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Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming.

As you know, last month we celebrated a year of progress enacting the historic reforms of No Child Left Behind. And at that time, President Bush remarked: "We can say that the work of reform is well begun."

Just last Friday, we reached another critical milestone in the implementation of No Child Left Behind. Every single state met the deadline of submitting its accountability plans to the Department of Education.

Accountability is the cornerstone of our new education law and this shows that our state leaders understand that. They aren't standing around wringing their hands. They're working hand in hand with the Department to implement accountability plans that will help every girl and boy succeed.

This is unprecedented in the history of education in America. Never before has our entire nation come together in such a spirit of cooperation to work toward the single goal of educating every child.

I thank all the governors and state education leaders for their can-do efforts. And we look forward to working with them to finalize their plans.

Today, I am pleased to announce that the president's 2004 budget for the Department of Education will ensure that the work of reform continues—so that every public school in America can be a place of high expectations and a place of high achievement.

President Bush understands that the strength of a nation begins at the schoolhouse door, because a well-oiled economy depends on a well-prepared workforce.

Despite all the things competing for our tax dollars—protecting our homeland, fighting terrorism and recovering from recession—the president's budget provides $53.1 billion for the Department of Education—the largest dollar increase for any domestic agency.

But we also are proposing to spend our education dollars more wisely. In these times of tight budgets and accountability, we can no longer continue to fund programs that simply are not helping students achieve.

This budget increases education funding nearly $3 billion—26 percent over and above that when he took office—and increases funding for No Child Left Behind to $22.5 billion.

If approved by Congress, the president's plan provides historic levels of funding for children most in danger of being left behind by:

• Increasing Title I funding by 41 percent—to $12.4 billion—to help disadvantaged children succeed;
• Providing $9.5 billion for Special Education funding—a 50 percent increase since the president took office, and the highest level of federal funding ever for children with disabilities; and
• Providing $300 million over three years to boost the number of mentors for our nation's children at risk.

Our new education reforms depend on high standards and accountability, and this budget provides $390 million to help states develop and implement annual reading and math assessments in grades three through eight.

And if schools aren't teaching and children aren't learning, then the president's budget provides an estimated $756 million to empower parents by giving them education options for their children.

Our new education reforms depend on teaching every child to read, and this budget increases funding to more than $1.1 billion for the president's Reading First and Early Reading First programs.

One of the most important tools we have had to help us do a better job of teaching children to read is research that shows us what works and what doesn't. The president's budget provides $185 million to expand that research effort to other subjects such as math, as well as children just learning English.

President Bush believes that our nation's teachers are the heart of our education system, and his budget provides more than $4.5 billion for training, recruitment, incentives, loan forgiveness and tax relief for these men and women on the front lines in our schools.

Education is the key to personal prosperity. All the data show that the more you learn, the more you earn.

Over a lifetime, high school graduates can expect to make about $1.2 million. A bachelor's degree can bring in nearly twice that amount. And professional degrees can reap in the range of $4.4 million.

President Bush is committed to making higher education more accessible and affordable, and his budget reflects that commitment by:

• Increasing Pell Grant funding to $12.7 billion to help ensure greater access to a college education for nearly 4.9 million disadvantaged students;
• Increasing total student aid more than $3 billion to nearly $48 billion; and
• Increasing funding to $390 million for Historically Black, Hispanic and Native American colleges and universities.

I've talked a lot about K-12 and higher ed. But we also know that a child's early years are very important, too.

We want to help ensure that all young children, especially those in poverty, enter their school years well prepared to succeed. For this reason, the administration is proposing a state option that will help states more efficiently and effectively coordinate services provided by Head Start, public school pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs. The focus is on how best to prepare children to succeed, regardless of the organization involved.

We have provided briefing packets for you with greater detail. The point is: This is a good budget. It reflects this president's strong commitment to America's families, and it works to strengthen our investment in our nation's economic future—one child at a time.

Let me offer this final observation. The president is proposing a:

• $1 billion increase for Title I;
• $1 billion increase for IDEA; and
• $1.9 billion increase for Pell Grants.

These three increases comprise about one-third of the new domestic discretionary dollars the president is seeking for his entire domestic agenda.

No other domestic agency has three programs receiving such monumental increases.

It is our job—our duty—to ensure that these funds are put to the good use and help improve academic achievement for all our children.

I will be happy to take any questions you may have

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