Narrowing the Curriculum. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 333.

"Narrowing the Curriculum" is a very sad result of Republican education policies. Librarians serving youth can help students who have had the heart cut from their educations.

The New York Times reported March 26,2005 that since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind law, 71 percent of the nation's 15,000 school districts had reduced the hours of instructional time spent on history, music and other subjects to open up more time for reading and math. The Center on Education Policy survey (2006) looks at 299 school districts in 50 states. The New York Times article reports that the survey was conducted as part of a four-year study of No Child Left Behind and appears to be the most systematic effort to track the law's footprints through the classroom, although other authorities had warned of its effect on teaching practices.


See also A Shell Game: Federal Funds to Improve Schools (February 2006).