2frankenlies.com
#2a: Franken Is Left Behind
In Al Franken's adventurous attempt to defend John Kerry against charges of being a flip-flopper, Franken defends Kerry's position on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), President Bush's 2001 education initiative (signed into law in 2002). On page 93, Franken claims (bold added),
"Kerry voted for the bill, which the President promised to fund. The President didn't fund it, which created unfunded mandates on states and school district across the country."
"The President didn't fund it"? Yikes! Where are 14 Harvard researchers when you need them?
The truth, supported in part by Franken's friends at factcheck.org, is that federal education spending under President Bush has increased by a whopping 58 percent!1
2
President Bush "didn't fund" NCLB? Sorry, Al. Do you like graphs? Here's the funding of NCLB, from the U.S. Department of Education web site:
3
Franken's claim is 100% false.
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Notes:
1 See "Democratic Internet Ad Confuses Fiction and Fact" at http://www.factcheck.org/article162.html. Please also see: "Democrat Leadership Budget Doesn't 'Fully Fund' No Child Left Behind" at http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/issues/108th/education/nclb/factsheet032504.htm.
2 This graph is found at Factcheck.org: "Democratic Internet Ad Confuses Fiction and Fact" at http://www.factcheck.org/article162.html.
3 This graph is among several informative graphs at the Department of Education's website: http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/edlite-chart.html#6.