Part of their role should be to set some minimum standards regarding
equipment, class size, etc. A large part of what is wrong with the current
system is that it attempts to equate the results of learning opportunities
afforded a student in a school with plenty of computers and 1:25 teacher
student ratio with one limited to hand me down text books who talks to a
teacher once a week.

It isn't right to punish schools that are deemed to be doing poorly in the
absence of a way to measure whether or not they have the resources
required
to meet those standards.

As I understand "No Child Left Behind", the ultimate goal is that the
failing schools are "punished" by being eliminated.

This, as everyone would probably agree, is a good thing. Schools with
hand-me-down textbooks and students who talk with teachers but once a week
really don't qualify as "schools" in today's world. This threat of
elimination mimics the free market system that keeps businesses efficient,
and should (in theory) act to keep the under-performing schools in line, as
the local school districts will have to either respond with more funding, or
close the school.

I'm no expert, but it appears that this radical approach is what it's going
to take to repair many of our long-broken school systems.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"