Related Resources Press Release

Austin, Texas — Thank you, Tom, for that warm introduction and for putting this conference together. We need more people like you stepping up to the plate to help implement the President's vision for America's schools.

I've know Tom Luce a long a time and let me tell you all something about him: Texas Monthly once said that Tom Luce was proof that you do not have to hold office to effect change. It really is true.

His ideas, his energy, and his belief that things can change and our schools can improve--have been instrumental in helping shape education policy. He has been a good friend to me and to the President, and, Tom, I salute you.

Another great friend is Charles Miller. Charles is a man who puts his money and his talents where his heart is--education. And he's very persuasive convincing others to do the same. Charles moved mountains for the schools of Texas. He helped make Texas' accountability system one of the best in the nation. And I know the President is grateful for his leadership and his counsel.

We have in the audience legislators from five states and I appreciate that you're here. You have a big role to play. I urge you to make this your top priority and work to enact legislative changes early in the session rather than later so your states can move forward in implementing and your schools can be ready come fall. I hope you will also take advantage of the flexibility of the bill to use the money wisely and help ensure the success of No Child Left Behind.

I thank President Faulkner for your hospitality and for supporting good folks like Manny Justiz and Sharon Vaughn who have been wonderful help in creating strong instructional initiatives for children.

I thank Undersecretary Gene Hickok who I understand gave an excellent presentation earlier today.

I also want to thank my friend, Sandy Kress, for being here as well.

This time last year, our nation embarked on an historic journey--a journey to educate not just some of the children in our nation's schools, but all of the children in our nation's schools. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 put an end to those days of making excuses and dodging responsibility.

It embraced the hopeful vision of President Bush that says: Education is a sacred, civil right. Just as much a civil right as the right to vote or to be treated equally. And it's the duty--not a suggestion, but a duty--of our nation to teach every child well, not just some of them. Every child deserves a quality education that will set them on the path for success in school and in life.

To accomplish that noble goal, No Child Left Behind not only provided historic levels of funding, it also insisted on accountability for student achievement.

Over the past several decades, our nation has invested trillions of federal, state and local dollars in public education. Yet student achievement remained flat.

In December, a report by the GAO proved Albert Einstein's theory that insanity is the belief that you can get different results by doing the same thing over and over.

The GAO--a non-partisan investigative arm of Congress--studied inner-city and suburban schools and found--and I quote: "Higher-performing schools were not necessarily schools that were high in per-pupil spending."

In other words: More money does not guarantee higher achievement. President Bush understands that, and he targeted the education funding to where the need is greatest.

The President also knows that, whether your product is reading or rockets, results matter. Now the law of the land says schools must tell moms and dads how well they are teaching and children are learning.

And a recent poll by Americans for Better Education shows that 91 percent of the American people believe we're on the right track. The poll shows:

• The majority of Americans support testing.

• The majority of Americans are worried about the high number of children in our schools who cannot read.

• The majority of Americans believe schools should be held accountable for student performance.

• Most importantly--across the board demographically--the majority of Americans--66 percent--believe that high standards and accountability are more important to improving our schools than increased funding.

What this tells us is that Americans get it. How else will we know if our schools are effective unless we test and insist on results for our money?

Testing has been around since the 19th century. Yet there was no outcry from educators until it was linked to accountability.

Nothing so fundamentally affects the health of our democracy as the quality of our schools. So why should educators be any different from other professionals who have to take responsibility for the quality of their work?

Lawyers must. Doctors must.

No doubt about it: Teaching is hard work. Even Mrs. Bush, our First Lady, struggled when she was a young teacher. In an ideal world, all parents would read to their children and make sure they arrive at school ready to learn. But it's not an ideal world.

Anyone who wants to teach must be committed to the proposition that every child can be taught to a high level, and every child can learn.

The reason I say this is because the research is clear: teachers' attitudes affect student achievement. And children--no matter their race, their family income or their zip code--show the greatest achievement gains with teachers who really believe they can learn.

This scenario is being played out in schools all across our nation:

• Places like the KIPP academies that have taken so-called lost causes and turn them into scholars.
• Places like Waitz Elementary School in Mission, Texas, where migrant farmers' children are scoring higher than their peers in more well-off suburbs.
• Places like Samuel Gompers High School in the Bronx in the district with the lowest per-capita income in the nation, where the majority of the graduates go on to college.

You may know that management guru, Jim Collins, came out with a book called Good to Great that looks at what makes ordinary companies extraordinarily successful. There are several ways to get there, and one is to face the "brutal facts." The great companies confronted the realities of their situation in the marketplace, and they changed their entire system of operating in response.

I believe educators must do the same.

If we face the brutal facts, then it's clear, by all the measures of student achievement, we have a big problem.

• Two out of three 4th graders cannot read proficiently.
• 83 percent of 12th graders are not proficient in math.
• 82 percent of 12th graders are not proficient in science.

And by all measures of public opinion, the American people are demanding change.

