Thank you for that kind introduction. First, I want to take this opportunity to thank John Walters. John has been a powerful advocate for drug-free schools. I want to thank him for his leadership and vision.

Just yesterday, we concluded a conference sponsored by the Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. John was kind enough to deliver the Keynote address.

At the conference a considerable amount of workshop time was devoted to drug testing. It is my belief that drug testing holds great promise in removing drugs from our school, but it is only one arrow in our quiver. The best weapon we all have is information and knowledge—use the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools and the Office of National Drug Control Policy as a resource as you each craft a plan to combat this problem. They have a tremendous amount of information that you may find helpful in your decision making process. Our role is to help you and your communities reach a rational, reasoned decision on the issue of drug testing unfettered from the emotional hyperbole used by many regarding this topic.

As part of our ongoing effort to support local drug prevention efforts, in September the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools announced $1.9 million in grants for drug testing in 8 school districts. These grants were flexible and available at the behest of the district. You may agree or disagree with the decision to drug test. Perhaps you have a different solution, but do something.

Again, I urge you to make use of the various federal offices that can provide you with the necessary information for your decision making process.

As the Secretary of Education, it is my honor to act as a steward of one of our most important natural resources—the health and intellectual well being of future generations.

Fortunately, I am not alone in this task. I am working with hundreds of thousands of dedicated educators and public leaders.

This is a time of renewal for American education. It has been close to two years since the passage of the historic No Child Left Behind Act.

This country is starting to discuss, and therefore solve, some of the long-standing obstacles to achieving high-quality education for all. This Presidential initiative and bipartisan legislative act calls upon all of us to ask tough questions and to hold our schools accountable.

Education is a nexus point for every important domestic issue facing the United States today: health care, economic mobility and stability, the family, and national security.

Drug and alcohol abuse undermine progress in these areas. It is therefore incumbent upon us to devise new ways of combating this scourge.

Let us not be bound by precedent and inertia. Let us bring the same amount of positive energy to solving the drug problem as the purveyors of illicit drugs devote to corrupting our society.

Drug use affects us all, and no school or district, no matter how elite, is immune—which is easy to forget. We would do well to remember that drug abuse respects nothing except opportunity and ignorance. Not skin color, zip code, parental wealth or societal status. It does not care if your family came to this country on the Mayflower or in chains in the hull of a ship—it is as opportunistic as it is pernicious.

History has repeatedly shown us that the imaginary walls that separate us into "demographic clusters" prove a porous defense against threats to our health and welfare as a nation. Our role in the federal government is to provide the guidance necessary for each district to solve the drug problem unique to its circumstances. The federal government is, in essence, a junior but not a silent partner. We are willing to get out of the way when appropriate, and assist when asked for help, but we continue to be vigilant so that no child is forgotten or neglected.

As many of you know in 2001 my department published a report titled Safe Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools Programs 2001. If you have not reviewed this document I encourage you to do so.

The central evaluation theme was on data collection and analysis. Not what sounds good, or might work based on academic theory, but what has worked in the classroom.

Within it, the Department has catalogued, outlined and described over 40 programs that have been designated as Exemplary or Promising. Programs designated Exemplary have an empirically demonstrated effectiveness and serve as a model for all other programs.

These programs consist of a wide variety of educational literature and media for teachers and students including instructional videos, teaching aides, student handouts and workbooks. What they share are results. They have proven themselves in the only area that counts—the classroom.

Just as importantly, most of these are economical additions to curricula that can be easily integrated into existing drug and alcohol units within the schools. Once again, prevention—getting to kids early—is the key.

The recently established Institute of Education Sciences—led by Dr. Russ Whitehurst—is working with us to identify even more models that are effective in preventing drug and alcohol abuse.

These and all drug prevention programs confer a considerable amount of power on all students who participate—the power to say no. Testing provides something almost as important, an excuse to opt out of drug use. In my view—with the challenges facing teens today—they need every weapon we can provide to help them fend off the ever-advancing societal drug problem.

As I have stated, the abuse of drugs knows no boundaries. However it does strike certain populations more heavily than others. For too long, we all have been tacitly complicit in a quiet crisis—a crisis that has robbed us of many talented young people.

It is not enough that we test, treat, or better yet, prevent drug use by student athletes or affluent children and yet forget about others. It is no longer OK to simply acknowledge that a drug habit is simply a consequence of other societal issues that we can do nothing about. It is no longer acceptable to sacrifice some on the alter of the majority. In short—no child's future should be subsumed by drug use or abuse.

The answer is more nuanced than simply testing, because testing is reactive. President Bush demands that we remain pro-active. Our ultimate goal should be that children would not consider drugs or alcohol as a viable, acceptable recreational option. Through the use of common sense, classroom-tested programs, and the tough accountability standards contained within No Child Left Behind, we have already started down that path.

Our call to action as political, academic, community and education leaders is to work together and to bring about creative solutions to the problems facing our communities. It asks that parents become more involved in the education of their children. We must help them; embrace education as a means to elevate themselves and their family out of poverty and away from the downward spiral of drugs and alcohol. It asks society to deal a mortal blow to the lingering, subtle vestiges of racism and ignorance that have allowed this problem to fester and claim too many in our society.

This country has a history of confronting and defeating any challenge that threatens the liberty or the dignity of her citizens. This quiet internal crisis poses a threat no less dire to those affected by it than the exterior threat posed by a hostile nation. This issue calls into question our commitment to providing basic equality and opportunity to all of our citizens and ultimately, how we respond to the expectations of those that founded this nation.

Thank you.

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