President Bush is worried about the deteriorating educational standard of the children. The students have previously been avoiding taking math and preferring to go for other subjects with the result that the children lagged behind in math, which are the basic requirements in many subject of advanced studies.

President Bush has suggested that a new law be enacted to enable students to have more period for Math which can be done by reducing class time spent on other subjects, which have been the cause of their low grading of proficiency. 

As a result, thousands of schools across the nation are now responding to the reading and math testing requirements to upgrade the ability of the students. 

As per New York Times, schools from Vermont to California are increasing - in some cases tripling - the class time that low-proficiency students spend on reading and math.

 It is mainly because the federal law, signed in 2002, requires annual exams only in those subjects and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks. The changes appear to principally affect schools and students who test below grade level.

The intense focus on the two basic skills is a sea change in American instructional practice, with many schools that once offered rich curriculums now systematically trimming courses like social studies, science and art.

A nationwide survey by a nonpartisan group that is to be made public on March 28 indicates that the practice, known as narrowing the curriculum, has become standard procedure in many communities.

The survey, by the Center on Education Policy, found that since the passage of the federal law, 71 percent of the nation's 15,000 school districts had reduced the hours of instructional time spent on history, music and other subjects to open up more time for reading and math.

The center is an independent group that has made a thorough study of the new act and has published a detailed yearly report on the implementation of the law in dozens of districts.

"Narrowing the curriculum has clearly become a nationwide pattern," said Jack Jennings, the president of the center, which is based in Washington.

 Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/education/26child.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin