The No Child Left Behind Act has done abysmal damage to the younger generations.

For the past year or so, many individuals online are asking for a government mandated digital literacy class. In essence, this class would teach literacy through the lens of the online world. Sensational, a truly groundbreaking idea. The thing is, as of 2023, the amount of money a public Michigan school could obtain per student was $17,600, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This figure doesn’t sound bad on paper, but in practice it’s not great. 

For starters, that $17,600 doesn’t completely go to the student. In 2021, 79 percent would go to salaries and benefits for teachers, according to the NCES . Obviously, teachers need to make money, it just goes to show that, although yes, schools get a good bit of money per student, it can’t all go to the students.

Everything in education costs money, specifically the curriculum. The most common curriculum for any given school district would be the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum. Although there’s no set amount of money this curriculum costs by district, at the state level it could cost upwards of $8.3 million dollars, according to Education Week.

But the cost doesn’t matter if the curriculum for it only exists in certain states. In Massachusetts, for example, they have a program called Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS). The more widespread program would be Cyber Civics. “Standards-aligned, Children’s Internet Protection Act compliant lessons build critical thinking, empathy, and ethical reasoning,” according to Cyber Civics.

Those program details should sound familiar. So familiar in fact it almost sounds like the description of an English class. 

The whole point of taking English is to gain literacy skills. “Basic literacy skills include the ability to read, write, speak, and understand simple information,” according to the Literacy Project. Of course, as time goes on these goals change to understanding complex topics and information, but the point still stands. 

Instead of relying on the idea of a whole new class and curriculum to aid in understanding things online, students should instead pay more attention in English and put more effort in understanding concepts there, seeing as the same skills they learn in English can be translated online as well.