Equality of Educational Opportunity does not exist.
The United States of America has never offered equal access to a quality K-12 education for all its children.

All children do not come to school Ready to Learn.
We continue to ignore factors outside the school walls such as poverty, poor parenting skills, and lack of community involvement in education and within the education system we are not adequately putting education programs in place to work towards addressing those issues.

Not all teachers are adequately Prepared to Teach.
Teacher training programs follow inconsistent standards as does the accreditation process for all schools yet we hold our students to rigid standards.

Adequate Funding is not supplied to all classrooms.
For reasons ranging from the self-serving greed of private industry to insufficient local oversight of tax dollars, education dollars are wasted on an ineffective and inefficient bureaucracy leaving the classroom short on essential materials and the public with the consequential result that we aren’t getting our moneys worth.

Entrenchment of Administration hinders improvements.
From the local districts to the national level, lines have been drawn, sides have been taken, and the battles are about who wins and far too often, it isn’t the kids and their families.

Privatization and Politics are now the driving forces of the system.
Standards development, new materials and programs to fit new standards, new test development, data system installments, supplemental services, charter management organizations, and vouchers are a few of the many ways tax dollars are being funneled into private industry pockets without the transparency and accountability to ensure the money is well spent.

Understanding of the system is lacking.
When we have been led to believe that there are no “fixes” for this system, we obviously don’t understand that of all “the systems” of services in this country, the education system would be the easiest to fix. It is the truth as I see it. I want to help you see it also.

“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.” Plato

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You'll find a short story to help you understand, titled "A Truth Revealed" at this site:

http://failingschools.wordpress.com

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For more on NCLB, please read

"The Theory Behind 'No Child Left Behind'"

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/76622.html and

"Who is the Child Left Behind?"

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/88775.html

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To hear an interview on Boise Community Radio, click on the following link:

http://radiowritersblock.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/the-writers-block-for-june-24th-victoria-young/

It should get you to The Writers' Block website where you might need to type in Victoria Young.