No Child Left Behind Renewal Sparks Push for Equity Funding: By most accounts, No Child Left Behind is widely considered a failure by lawmakers and educators alike. Its stated goal is “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education” and reach” proficiency on state academic achievement standards and assessments.Instead, legislators and advocates complain, it is an unfunded mandate that forces educators to focus on teaching a rote set of facts for standardized testing rather than intellectually stimulating and developing young minds so they are prepared to compete in a global society. While it offers many ways to identify failure, it fails to support improved student achievement or increase teacher capacity.
