This letter to the editor by Secretary Spellings appeared in the Washington Post (WA) on October 19, 2006.

Regarding the Oct. 5 op-ed "Rationing Education" by Jennifer Booher-Jennings:

Some students groomed for success. Others written off. This was the "triage" practiced in too many schools before the No Child Left Behind Act.

Back then, there was little data on student achievement and few academic benchmarks for success. The driving force of accountability was absent.

Today, there is more reason for optimism. Teachers know early when students need extra help, and resources can be targeted accordingly. Federal support for high-poverty schools has risen 45 percent since 2001, including a 78 percent increase in Title I funding for D.C. schools.

This has translated into results. Nationwide, 9-year-olds made greater reading gains in five years than in the previous 28 years combined, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the "nation's report card"). Achievement gaps between young Hispanic and African American students and their peers reached all-time lows.

A teacher cited in the article was resigned to her student Ana's failure—but no child deserves that fate. The days of rationing academic success are over. We will not be satisfied until all students achieve at grade level or beyond.

Margaret Spellings
Secretary
U.S. Department of Education