NCLB: Act II

Ah, yes, business interests are profiting nicely from the hijacking of public education by corporate/politicos but how about our nation's children?

Not only has the scourge of high-stakes testing not narrowed the achievement gaps but it is contributing directly to the growing dropout problem, as evidenced by the new study by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin, titled "Avoidable Losses: High-Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis"

And how about the public money flowing to those private tutoring companies in the name of so-called 'failing' public schools? A new University of Wisconsin-Madison study of supplemental education services (reported to be among the most thorough to date) finds that participants fared no better than students who didn't get the tutoring.

Now if these far removed ed reformers and politicians who have imposed such havoc in our public schools are really serious about helping our nation's poor children, they will stop scapegoating our schools and teachers and start directly addressing the poverty and societal dysfunctions which lie at the root of the achievement gap.

When are we going to stop pretending?

Not only are turoring business making money, but also the publishers Mcgraw-Hill. For three generations the Bushes and the Mcgraws have been friends. The majority of the states use Mcgraw Hill to write and make the state tests.