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Thank you, Maria, for that introduction and for your leadership. Maria is doing a great job and I'm grateful to have her at the helm of our new Office of English Language Acquisition. The new name reflects our new mission: We are now focused--not on process, but on results. For the first time ever, funding is based upon the child, not merely the program.

English is the key to success in America. And our goal is for children in our public schools to learn English and be full participants in their schools.

And so I welcome you all to this, the very first conference that the Department of Education has ever sponsored to talk about how we can do a better job of teaching children who enter our public schools unable to speak English.

The reason we are having this conference is the same reason we refocused our efforts at the Department of Education: President Bush is committed to the goal of educating every child in our public schools--of every race, ethnicity, income, and zip code.

Back in 1996, when President Bush was Governor of Texas, he came to Houston--where I was Superintendent--to speak to teachers. And afterward, the Governor sat down with Reid Lyon, a leading brain researcher from the National Institutes of Health. Reid told him about what the science says about how children learn. And Gov. Bush leaned across the table and said to Reid, We've got a lot of children here who can't speak English. What are you doing about them?

And Reid said, "Hmmm. I'll go back and get something started." The NIH and the Department of Education are still doing that research--and the Department has recently provided $36 million in funding. And I understand that later this morning you will hear from the very researchers that are working on this most important study.

President Bush feels, as most Americans feel, that ours is a great nation. But he also knows that our country cannot sustain its greatness unless we drastically improve our public education system.

On his 4th day in office, he put a proposal before Congress to improve our schools--by changing a system that educates some of our children, to a system that educates all of our children.

Although there were many schools in America doing a great job, national report cards showed a growing achievement gap between those who are hopeful and those who are hopeless. These reports showed 2 out of 3 fourth graders couldn't read proficiently, 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders couldn't read at the most basic level, and America's 12th graders ranked among the lowest in math and science achievement among their counterparts around the world.

Those are not just cold statistics. They represent the human toll of an education system that has failed too many children--many of them Hispanic children. Consider these facts. Nearly 30 percent of Hispanic students drop out--far more than any other groups. On the 2000 NAEP reading assessment, 40% of white non-Hispanic fourth graders scored at or above proficient, compared to only 16% of their Hispanic classmates. In math, Hispanic achievement also lagged: While 35% of white non-Hispanic fourth graders scored at or above proficient, just 10% of Hispanics scored as high achievers.

President Bush said, This is unacceptable. Every child deserves to learn. And we cannot let the soft bigotry of low expectations destroy the future for so many of our children.

Even while building an international coalition to fight terror, the President was building a bipartisan congressional coalition to improve our schools.

The result was the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001--a remarkable consensus by both parties in both houses of Congress that now is the time for fundamental change--now is the time to break with the past and educate all of our children--of all skin colors and all accents.

The No Child left Behind Act gave us the framework to reform American education. The framework was built upon the great principles of accountability and results; local control and flexibility; increased choices for parents; quality teachers in every classroom; and teaching methods based upon solid research.

And President Bush made sure we got enough resources to get the job done. He provided historic levels of funding.

We have the largest education budget for disadvantaged children in U.S. history.

We have the greatest federal investment ever in quality teaching -- $3 billion to recruit, prepare and keep good teachers.

We have nearly $1 billion in funding for the President's Reading First initiatives--a remarkable level of funding to ensure that every child in America's schools learns the one skill on which all others depend: Reading.

And the President almost doubled the funding for the Office of English Language Acquisition and provided $38 million to be targeted for the professional development of teachers working with the 5 million English language learners in our nation's public schools.

That has never happened before. Teachers of English language learners have never been specifically provided funding. But by changing the way we fund English Language Learners--from discretionary grants to formula grants--we are ensuring that every English language learner is supported.

Our new education reforms make the best use of every tax dollar spent on education by funding programs that follow good research, and by insisting on accountability and results.

Now, taxpayers know what they're getting for their money, and parents know if their children are learning. And if children are not learning, and schools do not improve, then moms and dads have new options.

They can choose one-on-one tutoring, or after-school help, or they can enroll their children in a better public school.

It bears emphasizing, that what we're offering parents is choice--an option, not an obligation. What they do with it is up to them and them alone. Parents of children in low-performing schools, for example, may choose to transfer. Or they may choose to stay put, and work to make the school better.

It's their decision. What's important is that they have the freedom to choose. We have high expectations for every child--and we don't mean just the Top 10 kids in the class.

I was in Little Rock, Arkansas, recently as the President kicked-off the first State Scholars program.

The goal of this initiative is to challenge young minds by providing more rigorous coursework, not just for the honor students, but for all students.

We held a town hall meeting in July in California. Many of the parents who came spoke only Spanish. And a large number of parents said what they wanted most for their children was more rigorous courses and the teachers to teach them.

I sat at another town hall meeting with the inspirational math teacher, Jaime Escalante. And we saw Hispanic moms and dads cry as they talked about their hopes for a better life for their children.

Parents want better for their children. Their children want better for themselves. One 19-year-old named Mayra put it best when she said: "I want to be a Mexican-American who makes a difference in this beautiful country."

This President is determined to make sure that education is affordable and accessible so all the Mayras out there can get the opportunity to make a difference and achieve their dreams.

The President won a $2.5 billion increase in funding for Pell grants to help more low-income students go to college.

In his latest budget, the President has asked for a 30 percent increase in funding for colleges that serve 600,000 Latino students nationwide.

And the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans has launched a new program that encourages more Latino students to go to college and that helps parents plan for their children's educational future.

The program is called Yes I Can--and more than a half-million people visited the new bi-lingual website--www.yesican.gov--in the first 10 days after it went on-line.

With our new education reforms, we're plowing historic new ground here. And I am confident we will succeed. In fact, it's already happening in many places around the country.

One of those places is Pueblo, Colorado--a largely Hispanic school district.

Joyce Bales is the Superintendent of public schools. And To Dr. Bales--low-income does not mean low expectations. She believes that every child can learn.

So all the things the President and I talk about--she did. She got a research-based reading program. She got the parents involved. She set high standards and high expectations and insisted on results.

And now people in Pueblo know what history has long shown: When you raise the bar, people rise to the challenge. Student achievement in Pueblo soared.

This is not simply reform; it's a revolution.

And years from now, people are going to look back on the compassionate vision of this President and say, That was the tipping point.

That's when they raised the bar and student achievement soared.

That's when leadership triumphed over politics and no child was left behind.

That's when all Americans--no matter the color of their skin or the accent of their speech--finally--finally -- got a fair shot at achieving their dreams.

Thank you.

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