BEYOND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

BEYOND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Some education advocates are concerned that the national preoccupation
with the No Child Left Behind law, understandable as it is, will cause
us to do nothing or little about other important, far-reaching
educational issues -- issues at least as important as those arising from
NCLB. It would be unwise, writes Thomas Sobol -- not to give such
matters the continuing attention they deserve. A loosely organized cadre
of currently serving and recently retired school superintendents, called
Public Schools for Tomorrow, has been discussing these issues throughout
the past year. They believe that superintendents with a lifelong
commitment to educating all children can bring a unique perspective to
the dialogue. Here are six of the issues they have identified: (1)
Equity and Adequacy; (2) Diversity; (3) Democracy; (4) Curriculum and
Instruction; (5) Technology; and (6) Capacity. The piecemeal,
underfunded initiatives that exist at present are inadequate to the
need. We need a national, systemic, adequately funded program to develop
the capacities of our teaching corps. These are issues that will affect
our children's education long after the No Child Left Behind Act has had
its day. They should not be neglected now.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/09/20/04sobol.h26.html