Thank you President Vagt, and congratulations to the Davidson class of 2006. I'm honored to be here with you and your parents and professors—not just as the Education Secretary, but as a member of the Davidson family.

My daughter Mary is enjoying the challenges of her freshman year. I understand she is learning about helping others and giving back to your community as well as other important subjects like flickerball and squirt gun assassins.

But seriously, I applaud Davidson's mission of developing "disciplined, creative minds for lives of leadership and service." I can't imagine a better way to prepare students for life beyond the classroom.

Back-to-school season is generally a time of exciting new beginnings and reunions with old friends. This fall, unfortunately, will be remembered, more for hurricanes that forced hundreds of thousands of children and families to leave their homes and schools. Still, as I have visited communities throughout the Gulf Coast region, I have been gratified to see educators open their hands and hearts to help these children. A teacher in Mississippi told me, "All I know is to love these kids."

I heard about a kindergartener in Dallas, recently arrived from New Orleans, who was walking down the hall when he doubled back toward the classroom. His teacher asked him where he was going. He said he was going to get his backpack and lunch box. The teacher told him not to worry; his things would be there when they got back.

And this little 5-year-old boy looked up at his teacher and said, "You just never know."

He's absolutely right—you just never know. Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in our country's history, and it dealt a devastating blow to our education system. We don't have education laws on the books to undo the damage. But the president and I believe we have a responsibility to make sure that children affected by this disaster still get the quality education they need and deserve.

So instead of writing off this school year for displaced students, our government is taking historic steps to help schools that are welcoming them. As part of this effort, the administration has proposed to increase resources from 9 to 90 percent of the cost of educating these kids.

In addition to these challenges, Katrina is providing what educators call "a teachable moment," an opportunity to learn from—and act on—the moment we're in.

As President Bush has said, "Some of the greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle—the elderly, the vulnerable, and the poor." We all saw the pictures on television and the looks on these children's faces. Their plight has roots in decades of inequality and indifference.

Education can—and will—break the cycle of poverty. It's the key to making sure that every single child has the chance to realize the American dream. Katrina is a stark reminder of this truth.

Tens of thousands of teachers and parents—and policymakers like me—are working to provide children across America with the opportunity you hold in your hands today.

A few years ago, President Bush and the Congress led our nation in passing a law called No Child Left Behind. It says that no child will be denied a quality education or the opportunity to make a better life.

You're the lucky ones. You're about to graduate from a top-notch college. So, now what? What will you do next?

Marian Wright Edelman, who spoke at last year's convocation ceremony, has a great saying: "Education is for improving the lives of others, and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." I couldn't agree more. Use your short time on this planet to serve others and make a difference.

When I was your age and checking groceries at Handy Andy, I would never have guessed that I would become a public policy propeller-head by making sure almost 400,000 displaced students get a quality education this year. And how could I possibly have known that I would lead a presidential delegation to Japan that included baseball hall-of-famer Tommy Lasorda. Or that I'd be standing here today, speaking to you as a member of the United States Cabinet.

But, as that little 5-year-old in Dallas sagely observed, you just never know.

I went to college at the University of Houston and continued my work at Handy Andy, getting promoted to office cashier. I learned lots of things. I learned to balance a cash register. I learned about people. I learned I wanted to do more than check groceries all my life.

After I graduated I was offered a great opportunity—a job working with the Texas state legislature. And who would have figured... a few years later I was asked to work for the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, who happened to be running for governor. It has been the honor of my lifetime to work for now President Bush for the past 11 years. You just never know!

I still have what I call "pinch me" moments. I remember my first meeting in the Oval Office. It was the first week of the president's term, and I think it was the first time he met Senator Ted Kennedy. Certainly it was the first time they had a serious policy discussion. They pledged to work together to provide a quality education for every child in America regardless of race, background, or zip code. And for my fellow policy wonks out there, the way we do that is to measure progress annually and separate data to show how every group of students is performing. As we say in Texas, what gets measured gets done. Or as I like to say, in God we trust; all others, bring data.

Measuring our children's progress every year helps us understand where help is needed before it's too late. Once we know the contours of a problem and who is affected, we can work on the solution. Teachers can adjust lesson plans, administrators can evaluate curricula, and the Department can provide clear, achievable priorities and deploy resources toward those priorities.

That's what we're doing, and it's working. We're seeing the results. Just this week, we received the latest scores from our Nation's state-by-state Report Card. They show we're on the right track, confirming the nationwide results we saw in July. But we still have a way to go. One of the problems I face every day is convincing people who live in the leafy suburbs, or who have the advantages that many of us in this hall do, that every child's achievement matters.

People get used to the idea that if you average everybody's achievement together, that's good enough and it doesn't matter if some children fall behind. But for our country to remain economically, civically, and democratically viable, we must provide education and opportunity for all.

That's one thing we do know.

And a few other things I've learned: I encourage you to continue thinking about what's right, and how you want to live your life, just as you have done throughout your time at Davidson. Don't take opportunities away from yourselves by making bad decisions. I've seen FBI background checks keep good, talented people out of jobs they'd love to have, often because of choices they made when they were just about your age. Live your life by an honor code, today and every day.

You will face unprecedented challenges, and you will need your education and a sense of who you are to get through those times successfully. Whatever you do, you won't get it done alone.

I have never accomplished anything important in my life all by myself. My friends and my wonderful daughters helped me when I was a single mom, and they still do now. My husband helps me, and my family helps me. And I have been fortunate to work for a governor, and now a president, who cares for his employees and understands that relationships matter and families come first. Those are good qualities to look for in a boss.

After the 2000 election, the soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff Andy Card talked to all of us about what it would be like to work outside the Oval Office. He told us about the hours and about the fact that people don't get to see their children as much as they would like to. I remember telling Karen Hughes, the president's communications chief, that I couldn't possibly do it and be a single mother at the same time. And Karen agreed. That was another "you just never know" kind of moment, because the next thing that happened was President-elect Bush called Secretary Card and said, "Are you running off the mothers?" So I came to the White House, and I served for four years as the president's domestic policy advisor. I want to thank my daughters, Mary and Grace, and my husband, Robert, for sticking with me through those wild and wonderful years.

I remember the thrill of watching a movie in the White House theater during my second week on the job. The movie was Thirteen Days, and it was about John F. Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis. A lot of it takes place in the Oval Office.

So there I was, sitting behind Senator Ted Kennedy, brother of John, the subject of the movie. And he's sitting next to the president of the United States. In the White House movie theater. Not far from the Oval Office. And I thought to myself, "What in the world am I, Margaret Dudar from Sharpstown High School in Houston, Texas, doing here???"

I was there to focus on justice, labor, transportation, and making sure that every child can read at grade level. And then 9/11 happened, and the anthrax scare, and the D.C. sniper.

But you know what? America recovered. We rebuilt New York City, just like we will rebuild New Orleans. Because that's the American way. That's what we do. That's another thing we know.

So my advice to you is, love your neighbor. Treat people well, including yourself. Exercise. Floss. Work for a boss you like and admire. Don't get consumed by your job. Don't take yourself too seriously.

You are not living in the same world I grew up in, and I don't know what the world of your lifetime will look like. But I know you can make it better. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. And seize the ones that come to you. Because, after all, you just never know.

Thank you.

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