President Bush Celebrates First Anniversary of No Child Left Behind
Remarks by the President on the First Anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act
The East Room
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thank you.
It's one of the few jobs in America where you get introduced by your
wife on a regular basis -- (laughter) -- in your home.
(Laughter.) And we're glad you're here. This is a -- you're one
of our first guests we've had since the new year. And this is an
appropriate gathering because Laura and I share a deep passion to make
sure every child gets educated in America.
We want to thank you for coming. And this is an interesting day;
it marks the anniversary of an incredibly important legislative
accomplishment. It was a year ago that I signed the No Child Left
Behind Education Act. It was the most meaningful education reform
probably ever.
I wish all the Democrats and Republicans who helped us on that bill
were here today. They've got other business. One Republican is here,
and that's Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire, who is the author
-- the Senate author on the Republican side.
This was a art of what is possible in Washington. It was a
legislative victory on behalf of the children of America. And it
showed the American people that when people set aside this needless
partisan bickering, we can get some positive things done.
So, a year ago we signed the piece of legislation that I'm
absolutely confident is going to change our schools for the better.
Change the whole structure of education for the good. But it also was
a signal to those who love to divide in Washington, D.C. that when we
put our minds to it, when we focus on the greater good, we can get a
lot done.
So I want to congratulate the members of both political parties on
this anniversary for working so hard to accomplish a significant and
meaningful piece of legislation. And now we've got to get to work.
Now we got to do the job that's expected.
We can say that the work of reform is well begun. And that's --
that's a true statement. The work will be complete, however, when
every school -- every public school in America is a place of high
expectations and a place of achievement. That is our national goal.
(Applause.)
And there are a lot of good people working on that goal. We've got
good people here at the federal level working on it -- no better
advocate than -- excellence in public schools than Laura. She was a
school teacher -- (applause.) She's a school teacher. She's a
reading expert. She is a public school librarian. She's very
knowledgeable, and she is passionate. And so this year she's going to
spend a lot of time working with the local folks to achieve excellence
for every single child.
And so is our -- so is Rod Paige, who is running the Department
of Education. I like to tease Rod a little bit. When I was looking
for somebody to run the Department of Education, I wasn't interested in
anybody who was good on the theory. I wanted somebody who was good on
actually doing the job of being a superintendent of schools. And he
ran the toughest school district in our state of Texas, which was the
Houston Independent School District. And he did a great job, because
he believed in high standards, accountability and local control for the
schools in the district. And Rod is the right man to be the Secretary
of Education at this time in our nation's history. And he has not let
us down.
SECRETARY PAIGE: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate you. (Applause.)
If you follow schools and if you follow public education, you know
that you can find excellence in schools where you've got a good
principal. Obviously, it requires good teachers. But if you've got a
good principal, an innovative, smart, capable person, who is motivated
and dedicated and who believes every child can learn, you'll find
excellence in that particular school. And we've got eight such
principals with us today. And it is my honor to herald them.
Bernice Whelchel, who is the principal of City Springs Elementary
School right here in Baltimore, Maryland, or right close here in
Baltimore, Maryland. I want to thank you. (Applause.)
Mary Ann Hawthorne is the principal of the Samuel Gompers
Vocational and Technical High School in Bronx, New York. (Applause.)
Appreciate you, Mary Ann. Thank you.
Keith Owens, who is from Beulah Heights Elementary School in
Pueblo, Colorado. (Applause.) Keith. Yes, thank you.
Keith Posley is from Clarke Street Elementary in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. (Applause.)
J.R. Guinn, Del Valle High School, El Paso, Texas. (Applause.)
Lorraine Fong, who is the principal from Kew Elementary in
Inglewood, California. I appreciate you, Lorraine. Good to see you
again. (Applause.)
Patrick Galatowitsch, who is the principal of Rolling Hills
Elementary School, Orlando, Florida. (Applause.)
Beth Hager, principal of the Whitney M. Young Middle School in
Cleveland, Ohio. (Applause.)
I appreciate you all. I'm glad you're here. I want to thank you
for standing up here with Laura and me and Rod. It is a chance for us
to remind our fellow citizens that when you find a good principal,
thank him or her from the bottom of your heart for doing one of the
toughest jobs in the country. But I hope it's one of the most
rewarding jobs for you. Because, after all, you're achieving what a
lot of people say can't happen, and that is you've taken some tough
schools and converted them to little centers of excellence. And you
can truly say that, because of your efforts and your love and your
energy, no child in your school is going to be left behind.
(Applause.)
Today I had the honor of meeting members of the President's
Commission on Special Education. I want to thank you all for your hard
work. We will be reauthorizing IEDA this year with members of
Congress. I know Senator Gregg holds this issue close to his heart. I
think you'll find that the reforms suggested in the Commission's
findings is going to be a great place for you to start, and hopefully
finish, Mr. Senator. (Laughter and applause.)
