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Is it the testing you’re opposed to?

*groan*

No. At least, not "testing" per se.

I don’t understand how we can know if students are getting educated without being tested and reaching accepted standards.

Well, I guess that depends on who it is that defines the "standards", now doesn't it? (Sort of like "who counts the votes.")

I’m curious ... how much influence does the teacher’s union propaganda have?

NONE, as far as I can tell. Out here, the one thing they SHOULD be doing (i.e., their JOB -- representing the teachers, to negotiate an equitable contract for them) is the last thing on their mind.

The ONLY thing they seem to give a damn about is pimpin' themselves out to keep re-electing Gub'nor Jenni, the World's Worst Governor (Canada's payback for the War of 1812).

You'd think that after she stabbed the schools, the students, the taxpayers, and the teachers in the back after the first time they got her elected, they'd have learned their lesson. But, nope. Second time around, the morons went right to the mat for her again.

So, she is now finishing what she began in her first term in office -- the systematic destruction of the economy of the State of Michigan, with a particular focus on education, which she is attacking with incredible gusto.

The moron unions STILL back the so-and-so to the hilt.

Truly incredible.

The ones who despise "NCLB" are the teachers -- the ones in the trenches, who realize that it is PURE unmitigated socialist claptrap. It focusses on the "bottom" -- with a goal of having as many as possible of that category "pass the test" -- and it ignores the normal and gifted students, who are really given short shrift.

Why?

Because thanks to NCLB, the ONLY thing that matters is that the "problem students" pass the tests. And, given the realities, the only way to accomplish that goal is to "calibrate the tests" TO the "challenged" category of student.

Think of it as "outcome-based testing."

It's like "productivity" in the old Soviet Union. There were "quotas" that HAD to be met. So, they were. OK, the result was that incredible amounts of defective products were shipped (try collecting FED and Zorki cameras, or talking with those who do, for an idea of how that worked).

But, the quotas were met -- and that was ALL that the bureaucrats wanted. It made THEM look good. "On paper."

Just like "NCLB."

If your ONLY information on this abomination comes from those who are promulgating it (i.e., Teddie Kennedie and Kompani) then you really need to rethink your information gathering regime.

To recap:

Pre-NCLB, "problem students" couldn't read, write, add, or subtract -- and they failed the tests. This made the bureaucrats and politicians look bad.

Post-NCLB, "problem students" can't read, write, add, or subtract -- and they pass the tests. This makes the bureaucrats and politicians look good.

And we call this "progress"...