Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

Change NCLB Now, Through ‘Resistance’

November 27, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

In your article “2007 NCLB Prospects Are Fading” (Nov. 7, 2007), you report that Congress is at an impasse on the No Child Left Behind Act that could leave the legislation unchanged until 2010. Teachers, parents, and students know that this is unacceptable.

There is another way to achieve change sooner. That’s resistance. A teacher in Wisconsin made the national news late last month by an act of resistance. He refused to administer the test used to establish adequate yearly progress to his students.

What would happen if all the teachers in a school or a district did the same? Would the politicians take notice if parents refused to send their kids to school on test days? Would a strike by 5th graders or a march on the school board by middle school students make NCLB an issue in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections?

Already, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democratic presidential candidate, has promised to repeal NCLB. Resistance might force the other candidates to take a stronger position. And that would force Congress to face an aroused public. Several new House members won their seats in the 2006 elections with a promise to change NCLB.

Resistance to bad law, Jefferson told us, is our right in a democracy. It’s time for teachers, administrators, parents, and students to resist this terrible, punitive law. Politicians enacted it; we need to hold them responsible now for changing it. Resistance can do that.

Kenneth S. Goodman

Professor Emeritus

Department of Language, Reading, and Culture

College of Education

University of Arizona

Tucson, Ariz.

A version of this article appeared in the November 28, 2007 edition of Education Week as Change NCLB Now, Through ‘Resistance’

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Quiz Are You Keeping Up With Trump’s Big Changes to K-12 Funding? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Quiz How Is Trump Changing School Discipline Rules? Take This Week’s Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Briefly Stated: April 30, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Quiz What Is Trump’s New AI Plan for K-12 Schools? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Illustration of tasks assisted with AI.
Canva