I also want to thank the education officials from five states,
which I will be naming a little later -- officials who are on the
leading edge of education reform. I'm not going to tip my hand as to
why you're here yet, but thank you all for coming. (Laughter.) I know
that many in this room have devoted your entire lives to bringing a
spirit of high achievement to education in America, and I want to thank
you for that. You understand success. You've seen success firsthand
-- and, unfortunately, too many instances you are aware of the
persistent problems in our schools.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that we have passed children from
grade to grade, year after year, and those -- child hadn't learned
the basics of reading and math. That says to me that somebody
somewhere along the way believes certain children can't learn, so,
therefore, let's just shuffle them through.
Many schools in our country are places of hope and opportunity.
Eight such schools are here; many schools in the five states
represented are places where people can feel hopeful for the future.
Unfortunately, too many schools in America have failed in that
mission. The harm has been greatest in the poor and minority
communities. Those kids have been hurt the worst because people have
failed to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations.
Over the years, parents across America have heard a lot of excuses
-- that's a reality -- and oftentimes have seen little change. One
year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end. With
the No Child Left Behind Act, we have committed the nation to higher
standards for every single public school. And we've committed the
resources to help the students achieve those standards. We affirm the
right of parents to have better information about the schools, and to
make crucial decisions about their children's future. Accountability
of results is no longer just a hope of parents. Accountability for
results is now the law of the land.
In return for receiving federal money, states must design
accountability systems to measure whether students are learning to read
and write and add and subtract. In return for a lot of money, the
federal government, for the first time, is asking, are we getting the
kind of return the American people want for every child. The only way
to be sure of whether or not every child is learning is to test
regularly and to show everybody, especially the parents, the results of
the tests. The law further requires that test scores be presented in a
clear and meaningful way, so that we can find the learning problems
within each group of students. I'll show off a little bit -- it's
called disaggregation of results. (Laughter and applause.)
Annual report cards are required to grade the schools, themselves,
so parents can judge how the schools compare to others. Excellence
will be recognized. It's so important for us to measure, so that we
can praise the principals and teachers who are accomplishing the
objectives we all hope for. And, at the same time, poor performance
cannot be disguised or hidden.
Schools that perform poorly will be noticeable and given time, and
given incentives, and given resources to improve. Schools that don't
improve will begin to face consequences, such as that parents can move
their child to another public school, or hire a tutor, or any other
academic help. We will not accept a school that does not teach and
will not change.
Schools have a responsibility to improve and they also have the
freedom to improve in this law, and that's important. I can assure
you, I haven't changed my attitude about federal control of schools.
When I was the governor of Texas, I didn't like the idea of federal
control of schools. I felt we were pretty competent in the state of
Texas to run our own schools. I still feel that way, now that I've
been up here for two years. I believe in local control of schools.
And this principle is inherent in this bill.
The key choices about curriculum and teaching methods will be made
at the state and local level. Input will be given by parents and
teachers and principals who know the local culture best. Parents and
educators will not be bystanders in education reform. As a matter of
fact, in our view, they are the agents of education reform. And this
law upholds that principle, as well.
Across America, states and school districts are working hard to
implement these reforms. Today, Secretary Paige is approving the first
five accountability plans -- hence the five folks I've invited here.
(Laughter.) The first five accountability plans have been approved,
and they are from the states of Ohio and Massachusetts, New York,
Colorado and Indiana. (Applause.)
Their plans are rigorous and their plans are innovative. They are
also varied, reflecting the different strengths and challenges within
each state. One size doesn't fit all when it comes to public
education. What counts are results. What counts are the fact that the
schools will be teaching the basics, and children learn how to read and
compute. These states recognize that.
I want to thank you very much for showing what is possible for
being on the leading edge. The plans show the kind of energy and
commitment and good faith that education reform demands. These leaders
who have prepared these plans show us that high standards are not a
burden to carry. They show us that this a opportunity to seize. The
leaders also show a faith and confidence in their students, a belief
that every child can learn.
Children respond to an atmosphere of high standards. As teachers
and parents can tell you, children love to learn, just love it. And
they sense when we have faith in them, and they love to justify that
faith. And that's what you all have shown, faith in every child.
The main reservations we've heard in the year since we passed the
reform have come from some adults, not the children, who say the
testing requirement is an unfunded mandate on the states. Well, that's
not true. We put up $387 million to provide for testing, to pay for
the testing in this year's budget. I intend to ask for the same amount
next year. We demanded excellence. We're going to pay for the
accountability systems to make sure that we do get excellence.
