Northwest Herald Editorial Board John Rung, Kate Weber, Dan McCaleb, Jason Schaumburg, Kevin Lyons, Jon Styf, John Sahly, Val Katzenstein
OPINIONS WEDNESDAY
ANOTHER VIEW
Congress finally set to replace NCLB By year’s end, the controversial No Child Left Behind federal education law likely will be history. Last week, the U.S. House approved an NCLB replacement, and the Senate is expected to pass the companion bill this week. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure soon after. Two Minnesota lawmakers, Republican Rep. John Kline and Democratic Sen. Al Franken, deserve credit for working out details of the longawaited rewrite in conference committee. As committee chairman, Kline led the negotiations on the finishing touches, building on the bipartisan work of other lawmakers. The compromise attempts to strike a balance between the Democrats’ emphasis on the academic issues of poor and minority students, and the Republican focus on less federal and more state control of public schools. It rightly ends some of the most onerous features of NCLB, such as labeling and sanctioning schools based on narrow test criteria and setting unrealistic academic goals. It also leaves open, however, the possibility that without those requirements, some states might neglect efforts to improve learning for struggling students. One positive feature of NCLB has been the attention it focused on America’s significant learning gaps between white students and students of color. The new bill wisely maintains required annual proficiency tests in math and reading, but it would allow states to decide which tests to administer and how they would use results to hold schools and teachers accountable. States still would be required to take action with lowperforming schools, but the federal government could not decide what steps would be taken. The new rules would consolidate nearly 50 federal programs and allow states and schools more control over how they spend federal money. The bill also encourages states to limit testing and would end federal efforts to tie test scores to teacher evaluations. Approved by Congress and then-President George W. Bush in 2002, NCLB was an iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed in 1965 during the Johnson administration. Congress was supposed to reauthorize the law in 2007. Yet despite nearly universal public backlash and calls for change, NCLB remained in place and became caught in a broader debate over the federal role in public education. After the House vote last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement the vote was “good news for our nation’s schools,” citing administration priorities such as a new earlychildhood program that made it into the bill. Franken admitted it is not a “perfect” bill, but he said he was pleased it includes more resources for student mental health needs, better training for principals, increased science and technology instruction, and the flexibility to use tests that more accurately measure skills In several areas, the new law brings welcome, long-overdue changes to federal education oversight. At the same time, states must remain committed to narrowing learning disparities – even after some of the federal requirements are no longer in place.
(Minneapolis) Star Tribune
ANOTHER VIEW
Winning with inspiration On Thursday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan set forth a vision for his party, arguing, “Our number one goal for the next year is to put together a complete alternative to the left’s agenda.” Meanwhile, also on Thursday, across the way, Ryan’s colleagues in the Senate were voting again – it’s hard to keep track, but the number is more than 50 – to repeal President Obama’s signature piece of domestic legislation, the Affordable Care Act. At this point – seven years into the Obama presidency – it’s safe to say most Americans are fully aware of what Republicans are against, which is pretty much anything Obama is for. But if the party faithful want to win national elections, they should be listening to Ryan, who is telling them they need more than that. As America prepares for its quadrennial dance with potential White House partners, Ryan’s message rings true. The questions on voters’ minds are all about what comes next. Relitigating the past seven years may fan the flames of anger among the base, but it’s not the message likely to capture the imagination of November 2016 voters. It will take, as Speaker Ryan suggests, a complete agenda. Preferably, one that inspires.
Beloit (Wisconsin) Daily News
THE FIRST
AMENDMENT
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December 9, 2015 Northwest Herald Section B • Page 2
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SKETCH VIEW
IT’S YOUR WRITE Proud of events for veterans
To the Editor: St. Margaret Mary School in Algonquin really knows how to treat veterans. On Nov. 11, the entire school gathered in the auditorium for a very special day under the leadership of Principal Amy Johnson and eighth-grade teachers Ms. Peterson and Ms. Ferguson, along with the school band under the leadership of Mrs. Swenson. The band of advanced and intermediate fifth- through eighthgrade students played patriotic songs. The presentation of the flag was done by eighth-graders. The veterans had their stories read by the eighth-graders who personally escorted them into the room. Each veteran was presented a special poster made by the kindergarten class with the help of teachers Mrs. Jinkins and Mrs. Benner. It is very nice to know the teachers at St. Margaret Mary School recognize the importance of the veterans and their service. The parents of the students at St. Margaret Mary should be very proud of their children’s teachers.
