For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
March 29, 2004
Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at the National School Boards Association
March 29, 2004
NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION 64TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Orlando Convention Center
10:00 A.M. EST
MRS. BUSH: Thank you all very much. Thank you so much. Thank you
all a lot. And thank you, Mossi. Thank you for the very, very warm
welcome. I was privileged to get to meet the Wheaton Warrenville High
School Show Band backstage while I was waiting to come on. And I know I
got to see what you get to see every day in your school districts, and
that's the promise of American children. It was really a thrill to get
to see them. (Applause.)
I'm pleased to be here today with Secretary Paige who will address
this prestigious group after I do and I want to thank all of you,
everyone in the room, for your commitment to children. Volunteers
reflect the true strength of America, and you willingly devote your
time to strengthen our schools. Your work affects your entire community
and, as local elected officials, you're held responsible for reading,
writing and arithmetic, and also for safety, nutrition and, especially
when you've had a bad year, the football coach. (Laughter.)
President Bush and I appreciate your hard work to make sure no
child is left behind in school or in life. This is your priority and
this is our national responsibility. The No Child Left Behind law helps
us meet this responsibility, and today every child has a better chance
of achieving success in school. More children are learning through
research-based programs. Parents have more information about their
child's progress and more teachers are receiving training and
resources. (Applause.)
President Bush and I visit schools across the country and we see
the impact that education reform is having in our schools. Children are
excited about learning. Some might be a little too excited, especially
when it comes to history. When George and I visited a school in Hawaii,
one second grader welcomed us by bellowing "George Washington!"
(Laughter.) It was close, just the wrong George W.
President Bush and I read with children and we talk to them about
the importance of education, and these visits reinforce our belief that
education policy is not about passing laws in Washington; it's all
about children. (Applause.)
At the time of Brown versus Board of Education, some people
believed that black children didn't deserve to be in the same classroom
with white children. The court said they did. Yet today, there are
still people who believe that some children can't achieve high
standards. I actually read an article in which a reporter wrote, "We're
going to have to stomach the fact that some children will be left
behind." I refuse to stomach that. I know you won't either. (Applause.)
All children have the ability to learn, and it's incumbent upon us
to make sure that they do. No Child Left Behind is based on the premise
that all children must have access to high-quality schools, regardless
of their skin color, their disability or their zip code. (Applause.)
Some people still don't see it that way. We've heard all the arguments,
not enough money, too much testing and too rigorous standards. But
behind those excuses is the belief that some children cannot learn. As
a former teacher and librarian, I just don't buy that argument. I see
the promise of reform in America's schools. I see children excited and
ready to learn. I see teachers and principals who refuse to accept
failure, and school board members who are embracing reform to make our
schools the best in the world.
President Bush and Congress are investing more in education than
ever before. Ten years ago, the federal government spent $286 billion
on elementary and secondary education.1 Today, we're investing more than
$500 billion. With the President's 2005 budget, funding for elementary
and secondary education will be up by nearly 50 percent. States have
more resources and flexibility than ever before. And money is there for
schools to use it wisely.
And that's just what Triton Elementary in Indiana is doing. Triton
received more than $200 in Reading First grants and they've trained
teachers in research-proven methods to teach reading. Teachers also
learn to use student assessments to modify and adjust their teaching.
Every student in kindergarten through third grade receives individual
attention in phonemic awareness, vocabulary and comprehension. Teachers
sit down with students to assess their work and track their
achievement. Principal Tom Bowers said, "I think we're working smarter
as well as harder. Every school in the country has been asked to
improve, and we've been given $219,000 to do it."
Students at David Hill Elementary in Oregon are achieving similar
success. With the Reading First grant, the school hired an on-site
reading coach and trained teachers. Students in kindergarten through
third grade spend more than an hour every day on reading. Principal Ann
Doyle said, "It's exciting to see the teachers excited and it's
exciting to see the gains that the kids are making."
Children in large schools and small are making gains because
teachers now have better resources to measure students' progress. For
the first time in history, every state has an approved accountability
plan. Schools are measuring student achievement so that children who
need help are not hidden in the averages. And achievement gaps are
being identified and closed.
In the first year under No Child Left Behind, students in large
urban schools made strong advancements in reading and math. The Council
of Great City Schools found that 47 percent of fourth graders scored at
or above proficient in reading, and that's a gain of almost five points
from 2002. More than 50 percent of the students tested scored at or
above proficient in math -- a seven-point gain. The council's executive
director, Michael Casserly, said, "It's one of the first signs that
major cities are making substantial headway at the elementary school
level in teaching students to read."
Learning in school begins with reading, and No Child Left Behind
has made the expectation of literacy the law of the land. When my
husband was governor of Texas, he started the Texas Reading Initiative
to provide scientifically based reading instruction for all students.
Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers were trained in
research-based instruction methods. Teachers monitor student progress
from kindergarten to third grade and adjust their lessons for students
who need more help. All students are tested in third grade to determine
whether they have the reading skills they need to succeed in higher
grades. This year, more than 90 percent of third graders passed the
state assessment. And this increase is dramatic, because students had
to meet a higher standard this year and answer more questions
correctly. Scores for minority students and low-income students
increased by about nine points, and scores for limited English
proficient students increased from 70 to 82 percent.
No Child Left Behind ensures that schools are held accountable for
the academic progress of students learning English. In California, 43
percent of students who took the state English language development
test scored at advanced levels last year. This is up by 34 percent in
2002. The state superintendent said, "These scores are another powerful
indicator that holding all of our students to standards is working."
