More Resources Video of Secretary's remarks

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today delivered the keynote address at Excellence in Action: A National Summit on Education Reform at the Walt Disney Contemporary Resort in Florida.

Following are the Secretary's remarks as prepared:

Thank you, Governor Bush, for your introduction. There aren't many ex-Governors who care about education as much as Jeb does. Well, maybe I can think of one. But seriously, I do thank you, Jeb. Your continued commitment to the students and parents of our nation would make a mother proud, and I know she is.

It's good to see Joel Klein, Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith, and former Commissioner John Winn, Governor Romer, Checker Finn, Rep. Rubio of the Florida House of Representatives, and Lynn Stanfield of Apple.

I'm pleased Jeb has gathered so many education reform warriors together—some may refer to us as agitators and troublemakers.

The President has said, "the measure of compassion is more than good intentions, it is good results. Sympathy is not enough." I couldn't agree more.

All of us have played a role in creating a movement to inject standards, accountability and competition into our education system... first at the state level, and then nationwide.

Today, the states that were early adopters of these principles are reaping the greatest gains in student achievement.

Some continue to resist accountability. But for me, some discomfort is a good thing—it tells us we're reaching higher and stretching the system.

Together, we've shifted our national conversation to focus on results, not just inputs like how much we spend. With President Bush, we've had a friend in reform, an ally in accountability and a champion for choice.

If you've been paying any attention to what's being said on the campaign trail, you know that continued progress is anything but inevitable. Our job is to make sure improving our schools remains a top priority for the next administration and beyond.

To that point, I want to share some observations. In my time as Secretary of Education, I've traveled to nearly every state in the union. This year alone, I've been to 22 states. I've met with state and local policymakers, educators, parents, governors, state education chiefs, and members of Congress. Three key areas have emerged as places where we must focus our efforts: removing barriers to reform, using time and personnel more effectively, and empowering families to make the best educational choices for their kids.

First, taking on the structures that inhibit progress and innovation. No Child Left Behind has clearly been a game changer. This law introduced measurement into the education system on a national scale for the first time ever. As a result, we now have data that shows us what's working in our schools and what is not.

We are seeing hopeful improvements. We are also exposing a dysfunctional system that often stifles talent instead of nurturing it, that rewards ineffective teachers but offers few incentives to improve, that is often more inclined to deny problems than to solve them.

Every single day, human potential is wasted.

Resistance to change, in the face of overwhelming evidence that change is needed, is worse than misguided. It is educational malpractice. The spirit of this conference, and our mission to champion, is to question the fossilized traditions, mythologies and habits that obstruct progress for students and teachers.

Because we believe that effort without achievement is not enough, we must question our means of measuring success, our methods of delivering instruction, even our definitions of what it takes to create a successful student.

While other fields rocket ahead, our education system is in many ways trapped in the industrial age. The term "24/7" has no meaning for us because we're still stuck in the rut of 6 hours a day, 180 days a year. As a report by the US Chamber of Commerce put it, "Most schools preserve the routines, cultures, and operations of an obsolete 1930s manufacturing plant." That's unacceptable in today's global economy.

While our shopping, our entertainment and our social networks are becoming at once more personal and more global. We have yet to realize the same level of customization in our schools.

Joel Klein told me that every Friday night, his wife, who works for Sony, gets an email telling her which movies led box office sales that week. Technology exists that provides data in real-time. Why are we not using it to personalize instruction for students in the classroom?

I was in San Diego on Monday, where I met with leaders in technology and innovation. We talked about how technology is beginning to personalize educational experiences. Our challenge is to amplify those innovations to improve opportunities for all kids.

We've gotten used to customization in every other aspect of our lives. We have computers built to order... eyeglasses in an hour... and most web sites know what I want before I do. Our schools must follow suit and become more agile, more efficient, more responsive... and most importantly, more effective.

Which brings me to my second point—building human capital.

It's not just students' potential we're losing. Every year, bright teachers stream into our classrooms. Not long after, many leave feeling overwhelmed and defeated. Up to 50 percent of new teachers exit the profession within the first five years. Two thirds leave because they're dissatisfied or want a better job.

