To Teach or Not To Teach...

In an article published on February 9, 2012 in the USA Today, some say President Obama over reached his authority by releasing 10 states from having to follow the No Child Left Behind law. I disagree completely. President Obama acted correctly and appropriately in waiving this law. He acted on behalf of the millions of students and teachers nationwide affected by this law. The No Child Left Behind law is a strict standard of education that was established a decade ago under the presidency of George W. Bush, and this law requires that all students be up to certain standards in math and reading by 2014. In following this law, teachers nationwide spend the majority of class time training students to pass a series of test so that the school can show yearly improvement. This is not teaching. Teaching is the act of imparting knowledge, of guiding, of instructing by precept, example, or experience.  Teaching is the act of cultivating the growth of an individual. Teaching, on the other hand, is not the act of preparing a group of students to memorize certain material that they can then regurgitate in order to simply pass a test, yet this is what the teachers of our nation have been forced to do. President Obama bypassed Congress in waiving this law, and I applaud him in his actions. I agree that our education system is in need of a change. I encourage everyone to not only read this article, but to also become more familiar with the No Child Left Behind law. Understand why this law needs to be done away with, and learn how allowing our teachers to really teach, will only improve our nation.