We are very proud grandparents. Jerry and Diana Dutka Algonquin
We can’t make it on our own
To the Editor: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Two thousand years ago, a weary world was in need of a savior. On one holy night, the gift arrived. Somewhere between then and now, we have resorted back to the belief we can make it on our own. World events are proving us wrong. If we are honest with ourselves, we constantly miss the mark of meeting God’s behavior requirements. Laws passed or some clergy approval doesn’t make bad behavior right. Remove or neglect God’s word from our lives and we are left with chaos, confusion and death. There is only one God, in three Persons, and His Name is “I AM.” For those of us who are weary,
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His message is the same this Christmas, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). Jim Doll Huntley
Unwanted retirement
To the Editor: I thought I was a good worker until I was let go at my job. I have signed up for seven to nine temp services. Nothing. Next I went online, applied and sent my résumé to a number of companies (I have lost count). Nothing. Only promises of “Find the right job,” “Here’s the
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right job,” “Here are jobs in 60098 area,” etc. I’ve been looking at the jobs located in Aurora, St. Charles, West Dundee, Elgin, etc. At two temp services, I was told my experiences and qualifications were great and they should have no problem finding me a job. Well, here I am, still unemployed. I have worked in factories, typing, filing, dispatching, forklift driving, inventory data entering and data processing. I’ve done jobs just to keep my job and jobs that some guys won’t do. I didn’t want to do it, but I have had to retire earlier than when I wanted. I know I am not the only one. Sue McDonald Woodstock
House of Commons sees Churchill-like moment LONDON – Wisdom often can be found in unexpected places. During debate in the House of Commons on whether Britain should join the U.S. and Russia in bombing ISIS targets in Syria, Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary of the liberal Labour Party, delivered a speech that approached Winston Churchill in its vision: “And we are here faced by fascists. Not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us in this chamber tonight, and all of the people that we represent. They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated. And it is why, as we have heard tonight, socialists and trade unionists and others joined the International Brigade in the 1930s to fight against Franco. It’s why this entire House stood up against Hitler and Mussolini. It is why our party has always stood up against the denial of human rights and for justice.
VIEWS Cal Thomas And my view, Mr. Speaker, is that we must now confront this evil. It is now time for us to do our bit in Syria. And that is why I ask my colleagues to vote for the motion tonight.” Members of both parties cheered, and the motion passed. In the U.S., we get moronic statements claiming climate change is “directly related” to terrorism (Sanders), endure calls for more gun laws when current gun laws are disobeyed and stand bewildered as our president, in the face of attacks by radical Islamists, says, “We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam,” while Attorney General Loretta Lynch targets people who use anti-Islamic language for fear it “will be accompanied by acts of violence.” Meanwhile, Islamic extremists move about the U.S. with apparent impunity. MSNBC and other networks, meanwhile, give airtime to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a so-called
advocacy group with ties to the Holy Land Foundation and Hamas, to spout propaganda that the San Bernardino murders had nothing to do with Islam. And let’s not forget those “Christian” killers who shoot up abortion clinics, as if these are immorally equivalent. The BBC also refuses to label ISIS killers as terrorists, preferring to call them “militants.” In his brief address Sunday, President Obama offered no new strategy for defeating Islamic terrorism. He disingenuously claimed his policies are working. If this is success, what does failure look like? The UK and U.S. have invited this madness by admitting thousands into our countries, many of whom come from regions that do not embrace Western values, foolishly hoping these people will assimilate. The FBI says it is investigating ISIS suspects in every U.S. state. Why, then, are we allowing more refugees in before these investigations are concluded and action taken? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich described the Islamist movement as a “virus.” A virus must be isolated and eradicated. Bombing a foreign country is
not enough. Just as a virus requires leadership from the medical community and cooperation from those at risk of infection, the ISIS virus requires political leadership, which President Obama has failed to provide. What will our leaders say if these murderers succeed in acquiring weapons of mass destruction? What happens if one of these weapons wipes out London, New York or Washington? Should we take decisive action now, or wring our hands later? On Nov. 16, 1934, Winston Churchill, who stood virtually alone in his early warnings about the growing rearmament of Germany and the threat it posed to a world that preferred the false comfort denial brings, told his fellow parliamentarians: “As we go to and fro in this peaceful country with its decent, orderly people going about their business under free institutions and with so much tolerance and fair play in their laws and customs, it is startling and fearful to realize that we are no longer safe in our island home.” Eighty-one years later, we are again unsafe.
• Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
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