January 8, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)

HEADLINE: Bush touts No Child Left Behind in Final policy speech

By Kristen A. Graham

PHILADELPHIA _ Delivering the final policy speech of his administration, President Bush on Thursday heralded his landmark education law and said it should not be watered down after he leaves office.

Speaking at the Kearny School in Northern Liberties on the seventh anniversary of his signing of the No Child Left Behind Act, Bush said the act had "forever changed America's school systems."

The controversial law, which Bush cites as a major domestic-policy success, requires states to set benchmarks and test students annually in reading and math, with the goal that all schoolchildren pass the exams by 2014. Schools that fail to meet standards face penalties, and students at those schools have the right to transfer.

Critics say the law is underfunded and punitive, and makes schools focus narrowly on testing. In an auditorium packed with parents, children and dignitaries, Bush waved off such criticism.

"How can you possibly determine whether a child can read at grade level if you don't test? And for those who claim we're teaching the test, uh-uh. We're teaching a child to read, so he or she can pass the test," the president said.

The law, which requires schools to break down data by race and socioeconomic status, was designed to make sure the most vulnerable children do not slip through educational cracks, Bush said.

Those children are often "inner-city kids or children whose parents don't speak English as a first language," he said.

While some progress has been made nationwide in narrowing the achievement gap between white and Asian students and their Hispanic and African-American peers, a wide gulf still exists.

Kearny has a largely African-American student body. Bush visited it because it has passed state exams several years running even though a high percentage of its students live in poverty.

Last school year, 60 percent of Kearny fifth-graders passed the state math exam, and 45 percent passed the reading test. Districtwide, the fifth-grade rates were 50 percent on the math test and 36 percent on the reading test.

The school has involved parents, a stable teaching staff, and a longtime principal, and it is known for innovative methods of motivating students.

"We have come because this is one of the really fine schools in the city of Philadelphia," Bush said.

Though achievement gains in the Philadelphia School District have been steady for seven years, more than half the children in the city's public schools cannot read or perform math on grade level.

Last school year, 49 percent of Philadelphia students passed the state exam in math _ up from 20 percent seven years ago. In reading, 47 percent passed the state test, up from 24 percent seven years ago. The state targets were 56 percent in math and 63 percent in reading.

And while Kearny was recognized as a star of urban public education, Bush might have gotten quite a different picture had he been at another city school. Less than two miles away at Dunbar Elementary in North Philadelphia _ whose students are also largely poor and black _ just 15 percent of students passed the math test, and none passed the reading test.

The president had pointed words for the Democratic Congress, which is scheduled to reauthorize the law this year, and for President-elect Barack Obama, who has said he wants changes in the law's funding and flexibility.

"In weakening the law, you weaken the chance for a child to succeed in America," Bush said.

No Child Left Behind has many critics, including the teachers unions.

In a statement, Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, called the law a "failed education experiment" that diverted resources from other subjects.

Arlene Ackerman, chief executive of the Philadelphia School District, who introduced the president, saluted him for believing that "all children can learn."

"Thank you for putting children first," she said. "Happy birthday to No Child Left Behind."

Bush's brief visit _ he was in the city for less than three hours _ was not all policy talk. There were moments of levity, too.

Bush called Education Secretary Margaret Spellings his "buddy" and noted that the Rev. Al Sharpton had lost weight _ "not that you needed to," the president clarified. Sharpton had been invited because of his interest in education as a civil-rights issue.

Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, seemed most relaxed in Cheryl Feldscher's second-grade classroom.

In preparation for their visitors, the children sat quietly with hands folded atop their desks and, when the couple walked in, issued a well-rehearsed "Good morning, Mr. President. Good morning, Mrs. Bush."

"Can I give you some advice? Practice reading a lot, and make sure you read more than you watch TV," the president said, smiling down at the children.

They had plenty of questions for him: When did your daughter get married? Did you like being president? How many bathrooms are there in the White House?

(May, very much, and "There's a lot. It's a big, big place.")

He also said that once he left the White House, he would move into a Dallas house that his wife had picked out but he has not seen.

"That's called faith," Bush told the students.