George Bush and No Child Left Behind: A Federalist Perspective

No Child Left Behind: The Future

One of the chief sculptors of the infamous Act, Representative George Miller, stated, “I would give [NCLB] an A in terms of the goals it has set… in trying to develop a system to make sure that each and every child is proficient. I would give it an F for funding…. And on implementation, I would give it a C.” 17 Two years after the execution of the federal expansion, 24% of American school fail to make adequate yearly progress, many of them regarded top notch in the states. There is one thing for certain, the testing and accountability President Bush required by this policy is now drilled into the American school system. The culture of testing and pressure and high standards shown through the use of standardized testing has changed the school system.

In addition, this issue that was supposed to bring both Democrats and Republicans together sparked major polarization within Congress. Before the 2008 presidential election, the Democratic candidates had a platform that tore the Act apart, creating pillars of new reform to come with a new president. With many parties agreeing the components of the law need to be altered, the question now is a political one. The new questions involve what will be kept and what will be thrown out the window. Bush’s agenda of reforming education met his goal, but in the long run, this “uniter” deeply divided the country due to this piece of legislation. President Obama’s legislation acknowledges the needs for flexibility, while keeping that strong drive for improvement. If schools miss their target, they still get funding for that year. That administration understands that individual states are going to need different approaches in increasing school excellence.

Final Thoughts

By the summer of 2007, the GOP had rallied together to repeal this law, claiming that the goals of the Act were unrealistic and was an embarrassment to standard GOP principles. While the uproar continued to gain movement, the Bush administration chose to stay the course, and complete their mission of providing a quality education through the means of the No Child Left Behind Act. Over the coming years, what would follow would be numerous Supreme Court cases that argued the No Child Left Behind Act forced states to comply with unfunded federal mandates. States across America did not see these goals achievable under the lacking of funding and time sensitivity involved. States criticize the Act for being overly intrusive and an outlandish overtake of local and state control of education.

In the Fiscal Year of 2009, over $25 billion dollars has been allocated to use for the No Child Left Behind Act. It is interesting to note that while proclaiming “compassionate conservatism” in a few areas, while pushing education legislation through he neglected to other areas that hand in hand with other funding with services that are connected to a high quality life of an individual. While in office, President Bush cut taxes that helped the wealthy and created a heavy burden for the lower and middle class, and pumped funding into faith-based initiatives to delegate those services to private institutions. There is hypocrisy with that type of thinking, one that does not create a visionary administration, who thinks holistically about their executive power and actions.

“Over the last 50 years. A robust historical record will be a significant resource for those who shape federal policy, including NCLB and its successors, in a new context of international competition and strife, which is forcing the United States to take a fresh look at its "federal"-local, state, and national-approach to many functions, especially education.” 18 President George Bush had to look at education from a Presidential perspective and create a plan to combat the issue of educational funding and take a close look at how each individual school system and state would receive that funding. He placed his values at the conservative end of the spectrum increasing accountability and personal choice in his restricted ESEA. He could have made the Act more flexible after taking that initial approach, but he did not, he stayed the course. The Administration should have been done is been more open minded and less rigid in regards to own states needs and modes of operation. If he let the states administer their own educational policy and oversee it without an iron first, the States may have responded more positively to the reform.

In the end, “The attitude many educators, politicians, and the general public have toward NCLB can be characterized in a single word: conflicted”. 19 George Bush came into office to put education as a focal point, did so, and in the end, he will be remembered for how he carried out that important and personal piece of legislation. The No Child Left Behind Act sought to aggressively restructure the public school system, and did so by changing the states interactions with the Federal Government. This policy solution did not work out in George Bush’s favor because he forgot one key factor, the ideal of federalism in American political policy. If he had created and implemented a bill with this concept in mind, the outcome may have turned out differently for President Bush. In the aftermath, the new Obama Administration knew it was a key policy area that he could champion because he saw his predecessor take this unbending approach towards implementation of policy. This observance will only continue to make President Bush leave a terrible legacy in America and allow for President Obama’s legacy to grow.

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1.) Bush, George. First Inaugural Address. 20 January 2001. West Front, U.S. Capitol.

2.) Ibid.

3.) Polling Report, Inc. 2010. ABC News/Washington Post Poll. “Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?" Jan. 13-16, 2009. http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm

4.) Consequently, as the executive’s power was expanding in areas of homeland security, Bush’s plan to expand executive power in other domestic policy areas may have been overlooked.

5.) Jacobson, Gary. A Divider, Not a Uniter. San Diego, CA: Pearson Education. 2008. 50.

6.) Edwards, George. Governing By Campaigning. NY, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. 2008. 17.

7.) States’ Impact of Federal Education Policy. “Federal Education Policy and the States, 1945-2009”. http://www.archives.nysed.gov/edpolicy/research/res_essay_reagan_state_responsibility.shtml

8.) Heiss, Frederick and Patrick McGuinn.“George W. Bush’s Education Legacy: The Two Faces of No Child Left Behind”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009.

9.) Edwards, George. Governing By Campaigning. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. 2008. 181.

10.) Maranto, Robert, and Richard Redding.”Bush’s Brain (No, Not Karl Rove)”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009.

11.) Heiss, Frederick and Patrick McGuinn.“George W. Bush’s Education Legacy: The Two Faces of No Child Left Behind”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009. 159.

12.) Maranto, Robert, and Richard Redding.”Bush’s Brain (No, Not Karl Rove)”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009. 164.

13.) Heiss, Frederick and Patrick McGuinn.“George W. Bush’s Education Legacy: The Two Faces of No Child Left Behind”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009. 165.

14.) Ibid, 166.

15.) United States Court of Appeals Opinion For the Sixth Circuit. School District of the City of Pontiac v. Secretary of the United States Department of Education. January 7. 2008

16.) Ridgod, Joan. “No Child Left Behind Act”. DCBar. April 2008. http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/april_2008/no_child.cfm

17.) Heiss, Frederick and Patrick McGuinn.“George W. Bush’s Education Legacy: The Two Faces of No Child Left Behind”. In Judging Bush edited by Maranto, Lansford, and Johnson. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2009. 165.

18.) Neill, Monty. “Making Lemonade from NCLB Lemons”. Rethinking Schools. Fall 2003. http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bushplan/nclb181.shtml

19.) Miners, Zach. “No Child Left Behind Loses Support”. US News and World Report. Dec 9 2009. Nation and World Section. http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2009/12/09/no-child-left-behind-law-loses-support.html