No surplus for medical research, military pay increases, prescription drugs, or education. Now let's tackle the reading. The president promises substance and accountability. He proposes to measure a school's success through annual testing of all students, Grades 3 through 8, in math and reading. Such tests force schools to drill students in test-taking strategies and emphasize rote memorization.
Less time is available to teach children to read, write, and calculate.
Less time is available to teach them to think critically, to ask questions and seek answers. Title I funding out of the failing school and transfer it to another school. If a school were to cut one teacher, one grade would be left with a class of 46. That cannot be the president's goal. The president has not calculated how much this one simple act would cost.