All kids, schools now left behind

I knew little about the “No Child Left Behind” program before, but I suspected — -and your article of confirmed — it is child abuse. (Aug. 25 article, “Many students returning to ‘failing’ schools, feds say.”)

Let’s say you have a school with top-notch teachers and students willing to learn, but also a few students with major learning challenges.

Then — concocting an extreme example — a week before the AYP test is to take place a new immigrant from Nicaragua arrives who doesn’t know a word English causing the whole school to fail. Who most likely gets the blame? That one student. Did he deserve it, President Bush? It was his idea!

Next our state courts offer/order another “genial” solution — bus him to a different school if he wants to, and who would blame him wanting to get away from that school?

Next year the story repeats itself — the poor fellow has not learned English enough causing a second totally different but excellent school to fail!

Did the student deserve living with that shame the rest of his life, President Obama? Did the teachers and all the other students deserve their embarrassment over failure — teacher’s union?

Soon we may have a new school fiasco I fear: Common Core! But it is a federal scheme so it must be good. Right?

Gunnar Unneland

Edmonds