I want to thank the organizers of this grand event, and all the patriotic citizens of Gilbert, Arizona, for turning out.

Every year Gilbert Constitution Week grows bigger and better. Some say it's now the biggest in the nation. I think we're going to have to change your town's motto from the "Hay Capital of the World" to the "Constitution Capital of the World"!

I especially want to thank all the young people here today for showing your respect and appreciation for this great document.

If the Declaration of Independence informs us of our right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" – then it's the Constitution and its rules that protect those rights. And that's very important to know.

But the Constitution also teaches us the importance of learning. Much education went into this document.

The 55 delegates who came to Philadelphia that summer of 1787 came from all walks of life. They were lawyers, doctors, farmers, merchants, soldiers and scientists. But the one thing they shared was a thirst for knowledge.

They were familiar with the great political minds of their day: John Locke and Edmund Burke; Rousseau and Montesquieu. Voices from around the world informing them about liberty and other "self-evident truths."

But the Founders did not hoard their knowledge. Instead, they sought to share it -- "to form a more educated union."

George Washington said it was "of primary importance" that we have "institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge…. It is essential that public opinion should be enlightened."

James Madison said, "Liberty and learning" would "each lean on the other for their mutual and surest support."

And John Adams said, "Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom."

By the way, he wasn't kidding! Young John Quincy Adams once wrote his father a letter listing the subjects he studied each day:

• Latin, including Cicero and Erasmus; Greek grammar; geography; geometry; fractions; writing and drawing.

He was 12 years old!

And how did his father respond? "The next time you write me, I hope you will take more care to write well." He added, "You should have dated your letter."

Tough dad!

But it's clear that a rigorous classical education helped build a solid foundation for the young nation. And it was proof that young minds can handle high expectations.

I might add that our Founders weren't interested just in filling up minds, but in building up character. They spoke often of the links between virtue and happiness.

They agreed with John Locke: "Virtue is harder to be got than knowledge; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered."

We need to rediscover this spirit. Our schools must be a counterweight to the omnipresent "bling bling" pop culture. Our children need to know that you cannot get to the top and stay there without a strong work ethic and an even stronger character.

So President Bush has tripled funding for character education. Over the last three years the Department of Education has awarded dozens of character education grants to states and school districts. And we have a web site – www.cetac.org -- to help teachers and parents offer the right lessons on character and civic engagement.

As President Bush has said, "Our children must learn to make a living, but even more, they must learn how to live."

Now, it might surprise some to learn that the words "education" or "school" do not appear in the Constitution. That, too, is part of the genius of the document.

The Constitution was unique in its time. It did not tell citizens what they were allowed to do. It listed the few things government was allowed to do. That is a very important distinction.

You know, I had to laugh when I read about a fifth-grade student at Houston Elementary School in Gilbert. She was asked for Constitution Week what would happen if there were no rules at school. She said they'd have recess all day.

That's the pursuit of happiness, all right!

The Tenth Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

One of those powers is education.

Today nearly 54 million American students are educated in 120,000 public, public charter and private schools. About 90 percent of the $500 billion we spend on education comes from state, local and private sources.

The Constitution gives my Department a limited role in education. But we are doing everything we can to make it an effective role.

Our No Child Left Behind Act encourages states and school districts to set high standards for schools and students.

Students are tested annually in the critical subjects of reading and math. And all 50 states, including Arizona, now have good "accountability plans" with real teeth.

No Child Left Behind is working. In state after state, test scores are rising. Here in Arizona, 82 percent of your schools made their annual progress goals, up from 76 percent the year before.

As Benson [Arizona] High School teacher Leslie Mingus says, "High expectations yield high results."

Just as importantly, we're beginning to close the racial and ethnic "achievement gap" in our schools. As an educator, and as someone who once attended segregated schools, it pains me to see that the Constitution's promise of equality still has not reached every student. Fifty years after Brown vs. Board of Education opened the schoolhouse door to all, we're still fighting to guarantee a quality education for all.

But we're making progress. In many states, and especially in large urban school districts, minority students are now making the greatest gains in reading and math. We must continue the fight. Too many people have given too much to do otherwise.

Let me add one more point on a subject dear to the hearts of Arizonans. Under No Child Left Behind, more children than ever before are experiencing the benefits of choice.

The law offers parents new options, including tutoring and afterschool homework help and even transfer to another public school.

If a school chronically underperforms, its students now have a way out. And schools are working harder than ever to keep their customers happy.

One educator from South Dakota said, "Being put on the school improvement [list] was one of the best things that happened to our schools."

One from Maryland said, "The next year, we did go out and remediate the heck out of our [special education] kids…. And now we don't have any underperforming subgroups."

And a mother from Virginia who's also an advocate for disabled children said the law "gives me ammunition -- more documentation to show what kids need."

We cannot move forward as a nation, we cannot make progress, if we do not take advantage of our capacity for change. For a role model, we only need to look to this document.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that "The Constitution is an experiment, as all life is an experiment." And, I would add, experiments must be continually tested.

Last week an international report came out showing other countries making gains on us in education. It showed that our young adults rank only 10th in high school graduation rates. And that our students lose ground as they reach secondary school.

In the past, hearing such news, we might have thrown up our hands in frustration. Now, we roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Like the Founding Fathers, we too must show vision and wisdom and faith in the future. We too must see beyond our own narrow interests and the limits of our age to a brighter world for our children – a "more perfect union."

George Washington called the Constitution "the guide which I never will abandon." And the light these extraordinary men lit more than two centuries ago still guides our way. Thank you.

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