    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [July 7, 2003]
    [Pages 839-843]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Highland Park Elementary School in Landover, Maryland
    July 7, 2003

        Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please. Windy, thank you very much. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of your
    dedication. It is a great country where Windy can come from a Head Start
    program and is now a leader in the movement to make sure Head Start
    fulfills the promise of the program.
        First, I want to thank the good folks here at Highland Park
    Elementary School for letting me come by and see a program which works.
    I don't know if the people in the State of Maryland know this--I know
    the Governor does--that the teachers
    here and the program here uses a strategy, what they call a Center for
    Improving Readiness for Children, Learning, and Education, C.I.R.C.L.E.,
    which is a model program. It's a program that incorporates profound and
    simple reading lessons necessary to lay the foundation for future
    readers. And it's a program that's working. There is a strong emphasis
    on learning. There is obviously the continued Head Start focus on good
    nutrition and health care. This program also works well because the
    parents are involved.
        So, I've really come to say a couple of things. One, I want to thank
    the good folks at this learning institution for your focus and
    dedication. I also want to say that this is possible, this program is
    possible, to be spread around the country. I mean, this is what we need
    to do. That's what we're here to talk about. We're really here to talk
    about how to make sure Head Start works.
        I'll never forget the lady in Houston, Texas, who stood up at one
    time and she said, ``Reading is the new civil right.'' Her point was, is
    that if you can't read, it is hard to access the greatness of America.
    And if reading is the new civil right, a good place to start with civil
    rights is at the Head Start programs all across the country.
        And that's what we're here to talk about, how to make then work
    better. They're working okay. We want better than okay in America. We
    want excellence. Windy understands that, and I want to thank her for
    working with my Secretary for the Department of Health and Human
    Services, Tommy Thompson. I appreciate you
    coming, Tommy.
        And I appreciate my friend Rod Paige.
    He's the Secretary of Education. If you noticed, the two Secretaries are
    here, Health

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    and Human Services and Education. The idea is to combine both focuses,
    both Departments into one when it comes to Head Start. The Head Start
    program will stay under Tommy's purview,
    but we want it to become an Education Department as well.
        I mean, after all, you've got a million kids gathered together at
    one time during the day. If you've got a million kids that may be, as
    they call them in the education world, at-risk readers, let's get it
    right early then. That's what we're saying. And that's what this
    initiative is attempting to do.
        I appreciate Bob Ehrlich, the
    Governor of this great State. He knows what he's doing when it comes to
    education. He's got a great wife, the first lady, Kendel, with us as well. Governor Ehrlich sets high standards.
    He challenges what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. He
    understands if you lower the bar, assign certain kids to failure based
    upon demographics, that's precisely what you'll get in the State of
    Maryland. So he said, ``We ought to raise the bar.'' He believes every
    child can learn. And so does the Lieutenant Governor, Michael
    Steele. They understand that high
    standards will yield high results. And the best place to start in
    achieving high standards is with the littlest of children.
        I want to thank very much Congressman John Boehner for coming today. The Congressman is not from Maryland;
    he's from Ohio. But he's an important figure since he's the chairman of
    the House Education Committee which is marking up legislation which will
    help us spread excellence to the Head Start programs all across the
    country. Congressman, thanks for coming. I look forward to continuing to
    work with him.
        He also is one of the authors of what we call the No Child Left
    Behind Act, which I'll talk about a little bit later. But the No Child
    Left Behind Act essentially says we expect every child to learn, and
    there is going to be high standards and strong accountability measures
    to every State in the Union. In return for increased Title I funding and
    in return for an increase in the Federal budget of elementary and
    secondary schools act money, we expect results. You see, we're not going
    to just spend money and hope something positive happens. We're going to
    spend money and see results.
        Well, if you believe in high standards and accountability, then it's
    really important to get the young kids up to the starting line at the
    same time. And that's why the Head Start reforms we're going to talk
    about are important, the reforms which John
    and his committee are carrying to the floor of the House relatively
    soon.
        I want to thank Nancy Grasmick, who is
    the State superintendent of schools in Maryland. I'm honored that you're
    here. Thank you for coming, and thank you for taking on a tough job. I
    appreciate Andre Hornsby as the
    superintendent of schools, an even tougher job. Government closest to
    the people is sometimes government that's the hardest. And I want to
    thank Guylaine Richard, who is the program
    director for the Head Start. I appreciate, Guylaine, you opening up this
    chance for me to come and see a program which works.
        I want to thank Lori Ellis, the principal.
    When we leave, she can take a deep breath and relax and say, ``Thank
    goodness the entourage has departed.'' [Laughter] I appreciate the--
    Tonya Riggins, who is the Highland Park Head
    Start Center coordinator. I want to thank Lisa Dunmore and Alice Williams, the two
    fine teachers we had to meet. For the teachers who are here, thank you
    for doing what you're doing. You're a part of a noble profession, an
    incredibly important profession for the future of this country. You know
    what I know, that reading is the key to all learning. It's where you've
    got to start.
        And the research--I see some of my friends from the National
    Research Council, National Institutions of Child Health who are here.
    Reid Lyon is an expert. He's

