For nearly 70 years, Town Hall Los Angeles has provided a forum to debate the pressing issues of the day. I can think of no issue more important to the future of our economy, our nation, and our children than education.

Having just returned from leading the first ever U.S. government delegation of American university presidents to Asia, I can tell you the resources that are being poured into education in these countries is astounding. When it comes to faculty, facilities, I don't think they're there yet, but they are on our heels – and they have a hunger for education that is often missing in America.

They are laser-focused on math, science, and foreign language – the critical skills for the new global economy. They are doing everything imaginable to not only strengthen their current standing, but to position themselves to be exactly where they need to be 20 years from now.

There's a reason Tom Friedman's book – The World is Flat – has been on the top of the New York Times bestseller list for months and months. Our world has changed – dramatically. Technology has transformed everything we do. From the way we communicate to the way we do business down to the way we do our Christmas shopping.

It's one thing to read about it – it's another thing all together to see what he's talking about up close and in-person. Our kids are entering a job market where they face competition from a world away. They need an education that prepares and challenges them.

And yet, I've traveled around the country meeting with CEO's, Governors, and they all say the same thing. Our education system has not kept pace and American students are not getting what they need to be successful.

So, today I want to talk about two things – what's at stake if Congress fails to renew No Child Left Behind and why we must strengthen higher education and help more Americans earn a college degree. Both are absolutely critical to our students and our country's future.

First, No Child Left Behind. Five years ago, the law was passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support. Its core principles are straightforward: states set standards; hold schools accountable for reaching those standards; and use data to see where we are falling short so that no child falls through the cracks by developing assessment systems. This past year was the first time all grades assessed

NCLB rejected what the President calls "soft-bigotry of low expectations" and committed us to the revolutionary goal that every child would be reading and doing math at grade-level by 2014. That's not too much to ask – I've yet to find a parent who didn't want their child on grade-level that year.

Many question if this goal is realistic. Last week, I sat down with a reporter, whose recent article in the New York Times magazine asked this very question. His summation was that it can be done, but it will take a dedicated effort; different thinking; and a lot of hard work.

I've been to schools where poverty is a way of life, where kids were once routinely "shuffled from grade to grade" as the President says. And now, those same schools are getting their kids to grade-level, providing them the education and skills to escape poverty. Kids once destined for the streets, now determined to succeed. We cannot abandon them. We must remain steadfast on this goal, this urgent need for grade-level by 2014.

We have seen significant progress in the past five years:

• The achievement gap is narrowing – scores are at all-time highs for Hispanic and African-Americans
• Our nine-year olds have made more reading progress in 5 years than the previous 28 combined
• The most recent Nation's Report Card shows California 4th graders achieved their highest math and reading scores in the history of the tests.

Despite these gains, there are many who still say – some kids just can't do it. If only the families would send us better kids. If we back away from 2014 because it's too hard – what kind of message does that send?

The message I want to send is that we're committed to 2014, committed to the children of Los Angeles and this nation getting to grade-level. And quite frankly, L.A. is a prime example of the hard work ahead.

• Only half of L.A. schools met their annual yearly progress goals last year
• A third of L.A. student don't graduate high school on time
• More than 270,000 students are eligible for supplemental services such as tutoring – and yet only 30,000 have received them
• And I've just come from a meeting with the Mayor, Superintendent, parents and providers to find ways we can improve enrollment

On a national level, the data is just as troubling:

• 5 out of 10 – Half – of all African-American and Hispanic students don't graduate from high school
• Two-thirds of high-growth, high-wage jobs require a college degree, but only a third of Americans have one
• We spend more than a billion dollars a year on remedial classes when students get to college because they didn't get the education they need in high school

Bottom line: if we aren't serious as parents, policymakers, and leaders about doing what it takes to fix our public schools – our nation is going to be at a huge competitive and economic disadvantage. But more than that, we are going to continue missing out on the creativity, brainpower, and potential of millions of our kids.

So, what's it going to take?

• Maintain high standards and continue to hold schools accountable for reaching them
• Get our best teachers into our neediest areas
• Provide flexibility and resources to the states to restructure chronically under-performing schools
• Challenge our students by improving academic rigor in high schools
• Use time and personnel more effectively
• More individualization

And beyond K-12, we need to get more Americans to college. In today's competitive economy, a college education is becoming more essential.

• 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs require post-secondary education
• Average earnings of college graduate almost 40 percent more than high school
• Troubling gaps persist – example: 1/3 of whites achieve a college degree by age 25; only 18% of blacks and 10% of Hispanics have earned degrees by that time
• U.S. has fallen from first to 12^th in the world in higher education attainment
• Finest in the world – but is it fine enough?
• Higher education needs to be twice as productive as it is today

Last year, I created a Commission on the Future of Higher Education. They reported their recommendations in September. What they're advocating has spurred much needed dialogue on how to strengthen higher education.

• On affordability: Reigning in costs that for the past 25 years have outstripped inflation, housing and doubled the cost of health care. Simplifying the financial aid process and providing more need-based aid.
• On access: Better preparing our students in high school. Working with states to align high school curriculum with college level work. When we were evaluating states for "rigorous" courses of study in order to award the new AC/SMART grants – we found fewer than half had any kind of honors/advanced diploma; about a dozen only required two years of math and science to graduate, and two states (Iowa and North Dakota) had no statewide graduation requirements at all.
• On accountability: Demanding the same transparency from higher education that we expect from almost every other area of government – prescription drugs to welfare. Opening up the ivory towers and putting more and better information in the hands of the consumers – parents and students.

In March, I'm convening a summit in Washington, D.C. to bring to the table all the various investors and consumers of higher education. We must continue this national dialogue on how we can strengthen higher education to best meet the needs of our students in the 21st century.

Our aim is simply to ensure that in a new era of global competition, higher education remains the path to the American dream and that more Americans have access to it.

Conclusion

Last week, I was in New York to present awards as part of the Siemens Competition to a group of students who had won scholarships for their inventions and research. One student talked about how sometimes he worries about the future; worries about the world he's inheriting. But after being around kids who were pouring their idealism, energy, and intelligence into finding cures for disease, improving renewable energy sources, and developing inventions to help others – he said it gave him hope that the world is going to be O.K. And that's what education provides – hope.

2007 will be another landmark year for education. With NCLB renewal and higher education reforms before Congress, it's an opportunity to build on the promise we made five years ago – that every child counts. And more than that it's an opportunity to strengthen the promise this nation has made for centuries that every child deserves an education.

For the students here today, our number one mission is to make sure that the education you and your peers receive prepares you to succeed and lead in the new global, flat world.

Thank you for being here today and welcoming me. And now, I'd be happy to take any questions.

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