FOR RELEASE: April 21, 2005

Speaker sometimes deviates from text.

Thank you, Dr. Portia Shields, for that kind introduction. Thank you, Dr. Lezli Baskerville, for your leadership. And to Dr. Louis Sullivan, I want to say a special thanks for your work chairing the President's Board of Advisors and your lifelong commitment to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I look forward to our May 9th meeting, and to hearing your recommendations on how to strengthen these institutions.

It is a unique privilege to speak to you all today. That you've brought so many diverse stakeholders together is a testament to your sincerity and sense of purpose.

NAFEO combines a commitment to teaching and learning with a passion for equal opportunity and justice that is exactly what we need at this time in American history.

The task of educating our children requires us to take the long view, looking to the future while learning from the past. And the past has a lot to teach us, particularly in this town in which we meet.

Last Saturday was Emancipation Day, the 143rd anniversary of the District of Columbia's freedom from slavery. President Lincoln signed it into law nine months before the more famous Emancipation Proclamation. "I trust I am not dreaming," wrote Frederick Douglass at the time, "but the events taking place seem like a dream."

Today we are poised to realize another dream: the dream of educating each and every one of our young citizens, regardless of skin color, economic background, or neighborhood, freeing them from the bonds of ignorance and poverty.

It's never been done before. But we have a chance to do it now. The vehicle for this dream is the No Child Left Behind Act. And we thank you for supporting it.

This bipartisan law was "based on principles, not programs," as my predecessor Rod Paige said. It calls for us to annually measure our schoolchildren. That's the only way to identify who needs extra help and attention before it's too late.

The law holds schools accountable for making progress each and every year, not just with the student body as a whole but with minority students and students with disabilities. Students once left behind.

The law focuses on the critical skills of reading and mathematics, which, if mastered, open up entire new worlds of learning.

And finally, the law empowers parents with new options such as free tutoring or the opportunity to transfer to another public school if their current one refuses to change. Last year more than 250,000 students took advantage of these services, and the number is growing exponentially.

We are not dreaming; No Child Left Behind is the law of the land. And it is working. Nearly every state reports improved academic performance. And children once left behind—such as those in large urban school districts—are now leading the way. The Council of the Great City Schools reports they are making "clearly impressive gains."

But there are voices in the news that say the requirements of the law are just too difficult to meet. One state wants to take federal funds without expecting students to reach grade level expectations. Another wants to test only some students some years, in contravention of the law.

It's not because there is no work left to be done. In one of the states, African-American fourth-graders scored 37 points lower in reading and 32 points lower in math than white students, according to the most recent Nation's Report Card. The state's own test found a "proficiency gap" of 35-40 points between minority and white eighth-graders.

In the other, Hispanic fourth-graders demonstrate lower reading skills than all but two states and the District of Columbia.

Now, I don't like to make an example of anyone. I would prefer to talk about the other states that are making the law work for their kids and that deserve our greatest respect. This week I met with nearly every chief state school officer. My perspective is that the vast majority of states are highly supportive, and the partnership between the Department and the states has never been stronger.

We must decide if we are serious about educating every child every year. That's the only way to build a foundation for success in higher education and the workforce. And we all must pitch in.

Let me tell you what we are doing to build that foundation.

First, reading. It's been said before, but it bears repeating: you have to learn to read before you can read to learn. For too long, however, schools failed to treat reading instruction with the focus and intensity it deserved.

There is a science to it. We know the fundamental skills a child needs to master by third grade in order to begin to read.

Our Reading First program has brought this science into the classroom. Here's how it works. Schools that qualify—with low reading achievement or high poverty levels—adopt a proven, science-based reading program. Then they commit a block of time to instruction. Students who fall behind are assigned a reading "coach" or tutor and given additional time until they catch up. So far we've invested nearly $3 billion in Reading First, with more in the pipeline. It's helping nearly 100,000 teachers teach more than one and a half million children to read.

Many Reading First schools have formed partnerships with HBCUs and other institutions, to strengthen instruction and provide children with role models.

It's produced more than a few heartwarming stories. Recently, a second-grade girl from a low-performing school in Mississippi went to the Reading First Center at Alcorn State University to hear Dr. Pamela Felder-Wright read from her book, "I Am Black, I Am Beautiful."

It was the first time this little girl had ever seen an African-American author. As a result of this, she left inspired to become a writer, too. That young girl is now teaching her mom how to read.

Successful reading instruction starts with successful teaching programs in college.

Two years ago we announced the Reading First Teacher Education Network. It's a partnership between the U.S. Department of Education; the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, or NCATE; the scientific community, including the National Institutes for Child Health and Human Development; and minority-serving institutions. More than two dozen HBCUs are participating, all nationally accredited. And I want to thank you for that.

We're investing $4.5 million in this program, which is modernizing professional teacher development at our colleges, grounding it in the best available scientific research. It's really an investment in the lives of minority children and their communities.

To change policies, we must also change minds. So we've established a two-part process: first, we work to gain support for change within the faculty and university leadership with the help of NCATE; second, we put the approach into action through our partnership with the Vaughn Gross Center at the University of Texas College of Education in Austin.

We're in the third year of this effort. And we're seeing results. We estimate that about 450 teacher education candidates will be produced. The ripple effect could benefit hundreds of thousands of students, many from low-income communities.

In one case, a struggling after-school program at Virginia Union University was turned into a successful reading program for local third graders. One principal noted that all of her students who enrolled in it passed the state's Standards of Learning Test.

