"No Child Left Behind" as potential political liability for President Bush

Today's Washington Post has this article which begins, "President Bush's No Child Left Behind education program -- acclaimed as a policy and political breakthrough by the Republicans in January 2002 -- is threatening to backfire on Bush and his party in the 2004 elections," and explains that "Bush is being criticized in swing states such as West Virginia for not adequately funding programs to help administrators and teachers meet the new, and critics say unreasonable, standards."

In Virginia, the fat will hit the fire this coming spring for graduation standards, when the Standards of Learning require tests to be passed for graduation. Last week, it was reported that the New York education authorities were lowering the standards on the mandatory tests for graduation, according to this NY Times article, titled "New York to Lower the Bar for High School Graduation," and which begins "New York State's education commissioner, Richard P. Mills, said Wednesday that the state would loosen the demanding testing requirements it has imposed for high school graduation in recent years, including the standards used to judge math proficiency."