Much to my giggling delight, Bracey’s “The Perfect Law” likens George W. Bush’s educational legislation to the Party of Orwell’s 1984. In Orwellian fashion, I contend that the best books are the ones that tell you what you already know. “The Perfect Law” did just that. Bracey’s argument cuts right to the fundamental, yet genius flaw of the No Child Left Behind act: it is the exact opposite of what it claims to be. I’m not sure if who the brain trust was on this one…probably Karl Rove. Still, to create these impossible standards making the top echelon of schools seem basic, at best, is a pretty amazing feat. Even the sudden failure of Asian students across the country boggled my mind. However, the really dumbfounding aspect of all this is that the American public rated its schools based on the No Child Left Behind results and standards. We’ve become sheep by our own choice. It’s frightening that citizens in a democracy can just surrender their power to the elite, with no qualms of the impending doom. Yeah, it seems a little melodramatic and cliché. However, this NCLB represents just one small aspect of the puzzling paradoxes and befuddling logic brought on by this administration.
I appreciated Bracey’s use of comparison throughout this piece. Not just the parallels to Orwell, but also the perfect storm bit in addition to the “common yardstick” on page 185. His ending uses the appropriate technique of short bursts of information and the bold, defiant clincher. Frankly, I enjoyed quite a bit.
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1 comment:
Strangely enough, I guessed that you had posted this before I had even read past the title of the post.
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