    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 24, 2008]
    [Pages 569-575]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based
    Schools
    April 24, 2008

        Thank you all. Aysia, thanks for the
    introduction. You did a fabulous job. I'm told that you're a very hard
    worker who loves school, and it's clear you always wear a smile. She's a
    member of her school's student advisory group, has performed in plays
    ranging from Shakespeare to ``The Lion King,'' writes short stories, and
    as you just heard her explain, she loves all language arts. Well, that's
    good. Some people say I'm pretty artful with language as well.
    [Laughter]
        It is clear she has a promising future because of the education she
    is receiving at Saint Ann's. Unfortunately, thousands of other children
    like her are missing out on these opportunities because America's inner-
    city faith-based schools are closing at an alarming rate. And so that's
    why we've convened this summit, to discuss how we can extend lifelines
    of learning to all America's children. And I want to thank you for
    coming.
        I take this summit seriously. Obviously, you do as well. My
    administration looks forward to working with you. This is a national
    objective, to make sure every child gets a good education. And I really
    appreciate you coming.
        I want to thank my friend and the Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, for joining with us today. I
    thank the Acting Secretary of HUD, Roy Bernardi.
        Archbishop Wuerl, thank you very much,
    sir, for being here. We were just talking about what a glorious week it
    was to welcome His Holiness to America. It was an extraordinary moment
    for all who were directly involved and, I think, an extraordinary moment
    for all of America.
        I got to know Archbishop Wuerl in
    Pittsburgh. I hope I conveyed to him my sense that providing a sound
    education for every child is one of the really important challenges for
    America. I happen to believe it is one of the greatest civil rights
    challenges. I am fully aware that in inner-city America, some children
    are getting a good education, but a lot are consigned to inadequate
    schools.
        And I believe helping these children should be a priority of a
    nation. It's certainly a priority to me. I married a teacher who has worked in inner-city
    schools; I helped raise one as well. And helping

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    inner-city children receive the education they deserve is so important
    as we head into the 21st century, to make sure every child has got the
    skills necessary to succeed. That's what a hopeful country is all about.
        Over the past 7 years, we have worked to strengthen the public
    school system. In other words, we haven't given up on public schools.
    Quite the contrary, we've tried to help them succeed by passing the No
    Child Left Behind Act. In some circles, it's controversial. I don't
    think it should be controversial, however, to demand high standards for
    every child. I don't think it should be controversial to insist upon
    accountability to see if those children are meeting those standards. And
    I don't think it should be viewed as controversial to say to a public
    school, if children are falling behind, here's supplemental services to
    help that individual child catch up.
        As a result of accountability measures, I can now say that eighth
    graders set a record high for math scores. In other words, in order to
    be able to say that, you have to measure in the first place. When I was
    Governor of Texas, I didn't like a system where we just simply guessed--
    you know, ``Do you think the child is learning?'' ``I don't know. Maybe,
    maybe not.'' [Laughter] That's unacceptable, particularly when a child's
    life is at stake.
        We've learned that scores for minority and poor students are
    reaching alltime highs in a number of areas, and that's great. As a
    matter of fact, there's an achievement gap in America that is
    unacceptable. The good news is, it's beginning to narrow. The problem
    is, is that while the No Child Left Behind Act is helping to turn around
    many struggling schools, there are still children trapped in schools
    that will not teach and will not change.
        Today, nearly one-half of children in America's major urban school
    districts do not graduate on time; one-half of our children in major
    urban school districts do not get out of school on time. In Detroit, one
    student in four makes it out of the public school system with a diploma.
    When schools like these fail our inner-city children, it is unfair, it's
    unacceptable, and it is unsustainable for our country.
        And so there are a variety of solutions. One is to work hard to
    improve the public school system. But also another solution is to
    recognize that there is a bright future for a lot of children found in
    faith-based schools.
        The faith-based school tradition is not a 21st-century phenomenon. A
    Quaker school opened in Philadelphia in 1689. A Jewish day school opened
    in New York more than 40 years before the American Revolution. And
    during the 19th century, Catholic schools in our biggest cities welcomed
    children of poor European immigrants. Can you imagine what it would--
    what it's like to be an immigrant coming to America, can't hardly speak
    the language, and find great solace in two institutions: one, church;
    and two, schools? And generations of Americans have been lifted up.
    Generations of the newly arrived have been able to have hopeful futures
    because of our faith-based schools. It's been a--it's a fact. It's a
    part of our history. Frankly, it's a glorious part of our history.
        Today, our Nation's poorest--in our poorest communities, religious
    schools continue to provide important services. And as they carry out
    their historic mission of training children in faith, these schools
    increasingly serve children, you know, that don't share their religious
    tradition. That's important for people to know, that there's a lot of
    students who, for example, may not be Catholic who go to the schools and
    get a great education. That's what we ought to be focused on, how to get
    people a great education.
        In neighborhoods where some people say children simply can't learn,
    the faith-based schools are proving the naysayers wrong. These schools
    are--provide a good, solid academic foundation for children. They also

