Remarks of Secretary Paige, Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School, Milwaukee, WI
FOR RELEASE:
May 8, 2002
Thank you. We are so pleased to visit an international baccalaureate school that focuses on a tough high school curriculum. I hope we're looking at a future U.S. Secretary of Education—or President—today.
Milwaukee is the 6th stop in our No Child Left Behind Tour of America. We started in Albuquerque. Went to Atlanta, then DC, Las Vegas and Detroit.
Our next stop is Clarke Street Elementary School that has really strong reading instruction—and a great principal—my fellow Mississippian, Keith Posley.
I'm proud that President Bush is with us because he vowed to fundamentally change the structure of our education system, so every student in our public schools learns and no one is left behind.
And he has kept his promise.
It's a new day in education for America. Our nation has been called to commit itself to a bold goal—the goal of creating a system that insists on accountability and results, teacher quality, and reading programs that work.
Defenders of the status quo say it's not enough money. Well, over the past 50 years, American taxpayers—at the federal, state and local level—have spent trillions of dollars on our schools and what have we got to show for it?
- 2 out of 3 fourth graders who can't read at grade level
- 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders who can't read at all
- 2 out of 3 low-income 8th graders who can't multiply or divide 2-digit numbers
- A third of college freshmen who need remedial help before they can handle entry level courses
- And 12th graders that rank near the bottom in math and science achievement among their counterparts in other industrialized nations
The truth is: All the money in the world won't fix our schools if your only plan is to throw more money at the problem.
We have enough funding. More importantly, we have a framework for change to put that funding to good use.
Now, taxpayers will know what they're getting for their money—and parents know if their children are learning.
And Wisconsin understands the power of unleashing parental choice. This state has been a leader in giving parents options when their children's schools are not performing.
Now, thanks to No Child Left Behind, parents of children in failing schools all across this nation are empowered to do the same.
These reforms say loud and clear to parents: If your child's school is failing its mission, then you've got a choice. You can enroll your child in a better school, get one-on-one tutoring, or after-school help.
I am a proud advocate of public schools. I was Superintendent of the 7th largest school district in the country. But we are very serious about implementing these new reforms.
And we're going to help in two ways:
First, I realize that unfortunately the government rule-making process takes too much time. So I am sending a letter to the nation's Superintendents and State School Chiefs providing preliminary advice on public school choice and other important issues as they gear up to implement the law in the coming school year.
Second: I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a public school choice / supplemental services conference at the Department of Education in early June for education leaders, service providers, and community groups.
We are going to work as partners with the states and school districts at every step of the implementation process.
We understand that providing choice and supplemental services—including tutoring and after-school help—may present a management challenge for school districts.
But these are the children who need it most. They have waited long enough. We can't get hung up on process.
Otherwise, we might as well go into a third grade classroom in any of our struggling schools and look those children in the eyes and say: "I'm sorry—your learning has to wait. We're too busy with bus routes and bell schedules and lunch menus."
Defenders of the status quo say choice and supplemental services will divert valuable resources from schools. I say: With all due respect, our new education reforms are called the No CHILD Left Behind Act, not the No SCHOOL left Behind Act.
There are two reasons for the choice provisions:
- One, we want to free children trapped in failing schools to get the help they need to learn and excel; and
- Two, we want to send a message loud and clear that if schools are failing their mission, then parents have other options.
It's a new day. And we owe it to the bipartisan work of Congress and to our President—President Bush—who keeps his promises.
But as someone who has worked with him on education reforms for more than seven years, the fact that he did what he said he would do comes as no surprise.
Please welcome the President of the United States.
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