The White House, President George W. Bush Click to print this document

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 8, 2004

Fact Sheet: President Bush Celebrates 2nd Anniversary of No Child Left Behind Act

     Fact sheet en Español

Today's Presidential Action

In a visit to West View Elementary School in Knoxville, Tennessee, President Bush celebrated the second anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 with educators from across the Nation and announced new resources to make a real difference for America's schools.

President Bush's overall Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget represents a 48% increase for elementary and secondary education since FY 2001. It includes an additional:

Through the No Child Left Behind Act, these historic levels of support are combined with an unprecedented commitment to achieving high standards and accountability to ensure that America's schools are producing real results for every child in America. And the new law has already begun to make a difference for students, teachers and administrators across the United States.

Two Years of Accomplishment With No Child Left Behind

High Standards and Accountability: Since President Bush signed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) into law, all states have a plan in place to ensure that all students become proficient at reading and math and that achievement gaps are closed between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. States, districts, and schools are using their unique accountability plans to measure the progress of student achievement, report student and school progress to parents, identify for improvement those schools not making adequate yearly progress, provide support for the improvement of schools and districts, and provide options -- including public school choice and tutoring -- for children in underperforming schools.

Reading First and Early Reading First: President Bush proposed and signed into law the Reading First and Early Reading First initiatives as part of his unequivocal commitment to ensuring that every child can read by the third grade. These programs enable more children to receive scientifically-based reading instruction programs in the early grades.

Options Available for Parents

Supporting What Works

Unspent Federal Funds Available: No Child Left Behind has made significant new resources available to states and local school districts, but some states and school districts have not been able to take full advantage of these resources. According to the Department of Education, as of December 11, 2003, a total of nearly $6 billion in Federal education funds remained unspent, waiting to be drawn down by state officials. These funds are from amounts appropriated in 2000 through 2002.

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