I know No Child Left Behind has worked," said Bush. "If Congress passes a bill that weakens the accountability system in the No Child Left Behind Act, I will strongly oppose it and veto it."
Many of those who once supported the law, including one of its original authors, Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, think the law is in need of reform. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, and former senator John Edwards also see a need for changes to the bill.
Currently, the law requires students in third through eighth grade — and once in high school — to take tests in math and reading. The schools where students do not pass the tests "face increasingly stiff sanctions," says the Associated Press.
Some have proposed, therefore, that the law should focus less on testing and more on the individual growth of students.
One school for which the law does appear to be working is Chicago's Horace Greeley Elementary School, where most of the students are Hispanic and low-income. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School and has thrived under the No Child Left Behind law.
Nevertheless, Bush did say that there were revisions he'd consider. According to the Associated Press, these include "ensuring 'that a high school degree means something,' increasing flexibility for states and school districts, providing extra help for struggling schools, and devising an accurate system for measuring high school dropout rates."
"It's not worthwhile to guess when a child's future is at stake," said Bush.
