President George W. Bush’s recently proposed “No Child Left Behind” education-reform plan aims to improve literacy and school performance through the use of a school-voucher program and standardized tests. The program would be implemented throughout the nation.The complex school-voucher program would hold states, districts and schools accountable for ensuring that all students meet high academic standards, according to Bush’s plan, at www.whitehouse.gov. The program includes yearly assessments, created by each state with federal funding, in math and reading to provide parents with information on how well their child, the school and the district are doing.Schools making the greatest progress in closing the achievement gap will be rewarded with “No Child Left Behind” bonuses. Schools failing to make adequate yearly progress will receive assistance and then come under corrective action if they continue to fail in making progress, according to the plan.If a school or district fails to make adequate yearly progress for three consecutive years, students may use Title 1 funds, also known as vouchers. These will allow students to transfer to a higher-performing public, private or charter school or receive supplemental tutoring. Choice options must continue to be offered until two years after the school is no longer identified as being in need of improvement, according to the plan.”The program proposed by the president is not one that gives up on the public schools, but instead encourages public schools to make progress, measure the progress and meet certain minimum standards,” said U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in a statement. “It’s the kind of thing that’s worked in Milwaukee and Houston.”Federal requirements will not apply to private schools or home schools because they are under protection of federal laws. However, some state legislators said the plan endangers public education.”I think that the voucher program will weaken public schools across the nation,” said Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames. “You aren’t going to improve public education by taking away the funding. Iowa has an open-enrollment program that most states do not that allows people to choose where to place their students and keeps the funding within public education.”Each state will select a sample of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests reading and math knowledge. States failing to meet the performance standards set by the national Secretary of Education will receive reduced funding for administrative expenses, according to Bush’s plan.States and districts also may receive technical-assistance funding to help turn around low-performing schools. The federal funds will be available to provide capacity building and technical assistance to schools identified as needing improvement. States also will be required to ensure the constant improvement of teacher quality, according to the reform plan. More research funding will also be available to ensure the promotion of effective practice in the classroom.Some education professors said the voucher program will not help all teachers.”I think that we need to raise teacher salaries greatly to attract the quality of teachers needed,” said Richard Manatt, university professor of education leadership and policy studies. “The voucher program bodes well to increase the quality of teachers, but the voucher program itself will only help certain teachers. We need an array of efforts to attract the best and brightest to education programs.”Teachers of kindergarten through third grade also will be required to make sure every child is reading by the third grade, according to the plan. The funds and tools needed to eliminate the reading deficit will be provided to states to be dispersed throughout the state. The new program, called the Reading First initiative, aims to close the achievement gap, decrease the need for school vouchers and ensure no child is left behind.”I think that reading is the basis of all other subjects in education, and so it’s important to increase literacy across the nation,” said Jessica Bradley, sophomore in elementary education.In his first radio address Sunday, Bush said he is willing to listen to alternatives to his education-reform plan. He also said education needs to be localized, not run from a central office in Washington. Gloria Corbin, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Ames School District, said more parental cooperation and interest is the key to improving education — not the voucher system.”People should have the right to put their children at a school that suits them best,” Corbin said. “Parents need to work alongside schools and educators to truly improve education, rather than rely on the voucher system.”U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, said education is a “great equalizer,” and every child needs to have access to quality schools — which takes federal funds.”Our country has always enabled parents who have the resources to send their kids to private schools,” Boswell said in a statement. “Yet, over 90 percent of our children attend public schools. It is my belief that diverting vital funds from our already strapped public schools will only diminish our public education system.”