Commentary from Senator Sakamoto

February 22, 2007

No Child Left Behind Lacking Common Sense?

On February 20, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that several school districts in Virginia are defying the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate that all children take reading tests, even immigrant children who have just arrived and have no knowledge of English. 1

Requiring that immigrant children who haven't even started learning English take the same reading test as their classmates who grew up speaking English doesn't make sense.  The Virginia situation is evidence that NCLB isn't working and needs to be fixed.  If your car keeps veering off the road, it makes more sense to mandate additional test drives or get it fixed. 

See Policy Brief – No Child Left Behind Act

1 Associated Press,  "No Child sanctions possible," Honolulu Star-Bulletin C-7, February 20, 2007.  See also "Schools balk at testing in English," Newsobserver.com February 20, 2007.