My acceptance of an invitation from Education Week to participate in a commentary on the 10th anniversary of No child Left Behind meant breaking my 15-year boycott of their pages. Here, I put that acceptance in context.

For their January 11, 2012, issue, Education Week invited nineteen people--"a range of K-12 education leaders, politicians, teachers, and child advocates”---to comment on the 10th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Law. Not surprisingly, politicos got the spotlight. George Miller and Lamar Alexander led off, with Miller offering nearly 700 words and Alexander 850. The rest of us were strictly limited to 300 words each. 

I took my contribution very seriously because it meant breaking a 15-year boycott of Education Week. I hope readers will look at this participation in the light of a book I wrote in 1999, One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards. There, I asked "Who Put Education Week in Charge of the World" and detailed their standards advocacy traveling as journalism. I coined a word for them, calling Education Week the chief Standardistos of the world (Chapter 7). In 2008, concerned about Education Week’s lack of objectivity regarding NCLB, a group of us wrote this letter, published March 5, 2008.(l). I modestly assert it is as timely and as important as it ever was. 

Journalism and Advocacy: Bias in Quality Counts? 

To the Editor: 
The editors of Education Week claim to be objective journalists, but with yourQuality Counts publication, you abandon objectivity and promote the standards-and-testing, industrial school paradigm of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In this context, you are no longer reporters; you have chosen to act as advocates. 
Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishesEducation Week, says that its mission is to "help raise the level of awareness and understanding among professionals and the public of important issues in American education. We cover local, state, and national news and issues from preschool through the 12th grade." Education Week does not publish its own editorials, and it claims not to advocate for particular ideological or policy positions. 

Yet for more than a decade, EPE has published its Quality Counts annual volume, purporting to assess the condition of American public schooling from a neutral and fair-minded vantage point. Education Week has presentedQuality Counts as if it were any other piece of journalism, that is, a piece of reporting. But a quick inspection of 

Hawaii: Board chairman Herbert Watanabe cited an analysis of Hawai'i public school students that found 51 percent are "at risk" because they come from economically disadvantaged families, have limited English proficiency or are special-education students. "This is what we have ... don't blame everything on the public schools," he said. "Read the facts. When you're looking at figures like this, the feds gotta have their heads examined sometimes."--Sept. 2003

The absurdly low number of excused absences reported in the Cleveland schools last year - 620 for 63,500 students -- was no clerical error but the result of an orchestrated effort to keep student absences off the books. The goal was to boost the district's average attendance to 93 percent, the mark the state expects districts to hit.--Oct. 2005 

"The WASL is presented in a secretive, cold and inhuman fashion. The teacher is not allowed to read the questions, or help, and the kids have to maintain silence for hours and hours. They are only allowed a bathroom break once in a while."--April 2008 

This summary, as brief and inadequate as it is for telling the story of NCLB's devastation, is 1,400 words over the Education Week allotment. So I abandoned the summary and decided to zero in on The Petition. 

The Petition Calling for the Dismantling of the No Child Left Behind Act 

The Petition was the result of intense online collaborative work by a group that at times numbered as high two dozen or so and at other times dwindled to a handful. We argued. I remember disappearing in a snit for a few days and then coming back to argue some more. Argue and listen. It was frustrating and exhausting, but it also seemed very important. On November 21, 2006, A Petition Calling For the Dismantling of the No Child Left Behind Act was launched on the Web. This Press Release describes what happened. 

PRESS RELEASE 

A Petition Calling For the Dismantling of the No Child Left Behind Act 

December 13, 2006 

Thousands of educators, parents, and concerned citizens are participating in a coordinated movement to end the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Spearheading the effort is the Educator Roundtable, which has issued a petition calling on legislators to vote against reauthorizing the law. In its first week the petition received over 12,000 signatures. 

