Bush Presses NCLB Renewal

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

BUSH SAYS HE'LL STRENGTHEN EDUCATION POLICY
Los Angeles Times -- October 6, 2006
by James Gerstenzang and Joel Havemann

Washington With his centerpiece education policy up for renewal, 
President Bush said Thursday that reauthorizing and strengthening the 
program was one of his top priorities for next year.

The law, known as "No Child Left Behind," which he signed one year after 
taking office, has divided educators, drawn sharp criticism recently 
from the Department of Education's inspector general, and prompted 
Democrats to complain that the administration has not put enough money 
into helping school districts meet its demands.

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Bush, shifting his public focus away from the war in Iraq and the 
campaign against terrorism, is in the midst of two days of speaking out 
on domestic policy. Education was the theme Thursday, with a visit to 
the Education Department headquarters in Washington and then to a 
District of Columbia charter school. Today it's the economy, to be 
highlighted in a speech at a FedEx distribution facility.

But neither topic is a sure winner, even as he suggests they are reason 
to vote Republican in the upcoming elections.

In the first of six reports on No Child Left Behind, the Education 
Department's inspector general found the selection of reading curricula 
to be rife with conflict of interest — persons with financial stakes in 
reading programs are deciding which programs states can use.

In the report dated last month on the Reading First component of the 
program, the inspector general's office examined the panel chosen to 
assess the states' proposals for grants. It found that six of the 25 
panelists had "significant professional connections" to a particular 
reading program.

Three of those six had links to the Reading Mastery program published by 
SRA/McGraw-Hill. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), said McGraw-Hill's 
chairman and previous chairman had between them contributed more than 
$23,000 to Bush and the Republican National Committee since 1999.

The president's remarks today on the economy will follow the 
announcement of monthly job figures and Allan B. Hubbard, chairman of 
the White House National Economic Council, forecast an upbeat tenor. He 
told reporters Thursday that despite the slowdown in housing prices, the 
still-high price of gasoline, and the ongoing problems of the Big 3 auto 
manufacturers, voters had reason to be optimistic about the economy.

Hubbard said the growth of the economy in the third and fourth quarters 
was likely to be in the 1% to 2% range, with growth for the year at 3%, 
which he presented as sustainable figures. "We feel very good about the 
economy," Hubbard said.

With Republicans struggling against the fallout of the scandal involving 
former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and the continuing political weight of 
the Iraq war, such events as the visit to the Woodridge Elementary and 
Middle School in a rundown section of the nation's capital give Bush an 
opportunity to focus on a domestic policy issue that's far from the 
political spotlight. It was his second visit to a school this week, 
following his stop at George W. Bush Elementary School in Stockton.

Even involving a program that was a top priority when he took office, 
Bush acknowledged room for improvement. The measure expires at the end 
of the 2007-2008 school year but can be extended automatically if no 
changes are made.

The president said that parents are not necessarily getting information 
about students' progress quickly enough to switch a child's enrollment 
to another school if they think a change is necessary.

"We've got to improve options," the president said. He said that in some 
cases, parents were not being notified about how a child was performing 
until a new school year had begun.

"That doesn't help," he said, adding: "It kind of looks like people are 
afraid to put out results for some reason."

He also suggested school districts were not taking advantage of federal 
help providing tutoring for students, or were using the money for other 
purposes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-na-bush6oct06,1,4485298.story?coll=la-news-learning