For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 8, 2002

Fact Sheet: President Joins "No Child Left Behind Tour Across America"

      President Bush Speaks to Elementary Students in Milwaukee
      President Visits Rufus King High School in Milwaukee
      President Visits Logan High School in Lacrosse

Today's Presidential Action

President Bush continued his call for increased accountability, improved teacher quality, more parental involvement and a focus on reading in our nation's public schools.

The President also highlighted specific parts of the No Child Left Behind Act that will make a difference in every public school in America beginning in the 2002-2003 school year. For example, in Wisconsin alone, nearly 70,000 students in 116 schools that have failed to meet state education standards for two years in a row will have the option to transfer to a better public school beginning this fall as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Background on Today's Presidential Action

President Bush visited three outstanding public schools in Wisconsin, where he joined the Department of Education's 25-city No Child Left Behind Tour Across America. The Tour highlights the next important step in education reform - translating the No Child Left Behind Act into to results in the classroom. The President highlighted a number of key provisions of the new law, including:

• Strengthening Accountability - Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states will be responsible for setting strong academic standards for what every child should know and learn in reading, math, and science at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, schools will have to measure student progress and better target resources by administering tests in each of three 'grade spans' -- grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12 in all schools. Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, tests must be administered every year in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading. The President's FY 03 budget requests $387 million to help states develop and implement accountability systems.

• Improving Teacher Quality - The No Child Left Behind Act requires that there must be a 'highly qualified' teacher in every classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Using the new provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act in conjunction with President Bush's budget request, the federal government will invest more than $4 billion in 2002 alone to improve teacher quality and strengthen teacher recruitment throughout America.

• Increasing Parental Involvement - Because of the No Child Left Behind Act, every parent in America will have access to information on how well their child's school is performing. And, the No Child Left Behind Act gives low-income parents with children in persistently failing schools the ability to transfer their child to a better public school or use federal Title I dollars for supplemental services to improve their child's education. Students in schools that have been identified as failing to meet the standards of their state for two years in a row will have the option to transfer to a better performing public school in their district beginning in the 2002-2003 school year. School districts will be required to provide transportation to the students, and priority will be given to low-income students. For schools that have failed to meet state standards for three years in a row, children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be eligible to obtain "supplemental services," including tutoring, remedial education, extra classes, summer school, after-school programs, and other supplemental academic services to help boost their achievement.

• Strengthening Reading Programs - The new Reading First State Grant program will make 6-year grants to States, which will make competitive subgrants to local communities. Local recipients will administer screening and diagnostic assessments to determine which students in grades K-3 are at risk of reading failure, and provide professional development for K-3 teachers in the essential components of reading instruction. The new Early Reading First program will make competitive 6-year awards to districts to support early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of preschool-age children, particularly those from low-income families. The President's FY 03 budget requests $1 billion for Reading First and $75 million for Early Reading First.