Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Ray Simon released the following statement regarding the Center on Education Policy report, From the Capital to the Classroom—Year 3 of the No Child Left Behind Act:

"This report shows that No Child Left Behind is having a positive impact on our nation's schools and their students. Based on a survey of 49 states, the conclusion of the report is that there has been tremendous progress made in just the first three years of the law: student achievement is up, students with disabilities are getting more time and attention, at-risk students are receiving help earlier, and the achievement gap that has existed for decades is finally starting to close. I firmly believe that these promising and encouraging trend lines will continue as states, districts and schools continue to fully implement the law.

"The perpetual cry for more money, once again echoed in this report, simply does not comport with the facts: since taking office, President Bush has increased education funding by $13.8 billion, or 33 percent. The difference is that this administration is holding states accountable for delivering results with those taxpayer funds. If, as required by No Child Left Behind, students are measured, and the results show they aren't achieving, then the law will have helped local educators see the problems, which in turn will help them make improvements in teaching and learning.

"The Department, under Secretary Spellings, will continue to listen to the concerns of states as well as parents, as can be evidenced by the current ongoing dialogue between the Department and states. However, we remain steadfast in never undermining the mechanisms that make this law work: all children must be assessed annually, and the results must be broken out by various types of students to bring to light underperformance by specific groups of students that could be hidden by the results of the total population. Thanks to the law, assessments, disaggregation of data and the resulting statistical picture ensure that all children will achieve in school and receive the quality education they so deserve."

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