Longtime educator Marion Brady--one of the petition's authors--explains that opponents of the legislation are "fed up with the law's simplistic approach to education reform and how it wastes student potential, misallocates teaching resources, shrinks the curriculum, and threatens the future of our democratic republic by undermining public education." 

News of the petition has spread with great enthusiasm among parents and teachers, who often leave poignant commentary along with their signatures. Writes one teacher, "I am retiring early. We feel we are fleeing a sinking ship, after giving our entire lives to our students and our profession. It is a sad way to end a career." And a parent offers, "I feel like my little boy is being groomed for a life on an assembly line rather than being taught how to think and be creative." 

"When Congress passes No Child Left Unfed, No Child Without Health Care and No Child Left Homeless," notes Susan Ohanian, one of Roundtable's founders, "then we can talk seriously about No Child Left Behind." 

The Educator Roundtable petition cites several arguments against NCLB. Chief among them are: 

NCLB misdiagnoses the causes of poor educational development, blaming teachers and students for problems over which they have no control.

Up for reauthorization next year, the legislation had bipartisan support when President Bush signed it into law in 2002. The Educator Roundtable seeks similar bipartisan support to end the increasingly controversial act. According to Dr. Philip Kovacs, a lead organizer of this national effort, "individuals from both political parties were sold a false bill of goods, and it will take individuals from both political parties to stop NCLB from doing any more harm." 

In its place they call for formal state-level dialogues led by working educators, rather than by politicians, ideology-bound "think tanks," or business and industry activists who have little or no direct experience in the field of education. 

Who Signed the Petition? 
Of the 19 people Education Week invited to comment on the tenth anniversary of NCLB, only two signed this petition—me and Mary Bell, a teacher in Wisconsin Rapids, WI and the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, who clocked in as signer #20,162. Mary's signature is significant, since NEA headquarters sent out directives urging NEA local leaders to tell their members NOT to sign the petition. 

Within a month of its appearance, more than 20,000 people had signed the petition. Chief organizer, Philip Kovacs was Petition signer #1. I say with a badge of pride that I was #2. The 35,252 signers included two respected national education reporters and one member of Congress. A number of signers pleaded, "Please do not ignore this petition!" But it was ignored--by the politicos and the media. The teacher unions didn’t ignore it; they worked against it. NOTE: The Petition and NEA's infamous memo denouncing it and telling members not to sign will appear in Part 2 of this history. 

The Petition Calling for the Dismantling of the No Child Left Behind Act is important to me right now because I prepped for my 300-word contribution to Education Week's 10th anniversary of NCLB by actually reading it, the whole thing. Not only did I read all 1,054 pages, I looked up the zip codes of the 35,252 contributors so I could get a feel for where the loudest complaints were coming from. Based on that, I say "Go Georgia! Go North Carolina!" 

Thinking that parents, teachers, and children should be heard, my first idea for myEducation Week contribution was to post the remarks of someone from each state. Because I can’t verify names, I give their numbers. 

Alabama #25,862: NCLB is accomplishing exactly what its authors intended-- the destruction of public education. 

Alaska #20,121: Trash It!!! 

Arizona #19,359: Die, NCLB, die! 

Arkansas #14,183: Anyone who wants to influence policy about education should first work in a classroom for a month. 

California #15,462: I would be willing to give up part of my salary to help cover the Federal money lost if our district told the Federal Government we are not going to comply with the onerous NCLB standards. 

Colorado #28,259: NCLB has no place for excitement and love. 

Connecticut 34,243: NCLB has created a cottage industry for hucksters promoting snake oil "cures" for boosting test scores. 

Delaware #28,018: NCLB is a side-show for the technocrats of Washington whose data is only linked to power, privilege, favor, and kickbacks. 

Florida #365: Congress Makes a Lousy School Board. 

Georgia #3,052: Spend a day in my classroom. . . walk in my shoes! 

Hawaii #24,124: Let the teachers teach...let the children learn their individual strengths. Keep politicians out of it! 

