[christiangirl]

Around the time of the Bush/Kerry election I was a sophomore in college. Once, I was riding the shuttlebus to class. The convo on the bus went something like this:

*bunch of girls bad-mouthing Bush*
Girl in red: I voted for Bush.
*bus goes quiet*
Girl in red: My mom is a public school teacher in Houston and she's so grateful. NCLB saved our schools...*praises Bush, says the idea was brilliant, cites a couple of cases she knows about*
*bus is still quiet*
Girl in front: So, has anyone noticed how much it's been raining? The weather's been crazy lately.
*Everyone chimes in and starts talking about the weather.*

I kid you not, that's pretty much how it went. Even though I've volunteered in different school systems (in CA and VA) that's the one and only time I've ever heard anything positive about it. All the teachers I've talked to hate it and my mom (a retired teacher) says many schools have closed over it and and people are terrified that they'll be next if they don't come up to scratch. I've never seen what the progress looks like in Houston so I can't attest...but it was hilarious, so I remember that one well.