U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today issued the following statement in response to the 35th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, which was released today:

"It is quite appropriate for the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll to focus on No Child Left Behind, given the historic nature of this new education law. Part of the findings suggests that the public needs to become more familiar with this landmark legislation. We see this as a welcome challenge.

"Our entire Department, members of Congress, the business community, and state and local leaders are thoroughly engaged in outreach efforts to better inform Americans about the significance of this new law and how it will affect them, our children and our nation. One only needs to look at the many news articles that now are appearing in newspapers and other media across the country to see how the principles of this law are taking root.

"In past years, these back-to-school articles often focused on bus schedules, lunch menus and homeroom assignments. This year, the focus is on performance, results and plans for helping students who historically have been left behind. It will take all of us, working together, to continue to spread the word and to make the goals of the law a reality in communities across America. We all must do more, and our outreach efforts will continue.

"This historic reform helps set standards for student achievement and for the first time holds students and educators accountable for results. It also provides more options for parents so that their children can get the best possible education. In short, it aims to foster an environment in which every child can learn and succeed.

"The context for the bipartisan support for NCLB is clear: what our education system has been doing for the past several decades hasn't been working. Spending on education has steadily increased, yet national test scores have remained stagnant. The need for a change in business-as-usual couldn't be more obvious.

"We know what America can achieve when it focuses on something. In 1957, Sputnik spurred a focus on the space race and consequently, we became the first humans to land on the moon in 1969. NCLB became law in January 2002, and one of its main goals is to ensure that all students are proficient in math and reading within 12 years. The Department looks forward to making NCLB as familiar and beneficial to the nation as was the space race and the first lunar landing."

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