[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 15 (Monday, April 16, 2001)]
[Pages 606-608]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Parental Empowerment in Education

April 12, 2001

    Thank you very much. Please, be seated.
    Well, Reverend Flake, thank you very much. It's an honor to be with 
you again. This city really misses Floyd Flake. But Jamaica, Queens, is 
better off for him being there. [Laughter] He's a visionary. He 
understands a different kind of power than politics. And the community 
in which he is associated is better off, and I'm honored he's here, and 
I want to thank all the leaders who are here, as well. And I want to 
thank you all for coming.
    I really appreciate the contributions toward educational excellence 
that the folks on this stage are making and that you all are making all 
across the country. It's an honor to have you at the White House.
    I believe this--and I know we share the same principle--that no 
child, whatever their

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parents' income or whatever their background, should be condemned to a 
failing school. Our public schools have put generations of the 
disadvantaged and generations of immigrants on the path to a better 
life. They are essential institutions. But too many are in trouble.
    Just a week ago we learned that less than a third of the Nation's 
fourth grade students are proficient at reading. And there is a growing 
gap between the highest achieving readers and those who scored the 
lowest on the test. Students who score in the top 10 percent of the 
NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, scored 
slightly higher than in 1992, while those in the bottom 10 percent 
scored lower.
    This is a serious problem that requires serious focus and a serious 
effort of change. We have spent $125 billion of Title I money over 25 
years, money spent on low income students. And if the truth be told, we 
have little to show for it. This is not just wasted money; more 
importantly, it is wasted potential and wasted hope.
    America's schools are increasingly separate and unequal, and that is 
unacceptable in our great land. We must do more than tinker around the 
edges. We must all come together and fight for real reform and real 
change. Effective education reform requires both pressure from above and 
competition from below. We must challenge schools with higher standards 
and arm parents with better options. I'm asking that every State have a 
real accountability system, meaning that they test every child, every 
year, in grades three through eight, on the basics of reading and math. 
Without yearly testing, we don't know--we don't know who's falling 
behind and who needs help. Without yearly testing, too often we don't 
find failure until it is too late to fix.
    One of the greatest benefits of testing is the information it gives 
to parents. Given that information, more parents will be involved, 
becoming participants, not spectators in the education of their 
children. Armed with that information, parents will have leverage to 
force reform.
    Yes, we also need to empower parents by giving them more options and 
more influence. And my administration, with the help of a lot of folks--
some of them Republicans, a lot of them Democrats--[laughter]--are 
pushing toward that goal. I don't view this as a partisan issue. I view 
this as incredibly important public policy that rises above politics.
    People on the Hill who will decide the shape of the Federal 
legislation must understand that supporting parents and giving them 
options is not a partisan issue; it's a people issue. And here's some 
ideas that I hope the Congress listens to. First, I'm an enthusiastic 
supporter of charter schools. Charter schools are beginning to change 
our understanding of public education, no question about it. These 
schools are public, because they're publicly funded and publicly 
accountable for results. The vision of parents and teachers and 
principals determines the rest. And the competition charter schools 
oftentimes provide can serve as an agent to strengthen other schools. 
You see, you hear a lot of talk about, well, we can't have charter 
schools or choice because some school is going to be left behind. That's 
got it backwards. [Laughter] Excellence in neighborhoods means 
excellence in another neighborhood. It means raising the bar.
    Ours is an administration that wants the Congress to provide funding 
to assist charter schools with startup costs, facility costs, and other 
needs associated with high quality schools. My budget offers 150 million 
in additional funding next year for the priority of encouraging the 
growth of charter schools all around the country.
    Secondly, the education proposal I submitted to Congress gives 
alternatives for students trapped in persistently dangerous schools. 
States must report to parents whether or not the schools are safe. And 
if safety does not improve, students must get the option of attending 
another public school.
    Third, Congress is considering legislation that would allow Title I 
funding to follow children after a failing school has failed to improve 
after a reasonable period of time. If a child--if a school receives 
Title I funding and progress is not being made--in other words, the 
school refuses to change; the schoolchild is trapped in failure--then 
the money, the Federal money attributable to that child should follow 
the child. And the

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parent should be able to make a choice of any kind of school that he or 
she wants to send her child to.
    I vigorously campaigned on this idea because I think it is right. 
And it's an idea that I remain strongly committed to. I don't believe 
the Federal Government should fund persistent failure. I think there's a 
role for Federal Government in funding education, but we need to do 
better than we've done in the past. We need to encourage accountability. 
And when we find success, we need to thank the teachers and principals. 
When we find failure, we must give parents different options--different 
options.
    We've also submitted a plan to increase education savings accounts, 
to expand them from $500 to $5,000 a year. And parents will be able to 
use these funds for any educated-related expense, from kindergarten to 
college and beyond.
    The goal of these reforms is to ensure that every child in every 
school receives a quality education. That's the goal. And it's time we 
moved beyond the old arguments and old divides to make sure that we 
fulfill our duty that no child in America is left behind. It is time to 
set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-
calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices for 
their children. We can do better in America--we can do better.
    I realize that all the differences between parties and people on 
different sides of the choice issue will not dissolve overnight. I 
understand that, and so do you. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't 
continue to fight for good ideas and herald a philosophy that is 
eminently fair and hopeful and optimistic for every single child, 
regardless of their neighborhood or their income status.
    That's what this is all about. It's really about the promise of 
America, what America should be about. And that's providing hope and 
opportunity for every single citizen, regardless of where you're from. 
There are some encouraging signs; there are. Slowly but surely, people 
are beginning to understand the logic behind accountability, the 
understanding that we can't accept failure, the need to trust 
individuals to make right decisions for their children. Slowly but 
surely, people are hearing that message. And I want to thank you for 
your help.
    I have come to realize that ordinary folks can have a big influence 
on the process in Washington, DC, that ours is a responsive democracy, 
and that you're only one e-mail away--[laughter]--from telling somebody 
how you think. And it's helpful--it's helpful. We're doing the right 
thing. We're doing the right thing for our country.
    I believe we can get positive results out of the Congress. I believe 
we can make progress toward reforming a system that is working in some 
places and not working in others. I know we can have quality education 
for every child. And when we do, this great land of ours--by the way, 
the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth--will be even greater. 
We'll be even greater.
    Thank you for coming, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:35 a.m. in Presidential Hall at the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he 
referred to former Representative Rev. Floyd H. Flake, senior pastor, 
Cathedral of the Allen A.M.E. Church in Jamaica, New York. The President 
also referred to Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 
(Public Law No. 103-382), which amended Title I of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Public Law No. 89-10).