91ֱ

Federal

Bush Outlines Plans To Help Older Students

January 28, 2004 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

President Bush homed in on the needs of older students, from middle school to adulthood, in his State of the Union Address last week, as he rolled out a set of proposals he says would help struggling students and produce a more highly skilled workforce.

President Bush delivers his State of the Union Address.

President Bush, with Vice President Dick Cheney listening intently, makes a point during his Jan. 20 State of the Union Address. Mr. Bush outlined several proposals for new funding for education initiatives, from job training to student drug testing.
—Photograph by Allison Shelley/91ֱ

He also used the speech—delivered 10 months before voters will decide whether to grant him a second term—to both trumpet and defend the No Child Left Behind Act, which has come under fire from many of the Democratic presidential candidates as well as state and local educators.

“We must ensure that older students and adults can gain the skills they need to find work now,” the president said. “Many of the fastest-growing occupations require strong math and science preparation, and training beyond the high school level. So tonight I propose a series of measures called Jobs for the 21st Century.”

For example, Mr. Bush would create a $100 million reading-intervention program for middle and high schoolers, spend an additional $120 million on mathematics education for secondary students, and launch a $250 million Community-based Job Training program for community and technical colleges linked with local employers seeking more skilled workers.

The president is expected in early February to formally unveil his fiscal 2005 budget request, which will include these proposals.

The focus on middle and high school students was welcome news to Susan Frost, the executive director of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based research and advocacy group.

See Also...

Highlights: “Bush on Education.”

“What we are encouraged about, frankly, is the recognition that the president made in his speech that we have to start directly intervening with older students struggling in reading and math,” she said.

Ms. Frost noted, for instance, that money under the flagship Title I program for disadvantaged students goes mostly to elementary pupils, and that the $1 billion Reading First program targets children in kindergarten through 3rd grade.

“We don’t have a big federal initiative for our middle and high school kids,” she said.

Shuffling Children Along

Education played a relatively small role in President Bush’s televised address to a joint session of Congress. He talked at length about foreign policy and the war on terrorism, and discussed a host of other domestic issues, from the economy and taxes to immigration reform and health care.

His education comments began with the No Child Left Behind Act, one of his top domestic accomplishments, which he is certain to bring up often during his re-election campaign. He touted his view that the law was working and took aim at its detractors.

“Some want to undermine the No Child Left Behind Act by weakening standards and accountability,” Mr. Bush told lawmakers and other dignitaries gathered in the House chamber Jan. 20. “This nation will not go back to the days of simply shuffling children along from grade to grade without them learning the basics.”

In the Democratic response, delivered minutes after Mr. Bush’s speech, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota contended that the president has not supported an adequate amount of money to make the law succeed.

“The heart of [the No Child Left Behind Act] was a promise,” Sen. Daschle said. “The federal government would set high standards for every student and hold schools responsible for the results. In exchange, schools would receive the resources to meet the new standards.

“America’s schools are holding up their end of the bargain; the president has not held up his.”

In an interview with NBC News that night, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, fresh off winning the Iowa Democratic caucuses on Jan. 19, echoed that complaint. He accused Mr. Bush of an “avoidance of responsibility on No Child Left Behind.”

Community Colleges

Speaking at Owens Community College in Perrysburg Township, Ohio, the day after his address to Congress, the president reiterated several of his education proposals, especially the $250 million plan for strengthening the role of community colleges in workforce development.

“The community college system is flexible,” Mr. Bush said. “The community college system is local. The community college system accepts input.”

“I think it’s great that he’s talking about community colleges, and I hope the effect of it is to bring [them] more into the general policy discussion about education,” said Thomas R. Bailey, the director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.

But he had two cautions. The proposal “comes in the context of sharp cuts in state funding of community colleges ... over the last couple of years,” Mr. Bailey said, and isn’t enough to compensate for those losses.

He also expressed concern about a sole focus on the job- training aspect of community colleges, given that they also serve as a transition to four-year institutions.

“That’s an extremely important function,” Mr. Bailey said.

Mr. Bush announced two other school-related items in the State of the Union speech that are potentially controversial. He called for a big increase in aid to promote sexual abstinence among young people. And he proposed $25 million in fiscal 2005, up from $2 million this fiscal year, for grants to schools that wish to conduct student drug testing.

That proposal—and Mr. Bush’s contention that such programs have lowered drug use among teenagers—drew swift criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which announced plans last week to mail booklets to 17,000 school administrators detailing its critique of drug testing as a prevention policy.

“Our concern is that educators get the whole story on drug testing,” said Anjuli Verma, the public education coordinator for the New York City- based ACLU, “not just the government propaganda.”

Staff Writer Darcia Harris Bowman contributed to this report.

A version of this article appeared in the January 28, 2004 edition of 91ֱ as Bush Outlines Plans To Help Older Students

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of 91ֱ's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
Improve School Culture and Engage Students: Archery’s Critical Role in Education
Changing lives one arrow at a time. Find out why administrators and principals are raving about archery in their schools.
Content provided by 
School Climate & Safety Webinar Engaging Every Student: How to Address Absenteeism and Build Belonging
Gain valuable insights and practical solutions to address absenteeism and build a more welcoming and supportive school environment.
Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Social-Emotional Learning 2025: Examining Priorities and Practices
Join this free virtual event to learn about SEL strategies, skills, and to hear from experts on the use and expansion of SEL programs.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Federal Can Trump Ax the Education Department Without Congress?
Trump has been flexing his power through executive orders, and there's the potential for one targeting the Education Department.
7 min read
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021. President Donald Trump could issue an executive order to downsize the department. It would have limitations.
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP
Federal Top House Lawmaker Supports Trump's Bid to 'Depower' Education Department
The House education committee chairman believes "even the best-meaning bureaucrat" can't understand what's happening in local schools.
5 min read
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks during an event at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks at the U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai. Walberg, the newly minted chair of the U.S. House's education and workforce committee, said at a Tuesday event that he wouldn't stand in the way of President Donald Trump's efforts to diminish or close the U.S. Department of Education.
Joshua A. Bickel/AP
Federal Title IX, School Choice, ‘Indoctrination’—How Trump Took on Schools in Week 2
It was a week in which the newly inaugurated president began wholeheartedly to act on his agenda for schools.
8 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump's second week in the White House featured his first direct foray into policymaking aimed directly at schools.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal Then & Now Why Can't We Leave No Child Left Behind ... Behind?
The law and its contours are stuck in our collective memory. What does that say about how we understand K-12 policy?
6 min read
Collage image of former President G.W. Bush signing NCLB bill.
Liz Yap/91ֱ and Canva