PDK Poll: The Gig is Up on NCLB

The 36th Annual Phi Delta Kappan Poll on Americans' attitudes towards public schools reveals growing disillusionment with the strategies of No Child Left Behind. Despite an increased understanding of the law, however, more education is needed. The poll also shows that although Americans look favorably on their local public schools, they have a less positive attitude towards public schools in general. Could this be the result of the steady drumbeat of public school bashing and scapegoating that started more than two decades ago with A Nation at Risk and reached a new crescendo under this administration? For some further insight into why Americans have a low opinon of their public schools, check out The Manufactured Crisis, Myth, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools, by David C. Berliner and Bruce J. Biddle.