No Child Left Behind Problems

To the editor:

As a student at a public high school in Pennsylvania, I have learned that you spend much of your time getting ready for the Pa. System of School Assessment (PSSA).

This test helps the state determine where the school districts stand in academics.

There used to be a lot of things we would learn that were never necessarily on any tests. Today, it is so much less of life's lessons and a lot more of information that will be forgotten in about six months.

History is being cut back. That is wrong. History is where we learn everything that our country and world have been through.

No Child Left Behind entails a cut to federal funding if grades do not improve. If funding is cut, how is the school supposed to give children a better education?

Funds are already tight. Some school districts have used the same textbooks for the past 15 years.

President Bush has made No Child Left Behind a central part of his administration. Yet, funding has fallen short by nearly $71 billion of the amount authorized in the law.

How can schools keep up with the demands of this act without the money that was promised?

Each school district should have a full evaluation each year in various areas. The districts that are doing the worst should receive more funding to get better technology, modern books and more teachers.

Then there's the problem with the testing process itself. If the tests mean nothing to the students, most will blow them off. Standardized testing is one of the worst ways to evaluate schools. History, common sense and life lessons need to be more of a part of education.

Kate Leff

Athens High School (Editor's Note: Reprinted with permission.)