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Thank you Governor Riley, I am honored to be here with so many fine educators and compassionate people. In this time of grief, the people of Alabama have demonstrated the best of the American spirit. Even when faced with your own losses, you have reached out to others in need. As Governor Riley recently said, "Natural disasters don't recognize state boundaries on a map." Neither have you. To date, you have welcomed thousands of people into your communities and more than 3,000 students into your schools.

Volunteers here at Shades Mountain Baptist Church provided food, water, medicine and a shoulder to cry on for more than 1,000 displaced people. One younger member of your congregation donated his entire piggy bank—a life savings amounting to more than $200.

One of the people you helped was Kenneth LaFrance, a middle school math and physics teacher from New Orleans. He said he "could not imagine a finer group of human beings" than the people he met at your church. Thanks to Shades Mountain and the Red Cross, Kenneth and his family will be moving into their new apartment tomorrow, complete with a Power Rangers-themed room for his 5-year-old son, Seth. And thanks to you, both father and son are going back to school. Kenneth had four job interviews this week with principals who would love to hire him, and Seth enrolled last Friday at Green Valley Elementary in Hoover City.

I encourage all parents of displaced students to enroll your children in school as soon as possible. In the aftermath of a tragedy, school provides children with much-needed stability and comfort. And in the long-term, education will prepare them to help damaged cities and communities grow even stronger and more vibrant than they were before.

I will do everything I can to support the education community throughout this recovery process. I have been in close contact with officials throughout this region, including my friend Joe Morton, your fine state superintendent, who I am happy to see here today. I am listening to Joe and others so that my Department can provide fast, efficient relief as soon as we know what is needed and where.

At the Education Department, we have already launched the Hurricane Help for Schools Web site at www.ed.gov. It's a clearinghouse of resources to help schools. In just a few days, we have matched more than 50 businesses, organizations and schools with other schools in need, including several in Alabama.

At the president's direction, I am working with the Office of Management and Budget to adequately meet the educational resource needs of students in affected areas, as well as areas that are taking in displaced students. I'll also be flexible with certain provisions of No Child Left Behind on an as-needed, case-by-case basis.

For example, one of the most immediate emerging needs relates to the law's highly qualified teacher provisions. We are coordinating with states to make it easier for districts to hire qualified teachers so that all students, including those who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, can do their very best in school. Honoring our commitment to give them a quality education is one of the most important things we can do for the schoolchildren touched by this disaster.

Just as architects and engineers will rebuild the Big Easy's skyline, parents and educators like you will shape the next generation of leaders. This will not be a small task or a simple one, but as Alabama educators know well, it starts with teaching students to read. A child who can read is a child who can learn. And a child who can learn is one who can succeed in school and in life. In today's world, reading is more than a pastime. It's a survival skill.

Alabama's Reading First Initiative is all about making sure that every child has the skills to succeed and thrive. It's part of a nationwide effort to challenge what President Bush calls "the soft bigotry of low expectations." A few years ago, Americans made a commitment to give all students a quality education and to close the achievement gap by 2014. No country has ever made such a commitment.

That commitment was called No Child Left Behind. The law means what it says: We will not rest until every single child is reading and doing math at grade level. The law aims high and focuses on doing what works. It brings practical, research-based tools into the classroom. And those practical tools are helping students across our country make historic gains.

According to the latest long-term Nation's Report Card, both 9- and 13-year-olds are reading more than they used to—more than 20 pages a day. The Report Card also found that low-income and minority students in every state in our country are catching up to their white peers. African-American students, Hispanic students, and white students achieved record gains. And there's more. Between white and African-American 9-year-olds, the achievement gap in reading is the smallest ever.

President Bush says that reading is the new civil right. I firmly agree. And I'm thrilled that we now know a lot more than we used to about how children read, why some of them have more trouble reading than others, and what we can do to get all children reading well.

Reading First builds on over 20 years of research that followed more than 44,000 children from age 5 into adulthood. Researchers tracked children who could read well, and they tracked others who couldn't read at all. The National Reading Panel looked at thousands of high-quality scientific studies to determine what the research tells us about how children learn to read.

Alabama's reading program is a model for states across our country. Today, thanks to evidence-based reading instruction and a whole lot of hard work, almost 80 percent of Alabama students in grades 3 through 8 are proficient in reading. In the last year alone, scores for African-American students, Native American students, and low-income students have increased by more than 20 percent. And for students with disabilities, scores are almost 40 percent higher. That's an enormous gain, and I want to congratulate Reading Initiative Director Katherine Mitchell and all of the parents and educators who made this happen.

Research-based reading instruction is producing tremendous gains for students in Alabama and across America. And the U.S. Department of Education will continue to provide resources to make sure these kids continue to succeed. We have already provided almost $70 million of a six-year, $108 million grant. These funds will help Alabama educators translate scientific research into practical tools they can use.

This year, teachers in 753 Alabama schools will receive intensive training from expert reading instructors—often for an entire week. They will be able to watch master teachers work with real students in real classrooms. And they will learn practical skills they may not have been taught in school—skills such as how to track each student's progress and how to diagnose problems early before they become habits. By measuring every child's reading progress from kindergarten through grade 3, teachers can make sure that every child stays on track, reading well.

Reading programs like yours are helping thousands of teachers understand the mechanics of reading. We must make sure this research makes it to even more classrooms, where it can increase achievement for even more children. President Bush created the Striving Readers program to provide evidence-based instruction for teenagers who have trouble reading. Like Reading First, Striving Readers can make a real difference in a young person's life.

I don't need to tell you that reading opens the door to other critical subjects. Young, capable readers can succeed in math, history, science, literature, geography and much more. Helping every young person succeed—regardless of his or her race, income level, or ZIP Code—is not just another political issue for Americans. It's a value that we all hold close to our hearts. It's the key to the American dream.

We must keep that dream alive for every child, especially in hard times like these. Alabama schools are demonstrating that education can be a source of great hope for families who are putting their lives back together.

I want to thank you for providing that hope for displaced students and their families. You are welcoming those in need and providing a quality education, just as you always have. And I want you to know that I am committed to doing everything I can to help you.

Thanks again for inviting me here today.

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