The Bush Record: Every Child Left Behind

No child left behind? Don't believe it! The Bush administration is leaving America's children farther and farther behind by slashing the budget for key educational programs and not even fully funding its much-touted "No Child Left Behind" program (not to mention other educational initiatives). The result: Schools are in crisis, programs are being cut, teachers are quitting in frustration, and our children are not getting the educations they deserve. So much for the "education president."

Bush Target: Early Education
Even the youngest children aren't safe from President Bush's polices, as tries to downgrade Head Start. Bush wants to shift cut federal Head Start funding and move it to state programs with lower quality standards and less accountability. His 2005 budget freezes enrollment in Head Start programs, meaning the 40 percent of children eligible for Head Start and 97 percent eligible for Early Head Start who aren't currently enrolled won't ever be.1,2

Bush says literacy is his top priority -- so why is he eliminating a family literacy program? Bush's budget eliminates the $247 million Even Start program that encourages young children and parents to read together at home. Laura Bush herself has promoted these programs, stating, "Family literacy programs... work on the front lines of the battle against illiteracy." What does she think of her husband's budget?1,3

Bush Target: K-12 Education
Bush leaves his own "No Child Left Behind" reforms behind. Bush's proposed budgets have broken his promise to fully fund No Child Left Behind, falling short by $33.2 billion, including $22.4 billion less for Title I programs for low-income children.4

The nation's governors and state legislatures -- Republicans and Democrats -- have condemned Bush for failing to fund education. The National Governors Association has voted unanimously to label No Child Left Behind an unfunded mandate. Twenty-two states are considering challenging portions of the legislation, including the GOP-controlled legislatures in Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Utah and Virginia.5

Even the children of military families face cuts under Bush. As he was sending troops to Iraq, Bush proposed cutting $200 million in Impact Aid educational assistance to children in military families. During the 2000 campaign, Bush has promised to increase this funding by $310 million, saying, "Our men and women in service put their lives on the line to defend our freedom. We have a special obligation to rebuild the schools that educate their children." An obligation that Bush isn't interested in meeting when the cameras are off.6,7,8

Bush Target: Higher Education
As tuitions skyrocket, Bush cuts financial aid. Since Bush took office, tuition and fees at public colleges have increased by an average of 35 percent, thanks to the failed economic policies that are bankrupting state governments. In fact, 49 out of 50 states saw college tuitions go up last year. And Bush isn't doing anything to ease that burden. He broke a campaign promise to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $5,100, is proposing to eliminate the LEAP program that provided more than a billion dollars in federal and state assistance to students in 2000, and is cutting $100 million in Perkins Loans.1,9,10,11

Bush Target: Job Training
Done with school? Bush isn't done with you. It isn't just traditional student who are bearing the burdens of Bush's attacks on education. The new Bush budget cuts overall employment training funding by $151 million and lumps four employment-training programs into a single block grant. Bush also is cutting overall vocational education by $316 million.1

Sources: 1House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, 2/6/04; 2Children's Defense Fund, Feb. 2003; 3Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning; 4President's FY 02-05 Budgets; 5National Conference State Legislatures; 6House Appropriations Committee, Minority Staff, 6/17/03; 7Washington Post, 6/17/03; 8New York Times, 8/22/00; 9College Board, College Costs 2003; 10Bush Speech in Hampton, New Hampshire, 8/30/00; 11National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, Mar. 2003