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Skriven 2006-10-05 23:32:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0610052) for Thu, 2006 Oct 5
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Fact Sheet: The No Child Left Behind Act: Challenging Students Through High
Expectations
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 5, 2006

Fact Sheet: The No Child Left Behind Act: Challenging Students Through High
Expectations


ÿÿÿÿÿ President Discusses NCLB Reauthorization at the Education Department
ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Education

The No Child Left Behind Act Is A Historic Law - It Is Working, And It Is
Here To Stay. When he came to Washington, President Bush worked with
Republicans and Democrats to pass the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and
he was proud to sign it into law. Today, President Bush discussed the
progress made under NCLB and areas where we can look to improve.
  þ The Theory Behind No Child Left Behind Is Straightforward: The Federal
    Government Will Ask For Demonstrated Results On The Investment It Makes
    In Education. Local schools will remain under local control, but
    instead of just sending checks from Washington and hoping for the best,
    we are measuring results and holding schools accountable for teaching
    every student to read, write, add, and subtract.
  þ The No Child Left Behind Act Is Changing More Than The Law - It Is
    Changing A Culture. We are leaving behind the days when schools
    shuffled children from grade to grade, especially minorities and
    children who do not speak English at home. We are making it clear that
    every child can learn, and every school must teach. There can be no
    compromise on the basic principles of NCLB: Every student must read,
    write, add, and subtract at grade level - that is not too much to ask.
  þ We Have Come Too Far To Turn Back Now - Reauthorizing No Child Left
    Behind Is Critical. If we were to lower standards and roll back
    accountability now, we would be abandoning children to the status quo
    that failed for decades, and the children hurt most would be the ones
    NCLB was designed to help - children in the inner cities, in rural
    America, and in special education.

The No Child Left Behind Act Is Working. The most recent national tests
show encouraging results:
  þ In reading, 9-year-olds have made larger gains in the past five years
    than at any point in the previous 28 years;
  þ In math, 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds earned the highest scores in the
    history of the test; and
  þ In both reading and math, African American and Hispanic students are
    scoring higher, and are beginning to close the achievement gap with
    their white peers.

The No Child Left Behind Act Has Brought Good Progress - Yet We Still Have
Much Work To Do

1. We Must Improve Teacher Quality. Bringing every student up to grade
level requires a quality teacher in every classroom. President Bush worked
with Congress to create a Teacher Incentive Fund that allows States and
school districts to reward teachers who demonstrate results for their
students and who make the tough decision to teach in the neediest schools.
  þ President Bush Has Also Proposed A New Program To Encourage Math And
    Science Professionals To Bring Their Expertise Into The Classroom As
    Part-Time Teachers. The President calls on Congress to fund this
    program.

2. We Must Improve Options For Parents. We must do more to help parents use
their options when their children are trapped in struggling schools. We
will work with school districts to provide parents with more timely and
useful information about their transfer options and, especially in big
cities, to help more students take advantage of the free intensive tutoring
offered under NCLB.
  þ President Bush Proposed A Nationwide Opportunity Scholarships Program
    To Help More Students Escape Troubled Schools. His proposal would allow
    28,000 low-income children to transfer to a private or religious school
    of their choice. The President calls on Congress to create this
    program, so we can help more children attend a good school and turn
    around their lives.
  þ This School Year, About 1,800 Low-Income Students Have Used
    Scholarships From The D.C. Opportunity Scholarships Program To Enroll
    At A School Of Their Choice. Congress created this program in 2004 with
    strong support from the Administration and Mayor Anthony Williams of
    Washington, D.C.

3. We Must Improve Our High Schools. We need to bring the same high
standards and accountability of NCLB to America's public high schools. The
President calls on Congress to pass his proposed $1.5 billion initiative to
fund testing early in high school and to help teachers fix problems before
it is too late, and his proposed program to train 70,000 teachers over five
years to lead Advanced Placement classes in high school.

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