This letter to the editor by Secretary Spellings appeared in USA Today on March 2, 2006.

Don Campbell "buried the lead" in his commentary criticizing the No Child Left Behind Act ("Education, chutzpah and the GOP," The Forum, Feb. 23).

Campbell waited until the third-to-last paragraph to reveal his true feelings: "Not all children can perform" at grade level because they "live in such dysfunctional or impoverished environments."

This attitude—the "soft bigotry of low expectations," in the president's words—is exactly why we need the No Child Left Behind Act. The law, supported overwhelmingly by Democrats and Republicans alike, is finally ending the practice of shuffling schoolchildren along from grade to grade regardless of whether they've mastered the material.

The law is working as advertised, as Campbell reluctantly admits. Math scores in the earlier grades are at all-time highs, and the "achievement gaps" between white, Hispanic and African-American 9-year-olds have reached historic lows.

But we're changing more than numbers. We're changing behavior. The result can be seen in schools such as Maury Elementary in Alexandria, Va. In 2004, just two out of five third-graders passed the state's reading test. Some parents transferred their children to better-performing schools. This wake-up call was just what was needed. A new principal and teachers were hired, the school met its academic goals and enrollment is now up 20%.

Campbell believes that schools and students cannot change and therefore should not be "stigmatized" by accountability. What a pessimistic view of the world. In truth, a student who falls behind one year can surge ahead the next.

The No Child Left Behind Act gives students a chance to do better by helping schools to do their best.

Margaret Spellings U.S. Secretary of Education