From yesterday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Most states not fully compliant - Optimism premature on Bush's program":

President Bush's message sounded so upbeat that state education officials who had flown in from across the country broke into applause repeatedly when he delivered it in the White House Rose Garden.

"Every state, plus Puerto Rico and the District [of Columbia], are now complying with the No Child Left Behind Act after one year," Bush told them in the televised ceremony June 10.

The chief state school officers were understandably pleased, because each jurisdiction is supposed to comply with the education reform act in order to get its full share of the $11.7 billion in Title I funds for disadvantaged students distributed this year.

Looking back to his first days in office, Bush said, "Keep in mind that in January of 2001, only 11 states were in compliance with a 1994 education law."

As an example of "significant progress," he mentioned that in the past five months, Education Secretary Rod Paige had approved the accountability plans of 33 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Nearly two months after that afternoon of euphoria, the path toward perfection in K-12 education is looking a little rockier.

So far, only five of the 52 accountability plans have been "fully approved," just as only 11 plans for academic standards and tests had been fully approved under the old law by January 2001. A sardonic headline in Education Week, a national newspaper about K-12 education, reads, " 'Approved' Is Relative Term for Ed Dept."