Among those teachers who stay in the classroom, many languish unrecognized and unrewarded. Instead of nurturing management potential, we leave it to teachers to select themselves to become principals. This process of self-selecting is a far cry from the private sector's strategic cultivation of promising leadership.

I'm pleased to see that performance pay is generating a buzz on the campaign trail. I say, welcome aboard! I'm sure Governor Bush and many of you feel the same way, having already spent years building model incentive programs. We have a federal program proposed by President Bush called the Teacher Incentive Fund—with 100 million dollars, which the President wants to double.

But as you know, when it comes to education policy, the devil is in the details. All too often, people use the same terms with entirely different meanings.

We have an obligation to demand straight answers instead of so much hedging and obfuscation. For instance, when we talk about "performance pay," that means pay based on student performance.

When we talk about accountability, shouldn't that mean providing poor and minority children with at least grade-level skills, just as we do for other kids? As a parent, if somebody told me I had to wait years for my daughter to perform at grade level, I would be outraged and I'd demand more.

Which leads me to my final point: making sure families have the information and the power to demand more—and get it.

Right in Congress' back yard, people are using the language of reform to do just the opposite. They're talking about choices but working to keep low-income children out of better schools. That's outrageous. DC Opportunity Scholarships help nearly 2,000 of the poorest children in our nation's capital transfer out of underperforming schools, and into the private school of their choice.

It makes me wonder, how can some people justify denying poor and minority families the same options they exercise themselves? How can they consign another generation of our neediest students to our lowest-performing schools? These families deserve the same opportunities as mine and Jeb's and all of ours.

Why do we let people get away with systematically writing off other people's children?!?

Besides more choice options, we must stay strong for real accountability and transparency. We now know a good bit about elementary and middle schools, but we still know very little about high schools.

As the person who sees and approves state accountability plans, I can tell you there is strong pressure to weaken, water down, find loopholes, and delay real accountability. These efforts often have fancy names like "multiple measures" or "authentic assessment."

Ensuring every student's right to a quality education is what No Child Left Behind is all about.

Sadly, opponents have spent millions to tarnish the brand. Can you imagine what we would have achieved if all that passion and energy had been devoted into actually leaving no child behind?

This law was a tough, but essential step forward. But we can and must do more.

We must renew our commitment to every child's success. And we must build on this commitment by aiming higher and strengthening accountability. It's right and righteous for our nation, and it's the only morally acceptable course to chart.

I applaud this summit's focus on celebrating success and highlighting best practices. I look forward to seeing you develop concrete actions to quicken the pace of reform. I call on you to stand behind federal, state and local policies that strengthen the core principles of reform: annual measurement, disaggregation of data and transparency for student achievement for all, a meaningful deadline like 2014 and real consequences for failure.

And I ask, no I beg you to continue speaking out for true accountability. We all how hard it can be to challenge the status quo. As Governor Bush says, in education reform, you're always "walking uphill. And if you stop moving forward, gravity naturally starts pulling you back."

But as Governor Romer and others will tell you, that's all the more reason why we must push harder. That's why I'm pleased that he and Joel Klein are teaming up with the Reverend Al Sharpton, Representative J.C. Watts, Newark Mayor Corey Booker, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and other game changers who are demanding more from our schools—and getting it.

This is exactly the type of alliance that we need more of. We must work closely together with like-minded people who may not be our natural allies, but who share a common concern for the education of all students. We will be successful only if we work together across party lines and all other divisions. The work is too challenging, and the opponents too numerous, to do it alone.

When it comes to education policy, we must always ask ourselves one question: who does this benefit, kids or grown ups?

NCLB built on an historic grassroots movement that united a rare alliance of individuals: parents and policy makers, CEOs and civil rights leaders, Democrats and Republicans.

This movement is about equipping every child with a high quality education. Whether we take this movement to the next level will determine our ability to respond to every challenge we face in the years ahead—national security, economic prosperity, and civic engagement.

The rhetoric of change in this election year offers a great opportunity—now let's make sure we all live up to our words and make it real—for our students and our nation.

Thank you. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

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