As the November Presidential Election looms around the corner I have begun to contemplate who I want to be my President, both personally and professionally. The biggest question that pops into my mind with each candidate is can I trust them? Can I trust them to deliver on the promises that they are making on the campaign trail? Can I trust them to not make decisions based solely on flawed political polls? Can I trust them to turn our country around so that our children are not facing the same economic, environmental and educational crises that we are facing today?
I remember being home on maternity leave when NCLB was finalized. It appeared to be such a day of promise for our educational system as both Republicans and Democrats came together to do what was best for our schools, students and teachers. I was so hopeful that NCLB would create a superb educational environment for my first born. Now, let it be known, I had been out of the educational arena for a few years and was working in the private sector so I was not aware of the “uproar” NCLB was causing for our schools, particularly our teachers. From the outside I could not understand why anyone would be opposed to having only the best teachers in the classroom and to having our schools be held accountable in making certain our children were learning. Little did I know that it would loom like a toxic cloud over our educational system with disastrous implications.
Every Presidential candidate today supported NCLB when it was created. Every Presidential candidate has a plan to tweak, overhaul or eliminate NCLB – should we believe that this new and improved strategy will be better? Will they allow local districts more control over how their children are assessed? Will they financially support the latest and greatest federal mandates so that states can provide the best education possible?
Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could have a mixed ticket…..a combination of the Republicans view that the federal government should stay out of local decisions with the Democratic view that more money needs to be spend on education. Imagine the idea of less federal involvement with more financial support…just imagine what we could do!! Local districts would be able to create quality assessments that would assess their students for individual progress. Local districts would be able to identify where they needed to spend money for improvements and have the time needed to make improvements without the fear of being “taken over”, and teachers would be able to develop creative lessons and creative assessments that would engage students and encourage them to want to learn and to develop, both academically and socially. Just imagine the possibilities……….
Unfortunately my dream ticket will probably never happen so I ask myself – what is the next best thing? I have yet to make my final decision and probably won’t make it for quite some time. I just hope that when our next President takes office he or she will remember the promises they made on the campaign trail that got them elected as this is the only way I will ever have trust in our political system again.
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