    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [April 2, 2002]
    [Pages 535-539]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

     Remarks at Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County, in Media
    April 2, 2002

        Gosh, thanks for that warm welcome. It's an honor for me to be here
    today to talk about a subject that's dear to my heart and a subject very
    important to the country, which is the education of every child in
    America.
        I just had the honor of meeting with a panel of experts from not
    only the State of Pennsylvania but from around the country: teachers,
    soon-to-be teachers, people who deeply care about the education of every
    single person. I want to thank them for their input. I want to thank
    them so very much for their idealism. And I want to thank you for your
    commitment to our country.
        Three months ago I had the honor of signing what is called the No
    Child Left Behind Act. It's a piece of education reform, and I believe
    we'll have--it was the beginning of a new era of education in America.
    Through high standards and accountability, we're going to make sure that
    every school in America is ready to teach.
        Now we must take another essential step. We must make sure that
    every child enters school ready to learn--every child--not just one, not
    just a few, but every single child. On this issue we know what works,
    and we know our responsibilities. As parents, teachers, and caregivers,
    we must give our children the lifelong gift of early learning. And today
    I'm here to outline specific measures to help meet that goal.
        Before I do so, I want to say how sorry I am that my wife,
    Laura, isn't with me. The reason why is because
    early childhood education has been a lifelong mission of hers. In Texas
    and in Washington, she is a strong advocate for reading to our Nation's
    youngest children. She will work to bridge the gaps between scientists,
    policymakers, and caregivers on this issue. I'm grateful for her
    leadership. America is beginning to understand why I asked her to marry
    me. [Laughter] A lot of people are still wondering why she said yes.
    [Laughter]
        I'm also honored to be traveling today with Rod Paige, who's the Secretary of

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    Education. You know, when I came to--I was trying to figure out who best
    to serve in that important position. I wanted somebody who had worked in
    the trenches. Rod was the superintendent of schools in the Houston
    Independent School District. He believed in setting high standards for
    every child and believed strongly in accountability. And his record was
    a good one, because more and more children were learning. And so I'm
    honored that Rod took time out of his life to come up to Washington, DC,
    to serve our Nation, and he's doing a fine, fine job.
        I want to thank Dr. Spanier, Graham
    Spanier, for his hospitality. It's good to see you again, sir, and thank
    you for being the president of Penn State. I want to thank Ed
    Tomezsko, Dr. Tomezsko, for his
    hospitality on this beautiful campus. Thanks for letting us come.
        I appreciate my friend the Senator from Pennsylvania, Arlen
    Specter, for being here as well. Thank you.
    The Governor of Pennsylvania, Mark Schweiker,
    is here. Thank you, Governor, appreciate you being here. And I want to
    thank the attorney general, Mike Fisher, for
    being here as well. And I want to thank my friend the Congressman from
    this part of the country, Curt Weldon. I
    appreciate you being here, sir.
        I have constantly reminded America that one way to fight evil is to
    do some good. If you're interested in helping our country, love a
    neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. Today, out at the
    airport, I got the honor of meeting a fellow named Stan
    Braxton. Stan used to work for IBM. And he's
    retired, but he hasn't quit working, because what he decided to do was
    to help make people's lives better. He works in an after-school program.
    He provides technical assistance to nonprofit organizations in the
    Philadelphia area. I appreciate you coming, Stan. Do you mind standing
    up for a second? [Applause] Thank you for coming.
        Out of this incredible evil done to our country is going to come
    some good. I truly believe it. And part of the good is that the armies
    and the soldiers--the soldiers in the armies of compassion are going to
    increase all around America. More Stans will say, ``What can I do to
    help America?'' Stan is a living example of
    somebody who puts service to mankind ahead of his retirement, for
    example. And so, Stan, thank you for serving as a great example for our
    country.
        You need to know that even though the subject of today's talk is
    early childhood development, I am going to be relentless and tireless in
    our pursuit of justice and to make sure the homeland is secure. We fight
    for not only the security of our country; we fight for freedom. We love
    freedom in America, and we will defend freedom at all costs. And we long
    for peace. We want peace all around the world. In order to make sure the
    world is peaceful, we must stand strong against terror and rout out
    terror wherever it exists. And as the war continues, though, it is
    important for our Nation to remember we have other important
    responsibilities. As we fight to defend our ideals, we must also work to
    realize those ideals.
        We stand for equal opportunity. It's one of the ideals we believe
    in, in America. And equal opportunity demands schools that are effective
    and excellent. We must give all our children, every single child in
    America, the basics of knowledge and character, and we must leave no
    child behind. My administration will not be distracted from these goals.
    As we fight for freedom, I also understand that freedom means no child
    in America will be left behind. The new civil right in America is
    reading.
        We made a tremendous start in our country when it comes to education
    reform, because of the hard work of both Republicans and Democrats. I
    signed a significant piece of legislation that sets high standards,
    requires assessment in grades three through eight, accountability to
    determine whether or not our children are actually learning. And if they
    are, we will have the basis

