For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 12, 2001
Remarks by the President on Parental Empowerment in Education
Presidential Hall
Listen to the President's
Remarks
11:35 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
much. Please, be seated.
Well, Reverend Flake, thank you very
much. It's an honor to be with you again. This
city really misses Floyd Flake. But Jamaica, Queens is
better off for him being there. (Laughter.) He's
a visionary. He understands a different kind of power than
politics. And the community in which he is associated is
better off and I'm honored he's here and I want to thank all the
leaders who are here, as well. And I want to thank you all
for coming.
I really appreciate the contributions toward
educational excellence that the folks on this stage are making and that
you all are making all across the country. It's an honor to
have you at the White House.
I believe this -- and I know we share the same
principle -- that no child, whatever their parents' income or whatever
their background, should be condemned to a failing
school. (Applause.) Our public schools have put
generations of the disadvantaged and generations of immigrants on the
path to a better life. They are essential
institutions. But too many are in trouble.
Just a week ago we learned that less than a
third of the nation's 4th grade students are proficient at
reading. And there is a growing gap between the highest
achieving readers and those who scored the lowest on the
test. Students who score in the top 10 percent of the NAEP,
the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, scored slightly
higher than in 1992; while those in the bottom 10 percent scored
lower.
This is a serious problem that requires
serious focus and a serious effort of change. We have spent
$125 billion of Title I money over 25 years -- money spent on low
income students. And if the truth be told, we have little to
show for it. This is not just wasted money; more
importantly, it is wasted potential and wasted hope.
America's schools are increasingly separate
and unequal. And that is unacceptable in our great
land. (Applause.) We must do more than tinker
around the edges. We must all come together and fight for
real reform and real change. Effective education reform
requires both pressure from above and competition from
below. (Applause.)
We must challenge schools with higher
standards and arm parents with better
options. (Applause.) I'm asking that every state
have a real accountability system, meaning that they test every child,
every year, in grades three through eight, on the basics of reading and
math.
Without yearly testing, we don't know -- we
don't know who's falling behind, and who needs help. Without
yearly testing, too often, we don't find failure until it is too late
to fix. One of the greatest benefits of testing is the
information it gives to parents. Given that information,
more parents will be involved, becoming participants, not spectators in
the education of their children. Armed with that
information, parents will have leverage to force reform.
Yes, we also need to empower parents by giving
them more options and more
influence. (Applause.) And my administration,
with the help of a lot of folks -- some of them Republicans, a lot of
them Democrats -- (laughter) -- are pushing toward that
goal. (Applause.) Are pushing toward that
goal. I don't view this as a partisan issue. I
view this as incredibly important public policy, that rises above
politics. (Applause.)
People on the Hill who will decide the shape
of the federal legislation must understand that supporting parents and
giving them options is not a partisan issue. It's a people
issue. (Applause.) And here's some ideas that I
hope the Congress listens to. First, I'm an enthusiastic
supporter of charter schools. (Applause.) Charter
schools are beginning to change our understanding of public education,
no question about it. These schools are public, because they're
publicly funded, and publicly accountable for results. The
vision of parents and teachers and principals determines the rest.
And the competition charter schools oftentimes
provide can serve as an agent to strengthen other
schools. You see, you hear a lot of talk about, well, we
can't have charter schools or choice because some school is going to be
left behind. That's got it
backwards. (Laughter.) Excellence in
neighborhoods means excellence in another neighborhood. It
means raising the bar. (Applause.)
Ours is an administration that wants the
Congress to provide funding to assist charter schools with start-up
costs, facility costs, and other -- (applause) -- and other needs
associated with high quality schools. My budget offers $150
million in additional funding next year, for the priority of
encouraging the growth of charter schools all around the country.
Secondly, the education proposal I submitted
to Congress gives alternatives for students trapped in persistently
dangerous schools. States must report to parents whether or not the
schools are safe. And if safety does not improve, students
must get the option of attending another public
school. (Applause.)
Third, Congress is considering legislation
that would allow Title I funding to follow children after a failing
school has failed to improve after a reasonable period of
time. If a child -- if a school receives Title I funding and
progress is not being made -- in other words, the school refuses to
change, the school child is trapped in failure -- then the money, the
federal money attributable to that child should follow the
child. And the parent should be able to make a choice of any
kind of school that he or she wants to send her child
to. (Applause.)
I vigorously campaigned on this idea, because
I think it is right. And it's an idea that I remain strongly committed
to. I don't believe the federal government should fund
persistent failure. I think there's a role for federal
government in funding education. But we need to do better
than we've done in the past. We need to encourage
accountability. And when we find success, we need to thank
the teachers and principals. (Applause.) When we find
failure, we must give parents different options; different
options. (Applause.)
We've also submitted a plan to increase
education savings accounts, to expand them from $500 to $5,000 a
year. And parents will be able to use these funds for any
educated-related expense, from kindergarten to college and
beyond. (Applause.)
The goal of these reforms is to ensure that
every child in every school receives a quality
education. That's the goal. And it's time we
moved beyond the old arguments and old divides, to make sure that we
fulfill our duty that no child in America is left behind. It
is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and
name-calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices
for their children. We can do better in America, we can do
better. (Applause.)
I realize that all the differences between
parties and people on different sides of the choice issue will not
dissolve overnight. I understand that, and so do
you. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to fight
for good ideas and herald a philosophy that is eminently fair and
hopeful and optimistic for every single child, regardless of their
neighborhood or their income status.
That's what this is all about. It's
really about the promise of America, what America should be
about. And that's providing hope and opportunity for every
single citizen, regardless of where you're from. There are some
encouraging signs, there are. Slowly but surely, people are
beginning to understand the logic behind accountability, the
understanding that we can't accept failure, the need to trust
individuals to make right decisions for their
children. Slowly but surely, people are hearing that
message. And I want to thank you for your help.
I have come to realize that ordinary folks can
have a big influence on the process in Washington, D.C. That
ours is a responsive democracy. (Applause.) And that you're
only one e-mail away -- (laughter) -- from telling somebody how you
think. And it's helpful, it's helpful. We're
doing the right thing. We're doing the right thing for our
country.
I believe we can get positive results out of
the Congress. I believe we can make progress toward
reforming a system that is working in some places and not working in
others. I know we can have quality education for every
child. And when we do, this great land of ours -- by the
way, the greatest nation on the face of the earth -- will be even
greater. We'll be even greater.
Thank you for coming, and God
bless. (Applause.)
11:48 A.M. EDT
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