A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Thank you. Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here to participate in this launch of "Figure This!" I want to thank the NSF for its supportive role in this endeavor. Working with other federal agencies in a coordinated and thoughtful way enables all of us to accomplish more. I also want to acknowledge the important work of the project advisory committee and the assistance of Dr. Linda Rosen from my staff.

As the previous speakers have noted, a quality mathematics education must be an integral part of today's learning experience. In order to succeed in our information-based society, students must have a solid understanding of the basics -- reading, science, history, and the arts. And math must be in this core of essential knowledge.

As William James wrote, "The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal."

The U.S. Department of Education is working hard to ensure that Americans understand the importance of mathematics and that our community schools have the resources and support necessary to teach it well.

That is why, for instance, as part of our "America Counts" initiative, we created the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century. Headed by former astronaut and Senator John Glenn, the Commission's goal is to develop strategies to raise the quality of mathematics and science teaching in our nation's classrooms. Quality teaching is at the heart of a quality education.

But we have also sought on a much broader level to encourage schools to promote challenging mathematics education, especially beginning in middle school and continuing into high school. This kind of strong foundation opens doors for later exploration and discovery and for enhanced learning.

Unfortunately, today too many young people and too many of their parents still lack awareness of the critical value of mathematics and the connections it makes to increased future success.

Polls show, for instance, that the vast majority of American parents expect their children to go to college and that the vast majority of children expect to go to college.

But, at the same time, half of these students want to stop studying mathematics as soon as they can. It is time to better identify the incongruity of these views and reinforce the importance of studying mathematics. I hope that this new campaign will help challenge Americans -- young people, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles -- to get involved.

As Secretary of Education, I spend a great deal of time traveling across the nation visiting schools and meeting with students, principals, teachers, and parents. One of the critical messages I take to them is the importance of community and parental support for high quality learning.

As part of our "America Counts" initiative, "Figure This!" will provide this kind of additional opportunity and help generate new community support for education. It is this arc of responsibility that offers the greatest promise for improving our schools, for raising achievement, and for generating a future of success for all our children.

So today, I am pleased to be here for the kickoff of this promising initiative. I welcome this and similar efforts to focus families' attention on mathematics, and in that way, to increase student interest and achievement in this vital subject.

I have great faith not only in America's students, but also in the American public. I believe that, given the facts about a subject as important as mathematics, they will use their creativity, discipline, energy, and hard work to build a stronger future for America's students.

Thank you so much.