I love coming to this campus. When I was a student at Jackson State, my teachers and fellow-students talked about other Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Howard was always much in our thoughts. In particular, we were interested in a movement here to demonstrate that Howard could become a great "national university" under dynamic and visionary African American leadership. I remember the proud direction of President Mordecai Johnson and his successors. And I also remember the contributions of the Dean of the School of Religion, Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays. All eyes were on Howard.

President Johnson succeeded in making this a great national university. He had a vision of Howard's role in our nation's capital, and strong determination to make Howard known for its scholarship and inclusiveness. He wanted Howard to become a center of excellence, refusing no one ready and able to work hard. He knew that a quality education was the road to freedom. President Johnson argued that without an education there were few choices available for African Americans.

So Howard had to constantly strive for excellence. A quality education represented an opportunity for economic security, personal growth, employment in good jobs, and a better future. This education was a form of emancipation, a way to personal and political freedom.

It wasn't easy. There were those who fought to hold Howard back. Some of the disagreement came from within the African American community, even some faculty members. There was controversy and conflict, primarily about efforts to make the campus more scholarly. The courage of President Johnson was often tested. But he was right...his vision made Howard an outstanding national university. Today you reap the rewards of his commitment to providing a sound, inclusive education.

When I attended Jackson State in the 1950s, Johnson was still president here, and Mays was then the president of Morehouse College. These were legendary, gigantic figures in African American history. Their vision is still alive and well today, thanks to the brilliant leadership of President Patrick Swygert and the commitment to scholarship by each of you.

I am mindful of that commitment in my own work. Let me share with you some of the work underway to make our elementary and secondary schools better and more inclusive.

Recently, Howard University Law School published a series of commemorative essays for the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. These essays were by high school and college students. They were asked to assess the Brown decision from their own perspective.

One essay was by a student who attended school here in the District of Columbia. She writes of a divisive educational experience, one of "haves" and "have nots," of rich schools with enviable resources and poor schools where students shared textbooks, and had no one to teach science classes.

In her own words, "equal quality education does not stem simply from desegregation; fairness in distribution of resources is also required.... In the Nation's Capital, `equal' education does not exist; quality education does not exist, except in some privileged geographic pockets...this discrepancy undermines the intent of Brown."

She sees all of this at her age. I can only agree with her. What she experienced on the inside I see from the outside. Our elementary and secondary school systems are broken. Unfortunately, open schools do not necessarily mean equal opportunity for all students. The Brown decision ended a pernicious system of racial division in law; it did not end segregation in fact. Nationwide, our schools have failed millions of students. Yes, there are some islands of excellence. But there are oceans of mediocrity. Each year throughout the country millions of elementary and secondary students graduate without learning. Each year, the achievement gap between successful students and those left behind widens, threatening to fracture this country into two cultures: the lucky and the left-out, the fortunate and the forgotten.

Many students come to school, but find little education. The vast majority (yes, the vast majority) of students left behind are disadvantaged or low-income. In effect, there is an emerging de-facto educational apartheid in this country. It is a tragedy and a scandal. And as long as this achievement gap exists, we will confront racism and discrimination.

Some people refuse to believe it. But the evidence is indisputable. Last year, even as SAT scores rose, scores for African American SAT test-takers didn't rise, they remained flat. And Hispanic American scores actually went down over previous years. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores show that by the time they reach twelfth grade, only one in six African-Americans and one in five Hispanics are proficient in reading. NAEP math scores are even worse: only 3 percent of blacks and 4 percent of Hispanics are testing at the proficient level.

You see the long-term effects. Many African American men don't go to college, or, if they do, many need remedial education. Few African American men go on to graduate school. And some of those who go need affirmative action. Because our elementary and secondary schools don't educate, students are passed on and passed out, unprepared for employment or further education. This is outrageous. As a recent publication argued, there is "no excuse" for such a deplorable situation.

Some respond with the language of defeat. I've heard some educators say that we must be realistic...African American children are slower, they can't learn as well. I've heard some say that the problem is genetic; others environmental. Such attitudes are an outrage, a vestige of segregation, attitudinal apartheid.

This sense of hopelessness, of fatalism, becomes self-fulfilling. A vicious cycle is established. The cycle has become generational, passed on like a family name.

It is time to break the cycle. We know it can be done. One of the greatest strengths of the African American community is our reliance on education to combat racism, poverty, segregation, and hatred. Our story is about hope, faith, inspiration, and emancipation. The American promise is fulfilled whenever we advance freedom. It takes place in our schools, our churches, and our communities.

I know the President wants to close the achievement gap. That is why he put education at the top of his agenda. And he worked with the Congress to pass the historic, landmark No Child Left Behind Act. This law, with the support for both Republicans and Democrats, is a revolution in education. Our schools need revolutionary reform.

