[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 10 (Monday, March 11, 2002)]
[Pages 348-351]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the White House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers

March 5, 2002

    Well, thank you all for coming to the White House. I appreciate the 
focus of this summit more than you can possibly know, because I 
understand the important role a teacher plays in the lives of our 
children. I've had some firsthand experience with teachers playing a 
role in my life. I married one, thank

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goodness. And I appreciate Laura's leadership on this important subject, 
and I also appreciate the calm and steady demeanor she brought in time 
of crisis for the country. Good job.
    I want to thank Lynne Cheney for being here, as well. She is a 
brilliant lady who knows a lot about education reform. Dick and I both 
married above ourselves. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Rod Paige for being here. You know, when I picked 
somebody to run the Department of Education, I was looking for somebody 
who had actually been in the trenches of the public school system. I 
really didn't want a theorist; I wanted a practical person. And when I 
was the Governor of Texas, I noticed that the test scores for children 
who weren't supposed to learn in Houston, Texas, were improving. And I 
realized it had to do with a lot of the leadership capacity of our 
Secretary of Education.
    I want to thank you, Rod, for being here today, and thank you for 
taking on the tough jobs.
    I appreciate Sandra Feldman. I'm going to say something about her a 
little later on. Where's Sandra? Hey, Sandra. Thank you for coming.
    I want to thank my friend Mark Yudof, who's the head of the 
University of Minnesota. Where are you, Yudof? Anyway, there he is. Hi, 
Mark. Charles, how are you? We flew back from Minnesota last night, and 
Mark is here because he understands that teacher colleges must be 
relevant in the lives of teachers if we want every child to learn.
    I appreciate the Members of Congress who are here. I will tell you 
that I signed a really good piece of legislation, the ``no child will be 
left behind'' legislation. It is historic; it is landmark; it would not 
have happened without Ted Kennedy. And I appreciate your leadership on 
that, Senator.
     I want to thank Johnny Isakson for being here. Johnny and Ralph 
Regula, thank you both for coming. Lindsey Graham is here, from South 
Carolina. Lindsey is going to sponsor a piece of legislation that will 
allow for teachers to have loan--those who teach in Title I schools or 
teach in high need areas will be able to forgive up to $17,500 in 
college loans. And I appreciate that.
    I understand Chairman Boehner was able to listen to Laura but didn't 
care about hearing me--[laughter]--so he left. And Susan Collins is 
going to sponsor legislation for the tax relief for teachers' out-of-
pocket expenses, which I'll talk about a little bit too.
    But we've set a high bar here in Washington as a result of Federal 
reform. We expect a lot. We expect children to learn. We believe every 
child can learn, and we want to know whether they are or not. We want to 
measure. See, we believe that if you hold--if you use the accountability 
system properly, you can determine whether a curriculum is working or 
not, whether classroom instruction methodology is working. But as 
importantly--more importantly--you can detect problems early and secure 
them before it's too late. Every child matters, and that's exactly what 
the heart of this legislation is all about.
    And as a result of the piece of legislation, we're expecting a lot 
from our teachers. We really are. We expect them to know their subjects. 
We want new teachers to be able to pass rigorous examinations, so as to 
not only earn the confidence of parents and administrators but to 
increase the professionalism of a very important field. We expect 
teachers to be able to communicate basic skills, and we expect our 
teachers to welcome measurement and accountability. We expect them, as 
always, to be examples to our children, to live a life of good 
character.
    And our teachers have a right to expect certain things from us. 
First, they have the right to expect every parent to teach their 
children good manners and respect for the teacher in the classroom. 
Teachers have the right to expect support for their professional 
development, and teachers have a right to be treated like the 
professionals they are.
    Laura and I will spend a lot of time in the country honoring the 
teaching profession, making sure it's clear to Americans from all walks 
of life that being a teacher is noble and important and an incredibly 
important part of the future of our country.
    This administration is committed to a goal, and I know it's shared 
by Members of Congress, that we'll have a quality teacher in every 
classroom in America. We have backed that commitment, thanks to the work 
of

