President Bush Signs Landmark Education Reforms

Bipartisan Effort Reaps Historic Freedom and Flexibility for America's Schools
(Jan. 14, 2002)

" These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America. "
-President George W. Bush

President Bush vowed to make educating every child his number-one domestic priority and reform a system that - despite nearly $200 billion in federal funding since 1965 - has failed the neediest in our nation's classrooms.

In response, President Bush proposed a comprehensive, bipartisan plan to improve overall student performance and close the achievement gap between rich and poor students in America's more than 89,599 public schools.

In his first year in office, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was passed with an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress. On January 8, 2002, the President signed into law this landmark legislation that promotes educational excellence for America's:

* Estimated 46.8 million public school children
* Nearly 3 million public school teachers
* More than 89,599 public schools
* Nearly 17,000 local school districts

The Leave No Child Behind Act Ushers in Sweeping Reforms Based Upon the President's

Priorities for America's Schools:

Stronger Accountability for Results

* Provides the most sweeping reform of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act since it was enacted in 1965 by turning federal spending on schools into a federal investment in improved student performance

* Redefines the federal role in K-12 education by requiring all states to set high standards of achievement and create a system of accountability to measure results

* Insists that states set high standards for achievement in reading and math - the building blocks of all learning - and test every child in grades 3 through 8 to ensure that students are making progress

Greater Flexibility and Local Control

* Offers school districts powerful tools to provide the best possible education to all children - especially those most in need - by cutting federal red tape, reducing the number of federal education programs, and creating larger more flexible programs that place decision-making at the local level where it belongs

* Trusts local parents, educators and school boards to make the best decisions for their children

* Frees local school districts to spend up to half their federal education dollars however they see fit

Expanded Options and Choice for Parents

* Empowers parents by providing unprecedented federal support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are trapped in low-performing schools

Students in failing schools may transfer to higher-performing public schools or get help such as tutoring

Students in persistently dangerous schools may transfer to safer public schools

* Informs parents by requiring states to provide annual report cards of school performance and statewide progress

Requirement arms parents with information about the quality of their children's schools, the qualifications of teachers, and their children's progress in key subjects

Emphasis on Teaching Methods that Work

* Supports reading instruction based upon research-based methods that work to ensure that every child in public schools reads at or above grade level by third grade

* Strengthens teacher quality for public schools in by investing in training and retention of high-quality teachers

The Leave No Child Behind Act Provides Resources to Support the Reforms:

* Increases federal education funding under the ESEA to more than $22.1 billion for America's elementary and secondary schools - a 27 percent increase over last year, and a 49 percent increase over 2000 levels

* Increases federal funding to an estimated $10.4 billion for the Title I program to help disadvantaged students succeed - an 18 percent increase over last year, and a 30 percent increase over 2000 levels

* Provides nearly $3 billion in federal funding to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and principals

* Boosts funding for reading programs to nearly $1 billion so every child in America learns to read

* Provides an estimated $200 million for charter schools to expand parental choice and free children trapped in persistently failing schools

Note: Funding figures are U.S. Department of Education estimates Other figures include data from the Department's National Center for Education Statistics at www.nces.ed.gov.

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Authorized by William C. Sniffin
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