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    to praise the teachers who are working tirelessly to see so. But if not,
    we'll have the capacity to correct problems early, before it's too late.
        This bill offers new resources to schools, a lot of new resources to
    encourage success and options for parents in the case of failure.
    Accountability is now at the center of American education, because we
    believe every child can learn in America. We don't accept excuses, and
    we want to make sure no child is left behind.
        Yet, for accountability and annual assessments to mean something,
    all children must start school with the basic skills necessary for
    learning. In order for this piece of reform to really work, we've got to
    make sure that every child starts at the same point. If we expect
    achievement from every child, all our children need to begin school with
    an equal chance at achievement, is what I'm saying. Every child must
    have an equal place at the starting line--not some children, not just
    those who live in rural Pennsylvania, and not those who live in urban
    Pennsylvania or vice versa. Every child--that is the national goal.
        From years of research--and as I say, this campus has today hosted
    some of the great researchers in America--we know what an equal chance
    at achievement means. It certainly means encouraging a child's social
    and emotional development. No question about that. But it also means
    that children, before entering school, know letters of the alphabet and
    begin to know the sounds these letters make.
        They must learn what the written word looks like and must build a
    strong vocabulary. And they must be excited about reading, because
    they've seen others do it. The way to make a child excited about reading
    is for them to watch others read, like their parents. Reading is the
    foundation for all of learning, and that foundation is built early by
    exposing young children to the wonders of books and the uses of
    language. Reading to a child early and often can change a child's life.
        Like many parents, Laura and I saw this firsthand. Ever since our
    twins, our twin daughters, were toddlers, we would read to them at every
    possible opportunity. Sometimes, when I sleep at night, I think of ``Hop
    on Pop.'' [Laughter] We found it to be fun, and it's important for
    parents to understand that it's a part of the responsibility for being a
    good mom or a dad to read to your children.
        But it's more than just fun. It is a vital preschool learning
    experience. Consider this amazing finding: 10th grade reading scores can
    be predicted with surprising accuracy from a child's knowledge of the
    alphabet in kindergarten. Think about that. We can pretty well predict
    how well a child will read in the 10th grade if that child has been
    given a--whether or not the child has been given a good education early
    in his or her life.
        A child who cannot identify the letters of the alphabet in his or
    her first year of school runs a real risk of staying behind in school
    throughout her or his career. We cannot accept this in America. To close
    the achievement gap in our schools, we must close the early childhood
    education gap in our society. Today I pledge my administration's support
    in working with parents and families, Head Start and childcare centers,
    and our States to achieve this goal. Every child who goes to school,
    every single child, must be ready to learn.
        As many of you know, as I mentioned, parents play a huge role, play
    the most important role. A parent is a child's first and most
    influential teacher--for many children, their only teacher until
    kindergarten. For most parents, helping their child learn is a joy; it's
    not a chore. Yet, learning activities really are not common enough. And
    we must encourage parents in this essential responsibility of preparing
    their children to learn. We must help them.
        Many parents wish their children came with an instruction manual.
    All new parents need good information about child development; that's
    for sure. So later this month,

