As the campaign season heats up, education and the virtues and frailties of the No Child Left Behind Act have become important election topics.

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at AEI, and Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, present their latest analysis of the No Child Left Behind program. "On Leaving No Child Behind," their candid assessment of the law's track record up to now, will be published in the Fall 2004 edition of The Public Interest. Joel Packer of the National Education Association, Michael Petrilli of the U.S. Department of Education, and Ross Wiener of the Education Trust join the authors to discuss NCLB's relevance for the fall election, whether this landmark legislation should be amended, and what shape such revision might take.

Hess and Finn are also coeditors of Leaving No Child Behind? Options for Kids in Failing Schools (Palgrave Macmillan, September 2004). This book provides an in-depth look at the provisions of the NCLB law which deal with public school choice and supplemental services.