No Cow Left Behind
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By Kenneth Remsen
Principal at Underhill I.D. School
Jericho, Vermont
As a principal facing the task of figuring out all the complexities
of the No Child Left Behind legislation and its impact on education,
I have decided that there is a strong belief that testing students is
the answer to bringing about improvements in student performance.
Since testing seems to be a cornerstone to improving performance,
I don't understand why this principle isn't applied to other businesses
that are not performing up to expectations. I was thinking about the
problem of falling milk prices and wondering why testing cows wouldn't
be effective in bringing up prices since testing students is going to
bring up test scores.
The federal government should mandate testing all cows every year
starting at age 2. Now I know that it will take time out of the farmers
necessary work to do this testing every year and that it may be necessary
to spend inordinate amounts of money on the testing equipment but that
should not detract us from what must be done.
I'm sure there are plenty of statistics to show what good milk producing
performance looks like and the characteristics of cows who achieve this
level of performance. It should, therefore, be easy to figure out the
characteristics necessary to meet this standard. We will begin our testing
finding out which cows now meet the standard, which almost meet the
standard, which meet the standard with honors and which show little
evidence of achievement. Points will be assigned in each category and
it will be necessary to achieve a certain average score. If this score
is not achieved, the Department of Agriculture will send in experts
to give advice for improvement. If improvements do not occur over a
couple of years, the state will take over your farm or even force you
to sell.
Now I'm sure farms have a mix of cows in the barn, but it is important
to remember that every cow can meet the standard. There should be no
exceptions and no excuses. I don't want to hear about the cows that
just came to the barn from the farm down the road that didn't provide
the proper nutrition or a proper living environment. All cows need to
meet the standard.
Another key factor will be the placement of a highly qualified farmer
in each barn. I know many of you have been farming for many years but
it will be necessary for all farmers to become certified. This will
mean some more paperwork and testing on your knowledge of cows but in
the end this will lead to the benefit of all.
It will also be necessary to allow barn choice for the cows. If cows
are not meeting the standard in certain farms they will be allowed to
go to the barn of their choice. Transportation may become an issue but
it is critical that cows be allowed to leave their low-performing barns.
This will force low-performing farms to meet the standard or else they
will simply go out of business.
Some small farms will be probably go out of business as a result of
this new legislation. Simply put, the cost per cow is too high. As taxpayers
we cannot be expected to foot the bill to subsidize farms with dairy
compacts. Even though no one really knows what the ideal cost is to
keep cows content, the legislature will set a cost per cow. Expenditures
too far above this cost will be penalized. Since everyone knows that
there are economies of scale, small farms will probably be forced to
close and those cows will merge into larger farms.
Some farmers may be upset that I proclaim to know what is best for
these cows but I certainly consider myself capable of making these recommendations.
I grew up next to a farm and I drink milk.
I hope you will consider this advice in the spirit it is given and
I hope you will agree that the NO COW LEFT BEHIND legislation may not
be best for a small state like Vermont.
From Our Readers main page
Posted December 4, 2003