Commentary; Comparing Civil Rights Records

Summary

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No Child Left Behind. Described as the most sweeping public education change in decades, President [George W. Bush] signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law Jan. 8, 2002. It requires states to test students on a regular basis, issue statewide progress reports and have all students academically proficient by the year 2014. "The Bush administration has not pushed for funding to support the requirements," the commission study says. "...The actual funding has fallen short of levels authorized in the legislation. In 2003, funding fell $8 billion short, and in 2004 the president's request was $11 billion below target."

Affirmative action. When the Supreme Court decided to rule on two affirmative action cases involving the University of Michigan, one to admit undergraduates and another for entry into law school, the Bush administration opposed both programs. The court struck down the undergraduate plan but upheld the law school program. After the rulings, Bush praised the court for "recognizing the value of diversity" and announced that his administration favors race-neutral approaches. The study notes, "The president's comments mischaracterized the Court's holding, using the decision as a platform to promote race-neutral alternatives and to defend the administration's briefs, neither of which matches his verbal support for diversity."

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Commentary; Comparing Civil Rights Records

Now that the presidential debates are over and campaign surrogates have tried to interpret or misinterpret what we saw for ourselves, there is no better time to ignore the rhetoric and check out the candidates' records.

Because John Kerry and his Democra...

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