[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 31 (Monday, August 6, 2001)]
[Pages 1125-1128]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the National Urban League Conference

August 1, 2001

    Thank you all very much. Well, Hugh, thank you very much. I'm 
honored to be introduced by such a good man, and an important leader for 
our country.
    I want to thank the leadership of the National Urban League for 
inviting me. For those of you who don't live here, I welcome you to the 
Nation's Capital. You've come here to hold America to its founding 
promises of justice and opportunity. There are many items on that 
agenda, from economic empowerment, election reform to criminal justice 
reform. Right before we came in the hall I had the opportunity to visit 
with this organization's fine leadership, and my pledge to them and my 
pledge to you is, I'll work together with you to do what's right for 
America.
    Here in Washington we are reaching a moment of decision on one 
issue, an issue that is urgent in every urban neighborhood, the issue of 
education. So this morning, among the Nation's most influential urban 
leaders, I want to speak about the essential choices facing our Congress 
and our country when it comes to the reform of our public schools.
    Again, I thank my friend Hugh Price for the invitation. I thank him 
for his diligence. I thank him for his leadership. I want to thank Ken 
Lewis, as well. I appreciate so very much Leland Brendsel. I want to 
thank Ken Blackwell, the secretary of state of Ohio, and Joe Rogers, the 
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, who are here. I appreciate so very much 
the Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, serving our Nation.
    You know, when it came to picking the Secretary of Education, I 
didn't--wasn't interested in picking a theorist or a philosopher; I was 
interested in picking a doer. And this man has successfully run the 
Houston Independent School District. He raised the standards, challenged 
the status quo when there's failure. That's what he and I are both going 
to do now that we're in Washington, DC.
    I also appreciate so very much Larry Thompson, the Deputy Attorney 
General, for joining us, as well. Thank you, Larry. Where are you, 
Larry? Somewhere out there.
    The men and women of the Urban League know how important our schools 
are, how much good they can do in the life of a child, and how much is 
lost when they fail. You've seen both. The mission of the National Urban 
League is to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil 
rights.
    And successful schools have always been central to that mission. An 
equal society begins with in equally excellent schools. But we know our 
schools today are not equal. The failure of many urban schools is a 
great and continuing scandal. Rarely in American history have we faced a 
problem so serious and destructive on which change has come so slowly.
    The most basic educational skill is reading. The most basic 
obligation of any school is to teach reading. Yet, earlier this year, we 
found that almost two-thirds of African-American children in the fourth 
grade cannot read at basic grade level. For white children, that figure 
is 27 percent. The gap is wide and troubling, and it's not getting any 
better. That gap leads to personal tragedy and social injustice. In 
America literacy is liberation, and we must set all our children free.
    The ability to read is what turns a child into a student. First we 
learn to read, and then we read to learn. When this skill is not taught, 
a child has not failed the system; the

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system has failed the child. And that child is often put on a path of 
frustration and broken confidence.
    For too long, many schools have been content to blame their failure 
on parents, on poverty, on circumstances beyond their control. Year 
after year, children without schools are passed along in schools without 
standards. Some see this social promotion as an act of compassion. It 
is, in fact, a form of discrimination, the soft bigotry of low 
expectations. That bigotry has young casualties, and that bigotry must 
end.
    Listen to the experience of one young girl from New York. She said, 
``In the fifth grade I missed maybe 90 days of school, and they passed 
me with no problem. In the sixth grade I missed maybe 100 days, and they 
passed me with no problem. I don't even remember taking the exam,'' she 
said. ``They just kept passing me along. I ended up dropping out in the 
seventh grade. I basically felt that no one cared.''
    That young woman learned one lesson in school: No one cared. At 
least no one who could help. Millions of children carry that same lesson 
throughout their lives, and we owe them better. We owe all our children 
the pride and promise of learning. We must return the spirit of ambition 
and achievement to all our public schools.
    The Urban League is reaching toward that goal by highlighting 
student achievement, by focusing on early literacy, by encouraging every 
child to read and rise. And our Government must have those same 
priorities.
    Education is a local responsibility; yet, improving our public 
schools is a national goal. And all of us must do our part.
    For nearly 40 years, our Federal Government has tried to improve 
education with money alone. We invested $158 billion in title I 
programs, with great intentions and no measurable result. We've been 
pumping gas into a flooded engine. Just as faith without works is dead, 
money without reform is fruitless.
    Yet, today, after decades of frustration, we're on the verge of 
dramatic reform. Schools must have the resources they need, and I 
support more spending. Local folks must be in charge of local schools, 
because they're closest to the children and their challenges. But most 
of all, we need true accountability, the center piece of reform. 
Consequences for school officials must be determined by proven results 
for children. Those in authority must show responsibility. The purpose 
of education, after all, is not jobs for adults; it's learning for 
students.
    Accountability is an exercise in hope. When we raise academic 
standards, children raise their academic sights. When children are 
regularly tested, teachers know where and how to improve. When scores 
are known to parents, parents are empowered to push for change. When 
accountability for our schools is real, the results for our children are 
real.
    I know this because I've seen it. In Texas, when we first introduced 
accountability measures, only 56 percent of African-Americans fourth 
graders could pass our State reading test. Today, 83 percent of those 
students pass the tests. African-American eighth graders in Texas are 
writing better than their peers in any other State.
    Our Texas State tests require and measure progress amongst every 
minority group. And the great news is, we've gotten progress amongst 
every group in Texas. We saw, supposedly, hopeless schools make major 
progress. We saw students who had been written off find the self-esteem 
of real accomplishment.
    We saw how determined reform can confound the cynics and the 
skeptics. Accountability can work in all of America. And our Federal 
Government must take the side of meaningful reform. Our Government must 
speak for disadvantaged children who are often overlooked and 
underestimated.
    I'm an activist for high standards. I'm an activist for 
accountability. My administration has set a great goal. We will lift the 
load of low expectations so that all children will rise. The United 
States Congress now shares this goal. Our plan passed both the House and 
the Senate with big bipartisan majorities. Our national debate has come 
a long way. But in the short distance we have left, there are some vital 
decisions to be made.
    Our landmark education reform is now in what they call a conference 
committee. We're coming down to the wire. We've got

