In Rush to White House, 'No Child' Is Left Behind

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) greets students of Thomasville Elementary School during an Alabama campaign stop. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) says No Child Left Behind "has not been a priority" for McCain. (By Mary Altaffer -- Associated Press)

At the GOP convention, McCain said that when public schools fail to perform, "parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school."

Obama, who has offered a more detailed education platform, wants to significantly expand early childhood programs. His plan would provide public schools more money to add hours or days to the school year, or expand after-school programs. He also has pledged to "recruit an army of new teachers" with higher salaries and more support.

At Granby High in Norfolk, Obama said he supports higher pay for teachers and more spending on charter schools. "Let's finally help our teachers and principals develop a curriculum and assessments that teach our kids to become more than just good test-takers."

But neither candidate has offered detailed plans for No Child Left Behind. Michael A. Rebell, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University, said the candidates are tiptoeing around the law because the debate has changed. In 2000, it was about values and promising to ensure that all kids learn. Now it's about the nitty-gritty -- whether to delay the law's 2014 target for universal proficiency; whether to use other yardsticks besides state tests to rate schools; and whether to ease sanctions on lagging schools.

"Both candidates have been walking very gingerly around the NCLB landmines and don't want to take a strong stand," Rebell said. "It alienates a lot of constituencies no matter what they do."

On the Democratic side, teachers unions are critical of the law. In a July speech, Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, called it a well-intentioned effort that has "become a blunt instrument for attacking, not assisting, our public schools." Many teachers, she said, consider it a "four-letter word."

But civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, have been vocal supporters of a law they see as a way to ensure minority children aren't ignored.

Many Republicans say Washington is meddling too much in the operation of schools, traditionally the purview of state and local governments. Even the staunchest supporters want changes. Making everyone happy is impossible.

" 'No Child Left Behind' -- those four words really have become this hot-button issue," said Marc S. Lampkin, executive director of Strong American Schools Ed in '08, an effort funded through philanthropists Bill Gates and Eli Broad to raise education issues' profile in the election. "If you're a right-winger conservative, you don't like the federal intrusion. If you're a left-wing, pro-union person, you don't like the fact that the accountability system with its penalties focuses on teachers."