[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[March 2, 2002]
[Pages 326-327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
March 2, 2002

    Good morning. This coming week I will be highlighting measures to 
help America's public schools carry out the education reforms we enacted 
in Washington earlier this year. Our education reforms require 
accountability and results and give schools greater resources to achieve 
them.
    Parents will have more information about the performance of their 
local schools and more say in how their children are educated. The No 
Child Left Behind Act is historic, ushering in a new era of 
accountability and education, but a lot of hard work is still ahead.
    The effectiveness of all education reform eventually comes down to a 
good teacher in a classroom. And America's teachers are eager to put 
higher standards into action, and we must give them the tools to 
succeed. My administration has set a great goal for our public schools, 
a quality teacher in every classroom.
    We can achieve this in two ways, by attracting capable men and women 
into the teaching profession, and providing teachers the training and 
support they deserve. Over the next decade, America will need more than 
2 million new teachers. The budget I have signed into law for 2002 
includes nearly $3 billion for teacher training, recruiting, and hiring, 
an increase of more than 35 percent over the last year's budget.
    We proposed to expand programs that recruit new math, science, and 
special education teachers by forgiving part of their college loans in 
exchange for a commitment to teach in poor neighborhoods for at least 5 
years. We should open up the teaching profession, allowing people who 
have achieved in other fields, including veterans and parents with grown 
children, to share their learning and experience. And we must upgrade 
the teaching colleges, where many teachers receive their training, the 
topic of a conference that will be hosted by our First Lady on 
Tuesday.
    Today, only 36 percent of teachers, themselves, say they feel very 
well prepared for their jobs, so we'll focus on teacher training efforts 
where the need is greatest, in early childhood education, special 
education, math, science, and reading instruction. Through my 
administration's Reading

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First program, we are placing a new emphasis on the most basic of 
skills, and many of our teachers will need training in the best and 
proven methods of reading instruction.
    Because learning only takes place in an atmosphere of order, we want 
our teachers to be in control of their classrooms. So we're protecting 
teachers from the threat of frivolous lawsuits that often result from 
enforcing reasonable discipline. Because committed teachers often buy 
school supplies for their students out of their own pockets, the budget 
I have proposed includes a tax deduction to cover some of those costs. 
And because I strongly believe in local control of education, I'll 
implement new flexibility for school districts. They'll be able to use 
Federal funds where the local need is greatest, to reduce class sizes or 
improve teacher training or to increase teacher pay.
    In our new era of education reform we're asking a lot of our 
teachers, and we owe them something in return. We must treat them as the 
professionals they are. We must give them our respect and support. 
Teachers are among the most important people in our children's lives, 
and a good teacher can literally make a lifelong difference. I have 
confidence in the education reforms we enacted because I have confidence 
in the teachers who will carry them out.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 10:00 a.m. on February 28 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 2. 
The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on March 1 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
this address.