Thank you, Tom, for that kind introduction and for your leadership in this great organization.

I thank Abe and Glenn and Jess for your leadership as well, and for inviting me here today. It is an honor and a privilege, because the Anti Defamation League has long been a strong voice for tolerance and diversity and compassion in a world that too often needs reminding.

The work of the ADL serves as a prod of conscience that says: we may differ in how we look, how we worship, or how we think, but our shared core values are the same--values like decency and respect for all people, from all walks of life -- values like those in the Talmud that says: He who hath compassion upon others receives compassion from Heaven.

Or the Koran that says: Good works, which are lasting, are better in the sight of the Lord.

Or the Bible that tells us: Love one another as I have loved you.

Those are powerful admonitions that say:

Give back!

Lift up!

Help each other!

And never have our shared values meant more. Because we as a nation face many challenges--not the least of which is ensuring that every child is educated and no child is left behind. But it's going to take all of us, working together, to get the job done.

Here's what we're looking at:

This past Saturday was the 20th anniversary of a little report called A Nation at Risk. Back in 1983, it warned that too many children were falling through the cracks in our education system, the victims of low expectations and low standards. It sounded the alarm that the achievement gap between rich and poor in our nation's schools was big and growing bigger.

The report sparked a flurry of well-intentioned efforts at reform. Yet the achievement gap grew wider. Test scores stayed flat. And a disturbing trend emerged: The longer students stayed in school, the farther behind they fell academically.

Five years ago experts estimated that in the 15 years following the publication of A Nation at Risk, tens of millions of kids reached high school without knowing how to read at basic level, or understand basic math or U.S. history.

By the time President Bush took office, the situation was truly sobering:

• 2 out of 3 fourth graders couldn't read proficiently
• 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders couldn't read at the most basic level
• And America's 12th graders ranked among the lowest in math and science achievement among their counterparts around the world.

It wasn't for lack of resources.

• Per pupil expenditures climbed from about $5,700 in 1982 to $9,300 in 2000.

• Student-teacher ratios fell from 19 students in 1982 to 17 students in 1999. During that period, the average elementary-school class dropped from 23 to 21 students, while the average secondary school classroom fell from 23 to 19 students.

• Teacher salaries rose from approximately $19,000 per year to $35,000 a year in 2000, keeping pace with increases in the salaries of other workers. Meanwhile, teacher benefits increased at a faster rate than those in other fields.

President Bush believes that education is a civil right, just like the right to vote or to be treated equally. And it's the duty of our nation to teach every child well, not just some of them. Yet in the greatest, most prosperous nation in the world, we had created two education systems--separate and unequal.

A Nation at Risk was a wake up call for America. But we're still at risk.

Fortunately, President Bush has provided a solution.

The bipartisan reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 provides a key ingredient missing in all previous reform attempts: a framework for change that demands high standards and high expectations for every child in every classroom.

But changing the law is just the start of reform. Another essential ingredient in creating great schools worthy of a great nation is changing our hearts and our minds--letting go of the myths and perceptions about who can learn and who can't.

Anyone who's been in education as long as I have has heard all the excuses. "Those kids" are too poor. "Those kids" are too disadvantaged. We're doing the best we can with "those kids."

What they're really saying is: We don't believe intellectual heft is in the DNA of poor and minority children. As one Los Angeles high school teacher put it: "The mindset is that these kids can't learn." Our nation is blessed with many loving, caring teachers who are making a real difference in the lives of children who entered life at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

Education Trust has identified nearly 5,000 schools serving 1 million low-income and minority kids who are blowing the lid off achievement. If it can happen in 5,000 schools, it can happen in 50,000 schools.

The ADL has worked with hundreds of thousands of teachers--including in Houston where I was Superintendent--to help them better understand that diversity makes a world of difference. In Houston, it was a community-wide affair. Everyone got in on it--and we and our schools were all richer for the experience.

The Department of Education has teamed up with the ADL's "Partners Against Hate" program to promote tolerance and respect for diversity in our neighborhoods and school.

I am grateful for your good work--and for our nation's teachers who believe--as the President and I do--that just because a child is indigent doesn't mean that child is ignorant.

