Presumably these facts and figures on the test required by NCLB are the same fundamentals of any sound education. If the teachers are talented to the extent required by their certifications, they should have no problem fitting them into their teaching style. Part of the point of NCLB is to impose the only kind of coercion allowed by federal law – the federal spending powers – for the improvement of student performance. The premise that the law addresses is that there are two problems where underperformance is concerned, aside from inherent individual ability: home life (i.e. parents) and teachers, especially teachers’ unions. Well, the government can’t really address this aspect of family life in any meaningful way – thank God! NCLB is a reasonable measure to address the problems with the kind of insularity associated with self-policing guilds like the teachers’ unions. This need not be interpretted as a punitive expedition against teachers and unions, just a way for the federal government to get involved. Of course it will have its drawbacks; all government interference does, being vitiated by political necessities. But the basic appproach is sound, and, under the circumstances, seems rather necessary to me.
