No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act is an update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This legislation calls for state and local school districts to considerably raise expectations for students in the subjects of mathematics and reading. The No Child Left Behind Act was enacted because of the need to give students the skills necessary to succeed so that more jobs stay in America, to ensure students are not being shuffled through their school system, and to give students extra help in their weak subjects.

Each year Americans lose a great number of jobs to more qualified and better educated graduates from other countries who are willing to accept lower salaries. President Bush has said that if we do not give our children the skills necessary to succeed the high-paying quality jobs will go elsewhere. Education standards and expectations must be increased so that students will perform better. If education improves America will have more high school graduates going on to receive a college education which will in turn lead to better job opportunities in their future.

Limited job opportunities sometimes arise because students often fall through the cracks of the school system because they are being shuffled through their school. Students are sometimes rushed through to the next grade because some teachers want to keep students in their age appropriate grade. Students are muddled through school without anyone considering whether or not these students have the skills to be promoted to the next grade. The testing associated with the No Child Left Behind Act measures a student’s skills to guarantee that the student is prepared to succeed in class. The testing forces school systems to be accountable for their students’ academic weaknesses. By increasing the level of accountability educators are now challenging themselves as well as their students to work hard to improve education.

Bush, George Walker. “President Bush Discusses No Child Left Behind.” SIRS Government Reporter. SIRS Knowledge Source. 4 November 2006. <http://www.sirs.com.>