President George W. Bush recently proposed his “No Child Left Behind” legislation, which includes a school-voucher program. Under this program, public schools would be penalized if their students do not perform high enough on standardized tests. Students could also get vouchers to go to a private or charter school.Although this program looks good at first glance, the ultimate results would undermine the U.S. public school system and create even more inequality in education.There are more aspects to a child’s education than standardized test scores. Bush’s plan fails to take these into account. Nothing in the plan addresses the parental role in education or the fact that not ever child does well on standardized tests. The requirement that every child be literate by third grade may also be unrealistic. Children learn at different rates. Whereas one child may be fully literate coming into kindergarten, another may not be considered literate until fifth grade.Bush also hopes that the threat of less funding will force teachers to teach more effectively. However, there are better ways to ensure that U.S. schools have quality teachers, such as working to increase teacher salaries to attract better teachers into the profession.Parents also play an important role in their child’s education. Those tax dollars would be better spent educating parents that their role in their child’s education is also necessary to ensure that American children get a quality education.The government should not abandon public schools. Rather than punishing schools that aren’t able to produce high enough test scores, the government should help those schools attract teachers and improve their programs.editorialboard: Carrie Tett, Greg Jerrett, Katie Goldsmith, Andrea Hauser and Jocelyn Marcus