Government should recognize limitations

The way to run a government - in my opinion - is to make small steps toward improving the lives of the citizenry instead of grand notions that would change our lives overnight. Americans generally don't think in grand terms. We view life in much smaller scale and are more agreeable to small changes over time. That is a lesson lost on the Bush administration.

The hallmark of the current administration's second term was a radical overhaul of the Social Security system. It's easy to argue that the plan had great merit especially for today's younger workers. But that grand scheme is now dead in the water and I believe it's because it was just too overwhelming for most Americans to comprehend.

The Patriot Act is another example. Approved on the heels of terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act was a sweeping change in government power in a time when that power was sorely needed. There's little argument that our government needed expanded powers to counter attacks that threatened our way of life. But the changes are simply more than most people can accept overnight and the Patriot Act is now under attack itself. It will not likely survive.

But the most glaring over-reach is President's Bush's No Child Left Behind law that mandated substantial student performance improvement or schools would be penalized severely. There is no argument whatsoever that we need increased improvement measures, especially among minority groups in the public education system. But the law is being attacked by conservatives and liberals alike because - though noble in intent - it is just too much to expect given resources, family-structure issues and cultural differences.

So No Child Left Behind needs to be abandoned. In its place we must recognize that not all students will ever perform at the same level and that some students will never reach a level of achievement that "we" find acceptable. That does mean these students are failures. It simply recognizes that achievement is tied to more issues than classroom time.

On Friday the Department of Education announced yet another minor change in the No Child Left Behind law that would allow states to adjust how they measure student performance. This marks yet another change in the original law because far too many schools now recognize they will never raise the level of achievement for some groups up to the federal guidelines. And so we tinker with the law in another feeble attempt to achieve success.

Education is by far the most important factor in social and financial success. But why are we afraid to accept the notion that some students are not destined for college yet can achieve success in other areas? Why must we try some "cookie cutter" formula that is doomed to failure right from the beginning? We need laborers as much as we need physicians and we need plumbers more than we need lawyers.

If the federal government would understand change comes about slowly, maybe these grand designs would be reduced to lesser achievements over time. Society may not benefit tomorrow but it may well benefit our grandchildren and their children.

Until we recognize our limitations as well as our strengths, we'll keep chasing some distant dream that we'll never reach.