If a school failed two years in a row, students would be allowed to transfer. If it failed three years in a row, it would need to provide students with federally funded tutoring. If it failed for five years, it would need to restructure, which might mean replacing school administrators.

But last week, Spellings proposed that schools in up to 10 states be allowed to switch from this system to what she called a "growth model." This means a school would not be judged year-to-year by the percentage of students testing above an objective, state-set proficiency level, but by how many students made some improvement on their own prior performance -- even if they failed to achieve proficiency.

In California, where 44 percent of public schools are failing under the current standard, school administrators are thrilled with Spellings' proposal. "It's a much more realistic measure of student performance," California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell told The Washington Post. "It gives every school, every year, a shot at success."

The lousiest school need only become one of the lousier.

Back when presidential candidate George Bush was pitching school choice, he called that "the soft bigotry of low expectations."

Five years into the Bush presidency, American elementary schools, in general, still do a pathetic job on the basics. The recently released results of the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress tests indicate that only 30 percent of eighth-graders scored "proficient" or better in math (up from 29 percent last year) and only 31 percent scored "proficient" or better in reading (down from 32 percent last year).

In a speech last week, Spellings rationalized her dumbing-down of NCLB standards. The administration, she said, is still insisting on "every student reaching grade level by 2014."

But a child now in third grade will be a high school senior by 2014. Democrats may control Congress by 2014. And, who knows? A second-term Democratic president may be maneuvering to shore up her own left-wing base by the 2014 midterm elections.

When Bush was campaigning in 2000, according to the Office of Management and Budget, Department of Education spending was $33.9 billion. In 2005, it spent $70.9 billion. But long before 2014 rolls around, Republicans ought to leave President Bush's education policies and his big spending behind.

The Constitution left control and funding of local public schools to local government. That's where it still belongs.