Like any fight for something important, there is opposition, struggle, confusion, and even anger. We must root out indifference and disregard, the business-as-usual practices that harm our children. Our schools must fulfill their public trust...they must educate!!! The President and the Congress have shown great courage in initiating this revolution. We owe them our thanks. Our children will live with greater freedom, economic security, and safety because of the decisions made over the last two years.

The President wants to raise all public and private schools to the highest levels of scholarship and motivation. The essential first step is the No Child Left Behind law, because it makes education more inclusive, fair, and successful. It is the logical next step after Brown. It makes schools put qualified teachers in the classrooms in all schools, public and private. Schools now must teach all students. The torch of enlightenment must be passed to all children. The name of the law is also a promise: no child will be left behind.

The President and the Congress provided enough funding to fully implement the law, with historic increases larger than any previous administration. For example, in the President's 2005 budget, funding for education would be $57.3 billion, an increase of 36 percent since 2000. We paid for testing, provided more money to each state, and targeted special efforts, like reading, rural education, special needs, and language acquisition. Several studies have concluded we did not saddle the states with an unfunded mandate, including a study by Massachusetts State School Board Chairman James Peyser and economist Robert Costrell. They found that federal education funding was more than adequate for administering state assessments under No Child Left Behind.

We don't have to look very far to see the achievement gap. In the District of Columbia, student test scores are lower than any other state in the country on the Nation's Report Card (the National Assessment of Educational Progress). There is an achievement gap between African Americans and their white peers that is more than double the national average. The Mayor himself called the schools system "a slow-moving train wreck." This is not evidence of system that is serving our students.

So, on January 22, 2004, Congress made an historic decision to fund opportunity scholarships in the nation's capital. This is a landmark moment, a milestone in American education. It is also important for the extension of civil rights and human freedom.

Congress appropriated $14 million to create opportunity scholarships, or vouchers, in the District of Columbia. It is part of a larger $40 million appropriation to D.C. schools. The opportunity scholarships will be available to at least 1,700 low-income students in the District of Columbia with grants of up to $7,500 to attend private schools.

While there are opportunity scholarship programs in states such as Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Colorado, D.C. Choice is the first that would be federally funded. This program is the first that would be run by the United States Department of Education, in conjunction with the District of Columbia. And because it is in the capital, it will be given great scrutiny. It will be in the spotlight. It will be a model that will be examined, dissected, second-guessed, and debated each and every day.

Just as Howard fought to become a respected national university in the 1930s and 1940s under President Johnson, I want D.C. to be a model educational system for the nation. Of course, by themselves, opportunity scholarships will not solve every problem facing D.C. schools. The scholarships must be part of a larger set of reforms and adjustments. But there is considerable evidence that opportunity scholarships can make a positive difference. For example, there are reports showing that most of the students with opportunity scholarships in Florida have progressed more than one grade level on a standardized test for each of the four years they have been in the program. The benefits extend well beyond the students with opportunity scholarships. In Florida, as well as in Milwaukee and Cleveland, competition has raised the performance of the public schools themselves. In other words, competition changed the educational environment.

This plan must be given every chance to work. It would be unconscionable to work against the best interests of our children in the District, to desire their failure, to actively labor for obstruction and sabotage of their education.

Sadly, many of the critics are people who support the present ineffective system in the District of Columbia in name only. Their rejection of change runs on political fault lines or is bound in homage to special interests. Many of these same people wouldn't send their own children to these underperforming schools—and don't!

It's time to move ahead. Today we have to face a powerful reality. The school system in the capital of the nation, the most prominent and influential city in the world, is underperforming and needs immediate reform. This fact has been the central, decisive impulse for change. We cannot linger. We cannot let another year go by. We cannot let hundreds of thousands of students confront an educational system that does not serve them, does not educate them properly.

The student who wrote to your law review ended her essay with this observation: "All students, not just students of privilege, must have full access to quality education so that they are not inferior in terms of their life chances. Until that day, the intent of Brown is not fully realized."

We need to hear her voice and that of millions of other students who are left behind.

Earlier, I mentioned Dr. Mays and his connection to Howard. He will always be remembered for his work here and at Morehouse, where he was the mentor of Martin Luther King, Maynard Jackson, Louis Sullivan, and so many others.

He was a powerful advocate for freedom. He wrote in his autobiography that "The central questions confronting every black man are what he can do to enlarge his freedom, to create in himself a sense of his inherent worth and dignity, and to develop economic and political security. He must also consider what can be done to develop his mind, body, and spirit without the imposition of artificial barriers."

I agree. We can remake the educational system to become more successful, inclusive, and just. But it will require a revolution and the courage to see it through. This is one battleground against racism, for as long as the achievement gap persists, racism will be a part of our experience. We can follow the advice of Dr. Mays and enlarge our freedom. But it will require closing the achievement gap, making our schools more inclusive, and offering low-income students more choices. If we can do that, then we will have helped this country come much closer to the promise of our constitution and the hope embraced in Brown v. Board of Education.

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