[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[April 10, 2001]
[Pages 382-384]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



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Remarks in a Discussion on Character-Building Programs in Education
April 10, 2001

    The President. Thank you all. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much for being here. I'm glad to see you. 
And I'm glad to see the superintendent. I appreciate you all being here. 
This is not the first time I've been with the Mayor, nor with the 
superintendent, both of whom are doing a fine job for Washington, DC. 
I'm proud to call this place home, and I'm proud to have you all leading 
the city and the school district.
    I want to thank the members of the Young Gentlemen's Club for being 
here, and I'm looking forward to shaking your hand after the discussion. 
And thank you all for making the right choices in life. I want to thank 
our panelists. I look forward to hearing from our panelists.
    I want to start the discussion by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., 
who said this: ``Intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus 
character, that is the goal of true education.'' So we're here today to 
herald character-building programs. We're here today to recommend that 
throughout America we teach values to our children, that we not only 
teach our children how to read and write but that we be bold enough to 
teach them the difference between right and wrong, as well. And we've 
picked a pretty darn good school as an example.
    By the way, I found this, that one of the keys to success in our 
public education is to have good, strong principals. So Annie, thank you for being here. I'm looking forward to 
hearing from you.
    One of the keys to success is to have role models not only live a 
quality life but be willing to take time out of their lives to share 
their experiences. So I'm pleased to have a star basketball player with 
us here.
    One of the keys to success is to find people who are willing to use 
their intelligence to rally people of compassion to serve as mentors and 
role models for children--young ladies, in this case. And so I'm so 
pleased that Elayne Bennett is here.
    One of the keys to success is being a good mom. And so I'm so 
thankful you're here, Nicole.
    One of the keys to success is to be willing to listen to what the 
adults say. And so Isaiah, thank you for being 
here, as well.
    And finally, it is an honor that Mr. Bob Howard is with us, a person who has taken time out of his 
life to make sure that the Young Gentlemen's Club flourishes.
    Parents have a tough battle in America today. Their children 
sometimes receive conflicting messages, and what public education ought 
to do is stand on the side of parents and be willing to reinforce the 
values that parents teach their children. And the Young Gentlemen's Club 
does just that. And so I'm looking forward to hearing the stories. I'm 
looking forward to hearing how best I can help.
    One way we can help, by the way, is to have our budgets reflect our 
priorities. And the budget I submitted to the Congress triples the 
amount of character-education money available for public education. The 
budget I submitted to the Congress increases the amount of money 
available for abstinence education programs. And the money and program 
I've submitted to the Congress encourages after-school programs to be 
run by faith-based and community-based programs that exist because 
they've heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd 
like to be loved themselves.
    We can make a huge difference in the lives of America's children. It 
starts recognizing that society's changed one child at a time; one 
heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. And this program, the Young 
Gentlemen's Club, does precisely that.

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    So thank you, Mr. Secretary. It's an 
honor. And thank you all for coming.

[The discussion proceeded.]

    The President. Let me say one thing, Mr. Secretary. To prove the principal's point, 
they use a Stanford 9 here in the District of Columbia. Many of you know 
that I'm a strong advocate for accountability. If you don't measure, you 
don't know. And so under the leadership of the superintendent, there's a lot of measuring that goes on. It's really 
important to measure, by the way, and I hope the Congress gets the 
message how important it is that in return for more money, we need to 
have strong accountability systems developed at the local level.
    Cleveland Elementary School, on the Stanford 9, is on par with 
affluent local suburban districts. In other words, it's not just talking 
the talk; the results have improved significantly as a result of 
character programs and focus on each child.
    And I want to thank you for your hard work, Madam Principal, and the results bear out what you just said. There 
is a connection between good character and good education. And we've got 
to remember that in this country. That's why it's important to spread 
character-education programs throughout America.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. I think we've got a perfect gentleman here. Tell us 
about your program, Isaiah, can you?
    Third Grade Student Isaiah Greene. Yes. 
The program teaches us how to be--how to respect women and how to 
control our attitude.
    The President. And when do you meet? How often do you meet?
    Isaiah Greene. When I was there, we used 
to meet in the afternoons.
    The President. Oh, good. And so who is--teaches you how to respect 
women? Is that what you just said? And is it working?
    Isaiah Greene. Yes. [Laughter]
    The President. How about Mom?
    Isaiah Greene. Yes.
    The President. You listen to your mom?
    Isaiah Greene. Yes.
    The President. I listen to mine. [Laughter] How about you, Mom?

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Is he studying?
    Nicole Keller. He's studying hard. He's 
very----
    The President. That's great.
    Ms. Keller. ----excited about his 
schoolwork and all that he does.
    The President. He's going to college, 
isn't he?
    Ms. Keller. That's right. Yes, he is.
    The President. Have you got anything to add to that, Isaiah? [Laughter]

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Well, I want to thank our panelists. I believe 
America can conquer any problem we're faced with. I truly believe that, 
because this is a loving country. There's a lot of people who really 
care about members of the Young Gentlemen's Club, whether it be at 
Cleveland Elementary or any other elementary. There are a lot of people 
who really care about their neighbor in this country.
    All of us have got to do our part. The Federal Government can put 
money up, but we can't make people love one another. And that's 
something we've just got to understand in our country, that we can fund 
programs--and we will. There will be a lot of discussions about what 
gets funded and what doesn't get funded, and this, that, and the other. 
But the truth of the matter is, the issue is bigger than budgets. The 
issue is about whether or not loving people in America want to help 
somebody in need.
    And I think so. And to the extent that you all are helping, I want 
to thank you from the bottom of my heart. One of my missions is to 
encourage mentoring programs all across the country. One of our missions 
is to make sure that boys and girls

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whose mother or dad may be in prison finds a mentor, somebody to love 
them. One of our missions is to teach--is to help teach children right 
from wrong so that they can enjoy the great fruits of the greatest 
country on the face of the Earth. And to the extent you're helping, I 
thank you from the bottom of my heart.
    Thank you all for coming. I look forward to getting to shake hands 
with the members of the Young Gentlemen's Club, if that's okay with you.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 3:12 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Anthony A. Williams of 
Washington, DC; Paul L. Vance, superintendent, District of Columbia 
Public Schools; Annie R. Mair, principal, Cleveland Elementary School; 
NBA Washington Wizards player Jahidi White; Elayne Bennett, founder, 
Best Friends Program; Nicole Keller, mother of Isaiah Greene; and Robert 
Howard, founder, Young Gentlemen's Club.