    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [January 8, 2002]
    [Pages 30-34]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts
    January 8, 2002

        Thank you all very much. Thank you, please. You know, I told the
    folks at the coffee shop in Crawford, Texas, that Ted Kennedy was all right. [Laughter] They nearly fell out.
    [Laughter] But he is. I've come to admire him. He's a smart, capable
    Senator. You want him on your side, I can tell you that. And as a result
    of his hard work, we put together a good piece of legislation that has
    put Republicans and Democrats on the side of the schoolchildren in
    America. And Senator, thank you very much for your leadership.
        On September the 11th, my wife was heading
    to--was on Capitol Hill to testify in front of Senator Kennedy. And before she could go testify in front of his
    committee, obviously the evildoers hit America. And I want to thank him
    publicly, in front of his home folks, for providing such comfort to
    Laura during an incredibly tough time. Ironically enough, Judd
    Gregg was there, as well, and both those men went
    out of their way to put their arm around Laura and let her know all
    would be right. So, Mr. Senator, not only are you a good Senator; you're
    a good man.
        Speaking about September the 11th, I want the young folks here to
    know that the mission we are on to rid the world of terror is a noble
    and just mission. I long for peace. But we learned a terrible lesson,
    and that lesson is, we must rout out terror wherever it exists, in order
    for you and your children to grow up in a free and peaceful society.
    This Nation will not tire; we will not rest until we bring those who are
    willing to harm Americans to justice. And that's exactly what we intend
    to do.
        We have a job to do overseas, and our military is performing
    brilliantly. For those of you who have got relatives in the military or
    those of you who are in the military, thank you from the bottom of our
    Nation's collective heart.
        And we've got a job to do here at home, as well, and that's to make
    sure every child in America--every child--receives a good education.

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        Senator Kennedy and I, on the way in
    here, were talking about the Latin School. And I want to thank the
    headmistress Kelley for having us here.
    Thank you very much. After he had finished the litany of all the
    Kennedys that had gone to school here--[laughter]--we talked about the
    quality of education that the kids receive here. And the truth of the
    matter is, if you look at this bill that I signed this morning in Ohio,
    it says this is the way--this is Boston Latin all over again. This is
    what Boston Latin is about. It's about expecting high standards,
    understanding every child can learn, demanding the best, insisting upon
    hard work, rewarding success, solving failure. It is a great school, and
    I am grateful that I could come and herald the signing of an important
    piece of legislation here at this school. This is not only a testimony
    to Senator Ted Kennedy's hard work; it's a testimony to a fine public
    school. Thank you for having us.
        I appreciate the Governor coming, and I know
    the Governor is committed to quality education as well. Jane, thank you
    for being here. I'm honored that members of the Massachusetts
    congressional delegation came. Thank you for taking time out of your
    busy schedules to come by and say hello. I appreciate so very much the
    mayor being here. Mr. Mayor, thank you for
    coming; it's good to see you again. I want to thank all of you for
    coming. I particularly want to thank the students who are here.
        I--you're seeing Government at its best with this piece of
    legislation. I know there's a lot of folks who look at Washington and
    say, ``Can't they ever get along? All they do is argue. All they do is
    call each other names.'' But on this piece of legislation, on this
    important piece of legislation, we figured out how to put our parties
    aside and focus on what's right for the American children. We showed the
    country that, if we so desire, it is possible in Washington to say the
    Nation matters more than our political parties matter.
        That was not as easy as it sounds. [Laughter] It took a lot of hard
    work, and it took the leadership of four fine Americans who are on this
    stage with me today. These four people decided they would rather see
    results than have empty rhetoric dominate the scene. These people said,
    ``Look, we disagree on some issues, but why don't we figure out where we
    agree and get something done.'' And it was in that spirit that we
    crafted a great piece of legislation.
        Big George Miller is out of California. He
    is--he might be considered left in Massachusetts. [Laughter] What do you
    think, Congressman? [Laughter] That's saying something. [Laughter]
    Before I went to Washington, I had a group of the gentlemen come down to
    Austin to talk about education reform, and George and I had a discussion
    about making sure that the systems did not simply shuffle children
    through, that we wanted to call a halt to what some call social
    promotion. I knew right then and there, when I heard his passion about
    focusing on each child, that there was a potential ally when it came to
    writing good legislation.
        And then Boehner from Ohio showed up. He
    did a fabulous job, by the way. I signed the bill this morning in his
    district to really express my gratitude and the Nation's gratitude for
    his leadership on shepherding this bill through the House of
    Representatives. Without John Boehner, without George Miller, this bill never would have made it throughout the
    House, and I want to thank them both from the bottom of my heart.
        And then there's the Kennedy-Gregg alliance. [Laughter] It was
    amazing that it worked, but it did. And the truth of the matter is, the
    bill wouldn't have gotten out of the Senate had not Senator
    Kennedy and Judd Gregg put their minds to it. This bill could have easily have
    stalled. It was a convenient time for people to say, ``Well, we'd better
    not move anything out of the Senate because there's a war.'' But Ted

