The No Child Left Behind Act was signed by President George W. Bush in 2002. This act has significantly increased the role of government in education and schools are now held responsible for their students’ academic performance.
Purpose
The main attempt by the American government in creating the No Child Left Behind Act was to have all children arrive at equal proficiency levels and level the playing field for underprivileged students. In addition, the government aspired to close student achievement gaps by providing all children with an equal education, regardless of their income, language, or ethnicity. This purpose is clear is section 1001 of NCLB’s statement of purpose which states, “The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.” In essence, the No Child Left Behind …show more content…
In fact, the act affects teacher training, the subjects students are taught, and the way money is spent on education. In addition, the act has significantly increased federal spending on public education and thus appears to be a financial burden. Indeed, the government gives funds to all American public schools. These funds are expected to be spent towards establishing programs to upgrade the school’s entire educational program. In addition, these funds may be used to provide supplementary services to children. Furthermore, the government also releases funds for various awards programs, such as the general NCLB awards program and various teacher awards (SEC 1114 and SEC 1117). However, even though the No Child Left Behind Act has cost the government an excessive amount of money, almost every law and act is useless without money behind