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		Past Extra Credits January 13 All issues

President Bush’s plan to reform our Nation’s elementary and secondary schools to ensure that all children are proficient in reading and math by the 2013-14 school year was passed in Congress with bipartisan majorities. The President signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) so that testing, accountability, and high standards will join with record new funding to help ensure educational excellence for every child. The early grades are seeing progress across America, but we must finish the job with American high schools.

According to the latest results from the Program for International Student Assessment, America’s 15-year-olds performed below the international average in mathematics literacy and problem-solving, placing 27th out of 39 countries. These disappointing results should be a call to action so that our graduates are prepared for a lifetime of achievement and active participation in our country. To build on America’s education reforms, the President’s high school initiatives will increase the quality of secondary education and ensure that every student graduates from high school prepared to enter college or the workforce with the skills to succeed.

• The President’s New High School Initiative: High School Intervention and State Assessments

• The President’s new High School Initiative will provide $1.5 billion in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget. $1.2 billion will be used for High School Intervention to help states hold high schools accountable for teaching all students and to provide effective interventions for those students who are not learning at grade level. In return for a commitment to improve academic achievement and graduation rates for secondary school students, states will receive the flexibility to choose which programs will be most effective in serving the needs of their high school students. And $250 million will be used for State Assessments to ensure that high school diplomas are truly meaningful with required state assessments in high school.

• To make the taxpayer dollar work smarter, and still provide funding for states under the High School Initiative, programs with a narrow focus and programs that have not proven effective in improving our secondary students’ academic achievement will be consolidated.