[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 4 (Monday, January 28, 2002)]
[Page 94]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

January 19, 2002

    Good morning. On Monday, communities across America will celebrate 
the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Laura will visit 
Atlanta to commemorate the day in Dr. King's hometown. I will welcome 
Dr. King's family to the White House. This year's observance is an 
opportunity to celebrate the contributions of Dr. King and honor the 
principles for which he lived and died.
    Americans can proudly say that we have overcome the 
institutionalized bigotry that Dr. King fought. Now our challenge is to 
make sure that every child has a fair chance to succeed in life. That is 
why education is the great civil rights issue of our time.
    So my administration worked with Republicans and Democrats to enact 
into law the most far-reaching educational reform in a generation. We 
are insisting on high standards for all our children. We're putting a 
new emphasis on reading as the first step toward achievement. We're 
offering teachers new training, and States and localities new 
flexibility. And we're going to measure and test how everyone is doing 
in our new accountability system, so we can get help to children before 
it is too late.
    We have a special obligation to disadvantaged children to close the 
achievement gap in our Nation. In my next budget, I will propose an 
increase of $1 billion for the Federal program that aids disadvantaged 
schoolchildren. That's on top of the 18 percent increase in last year's 
budget. In fact, Federal spending on Title I will increase just about as 
much in the first 2 years of my administration as it did in all the 
previous 8 years combined. I hope Congress will approve this request.
    At the same time as we fund Title I, we're giving extra help to 
children with special needs. The Federal program for special needs 
children was established by the law known as IDEA, the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act. My 2003 budget requests an additional $1 
billion for IDEA, as well, an important increase. But we want these new 
dollars to carry to special education the same spirit of reform and 
accountability we have brought to other education programs.
    This reform effort began Tuesday, when Education Secretary Rod Paige 
convened the first meeting of the new Presidential Commission on 
Excellence in Special Education. This distinguished and diverse group, 
chaired by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, has a clear mission, to 
propose reforms that will make special education an integral part of an 
education system that expects all children to reach their full 
potential.
    We must have high expectations for children who are more difficult 
to teach or who have fallen behind. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would 
accept no less than an equal concern for every child in America, and 
neither will my administration.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1:32 p.m. on January 18 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 19. In 
his remarks, the President referred to Title I of the Improving 
America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-382), which amended Title 
I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-
10); and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Public Law 94-
142). The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on January 18 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.