Conservatives in Congress will put forward their alternative to No Child Left Behind tomorrow at a Capitol Hill press conference, marking a departure from the Bush Administration and congressional Democrats who seem content with letting the federal government control education.

The A-PLUS plan is sponsored by Senators John Cornyn (R.-Tex.) and Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R.-Mich.). As I wrote about for Human Events yesterday, it would return more power to local schools and reduce Washington‚Äôs involvement in education. The Heritage Foundation’s Jennifer Marshall explains its significance in this new video:

During a lecture at the Heritage Foundation earlier this year, Cornyn and DeMint outlined the overarching goals of the legislation. Meanwhile, Heritage Foundation education analyst Dan Lips has written extensively about the problems with No Child Left Behind.

If you’re in or around Washington tomorrow, I strongly encourage you to show up at the press conference. Details below.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Cornyn, DeMint, Hoekstra to Introduce A-PLUS Act to Reform NCLB

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 11:30 a.m., U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and U.S. Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) will hold a press conference to introduce the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act (A-PLUS). The event will be held at the Senate Swamp located in the Upper Senate Park next to the Russell Office Building.

The A-PLUS Act would reform No Child Left Behind to offer states and schools flexibility to improve student achievement outside of burdensome federal regulations.

Who: Sens. John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, Cong. Pete Hoekstra
What: Introduction of A-PLUS Act
When: Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 11:30 a.m.
Where: Senate Swamp, or if raining in Russell 188.

UPDATE — 4:31 p.m.: Tom Maguire at Instapundit notes that Kevin Drum and Matt Yglesias are “slugging it out” over No Child Left Behind and whether “conservatives support the 100% proficiency goal … as part of a secret scheme to deem every public school in America a failure?” While they get bogged down in that debate, true conservatives are moving forward with a bold plan of their own, as I’ve noted above.