    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [September 6, 2005]
    [Pages 1401-1402]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Efforts To Assist Students and School Districts Displaced by
    Hurricane Katrina
    September 6, 2005

        The President. Laura and I just had a good
    visit with Secretary of Education Spellings and her team about the--about the school children
    who have been displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. You know, this is
    a time when a lot of families are looking forward to sending their child
    back to school, and their children are excited about school. But a lot
    of those dreams and a lot of that excitement has been upset for a lot of
    students because of the storm.
        Yesterday we went to a shelter in Baton Rouge and met a lot of
    little kids, many of whom are starting school in Baton Rouge. And it's
    indicative of what's taking place across the country. A lot of school
    districts are taking in these children who have had to leave their homes
    and their local districts. And we want to thank the schools and the
    school districts and the teachers and the PTAs for reaching out and
    doing their duty.
        We spent time talking about how to help States absorb the costs. And
    Margaret is working on a plan that we'll
    announce to the country after a while. The other thing that--and by the
    way, they're going to set up a web page tomorrow that will enable people
    from around the country to be able to access the Department of Education
    web page to determine how they can help these school districts that are
    bringing in the new students.
        As well, yesterday, when Laura and I were in
    Mississippi, I ran into a young pharmacy student that had been going to
    Xavier in New Orleans. And Xavier is one of our great universities, and
    she was so excited about going to school and had to come back home
    because of the hurricane. And she was concerned and worried.
        One of the things that people can be assured of is that, one, we're
    reaching out to other universities to encourage them to accept students,
    and many are. And we will--there will be loan forbearance and loan
    extensions. In other words, the Department of Education will help those
    who have--are dependent upon student loans, will help them be able to
    finance their education, will help them--if they're not going to go back
    to school--and we hope they do, but if they choose not to, there will be
    a loan forbearance. In other words, this Education Department of ours is
    going to be flexible.
        I'm confident that this Government of ours will be able to help the
    local school districts, and I'm confident that the local school
    districts will still want to maintain a high standard of excellence and
    make sure every child learns to read and write and add and subtract.
        Laura is going down to DeSoto County,
    Mississippi, to comfort the folks there and to let them know the Federal
    Government is aware of the problems when it comes to education and that
    we will step up and assume our responsibility to make sure every single
    child in this country gets a good education.
        And again, I want to thank the local school districts all around the
    country who are making extraordinary efforts to make sure that the
    children who have been upset by this hurricane are able to find some
    comfort and some solace in the midst of their anguish by being able to
    go to a school.

        Thank you all.

        Q. Can you take a question on energy, sir?

        Q. When is the First Lady going, sir?
        The President. Thursday.

    [[Page 1402]]

    Note: The President spoke at 2:04 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.