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    Laura will be launching a series of booklets
    based on the best scientific research that give suggestions on child
    development at crucial early stages of a child's life.
        I've asked the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services and Agriculture to make these
    publications widely available to families with newborns all across the
    country. These publications will be offered through a variety of
    programs that serve our Nation's families: WIC clinics, State
    departments of education, State health and human service agencies.
        The White House and these agencies will also have these booklets
    ready, available online. I want to thank Laura
    and those who have helped her design these books for working hard to
    make this an incredibly important issue in America. And all these
    efforts will promote early childhood learning where it matters most--
    right there in the home.
        After parents, Head Start centers have some of the greatest
    potential to encourage early childhood learning. Many of them are
    already doing a terrific job. We had a chance to hear from one such
    center today.
        Laura and I were deeply impressed by the Margaret Cone Center in
    Dallas, Texas, which uses a curriculum rich in pre-reading and
    vocabulary development activities. Before this curriculum was introduced
    in 1994, graduating classes who left the Cone Center and entered the
    local public schools scored as low as the 21st percentile on the Iowa
    Test of Basic Skills. After 1994, after this scientific-based curriculum
    had been introduced, Cone classes have scored as high as the 94th
    percentile in vocabulary and reading. It matters what the curriculum is
    in these centers. Head Start centers are a Federal responsibility, and
    we're determined to encourage the kind of quality that we see in centers
    such as the Cone Center.
        We must focus Head Start on the pre-reading and language development
    of children, so the Department of Health and Human Services will
    implement an accountability system for every Head Start center in
    America. In addition to providing essential health and social services,
    centers must enhance activities for children to acquire language and
    number skills. These activities can and should be done in ways that are
    appropriate for younger children, in ways that work.
        Every Head Start center in America must teach these skills and must
    demonstrate that its teaching is effective. We want to make sure that we
    understand--that the Head Start programs understand--we know what works.
    We want to measure the input. We want to say that in return for Federal
    taxpayers' help, we expect you to be providing the foundation for
    reading and math.
        And to help Head Start centers meet these standards, we'll begin a
    major new effort to prepare Head Start teachers. In order for this to
    work, we must give our Head Start teachers the tools necessary to meet
    our goal. Our goal is to reach the nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers
    over the next 12 months by giving them the tools necessary to teach
    basic skills to our children.
        This summer the Department of Health and Human Services will give
    intensive, research-based training to 2,500 early literacy specialists,
    who will then instruct Head Start teachers around the country. And
    starting today, we'll distribute a guidebook for early childhood
    educators and caregivers. It's called ``Teaching Our Youngest.'' It
    contains proven teaching activities to help children develop their
    language abilities, increase their knowledge, and discover a love for
    books and reading and learning.
        We're also asking States to do their part. The Federal Government
    provides States with considerable funds for childcare. In fact, over the
    past decade, Federal funding for early childhood programs has nearly
    tripled. Yet, many children are still showing up in kindergarten not
    ready to learn. That's going to change.
        We propose that States receiving these Federal funds must submit a
    plan to promote early childhood education. States

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    must take steps to provide pre-kindergarten programs with guidelines on
    pre-reading and literacy skills, and they must have a plan to expand the
    training of childcare and preschool teachers in their State.
        Just as States care about health and safety of children's bodies,
    they must also care about the health and progress of the children's
    minds. I know your Governor cares a lot about that here in Pennsylvania.
        Anyone who is serious about educational reform must be serious about
    early childhood education. If we want all our children reading by the
    third grade--and that's what we want--then all our children must be
    ready to learn on their first day of school. This will require Americans
    to work together--families, teachers, caregivers, civic groups, along
    with government on every level.
        I look forward to working with leaders in Congress on this important
    issue, especially Senators Kennedy and
    Gregg, and Congressmen Boehner and Miller. Here's what I think:
    Where America's children are concerned, there is no Republicans or
    Democrats, only moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, all eager to help
    our youngest citizens succeed.
        As we try harder to serve our children better, we ought to keep in
    mind the wise words of Theodore Geisel--he, better-known as Dr. Seuss,
    the guy who wrote ``Hop On Pop.'' [Laughter] ``Children want the same
    things we want, to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and
    delighted.'' We want our children, even the youngest children in
    America, to be challenged and entertained and delighted by learning.
    This is a responsibility of every parent, and it's a great calling for
    our great country.
        Thank you for coming, and may God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:43 p.m. in the school's gymnasium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Edward S.J. Tomezsko, campus executive officer,
    Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County; and Mike Fisher, State
    attorney general of Pennsylvania. The Office of the Press Secretary also
    released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.