In Bush World 'dem dare drop outs don't count

This post is dedicated to my friend Karen, who got wound up into a wonderful swivit when she had to give a speech about Bush's bogus No Child Left Behind program, and to my friend Laura who lives in Texas and will have to send her kid to school in Texas. You were right to sound the trumpet about his program Karen! Good luck with school Laura!

In addition to funding concerns, some are questioning the research behind the policies enshrined in No Child Left Behind, reports CBS 60 Minutes II Correspondent Dan Rather.

Mr. Bush modeled the federal program after the system that Education Secretary Rod Paige implemented in Houston, where Paige was superintendent, in which principals worked on short contracts and received cash bonuses for meeting strict testing standards.

One of the indicators of the system's success, supporters said, was the low dropout rate in Houston schools. The school district reported a citywide dropout rate of 1.5 percent.

But educators and experts from 60 Minutes II checked with put Houston’s true dropout rate somewhere between 25 and 50 percent. Investigators found that almost 3,000 students should have been — but weren’t — coded as dropouts.

Bush used cooked figures to prove his "Texas Miracle". Do you suppose he will try and stand on his record in this area?

If you read the story note how everyone connected with this fraud dodges the camera. Do you suppose they learned this from the president.