Mr. Chairman and members of the Commission: Welcome to the Nation's capital, Washington, DC, and welcome to the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. I want to thank each of you for your willingness to serve. This is what makes our country great: good men and women willing to serve. Thank you.

On President Bush's third day in office, he announced to the nation that education was his highest domestic priority. He asked Congress to undergo a vigorous bipartisan debate on how we could use the Federal role in education to create a culture of education based on achievement and a system of education in which no child is left behind.

He proposed four principles for reform: accountability for results, flexibility and local control, expanded parental options, and the use of educational practices that are based on science.

Congress responded in the tradition of that great American institution. And last week, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law. A landmark in American education was established.

Another landmark in education happened in 1975. It was then that Congress passed the first version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This important legislation was good for America because it made great strides in helping students with disabilities. IDEA has ensured access to public education for millions of children with disabilities who were not previously welcome in our public schools. Children who were once excluded from our schools are now sitting in classrooms alongside their non-disabled peers, graduating from high school, and pursuing postsecondary education and productive employment.

Yet, despite this great legislation, and despite the progress we have made, all is not well for many children with disabilities. There are still significant achievement gaps between children with disabilities and their peers. Children with disabilities are not completing school or performing at levels near their non-disabled peers. Our system fails to teach many children fundamental skills like reading, and then inappropriately identifies them as having disabilities. Our system identifies many children who have disabilities too late. And State data tell us that the proportion of minority students identified in some disability categories is dramatically greater than their share of the overall population. This is especially true of African American students in the categories of mentally-retarded and emotionally disturbed.

In other words, many children with disabilities are being left behind. That is unacceptable. When the President says he wants a system of education in which no child is left behind, he means it literally. He means children with disabilities also. And so, we ask your help. We ask you to take a careful look at this law and to help us fix it.

Some have said that all we need to do is spend more money. These well meaning people fail to notice how poorly this law is performing and how badly it needs reform. They have also failed to notice that President Bush's funding for IDEA is at historic levels. President Bush's commitment to the belief that every child can learn led him to ask for the largest increase in spending for IDEA ever requested by a President. But money alone cannot improve results for our students with disabilities—additional funding must be accompanied by reform.

Some have advised that just as Social Security is the third rail of American politics, IDEA is the third rail of American education. They say it is political suicide. Fixing it is politically dangerous. Better to just give it more money, leave it alone, and hope it fixes itself. President Bush believes they are wrong. This is not about political safety. It is about the future of our children. Not only is President Bush the first President to speak publicly about excellence in special education, but he has also been willing to fund special education at historic levels.

President Bush is just as concerned with reforming special education this year as he was with reforming ESEA last year. He is committed to the bold proposition that every child can learn. This doesn't mean that after you siphon off the children who have disabilities; or the children who were never properly taught how to read in the early grades; or the children with limited English proficiency; or the children who disrupted their classrooms, that most of the rest of them can learn. It means that all of our kids, each and every one of them, can learn. In fact, when President Bush says no child left behind, he means children with disabilities most of all—for they are the children who are most often left behind.

As we turn to the reauthorization of IDEA, we can build on the progress and momentum of education reform thus far. The four principles that reformed ESEA this year--accountability for results, local control and flexibility, expanded parental choice, and doing what works based on scientific research--apply just as well to IDEA. The bipartisan resolve to do what's right for students with disabilities is just as strong.

Your task as a commission is to discover what works to improve the performance of students with disabilities receiving special education services. Talk to other experts. Examine research. Study preventative reading programs. Look at how funding affects students in special education. Investigate how different school districts succeed or fail. Think of ways we can recruit and retain more high-quality special education personnel. Listen to what States and districts need to improve special education services. Tell us how Washington can help State and local communities provide excellent special education services. Think broadly and creatively.

Bob Pasternack, the Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, has just completed a seven-city listening tour to learn what educators need to improve special education. He is the federally designated official with the Commission and is prepared to help you. Use his service. He is a committed professional. Bob and I have many concerns, including our desire to make sure that the right kids are in special education and that they are getting the right services.

The wide range of expertise in the Commission is a great strength. Among you are parents, teachers, administrators, researchers, policymakers and elected officials. Many of you bring practical experience; some of you bring a vast store of theoretical knowledge. But your goal is the same: you all care deeply about our students receiving special education and want to improve results for these students and their families. We are all here to do good. You may disagree along the way, but whatever your personal philosophy on special education, I encourage you to work together to make our special education system excellent. Our goal is the same: we want better services for our children.

IDEA is up for reauthorization this year. Your report will be of immediate help. But don't limit your thinking or your recommendations to this legislation. Think deeply and creatively.

Special education should be part of the system, not parallel to it. The way we educate our children reveals our character. Let's show strong character. No American should be satisfied until every American child is learning, and I look forward to working with all of you to reform IDEA so that our education system is giving a great education to all students with disabilities. Under President Bush's leadership, we transformed the federal role in education last year. I am confident that with the same commitment and dedication that went into ESEA, we will do the same for special education this year, and our children will benefit greatly.

Thank you again for your willingness to undertake this great mission.

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