Making bucks off NCLB

It's automatic now. If I see a positive article about NCLB, I think in terms of bucks: who is making money off this thing now? In that vein, here's news NCLB has spawned still another industry: coaching school administrators to reframe NCLB mandates.

Kernan-Schloss is the president of a small company in Arlington called KSA-Plus Communications. He is paid to help school districts communicate better, particularly with parents. He has four children, and thus knows how often our principals or teachers fail to tell us all we need to know. He makes his points through interesting examples of the different ways school administrators approach No Child Left Behind:

"Consider the following two quotations," he says in the article. "A Connecticut school leader observed after the passage of NCLB: 'Requiring every group of students in every school to be proficient within 12 years is like asking every kid to jump the Grand Canyon.' Compare this to the remark by a North Carolina superintendent: 'Yes, parents may have the greatest impact on how their children come to us. But we have the greatest impact on how they leave us.' Now, assume you're a parent, voter or student. Who would you rather have in charge of educating your community's children?"

Now be forewarned that the official line is to use "needs improvement" rather than "failure". Technically correct but my brain hurts.

A sidenote: I think I'm going to keep track of all of the advertisers on the Google banner that are making money off NCLB.