There is a lot of interesting reading in this forum and I'm going to have to disagree with many of the posts. NCLB is an unfunded mandate that all schools will perform at a 100% success rate for reading scores. (By the way I am a teacher and a certified school administrator and a scout leader.)
There is a flaw in the formula which is that all of us are created equal and that is false. If it were true, we'd all be doctors and lawyers or NBA basketball players at our discretion. The other countries that we "are lagging behind" only test the students who are in the "higher math and science" track for comparison to other countries. We test them all. Unfortunately the ONE entity that we are testing is not held accountable for their actions. If a student fails a test or a grade level, it is not mandatory that they be retained until passing. They are moved on and that is not the desire of any teacher I know. It is established by the courts and parents who don't want the self-esteem of their child damaged. I am reasonably certain that a ruling which said that "all citizens of the United States must be able to to prove proficiency on all exit examinations of the public school prior to attaing employment in the US workforce" would have more "teeth" in it than any other. Incentive pay is useless since we hold the teachers accountable but not the students.
My children are products of public education and I would say that they get the same opportunity as any other student. They both excel in school and they don't attend school in the district in which I teach. Part of that is because my wife and I realize that the kids must know that our expectation is that they excel and there is a partnership which is sorely lacking in many parents.
Teachers "unions" have NO effect on public education. They are there to protect and serve good teachers.
