Schools need more money

Our Word
Daily Egyptian

If half the students in a college class are failing, one must wonder if the professor is also failing - failing to hold up his or her side of the education process by effectively teaching the students.

This theory comes to mind quickly when examining the pathetic fact that 44 percent of Illinois public schools have failed to meet the academic standards required under the federal No Child Let Behind reform. Or rather, they have "failed to make adequate yearly progress," as Naomi Green, head of the communication department for the Illinois State Board of Education, said is a more accurate statement. She said that although the schools are not where they should be, no school has failed.

Nine schools in Southern Illinois help make up the 1,718 schools that "have not failed."

And to an extent, Green is right. No, the students haven't failed; they have been failed.

But in this case, we don't think teachers should bear the blame alone. In fact, they might not deserve blame at all.

Instead, the state and national governments should be held accountable. And moreover, they should be embarrassed that even as the United States has one of the most developed systems of government in the world, it can't effectively educate the masses.

But in this sea of bad news for education, there is a positive. Now we know the extent to which the problem exists. Prior to the No Child Left Behind policy, which President Bush signed into effect in January 2002, schools were not required to report such data.

In the future, the schools will be able to more accurately access their progress and improve their weaknesses.

But that doesn't address the pressing fact that there are many children being "left behind."

It might be easier to blame television or videogames for the demise of our children's brains and attention spans, but that would be underestimating them and ignoring a problem that isn't going to improve alone.

The state and national governments need to pump up spending for education.

We recognize we are living in an economic downfall, but we are watching as the government spends millions of dollars teaching pilots about carrying guns in the cockpits of commercial airplanes, billions in wars that half the population doesn't agree with, and in countless other ways.

What about education? What about not leaving the children - this country's greatest asset - behind?

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