Resolved: That NCLB is a negative policy and should be terminated.

But lets move on to the debate. I will go down the flow of his argument and show you why they are wrong. "An Education Week survey found that 83 percent of Minnesota€™s white students graduated from high school in 2003, compared with just 44 percent of African-Americans. The national average for African-American students that year was 52 percent. " Now, my opponent points out that the amount of African-Americans graduating in Minnesota is lower than the national average. He purposefully picks out a state that has a wider gap. But, I believe that it would be more effective if we look at trends of graduation rates. If we look at Florida's case, we can see that Florida has shown an increase of graduation rates, and African-American graduation rates. . http://www.panhandleparade.com... But why just look at one state, lets look at a bigger picture. NCES(National Center for Education Statistics), found that graduation rates improved 1.3% from 2001-2002 to 2002-2003. Although this isn't a monumental increase, it shows that the numbers are rising. Also, 39 states showed increases of graduation rates, while only 10 showed decreases. This further disproves my opponent's graduation argument. . http://nces.ed.gov... Moving on, my opponent only offers graduation rates again to combat my statistics of test scores rising, and showing a growth in academic achievement due to NCLB. Buts as I have shown, with dropout rates decreasing, and achievement increasing, then NCLB must be doing something right. Now, sure I won't argue that $27 billion dollars isn't a rather big deal, but the truth is that NCLB is a underfunded law. Researchers state that "We find that these costs (to properly sustain NCLB) substantially exceed the additional federal funding" and "If this assertion is correct, than we conclude that NCLB is requiring states to pursue policies that they otherwise would not pursue. These policies—namely improving the quality of education for those students who are not currently performing at adequate levels—are very expensive, and, if Texas provides a guide, the federal government is providing only a small portion of the required extra costs. " Therefore, we can see that the hole that NCLB is in is just because it isn't getting proper funding, or that which it deserves. Now, his attack on my 4th point. It is impossible for the graduation rates to be currently increasing, which equals decreasing dropout rates, to coincide with a decrease of pupils per classroom. So, therefore the only logical answer to the question of how are pupil per teacher rates decreasing while dropout is also decreasing? Well simply, teachers! as I showed in my 4th point which re-affirms my case point. Now moving on to his attack on my subpoint A. Although I fail to see how more teachers teaching in their respective majors contributes to students not learning what they want, I'll gladly argue his attack, but treat it as if it is not connected to my point. My opponent states that students can't learn what they want since they have to learn the basic fundamentals. Firstly, I'd like to point out that yes, it is true that NCLB strongly encourages core classes, much more than others even, but you need those basic fundamentals to build off for everything. Although I have not had any experience as a mechanic, I would believe that you are using math, reading, and science everyday as a mechanic. Nearly every job today, and every college looks for a student who is good at core classes. Why? Because they are a way to measure how effective you will be, no matter what you end up studying. Lastly, a article that directly contradicts the resolution. "Reauthorize NCLB This Year: The Cost of Not Reauthorizing NCLB Is Too High" The costs of not reauthorizing NCLB are that: • Schools will not get any additional help to address the challenge that approximately 1.2 million students fail to graduate from high school each year, more than half of whom are students of color. • The economy will suffer more lost wages. According to an analysis by the Alliance for Excellent Education, the economy could have benefited from at least $330 billion in additional wages from students (over their lifetimes) who should have earned their high school diplomas with the Class of 2007. • Rates of remediation for students entering college will continue to persist and remain unaddressed. For example, forty percent of high school graduates enrolled at 4-year institutions of higher education and 63 percent of students enrolled at 2-year institutions of higher education require remedial education" As you can see, I have shown multiple trends in many areas that are all going in a positive direction. Although my opponent shows you all these horrible figures, those figures are getting better, and it mainly because of NCLB. I have shown that it is being underfunded which leads to the debt he points out. I have shown you how its improving education, although it may not seem like that to those who don't look up close. So please look up close and see the truth. That NCLB is a essential part of American education, and is helping it. Please vote CON. (Whew, that was a lot of work. Should put a smaller character limit next time so I don't have as much time to ramble on. ; ) )