By SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Monitor staff
T he federal No Child Left Behind law stifles originality and forces teachers to focus on preparing students for tests, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said yesterday. Although Clinton voted for the act in 2001, she criticized the program as underfunded and overly restrictive.
"While the children are getting good at filling in all those little bubbles, what exactly are they really learning?" Clinton asked delegates at the National Education Association of New Hampshire's annual meeting in Concord. "How much creativity are we losing? How much of our children's passion is being killed?"
In addition to overhauling what Clinton deemed the test-based approach to education, the New York senator called for universal preschool, higher teacher salaries and schools that emphasize self-discipline and respect, not just test scores. Clinton also criticized what she described as the outsourcing of tutoring and other services to private companies.
"This is Halliburton all over again," Clinton told reporters, adding that many of the companies likely have "very close ties" to the Republican Party. "We have these contracts going to these cronies who are chosen largely on a political basis, and we have nothing to show for it."
The No Child Left Behind law requires school districts to provide tutoring and other services to schools that don't meet standards. Clinton said that private companies have reaped $500 million annually from the arrangement but aren't held accountable for results.
Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment