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Alpha Stage
Bush on Bush
Fall, 2006





The New York Times reports that Governor Jeb Bush of Florida is
taking issue with his brother, President George Bush, over the quality
of the federal educational policy package, No Child Left Behind.
Florida's school improvement program which grades schools on a
scale of A - F is vastly different than the federal policy that uses a
pass-fail system. The article explains:

These contradictions became especially notable in Florida in the
summer of 2003, when 1,200 of the state’s 3,050 schools earned A’s
from the state. At the same time, more than 950 of the top-rated
schools failed to make adequate yearly progress under the federal law.
Similar discrepancies re-emerged in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The article suggests that the most striking fact is that Jeb Bush is
speaking out about the discrepancy. Throughout his brother's
presidency, the article explains, Governor Bush has remained a dutiful
little brother. But, now his different stance might provide ammunition
for the President's political opponents.

Find more information here.


Discussion Starters

  • Ask students if they think that either the states or the federal
    government should have an interest in ensuring that as many
    children learn school skills as possible. Ask them to explain
    why. You might ask them to write a quick-blog on this topic.

  • The Constitution of the United States does not assign authority
    to oversee the nation's education system to the federal
    government. This means that the authority has been left to the
    states. Throughout the history of our nation, states have
    traditionally left this authority to locally elected school boards.
    (The federal government cannot require states to give tests to
    their students. But states must give tests if they want to receive
    money for education from the federal government.) Ask
    students who they think should have authority over education.
    Encourage them to provide reasons supporting each of the
    levels of government having authority and reasons why they
    should not have this authority.

  • Governor Bush is speaking out about the federal education
    legislation. Ask students to write a script in which they examine
    a conversation between the Bushes on whether or not Jeb
    should speak out. You might have students podcast this
    discussion.

  • The federal legislation says that "all children should be able to
    read." Governor Bush has said that the goal of having "all
    children" able to read is unrealistic. Everybody agrees that with
    the world's current level of medical and scientific knowledge,
    some people will never be able to read. Ask students if they
    think it's smart to have a policy that will not be able to be
    realized. Encourage them to explain their answers.

  • Tell students that the an "independent think tank" has asked
    them to suggest ways to improve the nation's schools. In
    groups of three or four ask students to list five ways to ensure
    that our nation's school are as good as they can be. After small
    groups have listed these five ideas, you might reconvene the
    class and try to come up with five ideas representing the entire
    class.
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