Report finds that ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ is not an Unfounded Mandate

Press Release, U.S. Department of Education
May 25, 2004
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/05/05252004a.html

The General Accounting Office of the United States, or GAO, recently reported that among other legislation investigated, the “No Child Left Behind Act” did not fall into the category of an unfunded mandate. This conclusion counters the claim made by many that Bush’s education legislation hurt schools by forcing them to do things that they couldn’t afford.

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, claimed that this report should finally put to rest those arguments that this legislation did anything but force schools to help their students achieve more. He went on to say that those who argued against this legislation weren’t truly focused on the issue at hand: helping children learn to read and write.

Paige said that what the educational community should be doing instead of fighting this legislation is to “roll up their sleeves,” and get to the task of educating their students.