This past Friday, George W Bush was in Janesville, WI to speak from the bully pulpit on education - this from the man who admits he doesn't like to read newspapers. It should be noted that at the same time, former Texas Governor, Ann Richards came to speak at the Monona Terrace in Madison. Ann rocks!

In Madison, the room was filled to capacity with the lively talk among many, many women and some men as well. There was an earnest sharing from Pro-choice advocates, Women for Kerry and Tammy Baldwin supporters of campaign literature, buttons and stickers. By the time I left I looked like a walking billboard of campaigns.

I did learn some important facts. One of which is that the state of Texas is ranked 50th (at the bottom) in the nation for high school graduation rates after following the Texas version of No Child Left Behind. This bill was signed into law by none other than then-Governor George W. Bush.

Some of the highlights, Richards quips, of Bush's first year in office include removing coverage of birth control from the federal health insurance program. She noted that Viagra is still covered.

Since the time he took office, Richards said, Wisconsin has lost 67,000 jobs. A more startling number is that due to the national 5 trillion dollar deficit (of which the U.S. has borrowed money from countries like China) - each American now owes the equivalent of $27,000 in debt.

Sad to say, I don't think any of this made the local broadcast news. Thank goodness community radio WORT (89.9 FM) was there!

The local/national television stations covered the President's visit not like journalists; more like stenographers. This included the prerequisite (I'm being sarcastic) nice visual backdrop; a brief word on the supporters inside/protestors outside; brief mention of the No Child Left Behind Act; and, quick ending of camera shot of Bush shaking hands with the young, pretty female student he shared the stage with during the rally.

So George W came to talk of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and all I got was this stupid media?

There had been no mention of how the state will account for the 124 schools in 31 districts which didn't meet one or more indicators of the NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP.)

(See http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dltcl/eis/pdf/dpi2004_119.pdf )


The Media could have spent a few minutes on the web to find out the financial ramifications of the NCLB Act in the state of Wisconsin. Specifically, that according to a 2002 study by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, current spending per pupil in Wisconsin is $8,241. Yet to meet NCLB, Wisconsin would need to spend $11,121 per pupil in school or a 35% increase for Wisconsin!

William J Mathis, superintendent of schools in Brandon, Vermont and a senior fellow of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education clarifies the issue in his paper, No Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 84, No. 09 (May 2003) pp. 679-686. In Wisconsin, Mathis cites a study from the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, authored by Whitney Allgood and Richard Rothstein, that found in order to meet NCLB, funding would be $11,231 per pupil and $27,879 per high-risk pupils -- more than 2.5 times the cost of previous estimates.

According to Mathis, "In arriving at this figure, the authors demonstrated that overcoming the effects of poverty requires interventions beyond the traditional school. Thus they included community clinics, before- and after-school programs, early childhood intervention, and summer school programs. Simply teaching children will have little effect if they return to bad neighborhoods, single-parent homes, foster care, inadequate health care, and a general lack of support. The authors marshaled convincing evidence that expecting students to reach high standards without essential support systems in place overestimates the ability of schools to cure social ills." )See (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm#24 )

The NCLB Act, according to Senator Russ Feingold raises concern that, "...the President's budget requests for the three fiscal years since enactment of this bill – one of the centerpieces of his domestic policy – have underfunded the programs that he signed into law and have actually eliminated funding for a variety of programs authorized by this law. In fact, the President's fiscal year 2005 budget request actually underfunds the NCLB by $9.4 billion. The federal government has a responsibility to come through with education funds that we have promised to states and local school districts. To do otherwise sets students and educators up for failure." (See http://feingold.senate.gov/issues_nclb.html)