I was talking to my mom tonight, who is a 2nd grade teacher, and she was telling me about an episode at school today where a special needs kid starting throwing a tantrum. Under No Child Left Behind and Iowa state laws, special needs kids who would normally be in a special education classroom must be part of the regular classroom per inclusionary policies. When this kid was having a tantrum and throwing things around the room, my mom basically had to make the entire rest of the class leave until the episode was over as part of the policy. The teacher cannot physically remove the kid from the classrom, so the rest of the class suffers lost learning time.

And apparently by 2014, special needs kids have to be as proficient as regular kids in testing, otherwise the teacher can be reprimanded or even fired. Common sense says that is absurd and will never happen; learning disabilities can maybe be minimized, but it's not like ADHD or being mentally challenged is something that can be cured.

The whole point of my frustration is this...how did we let people get in power to make these asisnine laws like No Child Left Behind? On a larger scale, this is why the USA is going to hell in a handbasket...we are destroying ourselves with bureaucracy and stupidity. Common sense has been thrown out the window. Look at the state of our economy and all the people who have ruined themselves by living far outside their means.

I am convinced we are the Roman Empire of the new Millennium. History truly does repeat itself. Sorry about the doom and gloom rant, but it just baffles me how we got to the point we are at.

It is baffling, and terrible... but reversible if we hurry.

It is baffling, and terrible... but reversible if we hurry.

yes. and raising kids in this environment will not help, but hopefully they realize how wrong this is if we fail by the time they're older.

The public education system in this country is broken, and this is evidence of that.

...and has been for a very long time.

Unfortunately, private institutes aren't too much better.

It is baffling, and terrible... but reversible if we hurry.

if is the key word.

Just sad.....

Unfortunately, private institutes aren't too much better.

Disagree, but only regarding the expensive, preparatory academies.