NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
``A president can stand on the side of reform. We'll challenge the soft bigotry of low expectation.'' November 4, 2000, at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh.

Worried about uneven student performance in schools across the nation, Bush worked with a surprise ally, Senator Edward M. Kennedy to win approval of the law that attempts to weed out unqualified teachers, test student improvement, and identify schools that were doing a poor job.

The law became deeply unpopular in education circles.