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    Kennedy and Judd Gregg went to their respective caucuses and demanded
    action. And as a result, the bill came to the Senate floor, passed
    overwhelmingly, and I had the honor of signing it this morning.
        I wish you could have seen the piece of legislation. It's really
    tall. And I admit, I haven't read it yet. [Laughter] You'll be happy to
    hear I don't intend to. [Laughter] But I know the principles behind the
    bill, and I want to describe some of them to you.
        First, this bill says that we will hold people accountable for
    results. It says, in return for receiving Federal money, States must
    design accountability systems to measure--to determine whether or not
    children are learning to read and write and add and subtract. In return
    for Federal money, the State of Massachusetts or the State of Texas or
    any other State in the Union must develop an accountability system to
    let us know whether children in grades three through eight are meeting
    standards. It basically says, every child can learn. And if they're not
    learning, we want to know early, before it is too late.
        Now, I've heard them say, ``Well, tests--we're testing too much.''
    If you don't like to take a test, too bad, because we need to know. We
    need to know whether you're learning.
        I read a quote from a little girl from New York the other day that
    touched my heart, and I hope it touches yours. She said, ``I don't
    remember taking exams. They just kept passing me along. I ended up
    dropping out in the seventh grade. I basically felt no one cared.''
    Well, she was--she's blowing the whistle on what happens in some of our
    schools in America.
        You see, sometimes it's easy to walk into a classroom and say,
    ``Certain children can't learn. Therefore, let's just move them through.
    Let's don't test them. Let's just push them out at the end.'' And that's
    wrong in America. Every child matters; every child should be diagnosed
    on whether or not they can read and write and add and subtract. And if
    they can't, we need to correct their problems early, before it's too
    late. The cornerstone of reform is strong accountability measures, just
    like you do here in the State of Massachusetts.
        Secondly, in order for reform to mean anything, there must be
    consequences. Something must happen if there's failure. Now in this
    bill, it says schools will be given time to correct. After posting the
    test scores and mailing out the report cards that show mediocrity or
    failure, schools will still be given a chance to correct the problems.
    And therefore, we provide incentives and resources to make sure that
    failing schools have got the opportunity to meet standards.
        But if they don't, the consequence is that parents must be empowered
    to make different choices. We must not trap children in schools that
    will not teach and will not change. And so, therefore, this bill says
    parents in failed schools can send their children to another public
    school or charter school or be able to get tutoring for their children
    in either the public or private sector. It is important to free families
    from failure in public education, and that's what this bill does.
        The third principle--it says that we trust the local people to make
    the right decisions for the schools. It says we trust the Governors and
    the school boards to design the path to excellence for every child. It
    says Washington has a role of providing money, and now Washington is
    demanding results. But Washington should not micromanage the process.
    And so, this bill provides a lot more flexibility for the local folks.
    In essence, it says the people of Boston care more about the children of
    Boston than people in Washington, DC.
        Rod Paige understands that. The reason
    I picked Rod to become the Secretary of Education is because he was the
    superintendent of schools in the Houston Independent School District. He
    knows what it means to run a school district. And when we implement this
    bill, I can assure you, Rod is going to make sure that the spirit

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    of ``no child is left behind'' is a part of the regulations. But this
    bill says there--one size doesn't fit all when it comes to public
    schools. It fosters change by pushing power to the lowest level, and
    that is at the local school districts, which should make the teachers in
    this audience feel good.
        First of all, I want to thank all the teachers who are here. Yours
    is a noble profession, and thank you for taking on this tough job. But a
    system that devolves power says we've got to trust the teachers and
    principals to make the right decisions in the classrooms. And that's
    what this bill says.
        This bill also wages a battle against illiteracy. It recognizes that
    spending money is important, but you need to spend money effectively in
    order to make a difference. We've spent a lot of money in education--a
    lot. And a lot of it hasn't made a difference. Well, one area where
    we're going to make a difference from this point forward in America is
    in reading--teaching every child to read.
        The numbers for inner-city kids or impoverished--kids from
    impoverished families--their ability to read, or the illiteracy rate--
    let me put it to you that way--is astounding. It is pitiful. It is not
    right for America that over 60 percent of the children in the fourth
    grade from impoverished families cannot read. If you can't read in the
    fourth grade, you're not going to read in the eighth grade. And if you
    can't read in the eighth, you're not going to read in high school. And
    if you can't read, you've got a tough life ahead of you.
        And we need to do something about it, America, and this bill does.
    It triples the amount of money for early reading programs, programs
    based upon the science of reading, not something that sounds good or
    feels good but something that works. There's money for teacher training.
    There's money for enhanced methodology. There's money that says we're
    going to stay focused until we teach every child to read by the third
    grade in America.
        So those are the principles of a good bill. The bill is not only
    good for education, but it's a good go-by to show what can happen in
    Washington. And that's why the five of us--or the six of us, including
    Rod Paige--have been traveling around the
    Nation today, heralding the success--the joint success-- the success of
    people from both political parties in both Houses of Congress. It shows
    what is possible when people say, ``I want to get something done.''
        I know what's possible when it comes to educating children. You've
    seen it here in your own State, how the numbers have improved
    dramatically. It starts with an attitude that says public education is
    crucial; every child can learn; and we must set high standards. And
    that's what we've got to do in America, it seems like, all over the
    country.
        After 9/11, a lot of people have asked, ``What can I do to help? How
    can I make a difference in America?'' Well, my advice is, first, love
    your children like you've never loved them before. Show them that
    they're the most important people in the world. But a way you can help
    America is to mentor a child, to teach a child to read. You can make
    sure your kids turn off your TV and read. You can make sure that you
    support the public school in your neighborhood. You can make sure you
    thank a teacher. You can help by going into classrooms, to make a
    difference.
        If you're really interested in how to help fight terrorists, if you
    want to make sure that the terrorists aren't able to affect the heart
    and soul of America, support your public schools. Insist upon the best;
    demand accountability, because every child in America can learn. And
    when they do, this country is going to be a heck of a lot better off.
        Thank you for letting me come. May God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:17 p.m. in the Roache Gymnasium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Cornelia A. Kelley, head master,

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    Boston Latin School; Gov. Jane Swift of Massachusetts; and Mayor Thomas
    M. Menino of Boston. H.R. 1, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,
    approved January 8, was assigned Public Law No. 107-110.