Bush changes plan to "A Few Children Left Behind"

Republican love for Air Traffic Controllers shines through once more:

In a stinging rebuke to the Bush Administration, the Federal Labor Relations Authority has issued a charge against the Federal Aviation Administration for abandoning American children of FAA employees in Puerto Rico. The case clearly contradicts the administration's "No Child Left Behind" policy.

The children were unable to start school last week because the FAA, which employs their parents as air traffic controllers in San Juan, refused to certify the children as eligible to enroll in the Antilles Consolidated School System. The Department of Defense operates Antilles and it is the only public school in Puerto Rico in which the children are taught in English.

Many Puerto Rico-based controllers moved to work at San Juan Center -- one of the FAA's most difficult-to-staff facilities -- with the understanding that their children would be able to attend a school that met U.S. standards. The FAA has certified all dependent children of employees as eligible to attend the DOD schools for the last 30 years. But in a sudden and last minute change of policy, the FAA determined that certain children would no longer be eligible. To add insult to injury, the FAA waited to advise the affected employees until it was too late for to enroll the children in other schools.