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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, February 21, 2025

Merrick's facts are questionable

Your recently published article "An all-to-rare plea for the truth", by Scott Merrick (Sept. 30) is a prime example of disinformation perpetuated through inane statements of unsubstantiated facts.

The article states: "For instance, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) educational legislation that passed was one of Bush's babies. As an example of how bad this bill is, in the state of New Hampshire under NCLB, each public school gets approximately $100 from federal funds. However, it is costing New Hampshire approximately $1000 to implement this program."

How Mr. Merrick arrived at these figures is not substantiated by any statistical data, yet the statement is wielded like a mighty sword of "rare-truth".

After reading the mathematical insanity of receiving federal funds of $100, only to have it cost $1000, I pondered the accuracy of this statement.

A web search on NCLB/New Hampshire revealed several links containing factual information. The most revealing was a paper published by New Hampshire's Senator Jedd Gregg.

The paper, "Myths and Facts: Impact of No Child Left Behind on New Hampshire," dispels several myths. It appears that Mr. Merrick's truth regarding the financial woes of the NCLB program for N.H. is a mythical statement.

The senator's paper dispels many of the erroneous statements regarding the programs financial impact. Highlights include such statements as "... historic increases," and "... a 52% increase over the old law," "... not obligated ... unless federal funds are appropriated to cover the costs of the tests."

Although Senator Gregg is Republican, opposite of 82 percent of the Tufts students according to Mr. Merrick's facts, it is unlikely that any senator would publish a paper without statistical backing. After all, statements of so called facts, or truths, had better have substantial backing or someone like me is apt to point out the partisan political nature of a statement versus what is supposed to be a factual statement, or unbiased journalism.

Once again it looks like the zeal to believe has thwarted the truth. It is no wonder that the truth is all-to-rare.

Thomas S. Crane

Billerica, Massachusetts