[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 14 (Monday, April 8, 2002)]
[Pages 551-555]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Remarks at Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County, in Media

April 2, 2002

    Gosh, thanks for that warm welcome. It's an honor for me to be here 
today to talk about a subject that's dear to my heart and a subject very 
important to the country, which is the education of every child in 
America.
    I just had the honor of meeting with a panel of experts from not 
only the State of Pennsylvania but from around the country: teachers, 
soon-to-be teachers, people who deeply care about the education of every 
single person. I want to thank them for their input. I want to thank 
them so very much for their idealism. And I want to thank you for your 
commitment to our country.
    Three months ago I had the honor of signing what is called the No 
Child Left Behind Act. It's a piece of education reform, and I believe 
we'll have--it was the beginning of a new era of education in America. 
Through high standards and accountability, we're going to make sure that 
every school in America is ready to teach.
    Now we must take another essential step. We must make sure that 
every child enters school ready to learn--every child--not just one, not 
just a few, but every single child. On this issue we know what works, 
and we know our responsibilities. As parents, teachers, and caregivers, 
we must give our children the lifelong gift of early learning. And today 
I'm here to outline specific measures to help meet that goal.
    Before I do so, I want to say how sorry I am that my wife, Laura, 
isn't with me. The reason why is because early childhood education has 
been a lifelong mission of hers. In Texas and in Washington, she is a 
strong advocate for reading to our Nation's youngest children. She will 
work to bridge the gaps between scientists, policymakers, and caregivers 
on this issue. I'm grateful for her leadership. America is beginning to 
understand why I asked her to marry me. [Laughter] A lot of people are 
still wondering why she said yes. [Laughter]
    I'm also honored to be traveling today with Rod Paige, who's the 
Secretary of Education.

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You know, when I came to--I was trying to figure out who best to serve 
in that important position. I wanted somebody who had worked in the 
trenches. Rod was the superintendent of schools in the Houston 
Independent School District. He believed in setting high standards for 
every child and believed strongly in accountability. And his record was 
a good one, because more and more children were learning. And so I'm 
honored that Rod took time out of his life to come up to Washington, DC, 
to serve our Nation, and he's doing a fine, fine job.
    I want to thank Dr. Spanier, Graham Spanier, for his hospitality. 
It's good to see you again, sir, and thank you for being the president 
of Penn State. I want to thank Ed Tomezsko, Dr. Tomezsko, for his 
hospitality on this beautiful campus. Thanks for letting us come.
    I appreciate my friend the Senator from Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, 
for being here as well. Thank you. The Governor of Pennsylvania, Mark 
Schweiker, is here. Thank you, Governor, appreciate you being here. And 
I want to thank the attorney general, Mike Fisher, for being here as 
well. And I want to thank my friend the Congressman from this part of 
the country, Curt Weldon. I appreciate you being here, sir.
    I have constantly reminded America that one way to fight evil is to 
do some good. If you're interested in helping our country, love a 
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. Today, out at the 
airport, I got the honor of meeting a fellow named Stan Braxton. Stan 
used to work for IBM. And he's retired, but he hasn't quit working, 
because what he decided to do was to help make people's lives better. He 
works in an after-school program. He provides technical assistance to 
nonprofit organizations in the Philadelphia area. I appreciate you 
coming, Stan. Do you mind standing up for a second? [Applause] Thank you 
for coming.
    Out of this incredible evil done to our country is going to come 
some good. I truly believe it. And part of the good is that the armies 
and the soldiers--the soldiers in the armies of compassion are going to 
increase all around America. More Stans will say, ``What can I do to 
help America?'' Stan is a living example of somebody who puts service to 
mankind ahead of his retirement, for example. And so, Stan, thank you 
for serving as a great example for our country.
    You need to know that even though the subject of today's talk is 
early childhood development, I am going to be relentless and tireless in 
our pursuit of justice and to make sure the homeland is secure. We fight 
for not only the security of our country; we fight for freedom. We love 
freedom in America, and we will defend freedom at all costs. And we long 
for peace. We want peace all around the world. In order to make sure the 
world is peaceful, we must stand strong against terror and rout out 
terror wherever it exists. And as the war continues, though, it is 
important for our Nation to remember we have other important 
responsibilities. As we fight to defend our ideals, we must also work to 
realize those ideals.
    We stand for equal opportunity. It's one of the ideals we believe 
in, in America. And equal opportunity demands schools that are effective 
and excellent. We must give all our children, every single child in 
America, the basics of knowledge and character, and we must leave no 
child behind. My administration will not be distracted from these goals. 
As we fight for freedom, I also understand that freedom means no child 
in America will be left behind. The new civil right in America is 
reading.
    We made a tremendous start in our country when it comes to education 
reform, because of the hard work of both Republicans and Democrats. I 
signed a significant piece of legislation that sets high standards, 
requires assessment in grades three-through-eight, accountability to 
determine whether or not our children are actually learning. And if they 
are, we will have the basis to praise the teachers who are working 
tirelessly to see so. But if not, we'll have the capacity to correct 
problems early, before it's too late.
    This bill offers new resources to schools, a lot of new resources to 
encourage success and options for parents in the case of failure. 
Accountability is now at the center of American education, because we 
believe every child can learn in America. We don't accept excuses, and 
we want to make sure no child is left behind.

