The Bush-era No Child Left Behind education policy includes "far too many perverse incentives" that skew the ways schools teach children, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this morning in the first of a series of Congressional testimonies he will give in coming days as the Obama administration makes the case for its overhaul of NCLB and education policy in general.

Among the problems he sees with NCLB: "It encourages a narrowing of the curriculum and focuses on test preparation."

Here's how Duncan summed things up:

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At another point in his testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, he said that reform can't wait:

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A copy of Duncan's as-prepared-for-delivery statement is here.

As we noted yesterday, Bush administration Education secretary Margaret Spellings is concerned that the Obama team may not put enough pressure on the majority of schools as it turns its attention on "the bottom 10%."

Here's the conversation she had with NPR's Linda Wertheimer, as it was aired on today's Morning Edition:

There will be more about Duncan's testimony, and the administration's plans for overhauling education policy, on All Things Considered later today.

To find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams ATC, click here. Later, the as-broadcast report will be posted here.