[PeppyGPhiB]

I would consider myself a liberal, but I agree with this decision, for the several reasons I stated above.

I think the reason why many liberals don't agree with the ruling is because they know that discrimination and inequality WILL be the result of this decision. The schools aren't segregated now, but they will be in the future. And that means that the poor black kids will continue to have poor schools, bad/inexperienced teachers, and a lack of resources just like in the old days. The Court spun the decision to sound nice and idealistic, but the reality will be far from that.

As for No Child Left Behind, it's been a joke for many low-income and minority-populated schools, which is really the intended target of the policy. It gives funding, sure, but if the kids don't improve fast enough, the funding gets taken away. You can't just throw money at a problem and expect it to go away. NCLB funding won't make the top teachers want to teach at dangerous schools where kids have no interest in learning. It may buy books, but it won't make the kids read them. And, it's taught school districts around the country that they need to "Teach to the Test," the standardized tests that so many states now use to rate its students. That probably sucked any life and creativity from the classrooms where teachers were trying to find innovative ways to draw in at-risk students. And for the schools that HAVE improved under NCLB, how do we reward them and their students? By cutting financial aid programs that the poorest students depend on to get a college education.

Education policy in this country sucks.