GUEST OPINION
Kelly Nielson
The No Child Left Behind Act is a huge concern of mine.
The Amphitheater school district has a lot of kids who come from Mexico and aren’t at the education level they should be.
It is difficult to get children to learn everything they need to know in one year, especially when they cannot speak one word of English.
My sister works at Prince Elementary. She has told me how the children are always in and out of the classrooms because they are working on their English and other skills they need to improve.
They are also very disrespectful toward her. She explained that it is extremely difficult to communicate with them when they cannot understand her.
One of her students had marijuana on his sandwich. He told her his father said it makes the sandwich taste better.
The point is, teachers have enough to worry about without NCLB.
It is difficult to have to teach English to a student from Mexico while trying to get them on top of their schoolwork, or even just catching them up to speed with the other students.
The teachers also have time constraints and cannot worry about dealing with the thought of getting reprimanded if they are not able to get a certain percentage of students passing the tests for NCLB.
They only have from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with the students. They cannot take the students home with them, though I am sure some teachers would if they could.
So why is the government putting more pressure on teachers, as if they do not have enough to deal with without NCLB?
From these stories, you can imagine how difficult it is to teach as well as learn. The teachers are not only concerned with teaching the children, but also worried about their personal lives as well.
My sister teaches the third grade, and the majority of her students lack structure in their home, or even worse.
Guaranteed, every district has students that deal with problems at home, but when the majority of students are dealing with this, it is obvious that No Child Left Behind needs to be changed.
Students are not worried about school, but just making it through life. With thinking like this, the teachers are putting a lot of stress on themselves to get the children through the system.
No Child Left Behind is a great idea but needs to be re-examined. We need to see where these children are coming from and make exceptions.
They need extra help, not time constraints. The teachers, not only in the Amphi District, need help. They need time!
Kelly Nielson, a 2005 Sahuaro High School graduate, is a senior at Marshall University majoring in business management.