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Then he pissed them all off again. His administration showed an almost reflexive contempt for even the idea of listening to the rest of the world. Like when Cheney told the world that he “didn’t give a shit” (quotation marks mine) about weapons inspectors. And Bush’s response to whether the largest simultaneous antiwar protests in human history had made any sort of impression on him. “Size of protest,” he said, “it’s like deciding, well, I’m going to decide policy based upon a focus group.” A ten-million-person focus group.

Several months ago, I saw former President Clinton on C-SPAN giving a speech about globalization to the Council on Foreign Relations. He spoke for a couple of hours, with just a few notes, displaying an incredible depth and breadth of understanding. In a way, it made me miss him.

But to be fair to Bush, there’s more to being president than simply being articulate, intelligent, and knowledgeable.

I still really hope we find weapons of mass destruction. Not just because my Clear Channel fiasco is on tape. But because if we don’t, the rest of the world will trust us even less than they do now. I’m not sure why that matters. Maybe terrorism or the international drug trade or global ecological disasters or emerging infectious diseases or transnational cyber-crime. I don’t know. It’s just that maybe, someday, one of those things might involve working with a foreign country.

42

The No Child Left Behind Standardized Test

In compliance with the President’s recent educational initiatives, teachers using this volume as a textbook are encouraged to “teach to the test.” The practice questions below are the questions that will appear on the test and determine whether your school will receive federal, state, and local funding. In accordance to the Texas model, please ensure that your lowest performing students have dropped out prior to the test date.

SECTION ONE—MATH SKILLS

In the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress authorized a $5.6 billon increase in Title One spending for low-income children. However, President Bush budgeted only $1 billion for Title One. If Title One calls for $2,800 per poverty-level student, how many children are left behind? 0

1

7

1,643,857

In the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress authorized an expansion of transportation and other support services to an additional 130,000 homeless children. Instead of an increase, the President’s budget froze funding for the homeless education program. Because of inflation, this meant 8,000 fewer homeless children could be served than in the previous year. Assuming there is no increase in homelessness this year, how many homeless children are left behind? 0

8

13

138,000

In the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress authorized increased funding to help school districts meet the mandate that all teachers in core academic subjects be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005–2006 school year. By freezing funding for the Teacher Quality State Grant Program, the Bush budget trains 92,000 fewer teachers than were promised by the act. Assuming each teacher teaches four classes a day of twenty-five students each, and does guidance counseling for eight additional students, how many children are left behind? 0

25

33

9,936,000

There are seventy-two million children in the United States. If George leaves 1,643,857 children behind by cutting Title One programs, and leaves 138,000 children behind by freezing spending for homeless education programs, and leaves 9,936,000 by slashing teacher training, what percentage of America’s children has George left behind? 0%

1.63%

16.3%

163%

SECTION TWO—VERBAL SKILLS

Teddy agreed to throw his support behind the No Child Left Behind Act because George had promised to fully ______ it. When George presented his budget, Teddy felt ______. Which pair of words best fills in the blanks? undermine; excited

comprehend; appreciative

transcribe; Betsy

fund; betrayed

George W. Bush said, “Education is my top priority,” he was being . .