    [[Page 841]]

    not a political person. He's a scientist. He understands how the brain
    works, and he's spent a lot of time analyzing what works and what
    doesn't work. He caught my attention when I was the Governor of Texas. I
    would ask him a question, ``Are you sure we can teach kids, you know,
    the so-called impossible-to-teach?'' He said, ``Sure, I know it. I'm
    absolutely certain.'' And so he started doing
    research to convince the people about the real future. And he says
    that--he and his fellow researchers--that preschoolers can learn much
    more than we ever thought possible about words and sounds.
        In other words, society limited how much a certain--how much a
    preschooler could learn. At least our imaginations weren't very open. It
    kind of felt like certain things were impossible to--certain knowledge
    was impossible to impart to our children, particularly the young.
        And so I want to thank Reid and the good
    folks who are focusing on science, who have opened up a tremendous realm
    of possibility now to achieve that which we want, a literate America. He
    also says there--he and other researchers say, and this is just as
    important, kids love to learn. They love to learn to read. Even the
    youngest child can learn that we read words and letters from left to
    right or that letters are associated with sounds; even the youngest of
    toddlers can figure that out over time.
        In one exercise, children clapped for each syllable in a word. They
    can trace letters on the page to begin to understand the movements we
    use to write. They can play word games and learn rhymes and songs that
    help them to develop their own vocabulary. That sounds like a simple
    curriculum, but it is research-based, all aimed at laying the foundation
    for children to become good readers. These are what we call the building
    blocks, and these building blocks need to be a part of Head Start
    programs all across America. That's the mission. That's the goal.
        Research also shows that if children do not develop these skills
    before they reach kindergarten, they will struggle to achieve success in
    their lives. Now, we need to listen to that kind of research in America.
    If the scientists come together and say, ``If we fail in our mission to
    give children the foundation necessary for reading, they will fall
    behind and may not be able to develop the skills necessary, so they have
    to struggle in life,'' we got a--this is an opportunity that we better
    not miss.
        We cannot let our children down. Now look, Head Start is a great
    opportunity to provide the foundation for reading. And first, I just
    want everybody to understand, Head Start does a good job of giving
    children nutrition and medical care. That has been primarily the focus,
    and the program needs to be applauded for meeting that goal. And nobody
    in this room wants Head Start to change that focus. We just want an
    additional focus to Head Start, and the Head Start focus is teaching the
    basics for reading and math. That's the new focus, along with health and
    nutrition.
        The Department of Health and Human Services did a report, and here
    is what it said: ``Even though most children in Head Start make some
    educational progress, most of them still leave the program with skills
    and knowledge levels that are far below what we expect.'' Now, in my
    line of work, if you see a problem, you address it. And I see that as a
    problem. If we're not meeting expectations, if we're not challenging the
    soft bigotry of low expectations, let's start right now in America. We
    want Head Start to set higher ambitions for the million children it
    serves.
        And so I laid out a plan. Every Head Start center must prepare
    children to succeed by teaching the basics of learning and literacy.
    That's the cornerstone of the plan. And every Head Start teacher must
    have the skills necessary to do so.
        And so we started last year when we launched the Strategic Teacher
    Education Program, STEP, to train 3,300 Head Start

    [[Page 842]]