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to finish strong and make sure the accountability measures are right.
    So today I'm urging the Congress to act quickly and to act wisely on 
three major issues. First, we must begin where the need is greatest and 
focus on the lowest performing schools. The bar for adequate school 
performance must be rigorous, achievable, targeted to all groups, and 
raised gradually.
    No one should ask that all our goals be met overnight. These goals 
must be met over time. If, after 3 years, nothing changes for students 
in a failing school, their parents must be given other options, like a 
transfer to a better public school or private tutoring.
    Now, it's well known I would have preferred those options to include 
funds to attend a private school. Many in Congress, unfortunately, 
disagreed. Yet, we all agree that schools which persistently fail must 
be radically restructured.
    Some of my allies in reform want to require dramatically improved 
performance--immediately, everywhere. I appreciate aiming high, but 
setting impossible expectations means setting no expectations. The 
undoable never gets done. If we identify all schools as failures, we 
won't be able to focus on the greatest needs. If goals are unrealistic, 
teachers will become discouraged instead of challenged, harassed instead 
of inspired. By confronting the worst problems, we direct our energies 
and send a message of reform heard throughout the entire system.
    Second, States must choose their own tests. But within a State, 
those tests must be comparable from place to place and year to year. 
Right now, a State and its districts can use different tests, and that's 
okay by me. But there has to be a way to compare the results of those 
tests to one another. If State accountability systems count easy tests 
from some districts and hard tests from others without a method to 
compare them, parents won't really know who's making progress and who's 
falling behind. Unless there's a fair and consistent measurement among 
schools, there can be no accountability.
    Thirdly, we must have independent evidence that State tests are 
rigorous and State tests are real. Fortunately, we already have a proven 
way to get the independent evidence we need, the National Assessment of 
Educational Progress or the NAEP. NAEP is not new. Over 40 States now 
participate. It's not a national test, and we certainly don't need one. 
But we do need a national report card, and NAEP serves that purpose. We 
need an objective check on State accountability systems, so we need the 
NAEP for every State.
    You know, not long ago, accountability was controversial. Today, the 
concept is widely shared. But to make a difference in the lives of 
children, it must be more than a concept. Accountability must be tough, 
yet realistic and workable. The Congress has some work to do before we 
reach that goal, and the time is running short.
    We're now in August. In 35 days, school starts in New York City; 34 
days, schools open in Oakland, California. In Kansas City, Missouri, 
children report for class in 26 days. Principals and teachers need to 
make their plans for changes that will come immediately and for changes 
that will come next year.
    We're asking a lot of our schools and our teachers and our students. 
They have a big job ahead of them, and so do we, here in Washington. And 
now is the time, Congress, to get the job done.
    Two years ago, when I spoke to the Urban League Conference in 
Houston, my reforms for America's schools were just a set of proposals. 
And now, these proposals are within weeks of becoming reality. I'm 
thanking the Urban League for your support, and I ask you to continue to 
work with Congress to make sure they become the law of the land. I ask 
you to join me in building a system of education worthy of all America's 
children, so that every child has a chance in life, and not one single 
child, in the greatest land on the face of this Earth, is left behind.
    Thank you all for having me, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. at the Washington Convention 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Hugh B. Price, president and 
chief executive officer, Kenneth D. Lewis, vice chairman of the board of 
trustees, and Leland C. Brendsel, trustee, National Urban League. The 
President also referred to title I of the Improving America's Schools 
Act of 1994 (Public Law No.

[[Page 1128]]

103-382), which amended title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (Public Law No. 89-10).