NCLB Renewal Debate Launched in Earnest

Law’s 5th anniversary prompts efforts to stake out positions.

Washington

While President Bush and top education lawmakers agree on many of the principles in the No Child Left Behind Act, they may struggle to renew the law if they can’t compromise on how much to spend on it.

In several events last week marking the fifth anniversary of the law’s enactment, Mr. Bush, his secretary of education, and the leaders of the education committees in Congress reaffirmed that they stand firmly behind the law’s ambitious achievement goals and its testing and accountability rules.

But congressional Democrats and the president are not seeing eye to eye on how much to spend on its array of K-12 programs—a divergence that could derail their attempts to reauthorize the law...