Education Reforms: Are they really working?.
At the end of July 1903, Mary Harris (also known as Mother Jones), led a caravan of striking children from the textile mills of Lexington, Pennsylvania to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt at Oyster Bay, New York. Their purpose was to call attention to the problems of child labor. "Hear the wail of the children, who never have a chance to go to school, but work ten to eleven hours a day in the textile mills. I have espoused the cause of the laboring class in general and of suffering children in particular. The children [must be] freed from the workshops and sent to school". Before this time, the formal education of a child was virtually unheard of, let alone given serious priority to. But, when the voice of educational reform rang out, it caught on like wildfire and spread through out the world. Revolutions were taking place all over- Mexico, Russia, Argentina, England, and China to name a few. Looking into the 21st century, education has come a long way. When George W. Bush took office, parents across the land looked forward to his much-publicized education reforms. Education, among many others, is an ideal still being rehabilitated after hundreds of years, especially in regards to the accountability of schools, college, and education spending.
"The No Child Left Behind Act," as spoken by Bush himself, "redefines the federal role in K-12 education by requiring all states to set high standards of achievement and create a system of accountability to measure results." Under the act's strong accountability requirements, states must describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic competence. In addition, they must produce annual state and school district report cards that inform parents and communities about state and school progress. Schools that do not make progress must provide supplemental services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions; and, if still not making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.