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Dallas, TX — Today at the Northeast Leadership Forum Annual Luncheon, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings touted the success of students under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and encouraged business and community leaders to support the reauthorization of the law whose goal is every student in the nation reading and doing math on grade level by 2014.

Below are her remarks:

Thank you, Representative Marchant, for introducing me. Our nation's schoolchildren are lucky that you're a member of the House Education and Labor Committee.

It's great to be home. I've enjoyed my time in Washington, D.C., but as you know, once a Texan, always a Texan. And I'm proud to see that the metroplex is thriving.

As you know, this area ranked first in the nation for employment growth in the 1990s. DFW attracts more Fortune 500 headquarters than almost any other metro area. Texas is consistently ranked among the best states for doing business.

Not to be a Texas braggadocio, but I think there's good reason why we Texans coined the phrase, "If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I don't have to tell you that back in the early 1980s, the Dallas Fort Worth economy could be summed up in just one word: oil. In the 90s, it was telecommunications. And now, in the new millennium, health care, education, and technology are booming.

Texans are good at change. In fact, we excel at it. That's why when it comes to education, Texas is a leader.

• My Department's national education report card shows Texas students have made some of the greatest gains in the country in recent years.
• Fourth graders recently reached their highest scores in the report card's history.
• African-American and Hispanic students also posted all-time bests in reading and math.

But now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Nationwide and in Texas, we have a lot of important work ahead of us.

You can't pick up a newspaper or magazine these days without reading about how the global economy is growing smaller by the day—and from business to our home life, we feel it.

Meanwhile, technology is transforming the way we live and do business. And nobody knows better than you that our demographics are shifting, too.

• The number of Hispanic fourth graders in Texas schools almost doubled between 1992 and 2005.
• Today, almost half of all Texas students are Hispanic, making them the largest student group.
• A recent report showed that nationwide, Hispanics accounted for 64 percent of the increase in public school enrollment in recent years.
• Many of these children need extra time and attention because they are still learning English.

Each of these challenges makes reform all the more urgent. You know as well as I do that to succeed in today's world, employees need a higher skill level, and the ability to adapt quickly. Yet in meetings with business leaders and CEO's, I hear the same thing all the time: our education system is not keeping pace with the demands of the new knowledge economy.

• Two-thirds of high-growth, high-wage jobs require a college degree, but only a third of Americans have one.
• Half of African-American and Hispanic students fail to graduate from high school on time.
• We spend more than a billion dollars each year—and much by you in the business community—on remedial classes for college students who didn't get the education they needed in high school.

Just like business, medicine, or any other enterprise, our education system must adapt with the times. If we don't improve our schools, our nation will lose our economic and competitive advantage.

Last week President Bush and I met with Congressional leaders from both parties, including Chairman Kennedy and Chairman Miller. All of us firmly agreed that our nation simply cannot afford to miss out on the creativity, brainpower, and potential of so many children.

Fortunately, with No Child Left Behind, we set the goal to have every student reading and doing math on grade level by 2014. And it's working!

• Younger students made more reading progress in 5 years than in the previous 28 years combined.
• Reading and math scores are reaching all-time highs in the early grades, where we've focused our efforts.

Here in Texas, the percentage of fourth graders with high-level math skills rose 15 percentage points between 2000 and 2005 alone. That's almost 50,000 more students learning on grade level—thanks to a lot of hardworking students and teachers, and thanks to the strong leadership of superintendents like those who are here today.

No Child Left Behind helps kids by measuring their progress, and holding schools accountable for helping them improve. It helps teachers by providing them with information to better help their students, and resources to enrich their teaching. And it helps parents by providing annual data on their children's progress in reading and math—data that helps them become stronger consumer advocates.

Sound familiar? It should. Texas was a key incubator for these policies. Starting in the early 1980s, the Southern states led the way to reform.

• Governors of both parties guided the way, including Jim Hunt of North Carolina, Zell Miller of Georgia, Richard Riley of South Carolina, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, and of course my favorite, George W. Bush of the great Lone Star State.
• They realized that the economic, civic, and democratic future of our country depended on providing every single child with a quality education.
• The business community, including the Governor's Business Council here in Texas, has played a critical role in reform.

Not it's time for Congress to reauthorize the law, and Congressman Marchant and I are counting on you to help to get it done this year. I'm sure the Congressman agrees that while we in Washington, D.C., will play a key role, real change has and will continue to happen at the state and local levels.

When No Child Left Behind was first enacted, business leaders, educators, parents, and policymakers came together on behalf of our nation's students. To renew the law, we must ignite the same forces. And we must spread the word that our goal of having all students on grade level by 2014 is not just achievable, it's essential.

• I've never met a parent who didn't want their child to be learning on grade level now, let alone by 2014. I'm sure all the parents in this room feel the same way.
• This truly is a whole new world we're building.
• I need your help to bring more customization to our schools, make better use of time and resources, and work to align educational standards with workforce needs.

Change can be difficult—and people are often resistant to it. But as you know, that kind of attitude never gets much traction in Texas. We in Texas have been leaders in education, and with your help, we'll continue to lead our nation to the great goal of leaving no child behind.

Thank you. I look forward to answering your questions.

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