President Highlights Progress Made in Education Reform
Remarks by the President on Education Implementation
The East Room
3:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all; thank you for coming. I want to
thank you all for coming. I'm particularly grateful that some of the
folks on the front line of education reform are with us, not only here
on the stage, but as I look out in the audience I see some familiar
faces with people who are -- refuse to accept the status quo when the
status quo means mediocrity for our children.
So I want to welcome you here. I also want to assure you that one
of the big challenges that I see for our country -- besides keeping
the peace and making the homeland secure, is to insist that every child
be educated. Notice I said "every child." It starts with the mind set
that every child can learn. And I don't need to tell that to the
people in this room, but there is some in our country believe in the
-- what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. They don't
believe in the bigotry, but because there's low expectations, there is
a soft bigotry.
And that's unacceptable. What that means is there's certain kids
just get shuffled through the system. Certain kids, they just get quit
on. And we know who they are. They're generally inner-city kids, kids
whose parents may not speak English as a first language. It's so much
easier to walk into a classroom full of the hard to educate and say,
see you later, we're just going to move you through. And those days
have got to end, and the people up here on the stage and the people
here in the White House understand, standing here -- sitting here in
the White House understand those days are going to end, for the good of
the country.
One of the challenges is to make sure America is secure, is safe,
is strong. But another one of our challenges is to make sure America
is a better place for all of us, and that starts with insisting that
every child get educated.
This is a passion that is shared by Republicans and Democrats. I
don't view this as a partisan issue, I view this as an American issue.
And that's why I was pleased earlier in my administration to travel the
country with some of the bill sponsors, two of whom are here, both
Republicans and Democrats, to sign this bill. That's a good signal to
America that we're coming together to work on what's right for the
country.
And I want to welcome Judd Gregg from the state of New Hampshire,
who is one of those with whom I had the honor of traveling; and John
Boehner, who's the Chairman of the Education Committee of the House of
Representatives, for being with us. And of course, an advocate for
teachers and for education, Ralph Regula, is with us as well. So I
want to thank the three members of Congress for coming. I appreciate
you boys coming over here after a long, long vacation. (Laughter.)
UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSMAN: -- back. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, back -- (laughter.) Glad you're in town.
(Laughter.) But I do really appreciate your work on education. You've
been great.
I also want to thank Rod Paige for agreeing to leave Texas --
that's a hard thing for Texans to do -- and come up here and serve
his nation. I didn't need any theorists in the Department of
Education; I wanted somebody who had been on the front lines, somebody
that had actually been, in this case, a superintendent. Somebody who
had raised the bar, and somebody that had achieved results on behalf of
all the students in that incredibly complex and difficult school
district. And Rod did a fabulous job in Houston, and he's doing a darn
good job here in Washington, D.C. And Ron, I want to thank you for
your leadership. (Applause.)
I also want to thank the Math Count champs who are with us. I told
them -- (applause) -- thank you all for coming. (Applause.) I
told them in my state, sometimes too often we think of the champ only
on the football field. I'm glad they're here to show that there's
champs in the math arena, and in the science arena.
These champs are just as important as any athletic champ we have in
the country, and I want to thank them for setting high standards and
working hard and showing your fellow classmates what is possible. And
I also want to thank your teachers who are here. I know you represent
teachers all across the country, and a great teacher can make a huge
difference in a child's life and these teachers with us today have
shown exactly what I'm talking about. So congratulations to the
student and teacher -- (applause.)
So I understand the difficulty of changing a system that doesn't
like to change. After all, I was a governor at one time. And there is
a certain -- there's a certain unwillingness of people in the school
system, certain school systems, to change. It's hard. I know that.
And, yet, the bill we passed says you've got to change. And so the
meeting today is a way to tell people that change is possible, change
can be orderly and change can be, most important, productive for
student and family alike.
And that's what we're talking about here today. The bill said that
one -- one of the cornerstones of that bill that we passed said we're
going to trust the local people. That's one way to put it; it's not
all the smart people in the world live in Washington. There's plenty
of smart people outside of Washington. And there is certainly an
attachment to the school system, the public school systems for those
who live in the public school system's taxing district, for example.
Nobody cares more about the schools in their neighborhood than the
parents and the teachers and the local citizens. And, therefore, it
made a lot of sense to pass power out of Washington, to create a
certain amount of flexibility at the local level so people can chart
their own path to excellence. This is one of the keys to success. And
that's what this bill does.