Some have claimed that testing somehow distracts from learning.
I've heard this excuse since I was the governor of Texas -- oh,
you're teaching to test. Well, if a child can pass the reading test,
the child has learned to read, as far as I'm concerned. (Applause.)
Other critics worry that high standards and measurement invite poor
results. In other words, don't measure; you might see poor results, I
guess is what they're saying. That they fear that by imposing clear
standards, we'll set some schools up for failure, and that we'll
identify too many failing schools. Well, the reasoning is backwards as
far as I'm concerned, and a lot of other good people are concerned, as
well. You don't cause a problem by revealing the problem.
Accountability doesn't cause failure; it identifies failure. And only
by acknowledging poor performance can we ever help schools to achieve.
You can't solve a problem unless you first diagnose the problem.
And so the accountability schools understand -- the
accountability rules understand that schools can achieve. And that's
why these eight are up here with us. And I want to cite two examples.
One, Beulah Heights Elementary in Pueblo, Colorado. The proportion of
fourth graders reading at or above proficiency has gone from 50
percent, which is clearly unacceptable, to 86 percent in three years.
(Applause.)
How do we know? We measured. He wouldn't be standing here if we
didn't measure. We'd be guessing as to whether or not -- and we'd
find out, unfortunately, after the 50 percent that couldn't read
graduated from high school and still couldn't read. Accountability
helps address problems early, before it's too late. Accountability
gives us a chance to praise a principal -- and thank your teachers,
too.
At Del Valle High School in El Paso, less than half the children in
that high school could pass an Algebra I exam two years ago. See, we
measured in Texas. We wanted to know. This year, the number has risen
to 74 percent.
I want to tell you what J.R. Guinn has said. He said, you have to
make the expectation of success part of your belief system. We're
raising the bar, and we expect success. And, J.R., you're getting
success. Thank you for your leadership. Good guy. (Applause.)
All these school leaders understand it's not easy to turn a school
around. They know that. It's hard to go from frustration and despair
to achievement and pride. Yet these principals and the teachers have
made the effort, and they're seeing the results. And it must make you
feel great.
This administration is committed to your effort. And with the
support of Congress, we will continue to work to provide the resources
school need to fund the era of reform. This school year, we're
providing more money than ever before to help states and school
districts. The federal government is going to spend $22 billion this
year. Over the last two years, we've increased funding for elementary
and secondary education by 49 percent. That's a large increase.
It is not enough to spend more on schools, however. This issue is
not just about money. We must spend money more wisely. We must spend
money on what works. And we must make sure we continue to insist upon
results for the money we spend.
The priorities of the No Child Left Behind Act will be reflected in
the budgets I submit, as long as I'm working here. (Applause.) This
year, for example, I'm requesting more than $1 billion for the federal
reading programs in next year's budget.
Now, I want you to know something about reading. Laura and I share
a passion for reading. We want to make sure every child learns to read
by the third grade. However, we will not fund reading programs which
do not work. (Applause.) My friend, Reid Lyon is here, from the
National Institute of Health. Reid is a reading expert. He
understands the science of reading. He explained to me a long time
ago, some curricula work and some don't. He understands what works.
Again, I repeat, we're willing to spend more money. We're not going to
spend money on curriculum that will not teach our children how to
read.
But we are willing to spend it, because we understand that if you
can't read, the science programs don't matter, it's hard to excel in
math. Reading is the gateway to knowledge. Reading is the true civil
right of the 21st century, as far as I'm concerned. (Applause.)
And we're proposing more money for Title I students, as well.
We're going to ask for the '04 budget a billion dollar increase, up to
$12.3 billion for Title I students. Because one of the goals in this
nation has got to be to close the achievement gap.
That starts with having high expectations. You see, I want to
repeat what I said earlier -- I believe that too many of the adults
figure certain children cannot learn. And they just say, heck, let's
just move them through. So we not only need to make sure the money is
there, but we've got to make sure the attitude changes. And the
accountability systems within the No Child Left Behind Act insist that
we have an attitude change in America. That's what this says.
One year ago, we met the first challenge of education reform. We
passed the law. And now we've got another challenge, and that's the
implementation of this law. Today, we honor five states; there are 45
more to go. Some of the education leaders of those states are here.
We look forward to seeing your plans. We look forward to seeing the
spirit of the No Child Left Behind law in your plans. We look forward
to strong accountability systems. We look forward to seeing the
implementation of curricula that works. We look forward to the hiring
of principals who know how to lead a school. We look forward to
rewarding teachers who are not only lending their hearts, but their
talents, to make sure no child gets left behind. We look forward to a
culture in America that understands every child can learn. And we look
forward to the day that no child in this country is ever left behind.