[Dialogue] Ya gotta love it!

[Lee Early]

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

It was a shock and a pleasant surprise when I learned that out of all 
the schools in our District, TWO Incline schools were rated “Exemplary” 
(exceeds standards) school status.  Thirty schools were listed as 
needing improvement or placed on President Bush’s unfunded but enforced 
watch list.  Fourteen schools failing to meet the NCLB standards have a 
year to turn things around before the district is placed in management 
of those schools.

I was shocked because no one at our school was even aware of what the 
standards were.  The teachers were just doing their jobs.  They were 
not teaching to a set of standards listed in a Presidential mandate.  I 
felt very proud of our teachers, our students and the support we have 
received from parents and our community.  Since this was such an honor, 
I thought I’d better find out what the standards were.  Maybe there 
were some values and criteria we should know about.

I was in for another shock.  I found out that unless a school had at 
least 25% or more Latino population, they were not counted.  Incline 
High School has a 24.4% Latino population.  Therefore, they were not 
counted!  According to the President, our Latino students are not 
considered second class citizens – they are not considered at all.

No child left behind?

Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. Bush.  Your classification of “Exemplary” is 
an example of hypocrisy - - a symbol we totally reject in our school, 
our community and our nation.


Lee Early