Idaho #24,986: Our schools must be more than factories shaping tools for industry's use. 
Illinois #21,244: Teaching is an art, not a factory job. Let teachers teach! 

Indiana #1,602: As a life-long educator, I find NCLB misconceived, shortsighted, counterproductive, deceptive, and doomed to self-destruct. 

Iowa #183: NCLB is to education what the Iraq war is to democracy. 

Kansas #2,881: NCLB is a cynical tactic to destroy public education and create a permanent underclass available for cannon fodder. 

Kentucky #33,737: Please, get this disease removed from our school systems! 

Louisiana: #30,350: I am a third grade public school teacher and I am begging you to GET RID OF HIGH STAKES TESTING which causes undue stress and grief on little children! 

Maine #18,076: NCLB is the final stake in the heart of public education. 

Maryland #4,288: I am no longer teaching children; I now teach test-taking skills. 

Massachusetts #228: NCLB = No Low Income Child Left Unharmed. 

Michigan #25,230: Public education is the backbone of democracy. NCLB destroys public education. 

Minnesota #26,469: NCLB SUCKS 

Mississippi #29,761: Kids in Mississippi are obese because of little P.E. or recess, which have been removed because of NCLB. 

Missouri: #27451: The time has come for us to demand that educators actually run the public schools--not Mayors, not the Business Round Table, and not the privateers. In short--it's time to reclaim our democracy. 

Montana #20,840: NCLB is a cash cow for corporate education. 

Nebraska: #27,153: My son's 3rd grade music teacher has jumped on the homework/testing bandwagon and is sending home 50 flashcards a night and testing the kids on them a couple of times a week. 

Nevada #29,353: NCLB is child abuse. 
New Hampshire #1,255: This is one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in educational history. 

New Jersey #18,676: Poverty is the primary cause of low standardized test scores. Let’s address that. 

New Mexico #27,248: NCLB stands for No Corporation Left Behind. 

New York #20,335: Death to DIBELS! 
North Carolina #15,011: TEACH TO THE TEST-----IF IT'S NOT ON THE TEST, THEN DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! When I was told this by administrators, I knew my retirement time had come. 

North Dakota #27,020: This is the "Kill Public Education Act." 

Ohio #4468: NCLB narrows the curriculum, deskills teachers, and turns our schools into "testing centers. 

Oklahoma #4,828: Please come and spend a week with my kids to see who you are hurting. 
Oregon 26,725: NCLB and DIBELS have forced us to homeschool till the insanity ends. 

Pennsylvania #17,954: NCLB is screwing up this country for the next 50 years. 

Rhode Island #20,388: End the NCLB charade! 

South Carolina #26,488: I teach Special Needs Middle Schoolers, and NCLB is really hurting my kids! 

South Dakota: #33,484: NCLB cannot work. We are talking about children, not cogs of industry. 

Tennessee #34399: NCLB is quickly becoming No Teacher Left Standing...I did not go to college for 8 years and get 3 college degrees to teach to the test. 

Texas #461: NCLB desecrates teaching. 
Utah #58: Close down the U.S. Department of Education. 

Vermont #23,606: Testing is not teaching! 
Virginia #29,802: NCLB is an obscene signature program for the widening gap between the wealthy and everyone else. 

Washington #98,122: Stop making students, parents, and teachers the scapegoats for an utterly failed economic system that masks class warfare as a failed school system. 

West Virginia #27,882: NCLB is to schools what supply-side economics is to fiscal policy-- an unmitigated disaster. 

Wisconsin: #556 The worst week of the school year is watching my special needs students break down as they take the high stakes standardized test. 

Wyoming #30,076: Never in my life have I seen such a destructive impact on our educational system. 

But this clocks in at 852 words—nearly three times what Education Week allowed. 

Back to the drawing board. 

