Democrats Push for Changes to No Child Left Behind Law

Unfortunately, politics is a part of virtually every area. NCLB is no exception. In the article "Democrats Push for Changes to No Child Left Behind Law" by Diana Jean Schemo, it is fairly obvious that Democrats think that one way to improve school performance and achievement is to increase funding. This funding could be used to hire better qualified teachers, train existing teachers to use better methods, update facilities to meet expectations, and many other things. While I agree that more funding could certainly help make NCLB's high standards more feasible, I also believe that the real change is going to have to start with students themselves. The students are the ones who need to be motivated to learn and perform their best. The teacher's role is to help inspire motivation and foster an environment where higher achievement is encouraged. While the administration needs to support teachers in their efforts to be effective educators. Simply increasing funding isn't going to solve the problem. Its the students who need the reason and desire to meet these standards. Even if students don't meet all the required standards, I believe that a better achievement has been made: students have a desire to continue life-long learning.

Source:
Schemo, Diana (2007, January 9). Democrats push for changes to no child left behind law. The New York Times, Retrieved January 9, 2007, from http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F1EF83E540C7A8CDDA80894DF404482