For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 2, 2002
President Meets with Early Childhood Education Experts
Remarks by the President After the Roundtable with Early Childhood Education Experts
Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County
Media, Pennsylvania
THE PRESIDENT: Just finished a discussion about early
childhood development. I want to thank the experts and the
teachers and the soon to be teachers, and those who are running Head
Start programs for sharing your knowledge with Secretary Paige and me.
One thing is for certain, in order for all Americans to realize the
American Dream, you've got to make sure every child has the necessary
foundation to be good readers, good writers, good
comprehenders -- which means that this nation
must do a better job of focusing our education strategy on early
childhood development programs.
We've got to encourage parents to be good readers, good nurturers
for their children. We've got to work with Head Start
centers to make sure that they've got the curriculum necessary to teach
every child the building blocks for reading. We've got to
work with states to encourage states to develop a strategy that will
help focus the time and attention and resources on the programs that
will not only give children the basics for reading, but give children
the essential nourishment so that they can become ready to compete in
the public school system in America.
I assured our panelists here that while I'm spending a lot of time
on making sure that America is safe and secure, that this initiative is
a crucial initiative in an essential part of completing the education
reform that Senator Kennedy and Congressman Boehner and most
Republicans and Democrats worked on last year and I had the honor of
signing.
So this is a great initiative and a wonderful group of Americans
that are here to discuss this. I'm real proud of your
work. I want to thank you for your care and compassion for
our fellow citizens. Thank you.