INSIDE WASHINGTON

As developments in Iraq and the Middle East dominated President Bush's attention, he tried to change the focus to his domestic agenda Saturday, saying the education law he championed is raising the bar for student achievement. "The law sets a clear goal for American education: Every child, in every school, must perform at grade level in reading and math, which are the keys to all learning," Bush said in his weekly radio address. Bush was working at Camp David on a draft of his this evening;s speech from the White House to update Americans on the situation in Iraq and the fight against terrorism. The president also was dealing with fallout from the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a setback to the U.S.-led effort to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The school initiative, a centerpiece of Bush's domestic agenda, seeks to improve achievement, particularly among poor students, through expanded testing, tougher quality requirements for teachers, yearly monitoring of student progress and sanctions for schools that fail to improve. Critics have attacked it, largely because schools contend it demands too much without providing the money necessary to do it.[...]