Who is the MOST responsible for the state of US public education & what can be done to fix it?

 I've been teaching for 16 years.  It appears that the more big government gets involved in education the less education is about the children.  Too many non-educators, business people, and politicians are voicing their opinions---and being listened to!   Teachers, on the other hand, are not being heard.   I have yet to hear a teacher praise the effects of NCLB and the high stakes tests.  Educators and psychological personnel within schools are watching powerless at the negative effects on children because of the irresponsibility of government and big business.  The current trend is irresponsible.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64125.html#ixzz1Yh9FmPeP

Obama administration is trying to revamp NCLB now

check out the link above

When I went to school and got a bad grade my father held ME accountable and expected ME to fix it. Now we readily use the term "failing schools" to describe thecause for low test scores of students. If only schools are to blame let's try an experiment and transfer the teachers from high performing districts to the low performing districts and vice versa and see if the results are significantly different. If they are not then let's get real and look at ALL of the people involved in a student's academic success----- that would be parents, students, school administrators, and teachers.

 T-manT,  Yes, I did see that news article.   Of course, I will have to wait and see how the state (NY) and my district responds to his efforts.  At this point, my district is setting up unrealistic pacing guides which do not allow for reflection or reteaching.   Some follow it to the nail.  In good conscience, I can not.   It is a wait and see time.

The sad fact of the matter is that as of now it isn't about the children.  It's about money.  The children and their needs are totally left out of the agenda.  Education has become departmentalized and rigid.  It has also become a system that is corrupted by instituting a corporate model that cannot effectively work on live human beings.  As of now, all teachers and concerned parents need to lift their voices and make the government aware of how we all feel about this ridiculous testing.

  http://therealworld-teachermant.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-excerpt-parental-accountability.html

www.todneyharris.com

www.friesenpress.com/bookstore