Bush's ed grant program rejected
Democratic lawmakers and teachers' unions were quick to denounce much of President Bush's education elements from the State of the Union speech, the New York Times reports.
President Bush’s call for a $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids is the latest effort by his administration to channel tax dollars to low-income parents to help them send their children to private or religious schools.
His proposal, in his State of the Union address Monday night, was denounced by some top Democratic lawmakers and teachers’ union officials as a national “voucher” program that would only drain resources from urban public schools that in many cases are in need of money.
In his final State of the Union, Bush also discused No Child Left Behind, the landmark law first passed in 2001 that his administration has so far failed to renew.