Through No Child Left Behind, states are setting their own
standards for student achievement, for teacher quality and
accountability. Testing enables teachers, parents and school board
members to learn how students are performing so they can celebrate a
child's success and address their challenges. Teachers at Stansbury
Elementary in Utah are using a program to routinely check student
progress on the year's curriculum. They can now track a child's
progress from their first day of school to their last. And teachers can
tailor their lesson plans to better meet their students' needs.
Teacher Nicole Nickles said, "It's fabulous because it's so exact.
It'd rather spend 15 minutes having my students do this to find out
what their needs are now than to find out later what they needed and I
didn't provide."
Testing also helps teachers evaluate their own skills. In Denver,
more than 1,600 teachers voted for a plan to base their raises on
student performance. Teachers would receive bonuses for meeting the
standards they set.
We must test student progress. Too many students are moved through
school even though they read and write far below their grade level.
This isn't fair to students or to their teachers. Recently, several
teachers at Clara Barton high school wrote to the school chancellor.
They cited their concerns over students who are moved from grade to
grade without learning the basics. They wrote, "As New York City high
school teachers, we are wholeheartedly opposed to the practice of
social promotion. It is not a solution." (Applause.) "It's a lie that
is eroded year by year, as students realize they have been given
flattery rather than the basic skills they need to survive in a
classroom, and even more, in life.
The affects of failing to teach children are well documented. The
National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that only one in six
African American and one in five Hispanic high school seniors are
proficient in reading. We know that if children are not reading by the
end of the third or fourth grade, their chances of learning to read
well decrease every year. By the time they get to high school, they
often drop out. No Child Left Behind ensures that we don't pass
children from grade to grade without giving them the skills they need
to succeed. President Bush has committed nearly $2 billion to train
teachers in reading instruction. And the President has also proposed
funding for a striving readers program to help older students who are
not reading at grade level. All children need to learn to read, and
they need teachers who inspire their love of learning. (Applause.)
Teaching is one of the most difficult jobs, but it's also one of
the most rewarding. You may have heard of one of my favorite depictions
of teaching. If a doctor, lawyer or dentist had 40 people in his
office all at one time, all who had different needs and some who didn't
want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer or
dentist, without assistants, had to treat them all with professional
excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the
classroom teacher's job. (Applause.)
But I know, and every one of us know the difference a teacher can
make in a child's life. When I was eight years old, I made the very
mature decision to become a teacher. My mother said she knew I'd become
a teacher when she heard me scolding my dolls for not paying attention.
(Laughter.) But the real influence on my decision to teach was my
second grade teacher, Miss Gnagy. She was my favorite teacher and I
wanted to be just like her.
I'll never forget that very first day of teaching when I did become
a teacher. I had everything ready in my classroom. The chairs were
perfectly positioned, the pencils sharpened. Then the children walked
in. Well, some walked in, a few ran in and a few were dragged in by
their parents. I had earned a teaching degree, but no textbook could
have prepared me for the pressure of 20 sets of eyes staring at me with
total expectation. At 9:00 a.m., we started to work. We recited the
alphabet and numbers. We colored and put together puzzles. We read a
few books and then a few more. And by 9:15 a.m., I had gone through my
entire day's lesson plans. (Laughter and applause.)
We all believe in giving teachers the resources they need. No Child
Left Behind provides nearly $3 billion for teacher training and nearly
$60 million for teacher recruitment. We must do more to attract the
best and brightest to the teaching profession, and to provide
incentives to keep them in the classroom. (Applause.)
Our highest achieving students are not enrolling in our colleges of
education. I work with several recruitment programs including the New
Teacher Project, which recruits talented mid-career professionals to
teach in low-income and rural schools, and Teach for America, which
recruits high performing recent college graduates to teach in
underserved schools, and Troops to Teachers, which taps retired
military men and women to second careers as teachers.
We must provide teachers and schools with the flexibility and
support to help every child. We expect results from No Child Left
Behind and every parent in America expects results from our schools.
(Applause.)
No Child Left Behind is not a one-size-fits-all law, and Secretary
Paige is working with state and local officials to make it work, and I
know he will talk more with you about this in a few minutes.
Every one of us in this room want every child to receive an
education that prepares them for a lifetime of learning and a lifetime
of opportunity. We understand the need for education reform. We know
that local control must be preserved. We want teachers to be qualified
in the subjects they teach. And we want our schools to be accountable
for results.
These are our common goals and our common dreams for our children.
Let's reaffirm our stated purpose, to close the achievement gap, to
ensure that every child learns, and to expand opportunity for all. This
is important work and it's our work.
President Bush and I received a letter from a mother in New Jersey
who thanked the President for No Child Left Behind. She wrote, "By
expecting excellence for our children and working with them to achieve
it, I wonder how many dreams will be fulfilled. A child who was once
passed by may become the teacher that makes all the difference, or a
surgeon who saves a life. Or maybe that child will write a poem that
brings tears to our eyes. Thank you for giving all our children the
chance to truly shine."
We must work together for the teachers and the doctors and the
poets of tomorrow. Children spend such a short time of their life in
school, we don't have years to argue and to criticize and to ignore.
Our mission to reform education is far from over. But already we've
made great strides. Nearly half a century ago, nine African American
children bravely took their first steps into the school doors of
Central High. Today, we must make a promise to students, parents and
ourselves -- that when children walk out of those doors, they'll have
the knowledge they need to succeed. Together, we can fulfill the
promise for every child in America and no child will be left behind.
Thank you all very, very much. Thank you very, very much. Thank you
for your really good work. I appreciate it. Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 10:20 A.M. EST
1Ten years ago, the Federal, state and local governments spent $286 billion on elementary and secondary education.
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