There are a couple of basic ways to deny people the means to make decisions for themselves.

One way — we’ll call it the old-fashioned way — is to give them little or no information. The down side of this approach, from the manipulator’s point of view, is that they can accuse you of holding out on them. Folks get their backs up when they’re being stonewalled.

Another approach — we’ll call it the modern way — is to give out lots and lots of information, so much, in fact, that folks are buried in it. “We wanted to share all our information with you!”

Thus, we’re buried in “NCLB Report Cards.” Meeting some requirement, the district “report cards” have been recently published — based mainly on testing done last spring.

Old Town’s “Report Card to the Community” is 38 pages. SAD 46 breaks it up into 21 separate “reports.” The Bangor School System’s report is a svelte five pager — choked with numbers in six point type!

Look up your district’s web site. Chances are you’ll have a similar (bewildering) experience.

Here’s the rhetoric from the State’s “The Federal “No Child Left Behind” Act: Meeting the Report Card Requirements” fact sheet:

State and local school district report cards are critical tools for promoting accountability for schools, local school districts, and States by publicizing data about student performance and program effectiveness for parents, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Report cards help parents and the general public to see where schools and districts are succeeding and where there is still work to do.

A well-informed public is an important resource in the school and district improvement process.

Amen!  How well did your district’s report card help you become “an important resource in the school and district improvement process?”

The simple ideas that we identify with “No Child” — accountability and improvement — seem straightforward enough. Parents and taxpayers want to know that their schools are holding themselves accountable, that they’re pushing to improve, that they’re in line with other schools in the area, in the state, and with similar populations.

Apparently this is just too much pressure we’re putting on the education careerists. Their solution is to play games, create confusion, and baffle the rest of us.

They’re doing a great job!

Gettin’ harder and harder to recognize the trap
Too much information about nothin’
Too much educated rap
- Someone’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Bob Dylan (1983)