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    help children understand the importance of discipline and character.
        Yet for all their successes, America's inner-city faith-based
    schools are facing a crisis. And I use the word crisis for this reason:
    Between 2000 and 2006, nearly 1,200 faith-based schools closed in
    America's inner cities. It's affected nearly 400,000 students. They're
    places of learning where people are getting a good education, and
    they're beginning to close, to the extent that 1,200 of them have
    closed. The impact of school closings extends far beyond the children
    that are having to leave these classrooms. The closings place an added
    burden on inner-city public schools that are struggling. And these
    school closings impoverish our country by really denying a future of
    children a critical source of learning not only about how to read and
    write, but about social justice.
        We have an interest in the health of these institutions. One of the
    reasons I've come is to highlight this problem and say to our country,
    we have an interest in the health of these centers of excellence. It's
    in the country's interest to get beyond the debate of public/private, to
    recognize this is a critical national asset that provides a critical
    part of our Nation's fabric in making sure we're a hopeful place.
        And so I want to spend a little time talking about what can be done
    to help preserve these schools and provide, more importantly, a hopeful
    future. And that's what you're going to do after I leave as well.
        First, ensuring that faith-based schools can continue to serve
    inner-city children requires a commitment from the Federal Government.
    Federal funds support faith-based organizations that serve Americans in
    need. So we got beyond the social service debate by saying, you know,
    it's okay to use taxpayers' money to provide help for those who hurt. My
    whole theory of life was, we ought to be asking about results, not
    necessarily process. When you focus on process, you can find all sorts
    of reasons not to move forward. If you, say, focus on results, it then
    provides an outlet for other options than state-sponsored programs,
    which is okay.
        I mean, what I'm telling you is, is that we're using taxpayers'
    money to empower faith-based organizations to help meet critical needs
    throughout the country, critical needs such as helping a child whose
    parents may be in prison understand there's hope; a critical need is
    helping a prisoner recently released realize there's a hopeful tomorrow;
    a critical need is to help somebody whip drugs and alcohol so they can
    live a hopeful life. And we do that in the social services.
        We also provide Federal funds--funding support for institutions of
    higher learning. We're using taxpayers' money to enable somebody to go
    to a private university, a religious university. It's a long tradition
    of the United States of America.
        So my attitude is, if we're doing this, if this is a precedent, why
    don't we use the same philosophy to provide Federal funds to help inner-
    city families find greater choices in educating their children.
        There is a precedent for this called the DC choice initiative act.
    And we've got some advocates here for the DC Choice Incentive Act--I
    know; I've worked with them--and I'm surprised they're not yelling
    again. [Laughter] The law created Washington's opportunity scholarship
    program, which has helped more than 2,600 of the poorest children in our
    Nation's Capital find new hope at a faith-based or other nonpublic
    school. In other words, one way to address the closings of schools is to
    empower parents to be able to send their children to those schools
    before they close.
        And this is a successful program, I think it's safe to say. One way
    to judge whether it's successful is to look at the demand for the
    scholarship relative to the supplies of the scholarship. And there's a
    lot of people who want their children to be able to take advantage of
    this program. As a matter of fact, demand clearly outstrips supply,
    which

