I admit them I should be more up on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). I don't know much about it. I know it involves measuring school performance via testing of students. I also know that it is often called an "unfunded mandate" or put another way, it supposedly puts burdens on schools so they have to take resources away from other things in order to comply with it. No money was handed out to accomplish the task. I have heard this as a dig at President Bush. This is only an impression I have - I can't point to one or more specific sources for my impression. When that happens to me, I usually find that the cause is a bunch of comments in the media leading me to the wrong general conclusion so I have to say that's a good candidate this time as well. But today I find that there is no reason for me to think of NCLB as a "Bush unfunded mandate." That's because I am in a hotel and received my free copy of USA Today - I'd never spend money for this rag otherwise. But anyways, on page 13A of the paper, it says the vote for NCLB was 381-41 in the House and 87-10 in the Senate.My memory is not very clear on how many from each major party is in each body of congress but I do think these votes would have to be bi-partisan in order to be lopsided. Also, the aper points out that these veto-proof majorities occurred before Bush signed the thing into law. So I gotta wonder why, if nearly every elected representative in the land voted for the thing, why it is that it cannot be made workable.

Now to the Act. It seems to me that I should endeavor to understand it better. The gist of the USA Today article was that most people, be they parents or not, just do not know anything about the act. The newspaper does a pretty good job of explaining it so I'll try to hit some of the high points.

The law requires all students to be proficient in math and reading within 12 years of enactment. Students get tested every year while in the critical 3rd grade to 8th grade period and then again once in high school. Schools which do not pass, have to offer tutoring and allow students to transfer to other schools. The students are broken down into various minority groups judged by race, economic levels, and other criteria. All groups must make progress. That way, you cannot improve a school's grade by just bringing in more middle class or affluent kids while still failing to educate the same groups as before. Teachers must fulfill state certification requirements. New teachers must have bachelor's degrees. Teachers have to pass tests in their subject areas. States must issue report cards on schools to parents.

So now I know that the NCLB Act requires schools to do what I thought they were doing all along and it isn't Bush's fault. Democrats and Republicans alike get the "blame" for passing a law requiring schools to do what I thought they were already doing.