And so what we have done today is we have asked people who have
taken advantage of the flexibility, that have actually done some
creative, positive, significant things so others can see what works.
It's important for those in the public school systems around America to
understand that it is possible to change and have positive results
without disrupting the school systems.
And that's what we're here to talk about. And one of the
cornerstones of any good school system is accountability. Now, look, I
have battled, I have fought the accountability fight for a long time.
I've heard people say: you test too much. Particularly the students.
(Laughter.) My answer is: if testing determines whether you can read,
too bad that we test. As a matter of fact, it's to your advantage that
we test.
How do you know if you don't give people a chance to show us? How
do you know? It's the systems that don't test are those that quit on
the kids. It's the systems where people say, all kids can't learn,
therefore, let's don't try to determine whether they are learning.
Those are the systems where we've really got a challenge. And one of
things we did say is if you receive federal money, we want to know
whether or not you're succeeding. If you want to -- all the Title I
money we're sending out, we expect there to be results because, you
see, we believe every child can learn.
And there are creative things you can do with the accountability
system, such as what they're doing in Indiana. And Sue Ellen is here.
For a while I thought she was from Central Texas, with the name of Sue
Ellen -- (laughter) -- but it turns out -- it turns out she's from
Indiana. But they have got a -- they decided, and wisely so in the
state of Indiana, that they're going to post results so people know.
So parents know, so teachers know.
You see, with information, people can make constructive change.
You can determine whether or not the curriculum you are using works.
Accountability is incredibly important for the school systems. People
shouldn't fear accountability, they ought to welcome an accountability
system as a useful tool to make sure no child is left behind; a useful
tool to make sure they make constructive improvements in their school
districts and in their schools.
And Indiana has made a creative decision to put on the Internet,
amongst other things, how the schools how performing, a comparative
analysis of school performance, how the school's teachers -- how many
school teachers are certified under Indiana law. They can compare
schools within a district. It is a useful way to use accountability as
a management tool. It is also a useful way to encourage citizen
involvement. You see, the more information a parent or a citizen
knows, the more likely it is that parent or citizen is going to be
involved in a school district.
Too often people say, my schools are doing just fine. You all have
heard that more than I have. Too often people -- everything is just
fine in my school. How do I know? My child told me. Until you see a
comparison and then you realize that perhaps we need to ratchet up the
bar a little higher; we need the make sure that the standards are
raised. Because every child counts here in this country.
We've also got to make sure that the school -- the accountability
system insists that the -- that each child is recognized. There's a
fancy word for it, called "disaggregation of data." I don't want to
disturb the press corps by using a long word. (Laughter.) I know what
it means. (Laughter.) You see, we've got to make sure that we focus
on an individual basis. This idea of lumping people into large groups
of people will diminish the capacity of an accountability system to
make sure no child is left behind. The state of Florida has been on
the leading edge of making sure the accountability system is --
challenges the soft bigotry of low expectations. And I want to thank
Jim for coming -- and tell the governor hello. (Laughter.)
I also believe there ought to be a consequence. If there's failure
or mediocrity, something else has to happen. Otherwise, you've set up
a nice system, but nothing changes. Without a consequence, without
something to challenge the status quo, the status quo will remain.
And so therefore, one of the things -- one of the interesting
innovations that we put in the bill that I think is probably, can be
used in a very creative way for school districts all around the
country, is the capacity to have after-school tutoring -- the money
follows the child -- and that there can be a lot of creative ways to
set up after-school tutoring. People can go outside the system to do,
to have these after-schools -- after-tutoring classes.
There can be a whole kind of entrepreneurial effort made. There
can be a charter schools -- after-school charter schools, with
funding available, because the money follows the child. It's a very
wise thing that the state of Colorado and Colorado Springs School
District is taking advantage of.
You see, if every child matters, and your accountability system
points out some are falling behind, this bill provides the resources
necessary to make sure people catch up early, before it's too late.
That's one of the keys to success, is that when you identify somebody
who is failing, you get on it right away, and you help that person
early, before it's too late. And a good way to do it is to take
advantage of the after-school tutoring program we have in the bill.
It's really creative.
Once people see what's available, and understand the options,
there's going to be some -- I predict there will be some creative
responses, just like Colorado Springs's response, around the country.