• More than a half million children are enrolled in charters
• At least a million children are being home-schooled
• The number of students learning through cyber schools is growing
• And poll after poll show Americans standing shoulder to shoulder with the President on his key education priorities--including annual testing.

Earlier this month, I signed off on accountability plans for Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado and Indiana. Now there's a lot of chatter about this process--about what it does and does not mean. And I want to be very clear about what the law requires of the Department of Education.

Every state is required to submit an accountability plan by next Friday, January 31. The five states whose plans are already approved have not only submitted plans but have been peer reviewed which is the next step in the process.

What we expect to see in the coming week is the remaining state plans submitted to the Department. Some have already arrived and I expect to make a decision soon on those.

Once those plans are received the law allows a 120-day period for the peer review process to examine those plans and ensure that they are consistent with the principles of No Child Left Behind.

Our role here in Washington is not to dictate. Our role is to set clear goals and hold states accountable for achieving them.

We expect state plans to meet clear, objective criteria that are based upon the law. And each of these diverse states looked at the law. They met with people at the state and local level, they looked at their children's education needs, and they developed thoughtful strategies--in partnership with the Department--to address those needs.

It is clear from the plans we've already received, that states are finding the process very workable. And they're getting the job done.

This is a mission for President Bush. He believes that educating our children is the most important thing we will ever do as a nation. And each and every one of us--educators, parents, community leaders, and those of us in public life--must be--to borrow the President's words--"absolute warriors" on their behalf.

So we will spotlight success when we see it. And when we see failure, we will insist on change.

I have spent my whole life either studying to get a good education or working to help others do the same. And in my 69 years, I have seen many well-intentioned, well-funded efforts to close the widening achievement gap between those who have and those who don't.

But I've never seen any movement with greater potential to improve our education system than No Child Left Behind.

As the product of segregated schools in Mississippi, I was one of those kids who could have been left behind. I had dreams of doing something with my life. But in a small, rural school without enough textbooks or supplies, the odds were not good.

I thank God that I had parents who were teachers who fanned that little spark of curiosity in each of us kids in my family. But not a day goes by that I don't think about those children who aren't as lucky. Those kids are counting on us to do right by them.

One of the greatest injustices in our great country has been an education system that, for too long, found it perfectly acceptable to teach only some students well while the rest--mostly minority and mostly low-income--floundered or flunked out.

Is it any wonder then that so many ended up knocking on the doors of higher education without the knowledge and skills to enter?

But admissions quotas and double standards are not the answer. Fixing the problem at the front end, where it can do the most good is the answer. And that's the President's purpose behind the No Child Left Behind law: to fundamentally change the way we educate our children in America--from a system that does a good job educating some children, to a system that does a good job educating all children, from all walks of life.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats, and nowhere is that more true than here. By raising the bar for achievement in our nation's schools, we raise the quality of high school graduates. And that increases the number of students capable of winning admission to the college of their choice, based on their talent and potential.

I can guarantee you that no kids in America are sitting around dreaming that someday some college will accept them simply because of the color of their skin...or the accent of their speech.

Those children want what every one of us wants: to be accepted on our own merits...to be recognized as individuals with potential and heart...to get a fair shot at the American dream.

That's what the President wants for every man, woman and child in America. And the Department of Education is committed to helping him achieve that noble goal. Not through artificial racial quotas that pit one American against another, but through equal access--starting with a quality education that begins the moment each child sets foot in kindergarten.

The nation has focused a great deal of attention in recent weeks on the Supreme Court consideration of the Michigan case.

I stand before you at this great university where you have courageously led with race-neutral policies to say it is clear that there are other non-discriminatory means to achieve diversity like those here in Texas, and in Florida, California, and other states.

Let me be clear: It is not right to fight discrimination with discrimination. We must be proactive as a nation. And that is why I absolutely support the President's position, in his remarks to the nation last week and in the Administration's brief filed with the Supreme Court.

I have arrived at this conclusion through a lifetime of experience that includes teaching, coaching, managing the 7th largest school district in America, and serving for a decade as the dean of a college of education at an historically black college.

And I want to make two announcements today:

• I have directed our Office for Civil Rights to step-up efforts to share information about race-neutral alternatives with the education community throughout America. As part of that effort we will soon release a report on programs nationwide to provide ideas and help.

• And later this year, the Department will host a national conference that will bring together leading education experts to highlight innovative ways to diversify our nation's colleges and universities.

The President's vision is to create great schools that leave no child behind. Now it's up to us to stay focused on the task. And to do whatever it takes to help every child learn.

So I thank you all for coming and taking part in this conference. This is just the first of what we hope will be many--in all 10 regions.

Some people work a lifetime and never get the chance to be a part of an historic movement that will leave its mark for all time.

This is our moment. The whole country is watching. And there's no doubt in my mind that in this choice between good schools and great schools, you will choose to be great.

And I want you to know that the President and I consider it an absolute honor to have you in our corner.

God bless you all. And God bless America.

Top