NCLB & politics

I am not even sure where to begin! I think that NCLB was based on good ideas and people really thought that they would be helping children. Unfortunatly, it has shown to be extremely flawed and, like everything else, the government does not want to admit to this or try to change it. We are one of, if not the, top nation in the world and yet our children are not among the smartest! Why?!
To begin, everything cannot be measured by a standardized test. Not only are some children bad test takers, but the tests are not made for children with special needs, different cultures and ethnicities, or non-native english speakers. They do allow children with special needs extra time but what good is that if they cannot understand the question or fill in a scantron? They also offer the test in additional languages but only certain ones like spanish and french. In addition, the questions are geared mainly toward white, middle class children. In another class a student talked about how her daughter did not know that out of the choices of plate, fork, spoon, or saucer, that the cup would go with the saucer. She did not know what a saucer was.
I have also heard that in some schools they encourage children with special needs or low grades to be absent on test day. Not to mention that some subjects, such as social studies, are not tested and are therefore ignored for large parts of the school year. If children are not even being taught History how is their education being improved by testing?
In addition, there is no such thing as an equal education for everyone. The wealthiest get the best eduction, and will be better prepared to take the tests. The thing that really baffels me is that when a school has continued to not get the required test scores it loses funding! I just cannot understand this.
The last comment that I wish to make is about financing in general. I am concerned that a school's finances are not tracked well enough. Who really knows where the money goes?
I am going to agree with Routman that education is political and that teachers need to be involved.