David Horsey: No Child Left Behind

676 Words2 Pages

Beth Kanarek
Period 1
Ms. Gillis, AP Language
3/21/14
Left Behind Using No Child Left Behind
Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartoons, David Horsey, in No Child Left Behind, displays the effects of the No Child Left Behind system in schools. Horsey’s purpose is to demonstrate how No Child Left Behind has negative effects in the way schools teach in today’s society. By using contrasting colors and exaggerated images, he illustrates the way schools are forced to teach children in order to prove to American voters that this system needs to be changed. Horsey uses this cartoon to argue that the No Child Left Behind policy is not as salutary to schools and students as it may seem on paper.
No Child Left Behind is an Act that was passed in 2002 as a reauthorization of a previously passed law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Both of these were passed in order to ensure equal education in public schools. In theory this sounds like a fantastic way to make sure teachers weren’t slacking on their disadvantaged students. In practice, the method of checking in on the schools has received criticism by many. In Horsey’s political carton, the first aspect a viewer’s eye is drawn to is the large woman in black clothing. Without much thought, one can assume that the large woman is a callous teacher because of her hunched over posture, dark clothing, and unwieldy looking nose. These features are used to symbolize the government who is forcing today’s school system to be based around filling in bubbles on a Scantron.
The viewer’s gaze will then be led to the little girl dreamily peering out the window. The little girl appears to be jumping up in order to see out the window, her eyes barely crossing the barrier between the class r...

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...s high testing scores. They are also all connected to some sort of machine that is reminiscent to that of a science fictional brain washing machine. The tubes and round hat illustrate how Horsey and many others believe that schools brainwash children into believing that the only way to succeed in life is to not be left behind in math, reading, or writing.
Horsey’s cartoon captures an exaggerated view of what most public school classrooms look like today. With these exaggerations, Horsey is successful in demonstrating the apparent contrast in the ways the arts are treated in comparison to how standardized tests are treated. The machines on some children’s heads shows what schools want students to think about, tests and what they need to do to pass. This illustrates the issues of the current No Child Left Behind laws and epitomizes the way schools and students think.

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