However, I’m of the opinion that it simply will not go away until somebody offers an alternative that is palatable to a politician respond to the perceived desires of the general public.

So my question/challenge is… If we don’t want NCLB, what DO we want in its place? And I’m not talking about a list of general characteristics, I’m talking about a full blown strategy.

I argued last night that the educational community was ripe to be mobilized, to actively support political change.. but only if there is something concrete to support.

I’d love to hear your thoughts along these lines.

You’re right, I think. As I understand it, NCLB is self-perpetuating and must be replaced to be changed or done away with. If Congress does nothing, we will have it in its current form for decades, just like we had ESEA for 35 or 40 years…

http://tinyurl.com/3x47bz

I see a lot wrong with public education, but I can’t fairly put all the blame on NCLB. I think having a switch in focus, or a new try at something is healthy when things are not working. I will agree, however, that NCLB did not turn out to be the magic pill President Bush promised.

With all the money that’s been spent, we’ve learned a lot. Now it’s up to the government again to act upon what’s been learnt. We do have a standards-based academic program. Where we’ve gone wrong, I believe, is to focus on a trend begun in the early 1980s, of focusing only on content.

We have a growing number of bloggers such as yourself, we have international educators speaking out, and we have a bigger dialogue than ever before now with the proliferation of the read/write web on educational policy, experience, and opinion.

I am hoping we can together switch that focus from a content-based direction to an outcomes-based one better-aligned with twenty-first century skills. That’s why it’s more important than ever to be public advocates for change.