Leaving Behind No Child Left Behind: Students as the Ultimate Stakeholders of Public Education

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) promised to hold school districts "accountable" for traditionally underprivileged populations, but it instead focused on penalties tied to high-stakes testing without the corresponding resources, qualified teachers, or public oversight to help students succeed. While NCLB also lacks provisions for stakeholder empowerment, I draw from ethnographic research with a youth-led education organizing group to highlight some of the school reforms students themselves propose. Unfortunately, the current administration's proposals build upon popular misconceptions of what ails American youth and encourages privatization of public schools. In a time of fiscal austerity and "postpartisan" reform, it continues to be easier to talk about "values" than to correct funding inequities. The administration will not truly change its education policy until a social movement demands that it do so.