You have all most likely seen this already, I have but I thought it worth bringing out again. President George W Bush was visiting a primary school and he visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked the President if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'. So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'. One little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy. 'No,' said Bush, 'that would be an accident.' A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.' 'I'm afraid not,' explained the president. 'That's what we would call great loss.' The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Bush searched the room. 'Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?' Finally at the back of the room a small boy raised his hand...In a quiet voice he said: 'If Air Force One carrying you and Mrs. Bush was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.' 'Fantastic!' exclaimed Bush. 'That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?' 'Well,' says the boy, 'It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a fliping accident either'.
I don't quite understand why the anti-Bush crowd keeps holding up the "No Child Left Behind Act" as a failing of or the fault of Bush. (other than their tendency to blame everything they are unhappy with on Bush). The No Child Left Behind Act actually got more support from Democrats in Congress than it did Republicans. Both in absolute numbers and percentage of party members. It passed in the House with: Dem: 197-10 in favor, GOP: 186-34 in favor, Ind: 1-1 split It passed in the Senate with: Dem: 47-2 in favor, GOP: 43-6 in favor, Ind: 1 in favor The bill may have been introduced by a Republican representative, but nearly all of the Democrats apparently thought it was a good idea.
It looked good on paper. Communism is a great idea on paper: where everyone shares and no one goes hungry. It just isn't very practical here in the US. From a teacher's stand point on NCLB, it is a ridiculous solution for our education policy. Certainly there are other websites and blogs that can explain its problematic areas and flaws much better than I can on Friday morning without any coffee in my system. However, we're leaving plenty of kids behind. More and more testing, more and more pressure on schools to teach testing and administer testing because without a good test score, the schools might not receive federal funding that it so desperately needs (which is never enough anyway). As is, we all know that people learn in different ways. How can a legislature throw a same test to EVERYBODY? That's not practical: an assessment of a pupil's capabilities should also consider the socio-economic status of the family as well as the community. It should also include other subject areas as well: art, music, drama, P.E., and other electives that students excel in. I'm sure there are even more elements that needs to be considered. Currently, students are only tested on English, math, history, and science. In an ideal setting, all of this would be in place and administered. So what's holding us back? Oh yeah: lack of funds. I could say more, but I need to prepare for my next class (conference period).
Just because I think Bush hovers somewhere between "idiot" and "evil" doesn't mean I also can't think the Democrats are a bunch of spineless jellyfish who, for the past eight years, the only thing they ever said was "Thank you sir, may I have another?" while clutching their ankles. Which is why I'm registered as an Independent.
