January 30, 2001 – Last week, when President George W. Bush announced his first order of business is nationwide educational reform, he sought advice from experts. Inviting educators and researchers from around the country to the White House, Bush outlined a new bipartisan initiative, titled “No Child Left Behind.”

University of Utah reading education expert Janice Dole was asked by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to join others in the roundtable discussion about educational reform with the President and First Lady Laura Bush on January 22. She found herself “pleasantly surprised” by his plan.

“The President’s initiative does an excellent job of taking us down the right road,”
Dole said. In particular, she supports Bush’s “Reading First” program, which aims to ensure that every child can read by the third grade.

Part of Bush’s strategy puts the responsibility on states and schools to set educational goals they are obligated to meet, or face cuts in federal funding. His emphasis on accountability is appropriate “as long as teachers have the added resources as well as support they need to meet their goals,” said Dole.

She had been wary of Bush’s support for school vouchers for parents to send their children to private schools, but found herself “consoled” by his recent downplay of vouchers.

The presence of a University of Utah professor at the White House roundtable on education helps showcase the high-quality faculty on campus, said David Pershing, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. “We’re proud of our talented teachers who continue to receive national recognition as experts at the top of their fields,” he said.