~lab4rtist

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB, is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 and signed on January 8, 2002, that reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend.

A great law that was suppose to benefit kids across the nation, but unfortunately many kids are still being left behind. Recently, I was led to my guidance office after being interrupted during my Global Studies lesson to be informed that I was no longer a student at my public school in Columbia, South Carolina. My school had not long ago sent out letters saying that I and other students must provide information such as electric and water bills to the school in order to prove that we lived in the school district. Shocked by the news of me being expelled from the school, my guidance counselor and 504 instructor gave me a even greater surprise when they told me that I was trespassing and need to call someone to come pick me up. The only person I could think of was my grandmother who lived near by, so I called her to get an nasally answer on the other end. She had caught a cold and was sick in bed, but when I told her of the urgency of the matter. I hung up, and told the two that she would be here in a little bit so they made me wait in the main office. Waiting for my grandmother to arrive, I overheard the secretary talking of a girl in our school that had been caught with drugs and was kicked out of the school as well. Which made me ask why was I sitting waiting for my grandmother to come pick me up? I had done nothing wrong, I was cramming for end of course exams which would have later in the week, banking on the exams to boost my poor grades high enough for me to pass. Yet I was being treated like I had taken drugs or a gun onto campus. I had never been suspended or expelled from school before so why now? I didn’t get my answer but my grandmother arrived at the school with little information we had to give. With some relief, I hoped that it would be enough, but we encountered a problem soon enough. My mother, my legal guardian, had to show up and provide information with her name on the bills. Which was impossible since my mom, sister and me all lived with my grandmother where all the bills were under her name. They told us, that I wouldn’t be able to attend school until I provided the needed information all of which had to be under my mother’s name. So about two weeks from the ending of school, I get kicked out of school because I couldn’t prove that I lived in the school district? My mom disagreed, and called the district office asking if there was any other information that we could provide to proved that I lived where I lived but none of things we had were good enough. We didn’t have a cell phone bill since my mom’s phone was pre-pay, we didn’t have a lease to the apartment we lived in since it was original leased to my grandmother. Me along with my mother were upset, the school system had sworn to do the very best forever child but yet we were shorthanded by the end of the stick. Wasn’t there anyone like us? Were they getting same treatment I was? I had hoped not since this was so unfair to me and my family who was looking forward to me to pass the next grade. Sadly, it was too late the school year had ended and I hadn’t got sign yearbooks or tell me friends goodbye since I was changing schools after I had applied for a position in our extended choice program and had gotten the second from last slot which we later figured out had been taken away from us for the same reason I was kicked out of my last school. I was downtrodden, if we could get me back into public school I was going to have to repeat the ninth grade again. I became very upset and was taking it out on everyone around me even though it wasn’t them that had done this to me but I later felt some justice was I found out that the attorney my mom contacted had decided to take our case and we are now fighting with the school district to get me back into school. I’m hoping it turns out to be the best, I also hope that there is no one out there like me who is wondering what will become of their future because of what happened to them.