Bush Presses for NCLB Renewal

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

BUSH TOUTS EDUCATION PROGRAM
HE SAYS NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IN WORKING AND HE WON'T BACK DOWN ON 
STANDARDIZED TESTING
Los Angeles Times -- October 19, 2006
by James Gerstenzang

Greensboro, N.C. -- President Bush on Wednesday renewed his efforts to 
win reauthorization of his signature education program when the new 
Congress begins work next year, and said he would not yield on one of 
its most controversial components: the requirement that standardized 
tests periodically measure students' progress.

"We'll be rational and reasonable, but what we will not do is allow 
schools to lower standards. And what we will not do is allow people to 
get rid of accountability systems," Bush said.

He spoke at a Greensboro magnet school, presenting its students' 
academic progress in recent years as evidence that the No Child Left 
Behind law was achieving its goals.

The measure expires at the end of next school year, but can be extended 
automatically if no changes are made.

No Child Left Behind, which Bush signed in January 2002, has become the 
centerpiece of his domestic social policy.

Critics, particularly Democrats, say that though the president speaks 
frequently about the law, he has not committed enough money to help pay 
for the requirements it imposes on schools.

Two hours before Bush's appearance here, the Democratic National 
Committee sent an e-mail to reporters, citing a study by Democrats on 
the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. According to their 
figures, Bush has shortchanged funding for the legislation by $40 
billion since the law took effect, and in the 2007 budget he proposed 
providing half of the money promised for the most disadvantaged students.

The president spoke at Waldo C. Falkener Elementary School, which offers 
a primary-school version of the International Baccalaureate program. Its 
student body is 98% nonwhite; 91% of the students receive free or 
discounted lunches.

Over four years, Bush said, the proportion of third-grade students 
reading at their grade level had gone from 46% to 76%. He attributed 
such gains to No Child Left Behind's demand that schools monitor 
progress with standardized tests and then act to correct deficiencies 
uncovered by the tests. Critics argue that "teaching to the test" does 
not necessarily prepare students to become engaged in a broader curriculum.

Bush spent much of the day in North Carolina. He joined politicians, 
local officials and business leaders for lunch at a local barbecue 
restaurant, where he ate pork and chicken, hush puppies, barbecue slaw, 
peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

Later, in Randleman, N.C., he visited the Victory Junction Gang Camp for 
children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses, and then 
spoke at a closed-door reception that was expected to raise $900,000 for 
the Republican National Committee.

  
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-na-bush19oct19,1,7689660.story?coll=la-news-learning