These success stories are multiplying every day. But we also know that many children have already been passed through elementary and middle school without mastering reading. Some were misdiagnosed. Others were simply forgotten.

As a result, only about two-thirds of entering ninth-graders graduate on time. Just 27 out of 100 will actually be in college by their sophomore year. For Hispanic and African-American students, the rate is about half that. This at a time when 80 percent of the fastest-growing jobs will require at least two years of post-secondary education.

These young men and women pay a heavy price in lost income and opportunities—the difference between a high school dropout and a college graduate is about $30,000 a year. And businesses and colleges pay a price, too, through remediation and training costs.

This is simply unacceptable. We cannot forget about them. And I know you haven't and won't.

President Bush believes the single best thing we can do for colleges is to send you students ready and able to learn from day one. So his 2006 budget expands the principles of the No Child Left Behind Act to our nation's high schools.

Let me tell you about the President's $1.5 billion High School Initiative. Before a student starts ninth grade, high schools will study assessment data to identify those in danger of falling behind or dropping out. Then parents and teachers will work together to develop timely intervention strategies. All students in grades 9-11 would then be assessed annually, just like those in grades 3-8 under NCLB.

For high school students who need extra help with reading, the President's budget increases funding for our Striving Readers program to $200 million—based on the same sound science as Reading First. And a brand new Secondary Education Mathematics Initiative would provide $120 million to strengthen the quality of math instruction.

We've done a good job at selling students on the dream of higher education. But we must do more to turn it into a reality. Preparing for college begins long before freshman orientation week!

So we must encourage high school students to fill their course schedules with rigorous core academic classes. Those who do stand a far greater chance of succeeding in college. Unfortunately, fewer than half the states require at least three years of math or science to graduate. And 40 percent of high schools still offer no Advanced Placement classes.

The President's budget provides a 73 percent increase in funding to expand AP and International Baccalaureate programs in schools that teach large numbers of disadvantaged students. The funds would be used for teacher instruction and to help families defray costs such as exam fees.

Another $12 million will increase the number of states participating in the State Scholars program, which seeks a rigorous, college-ready curriculum for every high school. Complementing it is $33 million for Enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars, adding up to a thousand additional dollars for the first two years of study.

Finally, a new Presidential Math-Science Scholars Program would award up to $5,000 each to low-income students engaged in those vital studies. According to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, our students lose interest in math and science the further they advance through the school system. We must reverse that trend.

A quality education depends on a highly qualified teacher in every classroom—one like Jason Kamras of John Philip Sousa Middle School, right here in the District. Yesterday Jason was named National Teacher of the Year for his work in raising student achievement levels in math.

Now, awards are important, but they aren't enough. President Bush has proposed a Teacher Incentive Fund to attract in-demand educators like Jason to serve in challenging communities and to reward teachers who have been effective in closing the achievement gap.

We have already increased loan forgiveness for math, science and special education teachers in high-need schools—up to $17,500 each. Finally, the President wants to make it easier for talented professionals from all walks of life to teach in our public schools. Why not have a NASA scientist teach high school physics?

Now let me turn to higher ed. We remain committed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. As you know, the President's historic Executive Order continues to provide a solid financial base for those institutions.

This includes our ongoing collaboration with NAFEO, the United Negro College Fund and Hampton University to strengthen capacity and infrastructure. The President's 2006 Budget will increase total funding for HBCUs and Historically Black Graduate Institutions to nearly $300 million.

Finally, a word about community colleges. For many Americans they're the bridge between a diploma and a degree; for others they refresh their skills for a changing economy.

The President's budget establishes a new Community College Access Grants Fund to support dual-enrollment credit transfers. Dual enrollment plays an important role in encouraging disadvantaged students to go on to college and stay to completion. I know NAFEO and its partners share common cause with this goal, and many of you are helping to make it happen. Just as important as financial aid, is information. Are prospective college students and their parents getting information about your schools that's clear, accurate, timely and relevant?

At the Department of Education we collect about 4,000 pieces of data about each educational institution. They're logged in a database known as IPEDS. IPEDS does some things well, and some things not as well. We can tell you almost anything you want to know about first-time, full-time degree-seeking students who have never transferred. The trouble is, today that's less than half of the total student population!

We can also tell you tuition rates. Estimating actual costs after student aid is considered is more difficult. This is a problem because families often overestimate costs. A 1999 survey found nearly half of all 11th and 12th graders with college plans had not obtained accurate cost information, nor had their parents. There's no telling how many are discouraged from applying for aid—or admission.

Another major challenge is a lack of compatible and comprehensive measurements—the kind parents have come to expect from K-12 schools. Publications like U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings are useful, but do not come close to telling the whole story.

States and institutions should be encouraged to adopt common languages and metrics so traditional and non-traditional consumers can make smart decisions based on information, not anecdotes.

Education is a continuum, from early childhood to graduation day and beyond. We cannot take our eye off the ball at any level. The ultimate goal is to ensure that every high school diploma is a ticket to success in higher education or the workforce.

No one knows that better than NAFEO. Your partnerships with businesses, faith-based and community groups have lifted millions to new levels. Your work to ensure that students know the value of a diploma—and see a realistic way to get there—has inspired our own efforts to leave no child behind.

But we now stand at a crossroads. We must stand up for these kids. We cannot let a few voices drown out our own. Just this week No Child Left Behind was called "the most important civil rights battle of the last half-century" by New York Times editorial writer Brent Staples. So I ask you to lend your voice and your authority to the fight to keep the law going strong. As Frederick Douglass said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." But it's a great comfort to know we're in this together. Thank you.

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