Posted on 06/25/2002 7:03:33 AM PDT by quidrich
Clips: First, it was a campaign slogan. Then it became education law. Now, there is "No Child Left Behind," the song.
We're here to thank our president, For signing this great bill, That's right! Yeah, Research shows we know the way, It's time we showed the will!
The song, which is prompting clawing reviews among Capitol Hill Democrats and education lobbyists around town, was written by Christopher Cerf and Sarah Bruce Durkee, whose children's show, "Between the Lions," receives a $4 million grant from the Education Department.
The song is part of an effort by the Bush administration to promote the president's education plan. Rod Paige, the secretary of education, is midway through a 25-city tour. The law's demands for testing third- through eighth-grade students annually, erasing the gap in scores between white students and black and Latino students within 12 years, and penalizing failing schools have superintendents across the country singing the blues.
Beth Ann Bryan, a special adviser to Mr. Paige, said the department was considering piping the song into its lobby, having students perform it when Dr. Paige visits schools, or playing it for callers when the department puts them on hold.
"It's really quite a charming little song," Ms. Bryan said.
A related promotional effort can be seen at Education Department headquarters here, where little red schoolhouses, complete with bell towers, fences and "No Child Left Behind" across their facades, now frame the building's entrances. The tab, a department spokesman said, is $28,965.
Terry Hartle, a senior vice president at the American Council on Education, said that in 25 years of watching federal education policy, "I've never seen anyone try to turn the Department of Education into the Little Red Schoolhouse, or write a song singing the praises of federal education policy."
Some Democrats are tartly noting that because of Republican resistance, federal money cannot go toward building or repairing real schoolhouses, aside from the $100 million earmarked for charter school construction in the new education law.
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