CAN'T DROWN THE SAME CAT TWICE:

Bush seeks to expand education act (Susan Milligan, January 13, 2005, Boston Globe)

President Bush yesterday proposed spending $1.5 billion to expand his controversial ''No Child Left Behind" education reforms to high schools and requiring public schools to test secondary school students yearly in reading and mathematics.

''If you believe every child in America can learn, then it makes sense to raise the bar," Bush said at an appearance at a suburban Washington high school. ''That's called accountability for results," he said.

The announcement, part of the White House's plan to lay out Bush's domestic agenda in advance of his second inauguration next week, made official the president's campaign pledge to broaden No Child Left Behind, which the Department of Education credits with improving reading and math test scores.

The primary education overhaul was a defining legislative victory for Bush in his first administration, when he worked with a bipartisan team of lawmakers to create a new role for the federal government in setting standards for elementary and secondary education.

But in the three years since Bush signed the program into law, No Child Left Behind has come under criticism by teachers and school administrators, who argue that the program is underfunded and often unworkable.

Having sandbagged them into trading vouchers for an empty promise of money it seems unlikely he'll have any Democratic support this time.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 13, 2005 7:59 AM