Bush Urges Continuation of No Child Left Behind

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Bush Urges Continuation of No Child Left Behind

January 08, 2009 3:39 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: In what he said would be the final policy speech of his presidency, President Bush traveled to Philadelphia to tout his controversial education program No Child Left Behind, signed seven years ago today, and to urge policymakers to continue it after he leaves office.

"I firmly believe that thanks to this law, more students are learning, an achievement gap is closing. And on this anniversary, I have come to talk about why we need to keep the law strong. If you find a piece of legislation that is working, it is important to make sure the underpinnings of that law remain strong," Bush said in remarks at the General Philip Kearny School.

"I've come to herald the success of a good piece of legislation. I have come to talk to our citizens about the results that this reform has yielded. And I call upon those who can determine the fate of No Child Left Behind in the future to stay strong in the face of criticism, to not weaken the law -- because in weakening the law, you weaken the chance for a child to succeed in America -- but to strengthen the law for the sake of every child," he said.

The president was adamant in support of the initiative, listing the program's successes:

"The most important result of the No Child Left Behind is this: Fewer students are falling behind; more students are achieving high standards. We have what's called the Nation's Report Card. For those who wonder whether or not we should strengthen No Child Left Behind, I want you to hear this: 4th graders earned the highest reading and math scores in the history of the test. Minority and disadvantaged students made some of the largest gains, with African Americans and Hispanics posting all-time highs in several categories," he said.

President Bush came to office in 2001 promising to overhaul the nation's education program. No Child Left Behind was launched in 2002. It sought to raise school standards and provide more flexibility for parents seeking to place their children in different schools.

Today, Bush spoke of the reasons for creating No Child Left Behind.

"We saw a culture of low expectations. You know what happens when you have low expectations? You get lousy results. And when you get lousy results, you have people who say, there's no future for me in this country. And so we decided to do something about it," he said.

Bush also defended the controversial testing standards included in the program, saying:

"The key to measuring is to test. And by the way, I've heard every excuse in the book why we should not test -- oh, there's too many tests; you teach the test; testing is intrusive; testing is not the role of government. How can you possibly determine whether a child can read at grade level if you don't test? And for those who claim we're teaching the test, uh-uh. We're teaching a child to read so he or she can pass the test."

The president also hailed No Child Left Behind's school choice options:

"By the way, school choice was only open to rich people up until No Child Left Behind. It's hard for a lot of parents to be able to afford to go to any other kind of school but their neighborhood school. Now, under this system, if your public school is failing, you'll have the option of transferring to another public school or charter school. And it's -- I view that as liberation. I view that as empowerment."

January 8, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (23)

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I doubt that this program really works. Parents have to work two jobs, don't have time to check up on their students to see if they really went to school, much less meet with the teachers....
Plus, I heard on CNN this morning that 1 out of 7 adults in the U S is illiterate. 1 out of 7. And these people have the right to vote, take out mortgages, use credit cards.

I think self-determination would go a lot farther than wasting money in places where it is not doing any good.
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Debbie, Austin, Texas

Wow, talk about letting parents off the hook. It is the PARENT's RESPONSIBILITY to check on thier kid each and every day! It is the PARENT's RESPONSIBILITY to establish a working realtionship with their child's teachers!

There is ZERO excuse for this not to happen. Working two jobs is not an excuse.

Despite what Hilary Clinton claimed, it is NOT the town/village's responsibility, it is the PARENTS!!!

As far as CNN goes and their numbers, care to recite the source of that data?

Pres. Carter created the Dept of Education, and ever since this then, liberals have decided to use it as their own little social engineering experiment. It has been a galactic FAILURE.

All we have done has force teahers to teach to the lowest common denominator and waste huge chunks of time dealig with IEPs and other foolish ways to "level" the playing field.

Unfortunately, when these kids graduate and hit the real world, they are completely unprepared for what lies ahead.

The system is broken and has been since the late 1970's. It is time to go back to holding kids back in th eearly grades if they do not have a working knowledge of fundamentals for the grade they just completed.

If 3rd graders can't do the multiplication tables, then do NOT push them ahead into the next levle of math where they can't possibly have success!

Posted by: Mike_C | Jan 12, 2009 1:56:15 PM

Parents getting on their kids and backing up the teachers' efforts works wonders with most of them. Of course, some kids (especially teenagers) don't have a good rapport with their parents, so that doesn't go anywhere.

Another thing-I'm not convinced that kids really apply themselves on these tests...there is no incentive for them to do their best unless it's for graduation. If these scores showed their best efforts, then what would be the problem? All one can do is their best...but, they simply aren't, so we really don't know how competent they are in academics.

Remember, too, that in the other countries our kids are compared to they shunt their 'farm school kids' away from academia to apprenticeship and tech school programs.

Posted by: Grand Old Party | Jan 13, 2009 1:52:29 AM

When are these ignorant politicans, that send their kids to private schools going to see the truth? As long as the kids are allowed to be in charge, they will never catch up with other countries. I challange anyone who believes the Bush plan of No child left behind program is helping, to spend a day in classes of any middle school or high school. Then you will see the unruly, rude behavior of the students and then you will know why so many are graduating barely knowing how to read and write. I would not be a teacher in an American public school for $1,000.00 an hour! I am surprised that teachers are not quiting every day.

Posted by: Sue Jenkins | Jan 17, 2009 12:41:40 PM

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