Bush second-term education proposals 

President Bush goes beyond No Child Left Behind reforms in his second term to propose additional funding and emphasis on early childhood education, high school performance and expanding opportunities for adults to receive job training. The president’s proposals include:

• $200 million for the Striving Readers Initiative to assist middle and high school students who read below grade level;
• $200 million to develop performance plans for high school freshmen based on their eighth grade test scores;
• $250 million to expand testing through 11th grade to make sure high school diplomas are “truly meaningful”; the president also proposes testing 12th graders in the National Assessment of Educational Progress;
• $500 million for incentives for teachers who work in schools most in need of high-quality teachers and those who succeed in raising their students’ test scores;
• $120 million to encourage partnerships that strengthen math and science skills;
• $28 million more for Advanced Placement classes; and
• $40 million for an “adjunct teacher corps” to encourage industry professionals to teach.

Bush also proposes to overhaul the federal Perkins vocational education program by redirecting $1 billion of Perkins funding to a new technical education program that emphasizes academics: students would take four years of English, three years of math and science, and three years of social studies as part of their vocational education program. Recognizing that skills required in the workplace now change quickly, the president proposes expanding college loan and grant programs to expand access to adults.