There are many reasons why we belive that inner-city high school adolescents are dropping out, but one of the most important factors why inner-city high school adolescents are dropping out of high school is the current governmental policies that govern our education system. Federal governmental policies have shaped the contour of the American educational system; even though education is suppose to be left up to the states to manage. However, since the federal government controls a large chunk of the money given to the school systems, they have a large say what goes on. One of the policies implemented by the federal government, under the direction of President George W. Bush actually has had little to no effect helping minorities from dropping out of high school. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, is a policy that was put in place to help inner-city high school adolescents to stay in school in graduate, however, NCBL Act actually has done very little to help what it set out to do.
One of the biggest reasons the NCBL Act has not reached its goal is the costs that it poses on the states to reach its requirements. States are left to fit the bill to complete the requirements of the NCBL Act and the states are unable to meet the financial costs associated with the NCBL Act without enough funding from the federal government. With the NCBL Act the government is asking too much of the states without giving them enough to work with. One of the major flaws is Title I, which states that,
“To meet that goal, the federal investment in Title I must be spent more effectively and with greater accountability. This proposal changes current law by requiring that states, school districts and schools receiving Title I funds ensure that students in all student groups meet high standards. Schools must have clear, measurable goals focused on basic skills and essential knowledge. Requiring annual state assessments in math and reading in grades 3-8 will ensure that the goals are being met for every child, every year. Annual testing in every grade gives teachers, parents and policymakers the information they need to ensure that children will reach academic success.”
Title I is the biggest set back that the NCLB Act has, because if the states do not meet the requirements they will not get the Title I funding, however, for the states to complete the task laid our in the NCLB Act they must spend money and in some cases there is not enough money for the states to meet the higher standards of the NCLB Act. This is a big debate among people who think that the NCLB Act is unrealistic in achieving the goal set out by this bipartisan legislation.
Another problem of the No Child Left Behind Act that does not do anything for the dropout rate of minorities in high school is Title IV, which states,
“The purpose of Title IV is to promote parental choice and to increase the amount of flexible funds available to states and school districts for innovative education programs.
Systems are often resistant to change – no matter how good the intentions of those who lead them. Competition can be the stimulus a bureaucracy needs in order to change. For that reason, the Administration seeks to increase parental options and influence. Parents, armed with data, are the best forces of accountability in education. And parents, armed with options and choice, can assure that their children get the best, most effective education possible.”
Title IV actually does the most damage when it comes to inner-city high school adolescents dropping out of high schools, because Title IV allows for parents to receive charters for their children to attend better schools. In most cases the parents who decide to act upon these charters are the parents who are doing a good job raising their children, and as a result their children tend to be better student. This creates a problem for the school district that these students reside in, because their good students are leaving thus leaving them with a higher concentration of students who are not doing well. In these areas where the charters are available tend to be areas with a higher poverty rate and conversely a higher number of minorities. Schools that are already having trouble meeting the requirements of the NCLB Act are actually being hurt by Title IV of the NCLB Act, because their best students are leaving.
The No Child Left Behind Act is a genuinely good attempt at legislation to fix the American education system, but it does not meet the needs of inner-city high school adolescents who are still dropping out of high school at an alarming rate. The NCLB Act is only throwing money at the problem, rather than focusing on the real problems that plague the American educational system and the way it relates to minorities. Governmental policies such as the NCLB Act have improved since the federal government has taken an active step in helping the education system of America, but the government still has not been able to fix the problem that really affects inner-city high school adolescents and their ability to stay in high school and graduate.
