The Bush administration will announce new standards for its No Child Left Behind program Tuesday, a White House spokesman said.
The changes, to be announced by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in Detroit, will “strengthen and improve” the law, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said.
Stanzel said the updates are a “follow on” to President Bush’s comments in January, when he said that if Congress did not act this spring to update the law, the president would ask Spellings to strengthen it through administrative actions.
“She’s done a lot of traveling around, talking to educators and policymakers about how to improve No Child Left Behind,” explained Stanzel. “She’s … found consensus on several issues.”
At this stage in the presidential race, it seems like education has not been a major point of focus. I wonder if Bush’s new standards will help get the ball rolling. Public education in the US needs to be reformed. Hopefully this will do so or inspire current presidential candidates to do so.
I would love to know what he consensus is and to see if it actually reflects what students, teachers and parents are experiencing. When are the 2008 Presidential candidates going to get to the meat of the issue? I don’t expect a single candidate to have all the answers, but I do expect them be open on their views and to take action when in office.