Obama threatens veto of GOP bill to fix No Child Left Behind

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama would veto a Republican bill to overhaul the widely criticized No Child Left Behind law.

The White House says the measure "abdicates the historic federal role in elementary and secondary education of ensuring the educational progress of all of America's students."

The legislation is up for debate in the House Wednesday, with a vote expected Friday. Republicans say it would restore local control in schools and stop top-down education mandates.

Democrats say it would lead to the federal government abandoning its responsibility to poor, minority, non-English-speaking and disabled children.

The bill maintains annual federal testing requirements. It would eliminate many federal programs, creates a single local grant program and allows public money to follow low-income children to new public schools.