Remarks of The Honorable Roderick Paige at the Harvard Conference, Cambridge, MA
FOR RELEASE:
June 10, 2002
Thank you, Larry, for that introduction and for having me here. It is an honor to join you and all the distinguished presenters in this conversation about key challenges facing our public schools.
Decisions about education being made at the local, state and federal level every day stand to have profound implications for generations to come.
I believe the new education reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 will go down in history as the public policy that finally helped close the achievement gap between those who have and those who don't—between those who are hopeful and those who are hopeless.
Now you didn't hear a lot of hoopla when President Bush signed this new law on January 8th. And that actually may be a tribute to the spirit and the strength of this new law.
This is a massive overhaul that touches on every aspect of our education system. The bill itself was nearly 700 pages long—the length of War and Peace.
Yet missing from the debate in Congress was the kind of rancor that grabs headlines. Why is that?
I believe it's because of the bipartisan consensus in both houses—Democrat and Republican—that now is the time for our nation to commit itself to a bold goal—the goal of creating an education system that insists on accountability, results, teacher quality, and reading programs that work.
So all children in our public schools get the excellent education their parents sent them there for.
And it all started because President Bush believes that the most sacred duty of government is to educate its children. They are our future. Yet national report cards in recent years have shown we are destroying that future—one child at a time.
- 2 out of 3 fourth graders can't read proficiently
- 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders can't read at the most basic level
- Nearly a third of college freshmen need remedial classes before they can handle entry level courses
- And America's 12th graders rank among the lowest in math and science achievement among their counterparts in other industrialized nations
These are more than just statistics. They are a grim picture of the human toll of an education system that is failing too many African-American, Hispanic, and low-income children in our nation's classrooms.
Soon after President Bush took office, he called on Congress to fundamentally change the structure of education—and enact the most sweeping change in education in 35 years.
Never before have we as a nation made the commitment to all children in our public schools that every one of them can and will learn. Every single child. Regardless of race, income or zip code.
The No Child Left Behind law also recognizes that just throwing money at a problem won't make it go away.
Try this on for size: Over the last half-century local, state and federal taxpayers have spent more than $10 trillion dollars on our public schools. $10 trillion.
And what have we got to show for it? Let me repeat:
- 2 in 3 fourth graders can't read
- 7 in 10 inner-city & rural fourth graders can't read
- Nearly a third of college freshmen needing remedial help; and
- 12th graders at the bottom in math and science
Think about it: Every year we did the same thing: spent more money. And every year we got the same result: mediocre student performance—or worse.
It was Albert Einstein who said insanity is "the belief that one can get different results by doing the same thing."
It doesn't take an Einstein to see the truth is that all the money in the world won't fix our schools if your only plan is to throw more money at the problem.
To solve the problem, you must first create a framework for change.
And our new education reforms provide that framework... by insisting on accountability and results... by providing local control and flexibility... by empowering parents to take a lead in their children's education... and by insisting on teaching methods that work.
The basics work. Research-based reading programs work. Regular testing works.
Defenders of the status quo hate the idea of testing. But parents don't.
A recent poll from Public Education Network and Education Week magazine shows 73 percent of Americans standing shoulder to shoulder with the President on annual testing.
Moms and dads all over America want the best for their children. They understand that the only way to know if teachers are teaching and their children are learning is to measure for results—to hold schools accountable.
Their own children agree. Another recent poll by Public Agenda showed that 95 percent of students are not obsessing over the idea of tests.
So we provided the framework for change. But we also provided the funding to get the job done:
- Federal funding for education is at an all-time high.
- Ours is the largest education budget for disadvantaged children in U.S. history—double what the Department of Education received only a few years ago in 1996.
- And in the President's most current budget request to Congress, he calls for $56.5 billion in discretionary funding for education—a 34 percent increase over education funding levels when he took office.
The difference now is that when we talk about funding for education, taxpayers know what they're getting for their money. And parents know if their children are learning.
And if a school is failing its mission, moms and dads no longer have to helplessly stand by and watch every last spark of curiosity die in their children's eyes.
They can choose one-on-one tutoring, or after-school help, or enroll their children in a better public school.
Some parents choose public school charters. Last week, the Department of Education awarded nearly $25 million in grants to help unleash the potential of innovative charter schools around the country—including nearly $5 million to an organization in Braintree.
In the decade since charter schools started, they have emerged as an important entrée on the menu of educational opportunity for parents.
And Congress should fund the President's request of $100 million for the charter schools credit enhancement program.
I am a proud advocate of our public schools. My parents were teachers. I was a teacher, a coach, a principal and the Superintendent of the 7th largest school district in the country—Houston.
President Bush's daughters went to public school in Austin. But we are just as serious as we can be about implementing these new reforms.
Because we know what a difference they are already making in the lives of children all across our great nation.
And the reason: Accountability. President Bush and I both believe that the success of all true education reform hinges on setting high goals and high expectations.
If schools are successful, we will praise them. If they are failing their mission, then we will insist that they improve.
Some defenders of the status quo are resisting these reforms. And, frankly, I don't understand that.
How can they possibly argue with a plan that says we want to provide more resources and better instruction for disadvantaged children?
Maybe the critics are like those people Sam Rayburn used to talk about when he said, "Any jackass can kick over a barn. It takes a carpenter to build one."
We're talking about helping children so far down on the achievement scale they're not even a blip.
We're talking about helping children who show up in national report cards that say 40 percent of white 4th graders can read—while only 12 percent of black 4th graders can read.
In the 19 years since "A Nation at Risk" set off a wave of well-intentioned school reform efforts, we still have too many children—mostly urban and mostly African American—falling through the cracks.
The reforms of No Child Left Behind, when implemented, will provide a safety net to catch them and get them back on track academically.
To be sure, there are pockets of excellence all around our country. As I travel our country I see many inspiring examples of schools and teachers and students rising to the challenges.
I think of Waitz Elementary in Mission, Texas. Most of the students come from migrant-worker families with limited income, limited English and limited time to spare for studies.
Yet these children are passing state reading tests in record numbers. Why? Because the teachers and principal at Waitz believe—as the President and I do—that every child can learn.
The same philosophy is getting great results for other high-need schools like:
Bennett-Kew Elementary School in Inglewood, California... Franklin Elementary in Salt Lake City... George Washington Elementary in Chicago... City Springs Elementary in Baltimore... and Rozelle Elementary in Memphis.
These schools and many more like them are proving that, even under difficult circumstances, it's not expecting too much to expect all children to achieve high goals.
And even the hardest-to-educate children can learn if you do it right.
But we have much work to do.
We cannot get back the years that have failed so many children. But we can move forward and make sure it doesn't happen again.
President Bush has ushered in a new era in education that I believe marks the tipping point for education... the point when, years from now, people will look back and say:
That's when they raised the bar and student achievement began to soar.
That's when leadership triumphed over politics and no child was left behind.
That's when the American people realized they could create great schools worthy of a great nation.
Thank you and I'll take your questions now.
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