How Current Education Reform Legislation is Effecting Learning

In recent years, education – specifically the quality of public education – has been a hot topic of discussion for both Republicans (George W. Bush) and Democrats (Barrack Obama). American society has changed drastically during the past decade or so in terms of the way it approaches public education, partially due to legislation by the national government, partially due to legislation written by the state governments and partially because American culture is different than it once was. America now finds itself at a crucial point in history, where something must be done in these hard economic times to combat low quality, inner city education while at the same time maintaining the high quality of much suburban education. Americans are asking themselves, “What is the government doing to change our schooling system to make it better?” The response is a long and complex one, though there is still no answer, as our schools are constantly changing and growing in many different ways. First, there was President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” and now President Obama’s “Race To The Top.” Both of these government reforms have had a large impact on education and American society as a whole. To have a good understanding of the current legislation regarding education reform, one must first understand the legislation before it: The No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) was instituted during the presidency of George W. Bush, of which he stated that his focus would be on “making sure every child is educated” and that “no child will be left behind – not one single child” (Ravitch). This policy had four main principles that were outlined in the legislation. The first principle was that every child would be tested every year, grades three through eight, via state tests. The