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    Yet, for accountability and annual assessments to mean something, 
all children must start school with the basic skills necessary for 
learning. In order for this piece of reform to really work, we've got to 
make sure that every child starts at the same point. If we expect 
achievement from every child, all our children need to begin school with 
an equal chance at achievement, is what I'm saying. Every child must 
have an equal place at the starting line--not some children, not just 
those who live in rural Pennsylvania, and not those who live in urban 
Pennsylvania or vice versa. Every child--that is the national goal.
    From years of research--and as I say, this campus has today hosted 
some of the great researchers in America--we know what an equal chance 
at achievement means. It certainly means encouraging a child's social 
and emotional development. No question about that. But it also means 
that children, before entering school, know letters of the alphabet and 
begin to know the sounds these letters make.
    They must learn what the written word looks like and must build a 
strong vocabulary. And they must be excited about reading, because 
they've seen others do it. The way to make a child excited about reading 
is for them to watch others read, like their parents. Reading is the 
foundation for all of learning, and that foundation is built early by 
exposing young children to the wonders of books and the uses of 
language. Reading to a child early and often can change a child's life.
    Like many parents, Laura and I saw this firsthand. Ever since our 
twins, our twin daughters, were toddlers, we would read to them at every 
possible opportunity. Sometimes, when I sleep at night, I think of ``Hop 
on Pop.'' [Laughter] We found it to be fun, and it's important for 
parents to understand that it's a part of the responsibility for being a 
good mom or a dad to read to your children.
    But it's more than just fun. It is a vital preschool learning 
experience. Consider this amazing finding: 10th grade reading scores can 
be predicted with surprising accuracy from a child's knowledge of the 
alphabet in kindergarten. Think about that. We can pretty well predict 
how well a child will read in the 10th grade if that child has been 
given a--whether or not the child has been given a good education early 
in his or her life.
    A child who cannot identify the letters of the alphabet in his or 
her first year of school runs a real risk of staying behind in school 
throughout her or his career. We cannot accept this in America. To close 
the achievement gap in our schools, we must close the early childhood 
education gap in our society. Today I pledge my administration's support 
in working with parents and families, Head Start and childcare centers, 
and our States to achieve this goal. Every child who goes to school, 
every single child, must be ready to learn.
    As many of you know, as I mentioned, parents play a huge role, play 
the most important role. A parent is a child's first and most 
influential teacher--for many children, their only teacher until 
kindergarten. For most parents, helping their child learn is a joy; it's 
not a chore. Yet, learning activities really are not common enough. And 
we must encourage parents in this essential responsibility of preparing 
their children to learn. We must help them.
    Many parents wish their children came with an instruction manual. 
All new parents need good information about child development; that's 
for sure. So later this month, Laura will be launching a series of 
booklets based on the best scientific research that give suggestions on 
child development at crucial early stages of a child's life.
    I've asked the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human 
Services and Agriculture to make these publications widely available to 
families with newborns all across the country. These publications will 
be offered through a variety of programs that serve our Nation's 
families: WIC clinics, State departments of education, State health and 
human service agencies.
    The White House and these agencies will also have these booklets 
ready, available online. I want to thank Laura and those who have helped 
her design these books for working hard to make this an incredibly 
important issue in America. And all these efforts will promote early 
childhood learning where it matters most--right there in the home.
    After parents, Head Start centers have some of the greatest 
potential to encourage

