Bush Pushes For Changes In "No Child Left Behind"

Bush said that he is willing to take suggestions on changing the "No Child Left Behind" Act as long as the standards are not lowered. He insisted that there would be absolutely "no compromise on the basic principle: Every child must learn to read and do math at, or above, grade level". He and educators of students agreed that schools should map out the individual progress of each student and that schools who miss progress goals by a little should not face the same consequences as those who miss them by a lot. However, to enact these new changes, new funds would be needed, and seeing how the original legislation did not get the funding that was voted on draws fierce opposition from the conservative and liberal wings of Congress. There was a lack of collective funding for the original legislation that made it hard to enforce.

Changes that Bush have listed include :

—Give local leaders more flexibility and resources.

—Offer other educational options to families of children stuck in low-performing schools.

—Increase access to tutoring programs.

—Reward good teachers who improve student achievement in low-income schools.

—Expand access to advanced placement courses.

—Improve math and science instruction.

Shouldn't the government help fund for this program? It makes all these changes that would require even more funding than the original legislation and yet does not have a provision for helping the states with money? All these changes look great on paper, but without proper funding, they are useless and putting the pressure on the states to raise the funds is not a great idea.