Putting Off Consideration Of No Child Left Behind

CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- The top two lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee say they are putting off consideration of a new No Child Left Behind law until next year.<br/><br/>Massachusetts Democrat Ted

Friday, November 2nd 2007, 9:06 pm

By: News On 6

CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- The top two lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee say they are putting off consideration of a new No Child Left Behind law until next year.

Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy and Wyoming Republican Mike Enzi say they have decided there's not enough time this year to complete work on the legislation.

The five-year-old law, which is up for a scheduled rewrite, requires math and reading tests in grades three through eight, and once in high school. Schools that don't meet testing benchmarks face increasingly stiff sanctions. The law is among President Bush's top domestic policy priorities.

Kennedy has previously said he wanted a bill before the Senate this year, but a spokeswoman says there is additional work to do on key issues. Deep divisions remain over some proposed changes, including whether schools should be judged based on test scores in subjects other than reading and math.