President Bush wants to add elements to the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that will ensure the competitiveness of American students by strengthening math and science education--but he also is making another run at giving poor students private school vouchers, a move a Congress controlled by Democrats appears ready to block.

The White House on Jan. 23 unveiled details of the president's proposals for overhauling NCLB, which is up for renewal this year. Bush also briefly touched on NCLB in his State of the Union address, urging Congress to renew the education law this year.

After a great deal of buildup leading up to the State of the Union that it would focus heavily on domestic issues, only 203 of the speech's 5,510 words dealt with education. Nearly half of Bush's speech--some 2,500 words--focused on the war on terror, seeking to persuade the Democratic Congress to give his controversial strategy for Iraq a chance to work.

On NCLB, Bush said: "Five years ago, we rose above partisan differences to pass the No Child Left Behind Act--preserving local control, raising standards in public schools, and holding those schools accountable for results. And because we acted, students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap."

Bush said the task before Congress now is "to build on this success--without watering down standards, without taking control from local communities, and without backsliding and calling it reform."

"We can lift student achievement even higher by giving local leaders flexibility to turn around failing schools--and by giving families with children stuck in failing schools the right to choose something better," he said. "We must increase funds for students who struggle--and make sure these children get the special help they need. And we can make sure our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, and our country is more competitive, by strengthening math and science skills."

He concluded: "The No Child Left Behind Act has worked for America's children--and I ask Congress to reauthorize this good law."

The administration's proposal calls for giving vouchers--called "promise scholarships" in the president's parlance--to students in schools that persistently fail to meet progress goals set by the federal law.

"This is not for every kid in America. This is for those kids who are trapped in the absolute worst schools that just don't seem to be capable, or willing, to make the changes necessary to serve those students well," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joel Kaplan said before the president's State of the Union address.

The administration tried to include such a measure in NCLB when it was first signed into law five years ago. Democrats, then in the minority party, blocked the effort.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who became chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education when Democrats took over Congress this year, said he would work to keep vouchers out of the education law.