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    says to me we ought to expand the program and not kill the program. I
    mean, when you have a--[applause].
        So we'll continue to work with Congress to not only reauthorize the
    program as it exists, but hopefully, expand it so that parents will be
    able to--[applause].
        I also proposed an idea that I really hope Congress takes seriously,
    and that is Pell Grants for Kids. We--this would be a $300 million
    initiative that would help as many as 75,000 low-income children that
    are now enrolled in troubled public schools to be able to go to a school
    of the parents' choice. See, one of the--what's very important to make
    sure that an accountability system works is there's actual consequences
    and outlets.
        And one of the outlets would be, if you're in a public school that
    won't teach and won't change, and you're--qualify--here's a scholarship
    for you to be able to have an additional opportunity. And to me, this is
    a good way to help strengthen the schools that I was talking about that
    are losing. I mean, one way to make sure you don't lose schools is you
    have people that are able to afford the education sustain the cashflow
    of these valuable American assets.
        Pell grants--I want to remind our citizens, Pell grants have helped
    low-income young adults pursue the dream of a college education. And it
    is time to apply the same spirit to liberate poor children trapped in
    public schools that aren't meeting expectations.
        State and local governments can help. Today, more than 30 State
    constitutions include so-called Blaine amendments, which prohibit public
    support of religious schools. These amendments have their roots in 19th-
    century, anti-Catholic bigotry, and today, the legacy of discrimination
    continues to harm low-income students of many faiths and many
    backgrounds. And so State lawmakers, if they're concerned about quality
    education for children and if they're concerned about these schools
    closing, they ought to remove the Blaine amendments; they ought to move
    this part of history.
        There are other things State and local governments can do. I would
    call people's attention to the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax
    Credit--P-E-I-T-C--PEITC--[laughter]--which allows businesses to meet
    State tax obligations by supporting pre-K through 12 scholarships for
    low-income students. It's an innovative way to use the Tax Code to meet
    a national--in this case, State--objective. The scholarships then allow
    children to attend the school of their choice, including religious
    schools. Since 2001, these tax credits have yielded more than $300
    million to help Pennsylvania families. It's an innovative use of the Tax
    Code to meet social objectives. All 12 high schools in the diocese--in
    Pittsburgh, Bishop--have seen increased
    enrollment each year the program has been in place. That's positive.
        And so I would call upon State leaders to listen to what comes out
    of this conference and to think of innovative ways to advance education
    for all children. Faith-based schools can continue to serve inner-city
    children requires a--to see that that happens requires a commitment from
    the business community. It's in corporate America's interest that our
    children get a good education, starting in pre-K through 12th grade.
        In Chicago, a group of Jesuit priests found an innovative way to
    finance children's education called Cristo Rey, and they convinced
    Chicago's businesses to become involved. It's interesting that the
    Jesuits took the initiative. I would hope that corporate America would
    also take initiative. [Laughter] But 4 days of the week, the children go
    to class, and then on the fifth, they report for work at some of
    Chicago's most prestigious firms.
        The businesses get energetic, reliable workers for high-turnover
    jobs. The students get a top-notch education plus real work experience.
    They feel a sense of pride when they leave some of the city's most

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    dangerous neighborhoods for the city's tallest skyscrapers. It's a
    program that is working, and many of the students take that same sense
    of pride and accomplishment to higher education.
        It's interesting to note that Cristo Rey is now involved in 19
    cities. In other words, the good ideas can take hold. The job of this
    conference is to provide a kind of go-by for people who share a sense of
    concern about our Nation's future. And hopefully, from this summit, good
    ideas will be spawning other good ideas--at the Federal level, the State
    and local level, at the corporate level, and then, of course, at the
    citizen level.
        Citizens are--you know, we are a compassionate nation. What I see is
    America at its very best, which is these millions of acts of kindness
    and generosity that take place, and it doesn't require a government law.
    Sometimes it takes a little higher authority than government to inspire
    people to acts of kindness and mercy. But it happens all the time in
    America, it truly does. About one-third of Americans who volunteer do so
    through religious organizations. Many of them happen to be faith-based
    schools, by the way. When you hear about an America that volunteers,
    many of the volunteers are at faith-based schools.
        I was struck by a interesting story that came out of Memphis,
    Tennessee. Ten years ago, private donors gave approximately $15 million
    to the church in Memphis to help revive Catholic schools in the city's
    poorest neighborhoods. Assets exists; they're worried about them going
    away. So rather than just watch schools close, somebody--individuals did
    something about it by putting up $15 million. With the seed money, the
    diocese launched the Jubilee Schools initiative and reopened Catholic
    schools that had been shuttered actually, in some cases, for decades.
    Today, 10 Jubilee schools serve more than 1,400 students. Eighty-one
    percent of these children are not Catholic; nearly 96 percent live at or
    below poverty level.
        With the help from Jubilee scholarship donors, tuition becomes
    whatever the family can afford. And the schools happen to be working as
    well, which is really important. The program--and the reason I can tell
    you is because test scores are up; like, they're not afraid to measure.
    You've got to be a little worried in our society when somebody says, ``I
    don't think I want to measure.'' That's like saying, ``I don't want to
    be held to account.'' The problem with that line of reasoning when it--
    is that when you're dealing with our children, it's unacceptable. Of
    course, you should be held to account. We ought to praise those who
    achieve excellence and call upon those who don't to change so they can
    achieve excellence.
        And so this school system is willing to measure, and it has been a
    great joy for the people of Memphis to watch excellence spread. And I
    want to thank those who have put forth the money and call on all
    citizens to find ways they can contribute with their hearts to help
    educational entrepreneurs succeed--is really what we're talking about,
    isn't it? Kind of innovation--the willing to challenge the status quo if
    it's not working. I call it educational entrepreneurship, so I'd
    consider yourself entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs.
        Faith-based schools can continue to serve inner-city children, and
    sometimes they can get a good boost from higher education. It seems like
    to me it's--when I was Governor of Texas, I tried to get our higher
    education institutions to understand that rather than becoming a source
    of remediation, they ought to be a source of added value. And one way to
    do so is to help these schools early on to make sure that children don't
    slip behind in the basics.
        I was impressed by Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education,
    known as ACE, which prepares college graduates to work as teachers in
    underserved Catholic schools. It's an interesting way to participate in
    making sure the Catholic schools and the faith-based schools stay
    strong, and