I figured every other contributor would use up a sizeable portion of the allotted 300 words with good things to say about NCLB's contribution to public education, praising the efforts to close achievement gaps, ensuring that every child had a highly qualified teachers, using data-based decision making, and so on. And I was right. 

Not I. Inspired by the comments of 35,252 Petition signers, here is my Education Weekcontribution. I used hot links to give teachers and parents and students a voice. 

NCLB Timeline, Education Week, January 11, 2012--by Susan Ohanian 

Ten years of the No Child Left Behind Act has brought a steady erosion of the values that should be central to public education. The rise of standardized tests and "no excuses" accountability has forced students, teachers, administrators, and parents to enter circles of Hell even Dante never envisioned. 

Below, an NCLB timeline from those on the front lines: 

2002: "We are the State, which has brought students out of the wilderness of teacher-led classrooms and into the kingdom of test prep. Thou shalt have no other guidance before thee, and then it will follow as night follows day that No Child is Left Behind." 
The Ten Commandments of No Child Left Behind-- from my website. 

2003: "My 3rd grader brings home 45 pages of multiple-choice, test-prep drill sheets." 
— Email to me, from a parent in Virginia 

2004: "What's putting me over the edge is there’s no joy in teaching." 
-- California teacher "who talked openly on the condition her name not be used" in the newspaper article in which she was quoted, "Teacher's Time Rarely Her Own/Federal Mandates Limit Classroom Ingenuity" ( San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2004). 

2005: The stories of 12-year-old Paige in Chicago and 10-year-old Mariah in Palmetto, Fla., both of whom were assigned to 3rd grade for three years in a row. 
A Child Held Behind,( The New York Times, Jan. 16, 2005) and Poor Schools Work Hard to Improve Scores on FCAT ( Sarasota Herald-Tribune, May 13, 2005) 

2006: BABY DIBELS Screening Tool—Individual Growth Development Indicators" (for 3-year-olds) 
— School bulletin on Baby DIBELS cited in Attention Parents of Young Children (Feb. 7, 2006) 

2006: "My son already hates school, and he's just halfway through kindergarten." 
— L. J. Williamson in "My Kid, a Burnout at 5" ( Los Angeles Times, Feb. 27, 2006) 

22007: Highly qualified" means sticking to the script. 
-- Email to me from a Buffalo, N.Y., teacher 

2008: "The body count from No Child Left Behind grows daily and one wonders when the perpetrators will be called to account. In a decent nation, the larger society holds the government accountable. In a program like NCLB, the government holds the citizenry accountable." 
-- Gerald Bracey, "Chew on This" (The Huffington Post, April 21, 2008) 

2009: "The Obama people—who promised revolutionary change—have no ideas other than to tighten the grip of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program on the teachers and children of the United States." 
-- Diane Ravitch, "Obama Gives Bush a Third Term in Education" ( The Huffington Post, June 13, 2009) 

2010: "When he heard my student vomited during The Test, THE first question the principal asks me is "Did anything hit the test booklet?" Evidently there is some major procedure involving Fort Knox and some security company trained by the CIA and FBI that needs to be followed when someone barfs on the book!" 
— Tina, "Neither Sleet Nor Hail Nor Vomit" (Teachers.Net, March 10, 2010) 

2011: "I now have to give a total of more than 27,000 check marks or grades for my class of 25 kindergartners per year." 
— Nancy Creech, "Kindergarten Teacher Details 'Lunacy' of Standardized Tests for Kids" ( Washington Post Answer Sheet blog, July 5, 2011) 

Summing Up: "The consequences of NCLB are far more damaging to our National Security than Iraq ever was." 
— Signer #24,432, Educator Roundtable Petition to End NCLB 

So this little piece met the Education Week allotment of 300 words. It provoked only one comment on education discussion lists to which I belong. I admit disappointment because it represented a lot of work. So it goes: when something looks easy, often it isn't. 

Part 2 coming: The Petition, The NEA Response, Media Reaction