NCLB reformers held the mistaken belief that all children could be made proficient by decree by 2014. The Core set that goal even further out of reach by upping the definition of proficiency. Now, it seems hardly anyone will be "proficient" these days. In the Race to the Top, teachers and students alike are running their heads into walls. The divide between the academic "haves" and "have nots" will widen. Yet, the drive for test-based uniformity will bring down the most proficient students. Their minds will be restricted in an educational chain gang of test prep. Even if students opt out of the tests, they cannot opt out of the test prep.
So, who can really opt out of this academic chain gang? Only the kids of those reformers who have wisely opted out by another name. They have sent their kids to fancy private institutions that buy into none of their own "reformy" junk. Their kids and their kids alone are freed from the chain gang of incessant prep and the potential humiliation of repeated failure. Convenient, isn't it, when you and your children don't have to live by your own ideals?
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