Who benefited from the No Child Left Behind?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AGDee

In my case, that would be even MORE scary! But, our elementary principal was really tall and really big. He was completely bald and had a mole right on top of his head. He was scary looking. I don't think I ever saw him smile. He walked slightly hunched, kind of like a woman with osteoporosis. I can picture his walk in my head. Lumbering is the word that comes to mind. He would lumber down the hall with a scowl on his face and kids would just scatter as far away from him as they could.

My dad's tall, big, and bald, but smiley, no mole, doesn't lumber.

Plus, the kids loved him. Every day he'd stand out in the lobby and greet the kids coming in, and they all gave him hugs. He also set fun goals for them. If the kids in first grade read X number of books in a time period, he'd wear a chicken costume to school when it was done. Another time he did something similar, but for math, and since the school was only two stories (at that time) he conducted business from the roof (no children were sent to his "office" that day) where all the kids could see him when they were on recess. He also (and this is the benefit of being in a small, rural school) knew each child by first, last, and often middle name, knew their parents names, and knew where most of them lived. He would take a lot of kids home if they missed their busses.

I realize I'm a little biased, but my dad was like the best elementary school principal ever. It was really really hard for him to let go and retire, but with all the sadness that happened in our family the year he retired and the realization that things really had changed since he started, he made the right move by retiring. Better to go out on top while everyone loves you than to hold on too long and become the old crotchety principal that everyone hates.

ETA: My MOM (God rest her soul and you know how I feel about her) was the one to be afraid of if we got into trouble at school. For me, at least, my dad is a total pushover. I'm pretty sure I could get him to sign the deed of his house over to me if I asked nicely enough. He wasn't that way for all kids (here comes the preferential treatment part) so whenever I got into trouble and got sent to his office, he had to call mom who would come in and punish me.