Bush trumpets education initiative while facing problems abroad

WASHINGTON -- As developments in Iraq and the Middle East dominated President Bush's attention, he tried to change the focus to his domestic agenda Saturday, saying the education law he championed is raising the bar for student achievement.

"The law sets a clear goal for American education: Every child, in every school, must perform at grade level in reading and math, which are the keys to all learning," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Bush was working at Camp David on a draft of this evening's speech from the White House to update Americans on the situation in Iraq and the fight against terrorism.

The president also was dealing with fallout from the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a setback to the U.S.-led effort to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The school initiative, a centerpiece of Bush's domestic agenda, seeks to improve achievement, particularly among poor students, through expanded testing, tougher quality requirements for teachers, yearly monitoring of student progress and sanctions for schools that fail to improve.

Critics have attacked it, largely because schools contend it demands too much without providing the money necessary to do it.

The law says it does not force any state or local school unit to spend any money, or incur any costs, not paid for under the law. Nevertheless, lawyers for the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, say states must eat billions of dollars in new testing requirements, data collection and other services over several years rather than spending that money on other education costs.

"The 'No Child Left Behind Act' is raising standards for student achievement, giving parents more choices, requiring more accountability from schools and funding education at record levels," Bush said.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico submitted compliance plans approved by the Department of Education, the president said. Additionally, he said his proposed budget for next year would boost education payments to $53.1 billion, an increase of nearly $11 billion since he took office.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who formed an unlikely alliance with Bush to assure passage of the law, said $53.1 billion amounts to an insignificant increase of $26 million over last year.

"The hypocrisy is breathtaking, and the country shouldn't be fooled by it," said Kennedy, who has become one of Bush's fiercest critics on education. "For the millions of children the president's budget on school reform leaves behind, he is actually practicing 'the soft bigotry of low expectations' that he always condemns."

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean also criticized Bush, saying the education initiative is underfunded.

"Local leaders ... are struggling to find new resources to pay the bill," Dean said. "All too often, the only solution is to raise property and state taxes, giving lie to the notion that this president is a tax cutter. He is simply a tax shifter."