[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 19 (Monday, May 13, 2002)]
[Pages 762-767]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

May 8, 2002

    The President. Thank you very much for that warm welcome. I'm--it is 
an honor for me to be here. I want to thank you for the invitation. As 
you can tell, I'm going to spend a little time talking about education, 
and a good place to talk about education and educational excellence is 
in centers of excellence. Rufus King International High is a center of 
excellence. So is Clarke Street Elementary, and I appreciate the 
invitation.
    As my friend the Secretary of Education said, he is traveling around 
the country to spread the word that we passed new legislation in 
Washington, DC, new education reform. I'm honored to join him here in 
the great State of Wisconsin as part of his tour. His job is to 
implement the law as quickly as possible so that no child is left 
behind, and I want to thank Rod for his hard work.

[[Page 763]]

    You know, I picked him because he was a superintendent of schools in 
Houston, Texas, a tough school district. But he believed every child 
could learn; he believed in setting high standards. He worked hard; he 
made a huge difference on the frontlines of education. So, instead of 
picking somebody who knows the theory of education or somebody who talks 
the philosophy of education, I actually picked somebody who did the work 
of education. And he's doing a great job.
    I want to thank your Governor for traveling with me today--it's an 
honor to be in the presence--who has made public education his top 
priority. I want to thank Scott Walker, the executive-elect of 
Milwaukee. I appreciate Dr. Spence Korte, who is the superintendent here 
in Milwaukee Public Schools. I want to thank Jeff Spence, president of 
School Board District Two, for being here. Jeff, thanks for coming. Of 
course, I want to thank your fine principal for inviting me here, Andy 
Meuler. I want to thank Keith Posley as well, who is the principal at 
Clarke Street. I'm fixing to go over to Clarke Street with Keith. I'm 
looking forward to it. I appreciate you being here.
    I want to thank the students for inviting me. I appreciate you 
giving me the chance to be here. I guess some of you all are about to 
graduate. [Applause] Don't get carried away. It hasn't happened yet. 
[Laughter] I noticed the fine teachers at this school were clapping when 
I said that. They want you paying attention.
    And by the way, I do want to thank the teachers--I'm going to spend 
a little more time on the teachers later--but you know, you can't have a 
high school as good as this unless you've got great teachers. And I want 
to thank the great teachers who are here.
    The reason I mentioned the class getting ready to graduate is 
because you're the first high school class to have graduated in a long 
time in a time of war. You're the first high school class to have 
graduated with America under attack. And I want to talk a little bit 
about that today.
    You need to know, as citizens--all of us need to know that we're in 
for a long struggle. We're in for a struggle to defend our freedom and 
to defend our values. These aren't political values; these aren't the 
values of one political party or another. These are the values of all 
Americans, the values that believe that freedom is important and 
essential: Freedom to worship the way we want to worship, the freedom to 
speak your mind, except when the President is speaking--[laughter]--the 
freedom of the press--freedom. And our freedoms are under attack by 
people who hate America because of our freedoms. And we're not going to 
let them hurt America again. We will do everything in our power.
    This isn't the kind of war that you're used to studying in the 
textbooks. This is a kind of war we've never seen before. We face a 
group of international killers--and that's what they are--who are kind 
of a--hide in caves, and they're not necessarily an organized 
government. And they're on the run, and we're going to keep them on the 
run.
    It's just important for you to know--it's important for you to know 
that this nation does not seek revenge; we seek justice. We seek 
justice. It's going to take a while, and you need to know that as well. 
But the good news for America--and the bad news for the enemy--is that 
I'm patient, and America's patient. I'm determined, and America's 
determined. We're a united country, particularly when it comes to 
defending that which we value, that which we hold dearly.
    It's important for you all to understand that when our country 
speaks, that we mean it, and we do what we say. I said, either you're 
with us, or you're against us. I meant that. The good news is, there's a 
lot of nations with us; a lot of governments understand what is at 
stake. Civilization is at stake. We cannot allow terrorists to determine 
the fate of our respective nations.
    I also made it clear that we were going to do everything possible to 
deny sanctuary--that means places to train, places to recruit, places 
to--places from which to fight--deny sanctuary to the terrorists. And we 
did that. Thanks to a mighty United States military and our coalition, 
we threw out a barbaric regime.
    See, this is a regime called the Taliban, that said, ``If you're a 
young girl, you don't get to go to school.'' Think about that. Think 
about growing up in a country that says, if