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members of both political parties, with the greatest Federal investment 
ever in quality teachers and principals. We have made $3 billion of 
grants available to States to recruit, to prepare, and to train 
teachers, a 35 percent increase over last year's budget.
    We're focusing much of the teacher training effort on specific 
needs, like special education or math or science, and one of my 
passions, early reading. The Reading First program is aimed at making 
sure every child of every background can read by the third grade. 
Reading is the new civil right. If you can't read, you can't realize the 
great American Dream. We want every child to read, and I believe with 
the right focus, right effort, every child will read in America, and the 
country is going to be a lot better off for it.
    We're going to make sure teachers have the tools necessary to meet 
the goals we've set. One of the things we're going to do is create a 
clearinghouse, the most recent and most reliable information, on what 
works in teaching. We want teachers to be able to access the best 
information. We want those who are interested in improving their skills 
to be able to do so at the click of a mouse.
    We want to make sure the teachers control their classrooms. And part 
of the legislation I signed was the teacher protection law, which says 
that teachers and principals and school professionals can take 
reasonable actions to maintain order and discipline in the classroom 
without fear of a Federal lawsuit. I think that if we really are sincere 
about supporting our teachers, we must understand that a calm classroom, 
a respectful classroom is a necessary ingredient for a teacher to be 
able to do his or her job.
    We support teachers who sacrifice for their students. I don't know 
if people realize this, but on the average, teachers deduct up to $400--
now spend $400 out of their pocket to pay for supplies. My first 
reaction is, that's not right--it's not that the fact isn't right--it's 
not right that they have to do that. But in that they do have to do it, 
it makes sense to allow a teacher to deduct that expense. If a business 
person can deduct a meal, a teacher certainly ought to be able to deduct 
the cost of pencils or a Big Chief tablet.
    Teachers need our support. And they need our support in more than 
just training teachers; they need our support in empowering teachers. 
And one of the important parts of the bill that I signed divests power 
out of Washington, gives teachers more flexibility in the classroom and 
more authority to the local districts.
    And that includes the flexibility to spend the money wisely. 
Districts will be able to use the $3 billion to meet their specific 
needs. It may be in recruiting, in recruitment for teachers. It may be 
to spend money on teacher development. It may be to meet needs by 
spending more money on teacher salaries. But flexibility is one of the 
hallmarks of this new piece of legislation, and all wisdom isn't here in 
Washington. The truth of the matter is, if we really are going to set 
high standards and expect people to meet them, we've got to trust the 
local folks to chart the path to excellence. And that's what this bill 
does. We're not only giving them more responsibility, we're giving them 
freedom.
    The great task of education reform is now to meet these goals and to 
make sure our teachers have got the capacity to do so, to make sure 
they're well-trained, to make sure they've got the best science 
available to them, to make sure we gather information and share it with 
the professionals in the classroom.
    It's also to recognize the worth of teaching. And one of the things 
Sandra Feldman has done as she's led the American Federation of Teachers 
is she's brought a lot of class to the teaching profession. I ran into 
Sandra--she said, ``Is there any way we can work together?'' I said, 
``You bet. You bet there is.''
    And so today it's my honor to announce that the Department of 
Education and the American Federation of Teachers is going to work 
together to provide teachers with research-based information, to make 
sure teachers can do their job. Teachers will be given the opportunity 
to teach--to understand what works.
    Somebody said, ``What does it mean, scientific-based education?'' My 
attitude is, does it work? Does the curriculum actually teach a child 
how to read? Our teachers must

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know how to teach reading. They must know what works when it comes to 
teaching reading, if we expect them to meet national goals of every 
child reading by the third grade. I look forward to hearing the progress 
that is made between the Department of Education and your organization, 
Sandra.
    As well, we're going to work together to identify programs that 
encourage and prepare folks to become teachers. I know you've heard of 
Teach for America or Troops for Teachers. There are all kinds of ways we 
can attract people into the teacher ranks. And we must be innovative and 
creative to do so. We're going to need 2.2 million teachers over the 
next decade in order to make sure America is an educated society. And 
again, Sandra, thanks for taking a leadership role.
    I believe so strongly in education. I know that as we battle the 
ills of our society, poverty and hopelessness, education is the great 
beacon and the great hope. I strongly believe that our public school 
system will continue to meet the challenges of the 21st century. And I'm 
not afraid to advocate change where change is needed. And I look forward 
to joining forces with those who are just as committed as I am to an 
excellent public school system, as committed as I am to battling a 
system which oftentimes gives up on children by just simply shuffling 
them through. That's inadequate for the America that I know, because 
every child matters and every child counts.
    We've laid the groundwork, Senator, for a reform movement that will 
recognize the worth of each and every individual. And that movement will 
be fulfilled as we make sure our teachers are given the tools and skills 
and orderly classrooms necessary to achieve a grand and noble objective 
for our country.
    I want to thank you all for coming for this very important 
conference. May God bless your work, and may God continue to bless 
America. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:02 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Sandra Feldman, president, 
American Federation of Teachers; Mark G. Yudof, president, University of 
Minnesota; and Charles Miller, chairman, board of regents, University of 
Texas System. He also referred to Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001, approved January 8, 2002; and 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).