunity to teach an even bigger gift.  Once the federal government understands that they will know how to address education in this country.