President Bush caught customers of a Greensboro restaurant off guard as he strolled through the barbeque diner shaking hands.

Bush followed his lunch with an appearance at an elementary school where he urged Congress to reauthorize his plan for education reform, known as "No Child Left Behind".

"I think it would be a huge mistake for the United States Congress not to reauthorize this important piece of legislation," Bush told the crowd of 200 invited guests at Greensboro’s Waldo C. Faulkner Elementary School.

The main purpose of the President’s N.C. trip is off limits to reporters. A Greensboro businessman is hosting Bush at a fundraising dinner for the Republican party.

"Money is very important in winning elections," Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. said.

Foxx, a Republican who represents Iredell and Alexander Counties, attended the $1,000 per plate dinner.

But Foxx was one of only two members of congress showing up for the President’s visit in Greensboro.

Senator Richard Burr also walked with Bush on his first two stops. No other North Carolina Republicans appeared with the President Wednesday on a stop which comes just weeks before November’s mid-term elections.

"I certainly did not want any doubts about my running away from the President because I don’t feel that way about it, but it’s possible that some members of Congress couldn’t rearrange their schedule," Foxx said.

Democrats said Wednesday’s no-show by other Republican members of Congress is a sign incumbents want to distance themselves from Bush. A poll conducted this week by a Greensboro television station shows the President’s approval rating has dipped below 40 percent in the Triad.

"I don’t think there’s any member of the Republican delegation in North Carolina that would want to distance himself or herself from the President. I don’t get any sense of that," Foxx said.

Several school superintendents were among the invited guests for the President’s speech on “No Child Left Behind” The federal program offers extra money for struggling schools, but it also requires local districts to keep track of a mind-boggling amount of information from test scores.

"This has really forced us to dig deeper," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman said after hearing the President’s remarks on education reform. "It’s maddening at times. For example Independence High School has 29 subgroups we have to hit the target on."

Bush told Wednesday’s audience he will ask Congress to include additional incentives for high-performing teachers as he asks lawmakers to reauthorize the legislation first implemented in 2002.

"I do not believe the federal government ought to tell the people in North Carolina how to run their schools. I think that would be a mistake if that were the case. I don’t think the federal government should design the test. The people in North Carolina should design the accountability test. I do think the federal government ought to ask, can a child read?" the President said.

Gorman said the federal government also requires local districts to foot the bill for part of the program, something school leaders hope Congress will change.

"We can complain about that or focus on teaching the kids and that’s what we’re focused on is teaching the kids," Gorman said.