    teachers and supervisors in the C.I.R.C.L.E. program, which is used
    right here at this school. In other words, it's a go-by. It is a
    curriculum. It's easy to understand. It's easy to teach. It's easy to
    implement. It is not a difficult chore for a teacher to take the basic
    learning from the C.I.R.C.L.E. program developed by the scientists and
    implement it at the Head Start program in which he or she teaches.
        Tonya Riggins, the assistant Head Start
    supervisor at Highland Park, was one of the teachers in the program.
    Tonya and thousands of other trained teachers went back to train other
    teachers at the program. So it's going to--we started with 3,300. Those
    3,300 went back to their local communities and talked to teachers with
    whom they teach how to teach a basic curriculum. It is a--and by the
    way, as new teachers are added, they too will be given the tools
    necessary to teach the program.
        Now, in order to make sure that the C.I.R.C.L.E. program is--and
    other curriculums which work--are being used, is working, I believe
    there needs to be an evaluation program. And after all, if we're
    spending a lot of taxpayers' money, which we are, it makes sense to
    determine whether or not these programs are, in fact, laying the
    foundation for reading.
        Now, I fully understand a 4-year-old child is not going to take a
    standardized test. That would be absurd. That we would--we would be
    defeating the purpose of accountability before we even began if we said,
    ``Okay, we'll give standardized tests to 4-year-olds.'' But we can have
    children assessed by asking simple questions. You know, words go left to
    right. Are you able to identify certain sounds? Are they developed by--
    developing the key skills necessary?
        And I think what needs to happen is--and I hope Congress agrees--
    that the simple evaluations at the beginning of the year and the end of
    the year will tell us whether or not progress is being made in
    developing a curriculum necessary to teach children how to read. And if
    they are, we ought to be praising the programs, and if they're not,
    something else ought to happen. We cannot miss the opportunity much
    longer in America. Otherwise, children will be left behind.
        And so Boehner is here because his
    committee and the Congress is considering legislation that would put a
    new emphasis on language skills and literacy skills in Head Start
    programs. In other words, we're going to codify into law that which we
    have started through the teacher training program.
        The legislation will require Head Start providers to teach language,
    reading, and writing skills, as well as early math skills. In other
    words, it now becomes a part--when they pass the law that says the Head
    Start mission is further defined as an educational mission. And those
    programs that are used must be proven by scientific research. The
    legislation would hold Head Starts accountable for getting the job done.
        Now look, as I mentioned before, the No Child Left Behind Act says
    every child can learn. We're going to have high standards. We're going
    to trust the local people to develop the curriculum, but in return for
    Federal money, we want you to measure to tell us whether or not children
    are learning to read and write. And that's a heavy lift for some
    communities, because there hasn't been a proper focus on the little
    children.
        And therefore, we're asking people to develop an accountability
    system without everybody being at the same starting position. And that's
    why it's so important for preschool programs to be focused on literacy,
    so that when the accountability systems kick in in Maryland or Texas or
    anybody else, we can truthfully say that every child has been given the
    tools necessary to be at the starting line at the same time, so that we
    have true accountability, true measurement. And that's why the Head
    Start program is important.
        Now, there's Governors around the State, the country that have said,
    ``Look, give us

    [[Page 843]]

    the flexibility to be able to dovetail the Head Start program into our
    preschool programs so that all students--so we have a better control
    over whether or not the students are given the skills necessary so that
    when you hold us to account, we can achieve that which we want to
    achieve, which is excellence in the classroom.''
        I appreciate the desire for flexibility. I support the Governors'
    desire for flexibility so long as, one, Federal monies going to the
    States are used only for Head Start. In other words, what we really
    don't want to do is say we're going to focus on Head Start; the Head
    Start money goes for, you know, a prison complex. I know that won't
    happen with Governor Ehrlich, but
    there needs to be a guarantee that the Federal money spent on Head Start
    only go to Head Start.
        Secondly, States and local governments must put money into the
    program, which would lock in the Head Start money for Head Start. So, in
    other words, the flexibility given to the State would not allow the
    States budget flexibility. It's management flexibility to be able to
    take the Head Start program, dovetail into the preschool program, then
    the kindergarten program, and then into the elementary school program.
        Governors ought to have that flexibility to--hope that Congress will
    provide that flexibility so that when the accountability systems kick
    in, fully kick in, that a Governor can truthfully say, ``Well, I've had
    the tools necessary to make sure the Head Start program fits into an
    overall comprehensive plan for literacy and math for every child in the
    State of Maryland,'' in Governor Ehrlich's case.
        This is a very important initiative I'm talking about. It is--it
    seems like to me a fantastic opportunity for the country to make sure
    that the desires of this country are met, and that is, every child
    become a good reader. If reading is the new civil right and human
    dignity and freedom is what this country is all about, let's make sure
    every child learns to read.
        So I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come today. We know
    what works. We've got the pros and the experts that have laid out a
    curriculum that will help us achieve a goal. We've got a million kids
    anxious to learn, showing up on a daily basis at Head Start programs all
    across the country. We've got teachers who want to teach. We're writing
    the checks for the local governments and the local Head Start programs.
    Let's combine it all into a comprehensive strategy that will allow us
    all to say, ``We have done our duty for future generations of children
    by laying the most important foundation of all, and that is the ability
    for each child to learn to read.'' I know it can happen. There's no
    doubt in my mind.
        I want to thank those of you who are working on the frontlines of
    education. I appreciate your willingness to accept a new mission to be
    incorporated with the old mission. And I appreciate your willingness to
    work hard, to see to it that not one single child in America is left
    behind.
        May God bless your work. And may God continue to bless America.
    Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. at the Head Start Center. In his
    remarks, he referred to Windy M. Hill, associate commissioner, Head
    Start Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Department of
    Health and Human Services; Andre J. Hornsby, chief executive officer,
    Prince George's County Public Schools; Guylaine Richard, program
    supervisor, and Tonya Riggins, acting assistant program supervisor, Head
    Start, Prince George's County Public Schools; and G. Reid Lyon, branch
    chief, Child Development and Behavior, National Institute of Child
    Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. The Office
    of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of
    these remarks.