Bush, rights leaders confer on education

President Bush yesterday met with the nation's leading civil rights groups and urged Congress to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, highlighting the law's effectiveness in shrinking the achievement gap between white and minority students.

"We've come a long way since the days when children were simply shuffled through the schools, just moved grade to grade, whether or not they were learning," Mr. Bush said.

"We don't necessarily agree on every issue, but we do agree that education is a basic civil right, and that a good education is important for America."

Mr. Bush stressed that testing to measure children's proficiency must continue and said the key component of the federal education law is that "if a child is falling behind, we will provide supplemental services to help that child catch up."

The civil rights leaders have criticized the lack of funding for the law and the slow movement of government enforcement for poorly performing schools. They also are concerned with the lack of expediency in providing supplemental services or tutoring.