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early childhood learning. Many of them are already doing a terrific job. 
We had a chance to hear from one such center today.
    Laura and I were deeply impressed by the Margaret Cone Center in 
Dallas, Texas, which uses a curriculum rich in pre-reading and 
vocabulary development activities. Before this curriculum was introduced 
in 1994, graduating classes who left the Cone Center and entered the 
local public schools scored as low as the 21st percentile on the Iowa 
Test of Basic Skills. After 1994, after this scientific-based curriculum 
had been introduced, Cone classes have scored as high as the 94th 
percentile in vocabulary and reading. It matters what the curriculum is 
in these centers. Head Start centers are a Federal responsibility, and 
we're determined to encourage the kind of quality that we see in centers 
such as the Cone Center.
    We must focus Head Start on the pre-reading and language development 
of children, so the Department of Health and Human Services will 
implement an accountability system for every Head Start center in 
America. In addition to providing essential health and social services, 
centers must enhance activities for children to acquire language and 
number skills. These activities can and should be done in ways that are 
appropriate for younger children, in ways that work.
    Every Head Start center in America must teach these skills and must 
demonstrate that its teaching is effective. We want to make sure that we 
understand--that the Head Start programs understand--we know what works. 
We want to measure the input. We want to say that in return for Federal 
taxpayers' help, we expect you to be providing the foundation for 
reading and math.
    And to help Head Start centers meet these standards, we'll begin a 
major new effort to prepare Head Start teachers. In order for this to 
work, we must give our Head Start teachers the tools necessary to meet 
our goal. Our goal is to reach the nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers 
over the next 12 months by giving them the tools necessary to teach 
basic skills to our children.
    This summer the Department of Health and Human Services will give 
intensive, research-based training to 2,500 early literacy specialists, 
who will then instruct Head Start teachers around the country. And 
starting today, we'll distribute a guidebook for early childhood 
educators and caregivers. It's called ``Teaching Our Youngest.'' It 
contains proven teaching activities to help children develop their 
language abilities, increase their knowledge, and discover a love for 
books and reading and learning.
    We're also asking States to do their part. The Federal Government 
provides States with considerable funds for childcare. In fact, over the 
past decade, Federal funding for early childhood programs has nearly 
tripled. Yet, many children are still showing up in kindergarten not 
ready to learn. That's going to change.
    We propose that States receiving these Federal funds must submit a 
plan to promote early childhood education. States must take steps to 
provide pre-kindergarten programs with guidelines on pre-reading and 
literacy skills, and they must have a plan to expand the training of 
childcare and preschool teachers in their State.
    Just as States care about health and safety of children's bodies, 
they must also care about the health and progress of the children's 
minds. I know your Governor cares a lot about that here in Pennsylvania.
    Anyone who is serious about educational reform must be serious about 
early childhood education. If we want all our children reading by the 
third grade--and that's what we want--then all our children must be 
ready to learn on their first day of school. This will require Americans 
to work together--families, teachers, caregivers, civic groups, along 
with government on every level.
    I look forward to working with leaders in Congress on this important 
issue, especially Senators Kennedy and Gregg, and Congressmen Boehner 
and Miller. Here's what I think: Where America's children are concerned, 
there is no Republicans or Democrats, only moms and dads, grandpas and 
grandmas, all eager to help our youngest citizens succeed.
    As we try harder to serve our children better, we ought to keep in 
mind the wise words of Theodore Geisel--he, better-known as Dr. Seuss, 
the guy who wrote ``Hop On Pop.'' [Laughter] ``Children want the same 
things

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we want, to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted.'' 
We want our children, even the youngest children in America, to be 
challenged and entertained and delighted by learning. This is a 
responsibility of every parent, and it's a great calling for our great 
country.
    Thank you for coming, and may God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 2:43 p.m. in the school's gymnasium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Edward S.J. Tomezsko, campus executive officer, 
Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County; and Mike Fisher, State 
attorney general of Pennsylvania. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.