No Child Left Behind Except Those That Deserve It

By Sam Bakken in News on Dec 10, 2004 9:00PM

Because we needed a bit more evidence that the No Child Left Behind law is counterintuitive, the feds have ordered 11 Illinois school districts to suspend their after-school tutoring programs because their schools are not meeting standards set by the NCLB.

The following Illinois school districts must either provide private tutoring or pay for district-wide tutoring without federal money:

North Chicago School District 187
School District U-46, Elgin
Community Unit School District 200 Wheaton
Chicago Public Schools
Cicero School District 99
Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123
West Harvey-Dixmoor Public School District 147
Dolton School District 148
Galesburg Community Unit School District 205
Springfield School District 186
Madison Community Unit School District 12

Chicagoist isn't a fan of delusion and would like the federal government to at least be honest with itself and call the NCLB act what it is, the "No Child Left Behind Except Those That Are Behind Act". We mean, fine, they're not saying the districts can't have tutoring for the kids that need it most, they're just making it more expensive and difficult for already struggling schools. It seems akin to an insurance company telling you, "You're sick, and since you're failing in terms of our standards of what we consider 'healthy', you're going to have to step it up a notch and get healthy before we'll provide you with any additional money to help you reach those standards."