Inbox: Jun. 18, 2007

Failing to Make the Grade

As a teacher and parent, I give No Child Left Behind (NCLB) a failing grade [June 4]. There is no way to fix a law that operates under the flawed assumption that tests rather than teachers should govern curriculum. Testing is simply a tool for measuring learning in the same way that a thermometer is an instrument for reading temperature. What would happen to the health of a nation if lawmakers tried to force doctors to spend a large portion of their time taking patients' temperatures instead of practicing medicine? The reality of NCLB is that it allows few children to get ahead.

Lynn Becker Haber TRUMBULL, CONN.

Why do some educators believe that memorization is the key to intelligence? What about balancing the potential of the right brain with the left? Have developing creativity and encouraging imaginative thinking been put on the shelf? And what about the need to encourage integrity? The narrow-minded definition of what constitutes a bright human being is certainly altering the nature of the broader learning experience.

Al Beck, Professor Emeritus, Culver-Stockton College, MONROE CITY, MO.

You did a great job identifying steps to improve the supply side of education, but what about the demand side? In how many schools is being smart seen as uncool? In how many schools are the real heroes those who excel in sports rather than academics? How many parents are not involved enough in their children's education? If we can inspire a greater love of learning--not for test results but just for a high regard for achievement--there would be no need for the NCLB legislation.

Robert Littlefield PROVINCETOWN, MASS.

On the index page you explained that you created four cover images "to reflect the diversity of students" affected by NCLB. But you managed to leave behind an entire gender: there was not a single male student on any of the covers.

Marina Krefft, DARIEN, ILL.

NCLB does need a major overhaul. Among many other proposals, the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB stands out for its power to attract widespread support. The statement has been endorsed by 129 national education, civil rights, disability, civic and labor organizations, representing 50 million Americans. The groups recommend that Congress replace arbitrary and unrealistic "adequate yearly progress" requirements with reasonable expectations for improvement, reduce testing mandates, ensure the use of multiple measures instead of one-size-fits-all tests, remove counterproductive sanctions and greatly increase funding. The NCLB should require and provide support for schools to take reasonable steps to improve educational quality.

Monty Neill, Ed.D., Co-Executive Director, FairTest, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

I have observed that plenty of children get left behind. The needs of students with no hope of passing proficiency tests and those who will certainly pass are largely ignored. Pity the poor child who just barely fails. He is prodded with extra tutoring morning, noon and night in the hope that his scores will cross into the light. As a 33-year veteran music teacher, I also notice how the arts and other subjects are sometimes disregarded. We are short-changing the multiple intelligences that our children possess.

Jay Singer, PEPPER PIKE, OHIO

Your writers asked if there is too much reading and math in Grades 1 through 6. Children need to master the Three Rs (reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic) to fully comprehend and appreciate history, science and all other subjects. Those who don't will truly be left behind.

Dennis Hurst, GAUSE, TEXAS

As a public school teacher and mother of a Marine, I read with equal interest about NCLB and "One Day in Iraq." It is ironic that I will lose my job if I fail to meet President George W. Bush's NCLB benchmarks for progress in my class, yet his Administration squanders our tax dollars and children's lives and tells us we have no right to expect accountability and progress with its protracted war in Iraq.

Helen Logan-Tackett, FULLERTON, CALIF.

As a veteran English teacher, I need to speak some ugly truths you will never hear from politicians or school officials: this country is full of clueless, disengaged parents who can't or won't control their kids. Many of my students shamelessly admit they never study, do homework or read books for fun. Meanwhile, I spend a lot of instructional time shutting them up, waking them up and telling them to put away their cell phones. I love my job and my students, but I'm tired of taking all the blame for education's problems. Everyone needs to be held accountable.

Stephanie Powers, TAMPA, FLA.

On the cover you gave NCLB a  C. ANY government program that gets a grade of C is a stunning success--leave it alone!

John Ratto, PACIFIC GROVE, CALIF.

Gas Pains

I found Nancy Gibbs' "Pain in the Gas" mildly disturbing [June 4]. How can people not care about how much it costs to fill their car's tank? What about hardworking Americans like me who live check to check and simply cannot afford to spend $55 to $75 to fill up? I drive a 1989 Volvo, which gets 24 m.p.g., but I live far from work. I get less than a week's commute out of a tank of gas. I'm paying a lot of money that I can't really spare just to get to my job.

Brian Dower, NEW MILFORD, CONN.

The high gas prices we are paying are due not only to the increased demand by drivers but also to that by the plastics industry for crude oil. When we rein in our use of plastic, we will stop shooting ourselves in the foot at the gas pump.

Sonja Schlesner, LAKE GENEVA, WIS.

The story's closing line read "A man's car is still his castle, and you don't pick a castle for its energy efficiency." Flip a few pages to the heartbreaking stories of our fallen heroes, many of whom have left behind parents who do not support the war. Isn't the war in part about the future of our fuel supply? The 25% boost in SUV sales and the $130 spent at the pump show that we support the war. Setting aside the issue of global warming, how can we think so little about where all this gas is coming from? Are we a country that prizes its creature comforts over the lives of our youths?

Karen O'Shea, SARASOTA, FLA.

Honoring Lives Lost

After reading "One Day in Iraq," I hope the American people never forget the pain of war [June 4]. What a sad day for the U.S. and the families of these young men. Aureliano De La Torre said, "Now that my son is gone, there is a vacancy in Iraq. Maybe the President would like to send one of his daughters over there to continue to fight in Jesse's place." Let us not forget that Bush himself passed on the chance to fight. After reading the stories of these six men, it seems the vacancies will be hard to fill.