Improvement in No Child Left Behind

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, August 6, 2006

The Commission on No Child Left Behind is an independent, bipartisan effort to improve the No Child Left Behind Act and ensure it is a more useful force in closing the gap in achievement that separates disadvantaged children and their peers. 

The Commission on No Child Left Behind is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Spencer Foundation. This document is published to communicate the results of the Commission’s work. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the Commission’s documents are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to the donors.                                             

The Commission will uncover the successes of NCLB, as well as provisions which need to be changed or eliminated.  The Commission, after a year of hearings, analysis and research, will report to Congress and the Administration in early 2007 with its recommendations.

Such is the official pronouncement as to the purposes of the independent No Child Left Behind Commission hosted by the Aspen Institute, an organization located along the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  The Institute has as its mission:

the fostering of enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values.

For almost a year, the Commission on No Child Left Behind has been engaged in a series of hearings to glean the facts and to be able to develop suggestions to present to the Congress in 2007 when the No Child Left Behind Act comes up for reauthorization.

It occurs to me that the Commission has an excellent opportunity to offer a broadening of the realm of accountability with respect to one area of student involvement…that of attendance.  In order to meet the provisions of No Child Left Behind, no more than 15% of the enrollment of any school may be absent more than 15 days of the school year.  Any school whose student absentee rate rises above this is a  “needs improvement” school.

Of all the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, this, to me is the most illogical!

Certainly, schools should make every effort to inspire students to attend.  Calls to parents (even on the job and despite the snotty attitude of some employers) should be made.  The use of appropriate disciplinary procedures should be enacted, and, as a most extreme measure, court action should be taken for those who are neglectful of their children or defiant of the law.  At the same time, we should not “throw the baby out with the bath water.”  There are reasons when students, because of acute illness or chronic maladies, need to be out of school.  To that end, this Commission on No Child Left Behind might recommend that that the Congress authorize the appropriation of more money for school systems to increase the hospital/homebound programs for youngsters and NOT count them against the school attendance requirement.

Oh! Wait a minute, that makes sense…we can’t do that!

Now, I understand that there are deadbeat parents who don’t care if their children go to school or not.  I once had to go get a “sick” child out of the “chicken house” to come to school.  How about printing the names of the parents/guardians/or other child-care givers of kids who miss 15 or more days of school?

Oh! Wait a minute, that would take courage…gonads…we can’t do that!