[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[August 29, 2007]
[Pages 1126-1130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Hurricane Katrina Recovery Efforts in New Orleans
August 29, 2007

    The President. Madam Principal, thank you 
for having us.
    Principal Doris Hicks. You're quite welcome. 
It's our pleasure.
    The President. Laura and I are honored to be 
here. During the moment of reflection, it is a time to ask for the 
Almighty's blessings on those who suffered, those who lost a loved one, 
and remember that there's always a more blessed day in the future. And 
that's what we're here to celebrate, a more blessed day. And there's no 
better place to do so than in a place of hope, and that's a school. And 
so we're honored that you would welcome us.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you.
    The President. We love being with your teachers and your students. 
Thanks for being here.
    Governor, thanks for coming. 
Governor Kathleen Blanco is an educational reformer. She has done what 
leaders are supposed to do, and when she sees a problem, address them 
head on and pass law and budget necessary to achieve educational 
excellence. And you've done so, Governor. I congratulate you for your 
leadership.
    I'm proud to be with the Congressman. Jeff, thanks for coming. You care deeply about the 
students of this district, and we're glad you're here.
    I do want to thank Don Powell for 
joining us. Don is the recovery man who represents the White House and 
the administration here in Washington--from--in Louisiana from 
Washington. And I thank you for your service.
    I appreciate the State education superintendent, Pastorek. Superintendent, thanks for coming. He's got a vision 
of excellence for the schools in New Orleans and for Louisiana. He 
shared that vision with us earlier.
    I appreciate Paul Vallas, superintendent 
here in New Orleans, for his willingness to take on this challenge. He 
doesn't view it as a problem; he views it as an opportunity. I first met 
Paul in Chicago, where he was an advocate then like he is today of high 
expectations and strong accountability to make sure every child learns.
    I appreciate Hilda Young; Sister Finnerty, she's the superintendent of the Catholic 
school system here. I thank all the teachers, students, and parents 
who've joined us.
    Hurricane Katrina broke through the levees; it broke a lot of 
hearts; it destroyed buildings. But it didn't affect the spirit of

[[Page 1127]]

a lot of citizens in this community. This spirit can be best reflected 
when you think about a principal who refused to allow a school to be 
destroyed by the flood and worked hard to not only rebuild the building 
but keep the spirit alive. Or it can be reflected in the fact that 
teachers commute. We met a seventh grade teacher today who commutes 30 miles every day to be able to 
impart knowledge and to share wisdom with students who will be leading 
New Orleans in the future.
    And so it's--my attitude is this: New Orleans, better days are 
ahead. It's sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a 
community all the time. Laura and I get to come--
we don't live here; we come on occasion. And it's easy to think about 
what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane and what 
it's like today. And this town is coming back. This town is better today 
than it was yesterday, and it's going to be better tomorrow than it was 
today. And there's no better place to find that out than in the school 
system.
    First, I do want to thank our fellow citizens for their generosity 
when it comes to helping New Orleans and the gulf coast rebuild. The 
citizens of this country thus far have paid out $114 billion in tax 
revenues--their money--to help the folks down here. And I appreciate the 
Governor. Last night we went to--
we had a nice dinner here in New Orleans--by the way, I have yet to 
recover. [Laughter] Dooky Chase's, if you want to eat a lot of good 
food, go there. But during that dinner, the Governor expressed her 
appreciation to the taxpayers of America. In other words, the taxpayers 
and people from all around the country have got to understand, the 
people of this part of the world really do appreciate the fact that the 
American citizens are supportive of the recovery effort.
    Of the 114 billion spent so far and resources allocated so far, 
about 80 percent of the funds have been disbursed or available. And of 
course, Don and I will try to work through 
the bureaucracy in Washington, just like folks down here are trying to 
work through the bureaucracy, to make sure that there are adequate plans 
for the money. And so we're working through this kind of collaborative 
effort of Federal, State, and local folks working together to make sure 
that taxpayers' money is spent wisely on priorities.
    But there's been a commitment--and a strong commitment. A lot of 
people down here probably wondered whether or not those of us in the 
Federal Government not from Louisiana would pay attention to Louisiana 
or Mississippi. In other words, it's one thing to come and give a speech 
in Jackson Square, it's another thing to keep paying attention to 
whether or not progress is being made. And I hope people understand we 
do. We're still paying attention. We understand.
    One of Don Powell's jobs is to make 
sure that the Federal Government understands the hurdles that remain 
to--for recovery. One hurdle was the levee system. We fully understand 
that New Orleans can't be rebuilt until there's confidence in the 
levees. It's one thing to plan; it's another thing to convince people 
that the levees will work. And there's been a lot of effort by the Army 
Corps of Engineers. A matter of fact, Don Powell announced the other day 
that we're going to complete work to improve storm and flood protection 
infrastructure to a 100-year protection level by 2011. And that's a 
commitment, and it's an important commitment to make.
    We're also going to fund $1.3 billion network of interior drainage 
projects to ensure the area has better hurricane protection. In other 
words, there's Federal responsibilities. The levee system is the Federal 
responsibility, and we'll meet our responsibility. And there's a--
obviously, we want to work together with the State and local governments 
as well. Obviously, it's a collaborative effort.
    One of the things that Kathleen and I have been working on a long time is wetlands 
restoration in order to provide more

