This story comes to us from theGrio.com

Merely a decade ago, the No Child Left Behind Act inspired the country to provide the best education possible to its youth. Yet today, on its tenth anniversary, many say the legislation has not only been ineffective, but it has also been a distraction from what is really needed to fix the education system within the United States.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was seen as one of the most significant domestic accomplishments of George W. Bush's presidency. He signed NCLB into law in Hamilton, Ohio alongside leaders of the education committees in Congress, which included Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts).

Many, like former educator and author of "Answer Keys," Melissa Lowry, said NCLB was first seen as very inspiring.

"At the time that NCLB was enacted, it made everybody in America stand up and evaluate where we were in education with underprivileged and socioeconomically challenged children," Lowry told theGrio. "Bush stood up and said that America was not serving our poor kids. Everyone thought it made sense and that it was a well-intended bill to bring more of focus on improving our schools."

Indeed, Bush claimed his purpose for creating the law was to drive the more than 100,000 schools in America to perfect education for its students. The law consisted of measurements that placed great emphasis on standardized tests and on improving schools, many of which were in urban communities of color, that were identified as "falling behind."

Continue reading at theGrio.com.

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