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you happen to be a female, education isn't available to you. And if you 
expressed yourself, if you said, ``Oh, I don't like the way they think; 
I don't appreciate that piece of public policy,'' then you go to jail. 
See, we were dealing with a barbaric regime. You need to know your 
Government and our allies and our friends went into Afghanistan to free 
a country. We didn't go to conquer a country; we went in to free a 
country, because we believe in freedom for every individual, no matter 
where they live in the world.
    America is still not safe from attack, because they still want to 
get us, they still want to harm America. But we're doing everything in 
our power to prevent that. You need to know that. You need to know our 
law enforcement officials are talking at the Federal, State, and local 
level. We're sharing information. We're running down every lead. We've 
got a homeland security initiative that works with our brave police and 
fire and EMS teams all across the country.
    No, we're doing everything in our power. But the best way to make 
sure that we protect innocent lives, the best way to make sure that 
Americans can go about their life is for you to know that this 
Government is going to chase down the enemy one by one, no matter how 
long it takes, and bring them to justice.
    Our job is not only to make America safer, but it's to make America 
better, a better place. Our job is not only to make the world safer, but 
it's to make the world a better place. That's why if we're tough and 
strong and diligent when it comes to fighting terror, we have a chance 
to bring peace in places in the world. I think out of the evil done to 
America can come some incredible good around the world. I truly believe 
that. Out of evil can come good. And at home, out of evil can come good 
as well. And it starts with making sure that every child gets a good 
education.
    And what does that mean? What are the principles of a good 
education? Well, it starts with having high standards, high 
expectations. It starts with having people who believe that every single 
child can learn, that certain children--there's some attitude amongst 
some that says, ``Well, if you're raised this way or if English isn't 
your first language, you can't learn.'' That's not the way people think 
here. That's not the way Andy thinks. That's not the way the teachers 
think. They believe in high standards and excellence. They know this: 
They know that if you lower expectations, if you lower the bar, if you 
believe certain children can't learn, guess what's going to happen? 
Certain children won't learn. And that's not satisfactory, as far as I'm 
concerned.
    And by the way, if you believe in high standards and if you believe 
in high expectations, if you believe if you challenge the students that 
they can achieve, then you also welcome accountability. You say, ``We're 
willing to see whether or not expectations are being met.'' In other 
words, if you have high--now, look, I know you don't like to take tests. 
When I went to high school, I didn't like to take tests. I didn't 
appreciate it one bit. [Laughter] But--don't get carried away. But I've 
grown. I understand that how can you possibly tell whether standards are 
being met or whether expectations are being met if you don't test, if 
you don't hold people accountable?
    And so a competent principal like Andy, he welcomes accountability, 
because he believes every child can learn. The State of Wisconsin must 
welcome accountability in grades three through eight as well in order to 
achieve educational excellence.
    We've got to trust the local people. We've got to trust the Andys, 
the teachers here. We've got to trust the Keiths, the principals all 
across--the parents. Listen, one size doesn't fit all. We don't want all 
power on how to run the schools in Washington, DC. It would be a classic 
mistake; it would be a huge mistake. All wisdom isn't in Washington. As 
a matter of fact, the best wisdom for educating the children of 
Wisconsin is right here in Wisconsin.
    And so the new bill we passed says we trust local people. We want to 
empower the people of Wisconsin to make the right decisions. We want to 
empower the principals and provide as much flexibility at the local 
level as possible. One size doesn't fit all. You've got to trust the 
local folks to chart the path to excellence for every single child.

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    As well, in order to make sure that we meet our goals, to meet high 
expectations, we've got to make sure our teachers are well-prepared, 
well-trained, they've got power in their classrooms. And that's one of 
the things about this bill that I want to spend some time talking about.
    First, I'm proud to be in the presence of Alexis Ludewig, the 
Teacher of the Year for the State of Wisconsin. I want to thank you for 
being here, Alexis--St. Germaine Elementary. It was my honor to welcome 
Alexis and Teachers of the Year from every State in the Union to the 
White House the other day. It was a special moment for me, and it was an 
exciting time to really be able to thank teachers.
    Teaching is such a noble profession. It's an important part of 
making sure that no child is left behind. So, for those of you who are 
interested in how to--if you're thinking about a career, about how to 
best serve your community and serve yourself by helping other people, 
think about becoming a teacher. I was told that over 85 percent of you 
are going to go to college; that's a lot. That is fantastic news. Think 
about becoming a teacher.
    I'm going over to Clarke; I'm going to see, I hope, Sherrion 
Perkins, who had received Milwaukee's Excellence in Education Award in 
December. She's a reading teacher. You know what makes her special--is 
that, one, she wants to use curriculum that works. She doesn't want--she 
wants to discard-- [applause]--she understands the science of reading. 
She also believes every child can learn. That's her attitude. That's 
what makes her a fine teacher.
    And then, here, of course, you've got Donna Cassillo, who teaches--
where's Donna? Adonde esta, Donna? Adonde? Oh yes, right, good to see 
you, Donna. Thank you very much. La doctor, la doctor, thank you very 
much. I appreciate you both. I appreciate--okay--[laughter]--silencio. 
[Laughter]
    So here's the deal. How do we make sure that teachers are well-
trained, well-equipped, well-prepared? That's the question we've got to 
ask. And so we spent--hold on. [Laughter]
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Not a bad answer. ``More money,'' he said. It's 
exactly what we did in the 2002 budget. We spent 3 billion more dollars 
on teacher recruitment, teacher training, teacher preparedness. And 
that's important.
    The way you recruit teachers is for people in our communities to 
remind would-be teachers the importance of the profession. That's what 
teachers can be doing now in their classrooms. I know you're doing that 
by being great role models.
    Laura, the First Lady, my wife, who I love dearly, is going to spend 
a lot of time recruiting--[applause]. I admit it, proudly so; I do love 
her a lot. She's a fabulous, fabulous First Lady who is going to spend 
time reminding people that classroom teachers, people in the classroom, 
are incredibly important for America.
    We've got to make sure that teachers are properly trained, and we've 
got to admit that sometimes our teacher colleges don't train teachers 
well enough. And therefore, we have to retrain teachers, retrain 
teachers on curriculum that works, make sure teachers are able to match 
their hearts with skill in the classrooms. We want to make sure that new 
teachers are prepared to teach, and therefore, they need to pass an exam 
in their course--new teachers, upon graduation, must be able to show--
pass an exam in their specialty. I think that's important. Particularly 
for teachers who are now in the classroom, who view their profession--
rightly so--as professionals, you want to make sure that others joining 
your ranks, upon certification, are able to pass an exam in the course 
in which they're supposed to be teaching. They're supposed to have 
subject matter--supposed to understand the subject matter.
    One of the things in the new bill that's important for teachers to 
know is that there's what's called the Teacher Protection Act. It says 
that teachers and principals and school board members can take 
reasonable actions to maintain order and discipline in the classroom 
without the fear of being sued. And that's good law, and that's 
important law. The teacher must be able to control his or her classroom 
in order to be able to impart knowledge. I don't like it when frivolous 
lawsuits disrupt quality education, and I'm

