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Before NCLB the government sent millions to the schools with no regrad to outcome. For the first time schools have been CLOSED due to poor teaching programs and bad leaders. Is that not what conservatives are for? Charter schools exist because of NCLB - how is that bad?

First, George W Bush is not exactly a Conservative, nor was his buddy Teddy Kennedy who helped get it to pass in Congress, and we can't forget John Boehner either since he helped it in the House.

Regardless of that, schools and teachers should be the responsibility of the local school districts and the local taxpayers, not bureaucrats in Washington. Just because there are districts where parents and taxpayers don't step up and take responsibility doesn't mean we should invite the federal government into all of the classrooms across the country.

Thanks to NCLB we are cranking out a generation of test takers. I supposed that's good if you want kids to work the counter at McDonald's, but teaching to the test will hurt this country in the long run.

You can be a cheerleader for all you want, but don't come crying when some future version of Obama uses NCLB in a way you don't like.

You make a couple of interesting points - to say GWB was no conservative is to say that the people he got onto the Surpreme Court are not conservative or that having the money we spend on schools make better schools is not conservative. We would not have a need for NCLB if states like Calif did not get federal money to teach gender studies instead of American History.

Here is a solid fact you can take to the bank, in 2000 80% of all federal and state inmates could not read at 4th grade level. What happens when you get people able to read and they no longer need to steal to make a living? NCLB has improved the 4th and 8th grade reading of TX kids. In the past five years - 10 years after the TX model for NCLB program started our prison growth has been FLAT!! As a supporter of Kiros in TX prisons it is proven that the folks who can read stay out of prison once released at a higher rate than those that can't read. Is reducing CRIME a conservative ideal? Then NCLB may be a big help.