It's also important that their public school choice be fully
implemented. You see, when the parents start to move, it gets people's
attention. And one of the things in this bill says that we expect, and
will facilitate, the capacity of parents to make different choices for
their students if they're dissatisfied with the quality of education
that their student, that their child is receiving.
And St. Paul, Dr. Harvey, has done a very good job of making sure
that those options are not only well-known -- you see, sometimes what
happens is the school districts don't really make it clear what can
happen, or what should happen. Lack of knowledge for citizens means
that lack of opportunity is -- that people don't have the
opportunities that they can achieve what is necessary to start
insisting that every child be educated.
And so Dr. Harvey not only has worked hard to educate parents about
what is available, but has also worked in the school district to make
sure people understand within the school district that this is an
important part of educational excellence for every child.
The -- as I said, I -- options and consequences are all a part
of making sure that the accountability system works. And here are two
examples of school districts in our country seizing the moment to make
sure that excellence prevails.
I also want to congratulate Arkansas and Alabama for their work on
reading, because the truth of the matter is no matter how fancy we get
with systems, if kids can't read, it doesn't matter. It's hard to be a
math scholar if you can't read. It's hard to be a scientist if you
can't read.
And so we have decided here at the federal level to make a national
initiative being one that every child's going to read. And the reason
Arkansas and Alabama are here is they also understand that it requires
a curriculum that works if you want every child to read. They don't
need fancy theories, or what may sound good. Science is not an art
-- I mean, reading is not an art; it's a science. We know what
works.
And these schools, and these states, have adopted what works. And
as you heard about from Alabama, Dr. Mitchell, they have retrained
2,500 teachers. Retraining is the right word; they've been trained
once. Now they're being trained in a curriculum which will work. And
it's essential we focus on reading first.
If you have an accountability system, it is unfair to have a
society in which not every child kind of starts at the accountability
system at the same place. It's not going to work the way we want it to
work. And so the best way to make sure that the accountability system
has merit, and we can accurately measure, is to start teaching our
children how to read early in life -- I mean early -- with a
curriculum which works.
And the willingness for states to recognize that sometimes teachers
haven't been trained properly, and they need to be retrained. And
that's what they did in Alabama -- it's what we did in Texas, by the
way. We spent time, money, and efforts to retrain our teachers, to
give them the tools necessary so that they can do what they want to do,
and which their desire is to do, which is to be as good a teacher as
they can possibly be.
And so here are examples of -- two examples of Reading First
initiatives, which are on the leading edge of reform. They challenge
the status quo when it doesn't work -- the understand what I know:
that reading is the new civil right. It's a part of making sure our
students are free citizens.
And we're going to do it. You watch here in America. This program
is going to have a huge impact as we continue to insist that no child
be left behind.
And finally, New York City deserves a lot of credit. You hear
about teacher shortages here and there in other places. But sometimes
they're so bound in rules and regulations, and challenged because
they're unable to be entrepreneurial in their willingness to hire, the
shortages persist.
But Joyce Coppin has figured out a way to have alternative
certification; an intense recruiting campaign with New Teacher
Project. I mean, this district has hired more than 2,000 teachers this
year, through the city's alternative certification program.
They saw a problem, and instead of being hidebound by the old way
of doing things, they said, let's solve the problem first. Let's make
sure we solve the problem. You can't -- if -- children will be
left behind, unless there's teachers in the classrooms.
And Joyce, I want to thank you and thank your folks there in New
York City for showing America what is possible; that it's possible to
be creative and to use your imagination, and to solve a teacher
shortage that might exist. It is essential that Americans understand,
from the examples we've seen here, that change is positive, change is
incredibly important, to achieve the goal which we all want, and that
is to have the best public school systems in the world, and make sure
no child is left behind.
There's no doubt in my mind that these goals are achievable,
because we're America. There's nothing we can't overcome.
The first step is to overcome timidity, and the first step is to
overcome an unwillingness to confront mediocrity. And I think school
districts and leaders around the country, when they realize what is
possible from examples here, will be more than willing to challenge the
status quo if the status quo is failing; to insist every child can
learn; to raise the bar, and by raising the bar, raise the hopes of
everybody who's lucky enough to be called an American.
So I want to thank you all for your leadership. I appreciate very
much your commitment to your states, to the children in your states,
and to the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
May God bless you all, and may God bless America. (Applause.)