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proud of this part of the bill. I worked on it, campaigned on it, and I 
really think it's going to make a big difference for the professionals 
who are in the classroom.
    I also--if you're someone who has borrowed money to go to college 
and you want to teach math or science or special education in what they 
call a low-income area, you should be allowed to forgive up to $17,500 
of your college debt. In other words, we're going to use the ability to 
forgive debt to encourage teaching.
    But the key thing for teachers with this pot of money out there is 
for States to have the flexibility to meet the needs of the teachers and 
the teaching profession, whether it be to recruit or pay or retention 
bonuses or teacher development. It's not up to the Federal Government; 
it's up to the States and local school boards to make that decision.
    So we've got the ingredients for success in education. I truly 
believe it. As Rod mentioned, this is a bipartisan bill. That means that 
both Republicans and Democrats worked on it. It's not a party bill; it's 
not a bill--it's a bill that's good for America. It's a bill that sets a 
framework for change and excellence. It's a bill that says success is 
the only thing that we expect in America. And where we find failure, we 
must challenge failure. It's unacceptable--just unacceptable--to have 
children trapped in schools that are mediocre, that won't change, that 
won't teach, because we have high expectations in America and high 
hopes.
    No, we're fighting evil around the world. And one way to fight it 
here at home is to make sure every child gets a good education. And 
another way to fight it, and I want you all to listen carefully, for 
those of you who are wondering about America and what--our worth and 
what this country is all about: If you want to fight evil, do some good. 
You see, if you want to fight evil, love a neighbor like you'd like to 
be loved yourself. The great strength of America lies in the hearts and 
souls of our citizens.
    We have this kind of materialistic world--it must have seemed that 
way to the enemy. When they hit us, they must have said, ``This country 
is so self-absorbed, so selfish, so materialistic, so self-centered that 
it would never respond--maybe file a lawsuit or two, but never 
respond.'' And they were mistaken, because that's not what we're made 
out of. On the one hand, we're tough. On the other hand, we're 
compassionate. On the one hand, we will do what it takes to defend 
liberty, as I mentioned. But on the other hand, we can show the world 
what we're made out of by loving a neighbor.
    If you're interested in serving your country, go to your church or 
synagogue or mosque; start a program that loves a neighbor like you'd 
like to be loved yourself. Why don't you go to the Boys and Girls Club 
and help mentor a child after school? Why don't you walk across the 
street and tell a neighbor who may be a shut-in that you love them and 
ask them what you can do to help them? It's these acts of kindness that 
help define the soul of America.
    I met a young lady today at the airport named Tammy Krohn--where are 
you, Tammy? There she is, Tammy Krohn. Tammy Krohn is an AmeriCorps 
volunteer. Tammy Krohn has said, ``What can I do to help my country? 
What can I possibly do to make a difference in the lives of my fellow 
citizens?'' She is a resident elementary school teacher for children 
with special needs. She trained a golden retriever that will serve 
someone with physical disabilities. Oh, some say, ``Well, you know, 
that's not that big a deal.'' It's a big deal to the person she's 
helping. You see, America changes, America becomes a better place one 
heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. And what Tammy knows is that 
one person can't do everything, but one person can make an enormous 
difference in the lives of somebody who needs help.
    And that's my call today. To those of you who live--are going to 
college--you got a great education here, you're going to go to college, 
I just want you to remember that if you're interested in fighting evil, 
if you're interested in making this Nation as strong as it possibly can 
be, help somebody in need. Take time out of your day, take time out of 
your life to be a part of the vast army of compassion which exists all 
across this great land.
    I want you to know you live in the greatest country--the greatest 
country--on the face of the Earth, and I am proud to be your

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President. God bless, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. in the school's gymnasium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Gov. Scott McCallum of Wisconsin.