Reuters
Wednesday, January 8, 2003; 6:10 PM

(Corrects 4th paragraph to reflect Kennedy was not in the Senate)

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A year ago, President Bush and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy were a political odd couple, working across a partisan divide to push through sweeping education legislation.

But now they have split.

Bush on Wednesday celebrated at the White House the first anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, which boosted federal aid to education aid and imposed requirements for testing and accountability on local schools.

But Kennedy stayed away, launching criticisms that the Bush administration has undermined the act and fallen billions of dollars short of providing enough money to back the reforms.

"I wish all the Democrats and Republicans who helped us on that bill were here today. They've got other business," Bush said at the White House event. "We can say that the work of reform has well begun."

Kennedy and Democratic Rep. George Miller of California, the leading Democrats on the Senate and House education committees, told the Bush administration they have been disappointed since appearing with Bush at the signing ceremony a year ago.

"Unfortunately, the success of the bill is now greatly imperiled by the unwillingness of the president and the Republican leadership in Congress to provide the funding that we all promised in passing that law," the two lawmakers said in a letter on Wednesday to Education Secretary Roderick Paige.

Kennedy spokesman Jim Manley said Kennedy had been invited to the White House anniversary event. He said Kennedy declined due to concerns about "providing political cover for this event at the White House."

KENNEDY HELPED BILL THROUGH SENATE

Last year, Kennedy and Bush, representatives of two U.S. political family dynasties, were all smiles as they toured the three states promoting the legislation. Kennedy's clout had helped get the bill through the Senate, which was under Democratic control at the time.

"I actually like the fellow," Bush said about Kennedy as he signed the bill in Hamilton, Ohio. "He is a fabulous United States senator. When he's against you he's tough, when he's with you it's a great experience."

Kennedy and Miller raised several objections to the bill's implementation in their letter to Paige.

They said Bush's 2004 budget request of $12.3 billion in aid to low-income students represented a shortfall of $6.2 billion from what was called for in last year's bill.

Furthermore, the administration has opposed federal aid for school construction and increased funding for teacher training, despite pressure from the Education Department to build more schools and hire more qualified teachers, they said.

Other criticisms included charges that special education funding was $11 billion short of the federal commitment, that states were being allowed to "dumb down" standardized tests and that teacher-qualification standards were plagued by loopholes.

Bush on Wednesday defended his funding proposals, saying funding for elementary and secondary education had risen by 49 percent over the last two years.

"This issue is not just about money. We must spend money more wisely. We must spend money on what works, and we must make sure we continue to insist upon results for the money we spend," he said.