By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – President Bush praised the staff and students of Pierre Laclede Elementary during a visit to St. Louis Monday.
The president came to St. Louis to take part in a roundtable discussion with local educators on the second anniversary of the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Mr. Bush said the act is based on trusting local school communities to make the right decisions about education.
"You've got the ball, in terms of how to achieve excellence," Mr. Bush said. "It's up to you. The federal government is a source of money, it's a source of inspiration, it's a source of measurement, but it's up to the local people to make it work."
In 1999, only seven percent of Laclede Elementary students could read at grade level. That figure has since risen to 80 percent now.