President Bush plans to seek renewal of the No Child Left Behind law for another five years. An article on CNN.com reminds us that education will be a big focus when lawmakers meet on Monday. Bush expects to have support from both Democrats and Republicans.
The law aims to ensure that all children can read and do math at grade level by 2014, a goal that has placed unprecedented demands on schools. They have been required to increase testing, raise teacher quality and pay more attention to the achievements of minority children.
Poor schools that get federal aid but do not make enough progress must provide tutoring, offer public school choice to students or initiate other reforms such as overhauling their staffs.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings feels that the law will be renewed for another five years. She also would like to see the law expanded in high schools. It currently focuses on early and middle grades.
I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion as Congress once again looks at the goal of all students being proficient in math and reading by 2014.