President Bush calls it the "soft bigotry of low expectations." And so it is. It is real and it is damaging. And President Bush has made it clear that there is no room for that attitude in our schools.

We believe in the bright potential of every child. And with each budget cycle since President Bush took office, he has worked to protect our investment in our children--with historic levels of funding targeted to areas of greatest need.

To make sure the money is wisely spent, No Child Left Behind provided the framework for lasting change:

• Local control and flexibility.
• Research-based instruction that works.
• Information and choice to empower parents.
• Accountability for results.

Whether your product is math or motorboats, reading or rockets, results matter. Accountability matters--starting with the school boards that pick the superintendents. Because they run the districts...that hire the principals...that operate the schools...that employ the teachers...that teach the children...that come to school to learn.

Yet when No Child Left Behind made it the law of the land for schools to tell moms and dads how well their children are learning, a hue and cry arose from some quarters.

As someone who's been in education going on four decades now, I found those reactions interesting. First, I have no problem with teachers teaching to the test if the test measures what we want children to learn.

Secondly, tests are cheap. Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby estimates the average cost is about $5.81 per child. That's about the cost of two Happy Meals.

Lastly, testing has been in America's public schools as long as our public schools themselves. Yet there was no outcry from educators until it was linked to accountability and they were held responsible for their own work product. We as a nation spend on average $107,000 to produce a fourth grader who is proficient in the most basic of all skills: reading. So is it too much to ask for something in return for that large investment?

Reg Weaver, the President of the National Education Association told an NAACP gathering: "In today's world of high-stakes tests, millions of African-American children, especially in urban schools, are being set up to fail."

Being set up to fail?

The most recent snapshot of urban 12th graders shows that:

• 84 percent were not proficient in math
• 83 percent were not proficient in science

Tests aren't setting kids up to fail. They already ARE failing.

And we have the defenders of the status quo to thank for that.

Interestingly, when Congress first debated the merits of what would become the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, a young Senator named Robert Kennedy called for standardized testing.

How else, he asked, would we be able to measure the progress of schools and know--and I quote--"whether the child, in fact, was gaining from the investment of these funds."

Senator Kennedy added: "I think it would be very helpful to Congress and I think it would be very helpful to people living in the states, and I think it would be very helpful to the people living in the local communities."

Those sentiments echoed again in a 1998 report by the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights--that said: "Without an accurate means of measuring what students know and can do, responsible school authorities have no way of gauging whether students are reaching high standards. And without such an accurate gauge, schools and school districts cannot be held accountable for results. Accurate assessment tools, then, are the glue that holds reform efforts together."

Amen. Tests that are aligned with high standards, clear objectives, and rigorous curriculum are our best tool for identifying where students and schools are succeeding.

Tests are also the best way to identify who needs help--and where we need to focus more resources.

Government at all levels share a responsibility to make sure that schools get the resources they need. And we at the federal level are doing our part. Despite all the priorities competing for our tax dollars, President Bush's 2004 budget increases federal education funding to $53.1 billion--$11 billion more than when he first took office. His budget provides historic levels of funding for Title I, Pell Grants, and special education.

Still, some have suggested it's not enough.

Yet during the ESEA hearings decades earlier, Senator Robert Kennedy cautioned that good planning, regular testing, and a rigorous curriculum are key to improved achievement. He said: "I do not think money by itself is the answer."

That was exactly the finding last December by the GAO--a non-partisan investigative arm of Congress. After studying inner-city and suburban schools, they found that more money did not guarantee results.

No Child Left Behind required states to create a thoughtful strategy for improving student achievement, keeping parents informed, and providing options for children who aren't learning. This past January, for the first time in the history of public education, every state submitted an accountability plan for peer review. A number of plans have been approved already. And the rest are coming.

No Child Left Behind provided the framework, the funding, and the flexibility. Schools in turn have a responsibility to make sure kids are learning. And if they are not, then schools will be held accountable.

This is a mission for President Bush. He believes that educating our children is the most important thing we will ever do as a nation. And each and every one of us must work together as--to borrow the President's words--"absolute warriors" on their behalf. Everyone can help be a part of the solution.

The great Barbara Jordan used to say, "We may have come on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now."

As passengers on this boat, we need everyone rowing in the same direction.

Thank you for listening, and I'll take your questions now.

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