[[Page 1128]]

protection for the folks down here. We got a good bill out of the 
Congress, and there's an opportunity now for Louisiana to have the cash 
funds necessary to begin a serious and substantive wetlands restoration 
program.
    I appreciate the fact that Al Gonzales was down yesterday, talking about how the Federal 
Government can help on local law enforcement matters. I firmly believe 
local law enforcement is just that--local. It requires a commitment by 
the local folks to hold people to account for crime. But the Federal 
Government can help. And so Al was down yesterday, announcing and 
opening a family justice center to help the victims of domestic 
violence. The VA is going to build a medical center in downtown New 
Orleans as part of the Federal commitment to helping people here 
recover.
    And so I come telling the folks in this part of the world that we 
still understand there's problems and we're still engaged. And 
Don will continue to make sure that we 
listen and respond when possible.
    But let me talk about the school system. There is nothing more 
hopeful than a good school system. And I firmly believe that excellence 
in education is going to be the leading edge of change for New Orleans. 
Margaret Spellings, who is the Secretary 
of Education, understands this concept. The Government has provided 
Louisiana with more than $700 million in emergency education funds to 
help not only the public school system but also the parochial school 
system. And that's money well spent. It's money spent on construction; 
it's money spent on creating incentives for teachers to return; it's 
money incent to make sure children who went to other school districts--
those school districts got reimbursed. It was good money spent because 
education needs to be the number-one priority of the State, just like 
Kathleen Blanco has made that the 
priority.
    New Orleans is about to open 80 schools--nearly 80 schools this 
fall. That's a remarkable achievement, nearly half of which happen to be 
charter schools. I believe in freedom to manage and accountability to 
make sure everybody learns. And that's the essence of the charter school 
movement: freedom to manage, but accountability to make sure no child 
gets left behind.
    And that's the spirit of the superintendent--both 
superintendents here. They believe in high expectations and measuring. 
It's what I call challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. If 
you don't believe that somebody can learn, you'll set low expectations. 
If you believe every child can learn, you'll raise the expectations, and 
then you'll insist upon measurement to make sure that each child is 
tracked, that we disaggregate results. That's a fancy word for making 
sure that we understand whether or not each school is meeting certain 
standards and then help for those that aren't, changes for those that 
aren't, and praise for those that are. And we're at MLK, and we're here 
to heap praise.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you. I agree.
    The President. This is the first public school to open in the Lower 
Ninth Ward. It is a tribute to volunteers, concerned parents, and 
citizens who care about education. It is a tribute to the fact that 
there's teachers who taught in makeshift classrooms during renovations. 
In other words, they care about the buildings, but they care more about 
education and were willing to teach no matter what the circumstances may 
be. And it's a tribute to a principal----
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you.
    The President. ----who had a clear vision.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you.
    The President. And so we're here to herald excellence and to thank 
the good folks in this community for supporting this school, with the 
understanding that this school is one of the great beacons for hope.
    I want to thank the educational entrepreneurs who've joined us, 
those who are