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    that is to educate teachers, actually go in the classrooms, and make
    sure that there's adequate instruction available. The people at Notre
    Dame commit to teach for 2 years as they earn their master's degree in
    education. And turns out that when you get a taste for being a teacher,
    that you tend to stay. And so today, there are about 650 ACE teachers
    and graduates who work at Catholic schools across the country.
        And there's a--I like the idea of these higher education
    institutions saying, okay, here's what I can contribute to making sure
    that elementary school and junior high school and high school education
    has high standards and excellence. And one way to do it is to support
    our faith-based schools all across the country.
        And so that's what I've come to talk to you about. Here are some
    ways--I mean, these are levels of society that ought to all be involved,
    and hopefully, out of this meeting, that there's concrete action. We
    didn't ask you to come to Washington just to opine; we came and asked
    you to Washington to set good ideas out there for others to go by,
    because there's a lot of people in our country who share the same
    concern you share. People understand what we're talking about here. This
    is pretty practical stuff. This isn't--these are just down-to-earth
    ideas on how to solve some of our Nation's critical problems.
        And so I'm--let me end with a story here about Yadira
    Vieyra. Yadira's here. She goes to Georgetown
    University, and she said--I heard--I was asking if Yadira was going to
    be here so I could ask her to stand here in a minute, and a fellow told
    me she's a little worried about missing class. So whoever Yadira's
    teacher is, please blame it on me, not her. [Laughter]
        She is a--she was born in Mexico--
    Mexicana. And they moved to Chicago, probably to try to realize a better
    life--I'm confident, to try to realize a better life. Mom and dad had a
    dream to give their family hope. There's no more hopeful place in the
    world, by the way, than the United States of America. We shouldn't be
    surprised when people come to America for a hopeful life. And that's
    what America has been and should be.
        And then we shouldn't be surprised when the parents hope that their
    children get a great education, because there's nothing more hopeful for
    a parent than to know their child is receiving a good education. Well,
    that's what Yadira's folks wanted for her. And
    so when the time came--time for her to go to high school came--they
    wanted something better than a low-performing high school. You know, one
    of the interesting things about the accountability system--a lot of
    people think that their child goes to the finest school ever, until the
    results get posted. [Laughter]
        And it's--the whole purpose, by the way, is not to embarrass
    anybody; it's not to scold anybody. The whole purpose is to achieve
    excellence for every person. And so Yadira's
    parents, I'm sure, took a look at the school system and said, there's a
    better way. And so guess what? She went to Cristo Rey, the program I
    just described to you. And she was challenged by the school's rigorous
    academics.
        If you set low standards, guess what you're going to get--low
    results. If you believe in every child's worth and every child can
    learn, it's important to set high standards and challenge the children.
    And that's what happened in the school she
    went to. She was inspired by great teachers. She said she was motivated
    by the school's amazing job program. And she is now at Georgetown
    University, one of the great schools--universities in America. And guess
    what she wants to do when she leaves Georgetown? She wants to enroll in
    Notre Dame's ACE program. Yadira, thanks for coming.
        You either just got an A--[laughter]--or an F. [Laughter] Either
    case, we're glad you're here--[laughter]--and I love your example. And
    the reason why it's important to have examples--so that we get beyond
    the rhetoric and realize that we're dealing

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    with the human potential. Someday, no telling what Yadira's going to be in life, but one thing is for certain:
    It's going to be a productive citizen, and America will be better for
    it. And so we're glad you're here. Thank you for your spirit. Tell your
    parents thank you.
        And so let me close with what happened at Nationals stadium with His
    Holy Father. He--when he celebrated Mass
    there, one of the objects he blessed at the end of the Mass was the new
    cornerstone of the Pope John Paul the Great High School in Arlington,
    Virginia. Isn't that interesting? I mean, I'm sure there was a lot of
    demands on His Holy Father, but he took time to bless the cornerstone of
    a school.
        And my hope is, is that we're laying cornerstones for new schools
    here or revived schools; that we take the spirit of the Holy Father and extend it throughout the country and work
    for excellence for every child, to set high standards, and when we find
    centers of excellence, not let them go away, but to think of policy that
    will enable them to not only exist, not only survive, but to thrive.
    It's in our Nation's interests. It's an important summit for America.
        I thank you for bringing your talents, your energies, and your
    efforts. I thank you for caring deeply about our young. And I thank you
    for being a part of what I believe is a necessary strategy to make sure
    America continues to be a hopeful place for all.
        God bless you. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:23 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building
    and International Trade Center. In his remarks, he referred to Aysia
    Mayo-Gray, student, St. Ann's Academy, Washington, DC; Archbishop Donald
    W. Wuerl of Washington, DC; and Pope Benedict XVI.