    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [September 6, 2003]
    [Pages 1102-1103]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    September 6, 2003

        Good morning. This month, as students across the Nation are starting
    a new school year, parents, teachers, and principals are starting to
    notice a difference in America's schools. The No Child Left Behind Act
    that I signed into law last year is raising standards for student
    achievement, giving parents more information and more choices,

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    requiring more accountability from schools, and funding education at
    record levels.
        The premise of the No Child Left Behind Act is simple: All children
    can learn, and the only way to make sure our children are learning is to
    measure their progress with tests. So the No Child Left Behind Act
    requires regular testing in the basics of reading and math for every
    child in every school, starting in the third grade. And the law sets a
    clear goal for American education: Every child in every school must
    perform at grade level in reading and math, which are the keys to all
    learning.
        To meet this goal, all 50 States and the District of Columbia and
    Puerto Rico have designed accountability plans that have been approved
    by the Department of Education and are now being put into effect in
    America's schools. School districts across America are now providing
    parents with lists of outside tutors who can give extra help at no cost
    to low-income children in underperforming schools. Those parents also
    have the option of transferring a son or a daughter out of a school that
    is not doing the job to a better public school or charter school. And
    soon every community in America will have report cards on every local
    public school, so citizens can measure progress and push for reform.
        While we're demanding excellence from schools, we're also giving
    them extra resources to succeed. Since this new law went into effect, 40
    States have received a total of nearly $1.3 billion in grant money to
    support scientifically based reading instruction in kindergarten through
    the third grade.
        My budget for next year includes more than $1.1 billion for
    effective reading programs, 4 times the amount we were spending on these
    programs when I took office. And overall Federal spending for elementary
    and secondary education is higher than ever before. My budget for next
    year boosts education funding to $53.1 billion, an increase of nearly
    $11 billion since I took office.
        Schools are getting the Federal resources and help they need to
    improve, and parents are getting the information and options they need
    to support reform. And we're just beginning. This new school year will
    be a year of challenges and hard work and great progress. And through it
    all we will keep in mind the focus of all our efforts, our children, who
    deserve an education worthy of this great Nation. Together we will make
    sure that every child learns and no child is left behind.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 8:55 a.m. on September 5 in the
    Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September
    6. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press
    Secretary on September 5 but was embargoed for release until the
    broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of this address.