[[Page 1129]]

in the process of helping find new teachers. Teachers--there was a great 
concern obviously when schools were reopening as to whether or not there 
would be enough teachers. And people responded. People responded to the 
call to help provide, at a grassroots level, the support necessary to 
encourage people to teach. TeachNOLA is such an example. If you're 
interested in being a teacher, from around the country, get on the 
Internet on teachNOLA and you'll find opportunities to come here to 
Washington--to New Orleans to teach. We've got somebody from Washington 
who came down to help rally support for the school system. Teach For 
America is active in this community.
    The charter school system, by the way, spawns all kinds of different 
opportunities for people to be involved with schools. I think of KIPP 
McDonogh 15 School. It's a high standard school. It is a school that 
says, ``If there are rules that prevent us from teaching, we'll try to 
figure out how to get around them, because what matters more than 
anything is teaching a child.''
    I was impressed that when they got into the school system there, 
when they first got going in this particular school, they extended the 
school day with class every other Saturday. They said, ``What does it 
take to catch up? What do we need to do to meet standards?'' And the 
principal--the former principal put it this 
way: ``It took a hurricane to speed up and really jump-start the reform 
efforts in New Orleans.'' In other words, the hurricane was disastrous 
for many reasons, but it also gave a great opportunity for a new way 
forward, seized by the Governor 
and the superintendents and the principals, by the way.
    Laura and I care a lot about the libraries. 
That's why we're dedicating books. We're proud to be a part of the 
rebuilding of this library. Laura has got a foundation and has 
established the Gulf Coast Library Recovery Initiative, all aiming to 
make sure that these libraries are stocked with books. You ought to 
apply to her foundation, by the way. [Laughter] I think you'll have a 
good opportunity. [Laughter]
    The First Lady. Absolutely.
    Mrs. Hicks. I know.
    The President. I'll try to work it for you.
    Mrs. Hicks. Good. [Laughter]
    The President. I'll never forget, one time when I was Governor of 
Texas, a woman looked at me, and she said, ``Reading is the new civil 
right.'' It had a profound impact on the policies that we have pursued 
since I've been in public office and Laura has 
pursued as a lifelong reader. And that person was right. We've got to 
start making sure those youngsters can read at grade level and stay 
reading at grade level. No better way to send the message that that is a 
commitment, by making sure the libraries are stocked.
    I want to share a story with you about a woman named Rebecca 
Jeanfreau who's here. Where are you, 
Rebecca? There you go; thanks for coming. She was a Boston architect. 
She studied to become an architect and was in a firm. But she is from 
New Orleans. And she started thinking about the community she loved. And 
so she said, ``I needed to act, and I'm ready to act.'' And she came 
back to be a teacher. She left a promising career as a architect to come 
back to a community that she--that is dear to her heart.
    It's that spirit, by the way, that is going to allow me to predict 
with certainty, New Orleans' better days are ahead for the New Orleans 
people. I mean, this is a--and there are stories like Rebecca all over this community, people who have heard a call 
to come back and help. No better way to help, by the way, than to teach.
    But there are all kinds of different ways people can help the people 
of New Orleans and the gulf coast recover. You can contribute to the 
NGOs or the local organizations that are still helping heal hearts. You 
can help with sending books to schools. You can get on web sites to 
determine where the needs are. And if you're a citizen of this country 
who cares about making

[[Page 1130]]

sure this part of the region fully recovers, please participate. Please 
find a way to help and continue to do so.
    So, Governor, I'm honored 
you're here. Laura and I are thrilled to be in 
this school. We're really pleased that MLK School has given us an 
opportunity to herald excellence.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you.
    The President. We care deeply about the folks in this part of the 
world. We ask for God's blessings on the families who still hurt and 
suffer. And we thank God for the recovery efforts that thus far have 
taken place.
    Thank you for your time.

Note: The President spoke at 9:40 a.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology. In his remarks, he 
referred to Rep. William J. Jefferson; Hilda Young, president, Friends 
of King Board; Eric Johnson, seventh-grade math teacher, Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology; and Gary 
Robichaux, former principal, KIPP McDonogh 15 School for the Creative 
Arts.