First Lady Laura Bush has stated more than once that her husband’s ties to the education community are represented by his tie to her, a school teacher. One can’t help but wonder if Laura Bush would actually consider teaching in the kind of school that the Bush administration seems to generate.

In his 2005 budget proposal, President Bush freezes spending on education incentives, programs such as Head Start and after-school programs like the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and Even Start. Literacy programs, drop-out prevention and bilingual programs either have funding frozen or eliminated entirely.

This comes on the two-year anniversary of Congress’ education reform legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act. At the time, Bush promised to fulfill the program’s focus to improve quality and accountability in exchange for results. But after diminished funding and weak implementation, the program is disappearing.

Education is a basic need and it should be a focus for even the most reduced of domestic policies. Instead of lowering taxes or increasing funding to NASA, perhaps funding should be focused on those in the most need of it, those the closest to home. Before handing out irresponsible tax cut packages or funding programs that will build space stations on the moon, perhaps a promise should be fulfilled to those who have the greatest claim on responsibility ó children.