SALON

Wednesday, Sep 1, 2004 1:44 AM UTC

Reality left behind

By

Topics: War Room,

After a lot of war talk last night, the Republicans are getting back to the “compassionate conservatism” theme — a clever and probably necessary strategy for Bush two months from Election Day when more Americans think his opponent understands people like them. Helping to make Bush’s case: Education Secretary Rod Paige. (You may remember Paige’s outrageous comments earlier this year likening the nation’s largest teachers union to a “terrorist organization.”)

No matter what anyone may be hearing around town about the No Child Left Behind Act, Paige told the convention, the law is working. “Now schools are being held accountable for progress,” he said. “All across America test scores are rising, students are learning, the achievement gap is closing, teachers and principals are beaming with pride!”

And he put a school-house twist on the Kerry flip-flop nonsense. “Our opponents voted for No Child Left Behind. They praised it then. Now they attack it,” Paige said. “They say No Child Left Behind should be watered down, schools can’t handle change, some children just can’t learn. We say, do not underestimate our public schools, do not underestimate our teachers and never underestimate our children!”

Paige is right about one thing — NCLB once had wide bipartisan support. It was Bush’s first legislative proposal, and many Democrats, including John Kerry, voted for it. But now, its critics are legion — and they extend well beyond the Democratic party to teachers, civic groups, school administrators and state officials. And with good reason: The law punishes schools without giving them a way to fix the causes of low achievement among poor and minority kids, it’s too obsessed with standardized tests, and it’s woefully underfunded. There’s even opposition on the right, from conservatives who think it violates states’ rights.

But really, the worst of it is that schools just can’t satisfy the law’s demands with the restrictions they’re facing. It’s not because they’re “underestimating” themselves, either. Bush refuses to fully fund No Child Left Behind — by billions. The Center for Education Policy, a nonpartisan group, says in this report on the law: “Over half of the nation’s school districts will receive fewer Title I dollars this coming school year than they did last year, even though the No Child Left Behind Act is demanding more of all school districts.” Title I is federal money set aside for disadvantaged students.

And when Democrats recently tried to repeal some of Bush’s tax cuts for millionaires to fund government programs, it was voted down overwhelmingly by Republicans. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had this to say: “Hiking taxes to pay for big government programs is as dead as disco.” Even when it comes to schools? Not exactly compassionate when you think about it. But that’s why DeLay isn’t on the podium tonight.

Geraldine Sealey is senior news editor at Salon.com. More Geraldine Sealey.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

War Room is our political news and commentary blog, with coverage and commentary throughout the day.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations