[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 35 (Monday, September 2, 2002)]
[Pages 1458-1464]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School
in Little Rock, Arkansas

August 29, 2002

    Thanks for receiving me. I'm honored to be here at Parkview. I 
appreciate the Patriots band playing. I'm sorry I missed it. They tell 
me it's one of the best in the State.
    I want to thank my friend Mike Huckabee for introducing me. I 
appreciate his leadership. As you'll hear here in a second, we've got 
some interesting initiatives taking place in Arkansas, because of the 
determination by this State and by this Government to set high 
expectations for every child.
    I want to thank very much Rod Paige for his leadership. You know, 
when I was trying to determine who to pick as the Secretary of 
Education, I wanted somebody who actually had been an educator. They've 
got a lot of theorists in Washington. I wasn't interested in theory; I 
was interested in results. And Rod was running the largest school 
district in our State, the Houston Independent School District. And he 
did a fine job, and I figured if he could handle the Houston Independent 
School District, the Department of Education was nothing. [Laughter] And 
so I want to thank Rod for being here. I appreciate his leadership. He 
understands the role of principal and superintendent.
    Speaking about principal, I want to thank Dr. Brown, Linda Brown, 
for her hospitality and all the folks at this fine school for making 
this event--or setting up this event, giving us a chance to come. I 
fully understand the Presidential entourage can be a burden sometimes. 
But you handled it well. And Linda, thank you very much--appreciate you.
    I want to thank Senator Tim Hutchinson for coming; Congressman Vic 
Snyder and Congressman John Boozman, three members of the Arkansas 
Federal delegation. I appreciate you all being here today. Thanks for 
your hospitality. I appreciate so very much Lieutenant Governor Win 
Rockefeller for joining us here today as well. I want to thank your 
mayor, Jim Dailey, for being here. Mr. Mayor, thank you for your 
hospitality. I appreciate so very much Ray Simon, who's the director of 
the Arkansas Department of Education; Dr. Steve Franks, who's the 
director of the Arkansas Workforce Education; and Ken James, who's the 
superintendent of Little Rock schools.
    We had the honor--I had the honor of meeting them and talking to 
them and visiting about how best to implement a strategy that not only 
encourages every child to learn but a strategy that continues to raise 
the standards, that raises the bar. I found the visit to be extremely 
worthwhile, and I hope they did as well.
    I'm here to talk about education. Before I do so, I want to remind 
people we've got a lot of challenges ahead of us here in America. One of 
the things that's very important as we confront those challenges is to 
never forget about education. See, the big challenge we have now is to 
make sure the enemy

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doesn't hit us again. That's a big challenge. I want the students to 
understand here why someone would want to hurt America in the first 
place. And it's because your country loves freedom; that's why. We love 
freedom. We love the freedom to worship. See, we value the idea of being 
able to--people being able to worship freely an almighty God. That's 
what we value in America. And we're not going to change.
    We value the idea of people being free to succeed. See, each life 
matters in America. Everybody has worth. And yet the enemy, they hate 
what we love. They don't--they don't respect innocence. Life doesn't 
mean anything to them. They've hijacked a great religion in order to 
spread their hate. So long as we love freedom, there's going to be this 
enemy out there.
    And so my biggest job, my most important job as your President, is 
to secure our homeland, is to do everything we can, everything in our 
power, to make sure that you're safe and your families are safe. But 
it's even more than that--to make sure you can grow up in a free 
society, to make sure that you have the same freedoms that I enjoyed 
when I was growing up. That's the job at hand.
    And let me tell you what we're doing about it. We're working at all 
levels of government to run down any lead, any hint, any evidence that 
somebody might be fixing to try to do something to America. There's a 
lot of really fine people at the Federal and State and local level who 
are working hard to protect you, working hard to do anything we can to 
disrupt what might be a plan to hurt America or Americans.
    I've asked the Congress recently to help me meet this task by 
setting up what we call a Department of Homeland Security. So when you 
hear talk about the Department of Homeland Security, it's really meant 
to make sure that we coordinate at the Federal level all these agencies 
involved with some sense of homeland security. See, prior to September 
the 11th, we never really had a focus for securing our homeland. Now we 
do.
    And the best way to make sure everybody involved with homeland 
security is focused on this number one priority is to put them under one 
Department. And it's moving along okay. Seems to be a few roadblocks in 
the way--some are more interested in their own political turf than they 
are in the security of the American people, and they're worried about 
special interests as opposed to the security of the people. But I'm 
confident that by working together, that we'll get us a Homeland 
Security Department that will actually function, that will have 
flexibility, that will allow us to move people to where they need to be. 
I mean, we need to enforce our border in this new day. We need to 
understand who's coming in, what they're bringing, and whether they're 
leaving when they say they're leaving, for the sake of homeland 
security. And I need the flexibility to be able to do that. And I want 
to be able to report to you that we do have the capacity to do 
everything in our power to protect you. It's my number one priority.
    But you all have got to understand the best way to protect the 
homeland security is to chase these killers, these people down, one by 
one, and bring them to justice, which is precisely what our Government 
is going to do. I say ``justice'' because we don't seek revenge; we seek 
justice. We seek justice. And you need to know that when we go into a 
country to enforce a doctrine--see, there was a doctrine that said, ``If 
you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a 
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist.'' But when we went to 
enforce that doctrine, this great country didn't go in as conquerors. We 
went in to liberate, and we liberated a country from the clutches of a 
barbaric regime. It's hard for any American to understand this, but many 
young girls never went to school because of these people. And now, 
thanks to America and our friends and allies, they're going to school. 
We're liberators, not conquerors, here in America. Every life matters, 
whether it be an American life or the life of an Afghan girl.
    And we've got a lot of work ahead of us. See, you all are growing up 
in an era with a different kind of war. You used to be able to tell the 
strength and size of the enemy by counting his tanks or his airplanes. 
These haters are the types that, since they don't value innocent life, 
are willing to bomb indiscriminately. And they hide in caves and send

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youngsters to their suicidal death. That's the nature of the enemy.
    But they have picked on a country which is a strong country, a 
country which, because we love our freedoms, is a country that's patient 
and tough and resolved to do what it takes to define history in a way 
that is--that values your life and your freedoms. And that's what this 
country is going to do.
    We've got a big task at hand. I just wanted you to know. I want to 
give you an update so that when you read the newspapers or watch 
television about this war, that it's a different kind of war. The war 
goes on, and it's a war the United States is going to win.
    These are big challenges for our country. These are big challenges 
for this great Nation, but we'll meet the challenges. And we've got 
another big challenge--is to make sure every child gets educated. That's 
a huge and significant challenge for our country. And notice I said 
``every child''; I didn't say just a handful of children here or maybe 
just those who go to suburban school districts. I said ``every child,'' 
and I mean every single child in America. And it starts with setting 
high standards. It starts with believing that every child can learn. 
It's a mindset that's essential for this country.
    See, if you believe that only certain children can learn--in other 
words, if you have low standards--you're going to get low results. If 
you set the bar low, that's exactly what you're going to get. You're 
going to get mediocrity. So the mindset has got to be that every child 
can learn. It's a mindset you have here in Arkansas, by the way. You do; 
you believe it. I can feel it. I've been to this--this isn't my first 
time to go to an Arkansas school. Certainly you've got it at this 
school. The Patriots believe every child can learn.
    That starts with the leadership of the principal. Really fine 
schools have always had a fine principal. It starts with the 
understanding of your teachers. And for the teachers who are here, I 
want to thank you for teaching. It's a noble profession and an important 
profession.
    It also is a mindset necessary for the moms and dads of Arkansas and 
America. The moms and dads have got to understand that they should 
expect the best for their children. They ought to set high standards.
    There's another part of this philosophy that matches what I just 
said, and that is, who best to trust when it comes to meeting those 
standards. See, I've learned something firsthand--I kind of always knew 
it, but not all the smart people in the world live in Washington--
[laughter]--a lot of smart ones right here in Little Rock. As a matter 
of fact, the people who care more about the children of Little Rock, 
Arkansas, are the citizens of Little Rock, Arkansas. And therefore, the 
cornerstone of good education policy ought to be to trust the citizens 
of Little Rock, Arkansas, to chart the path for excellence for every 
child. That's called local control of schools.
    This new bill I had the honor of signing--and by the way, I reminded 
some people earlier, I was traveling the country with Senator Kennedy of 
Massachusetts. We were an odd couple in some people's mind. [Laughter] 
But nevertheless, we both share the same vision of high standards and 
trust in the local people. He was a supporter of this bill. And I had 
the honor of signing it. I pushed it as well.
    And a secondary--a third part of the philosophy is this, and this is 
a very important part of the philosophy. It says, if you believe every 
child can learn, then you want to know whether every child is learning. 
See, if you believe every child can learn, then it's important to have 
an accountability system which tells us whether every child is learning. 
I've heard it all. I'm sure--some of the students are saying, ``All he 
wants to do is test us all the time. I don't like tests.'' Well, too 
bad. [Laughter] We want to know. How do you know whether or not every 
child is learning unless you measure? You got to measure in order to 
know. In order to correct problems early, before they're too late, you 
must measure.
    See, accountability will serve as confirmation as to whether or not 
the curriculum is working. It will serve as confirmation as to whether 
or not your teacher-training programs are working. It will serve as 
confirmation as to whether or not children are learning the basics of 
education.
    And so we have--we say, ``In return for Federal money, show us. Show 
us whether or not kids are learning to read and write

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and add and subtract. Show us whether or not the minimum is being met,'' 
because every child matters in America; every child matters. And as we 
named this bill, no child should be left behind. The name of the bill is 
No Child Left Behind. And I meant no child.
    And so, therefore, we've got this philosophy in place that the 
Governor has been working on, and your States have been working on, and 
there's--in an accountability system there are consequences. If the 
State is unable to meet standards, if a school can't meet State 
standards after a period of time, something has to happen. In other 
words, you can't leave children trapped in schools that won't teach and 
won't change. And so one of the things that's going to happen is public 
school choice or after-school tutoring.
    In other words, every child matters, and therefore, when a child is 
trapped in a school that's not changing, the parents have got to know 
something is going on. There's a consequence. It's not meant to punish 
anybody. It's meant to save lives. Every child counts. And so, 
therefore, what Arkansas is beginning to do as they develop standards 
and accountability, a scorecard to let us all know who's succeeding and 
who needs improvement--you've got an after-school tutoring program 
that's cranking up. And I want to thank the Governor for that. And I 
want to thank the commissioner of education for that. It is a way to 
assure the parents and enforce to the children that somebody cares about 
them. If you're deficient, you need help, and this good bill we passed 
provides that help for the State of Arkansas. And you all are on the 
forefront of that.
    You know, one of the interesting things, one of the initial grants 
we gave out was for reading. Reading is a civil right. See, reading is 
the new civil right in the 21st century. It's important for our citizens 
to understand that if you can't read, it's going to be hard to make it 
in America. If you cannot read, you've got a problem. And if you can't 
read in the fourth grade, it's likely you're not going to be able to 
read in the eighth grade. And we've got to get it right, folks, early, 
before it's too late. Accountability will tell us whether or not the 
curriculum you're using makes sense.
    And there is a science to reading. It's not an art. It's a science. 
We know what works and what doesn't work. And so part of this no child 
left behind--we have what we call the Reading First program, with 
significant grants to States, to get people up to speed, to get them to 
the starting line. To make sure the accountability system has got merit, 
every child has got to be reading early.
    And the State of Arkansas has got a reading program based upon sound 
research and a reading program that has been proven to be effective. And 
so you've got one of the first Reading First grants in this State, by 
the way. And it's going to make a huge difference in the lives of your 
children. And I want to appreciate very much those who are working on 
making sure that the minimum is met--no child is left behind. But the 
minimum is not good enough for America. See, we don't believe in the 
minimum in this country. We believe in the maximum.
    We've got to aim higher. We need to challenge every student. I don't 
mean just the top 10. I mean every student needs to be challenged. We've 
got to make sure that people understand, starting with the parents, by 
the way, that they ought to challenge their children to take the 
toughest classes possible. That's what we have to do. You get people up 
to the minimum, but that's not good enough. We've got to provide people 
to continue to challenge themselves.
    I talked to three fine students today, two from this school and one 
from another school, talking about the need to be challenged. We heard 
from--we heard that many times parents don't really understand the 
significance of challenging--of having their students taking challenging 
courses, that many students--and maybe you all are some of them here--
say, ``Well, I don't want to take a tough course. See, I can't pass 
that. Only the really smart people take the tough courses, and I don't 
happen to be all that smart. Therefore, I'm not going to take it.'' I 
doubt that's the case in this school, but there are schools where that's 
the case.
    Or you hear students saying, ``Don't take the tough courses. It will 
make you a nerd.'' [Laughter] You're missing out if that's the way you 
think. See, you're missing an opportunity. It's an opportunity lost. It 
is not in

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your self-interest that you think for such low standards. And I want the 
parents of this State and across the country to understand that the 
minimum isn't acceptable for your children. And there's a way to 
achieve--there's a way to achieve something significant in this State, 
and I want to talk to you about an interesting program that we actually 
tried in Texas that worked.
    But it's to the citizens' advantage not only that we raise standards 
and challenge students--you've got colleges where they're teaching 
remedial reading--not only colleges in Arkansas but around the country. 
That's not right, see. You don't want your higher education systems to 
be remedial education systems. If you want the best for your citizens--
and I presume everybody in this State does--then we've got to get it 
right early and make sure that we continue to challenge our students. 
One reason I came here is because this is a school that challenges the 
students in two incredibly important subjects, math and science and, of 
course, the arts as well.
    But today I want to talk about what we're creating in Arkansas, 
called the Center for State Scholars. It's the first of five States that 
had been chosen. Again, you were chosen because you've got a Governor 
who cares; you've got people who care; you believe in setting high 
standards. And here's the way it works. The first thing that happens is 
that the business community, which is--and the catalyst will be what 
they call the Business Roundtable, which is a national group of large 
employers--comes together, and they start becoming involved in the 
school--Little Rock school district, for example. And they start 
interviewing children in eighth grade about their ambitions and 
explaining reality. If you don't have any ambitions, the minimum wage 
job isn't going to get you to where you want to get, for example. In 
other words, ``What is your ambitions? And oh, by the way, if that is 
your ambition, here's what it's going to take to achieve it.'' It's kind 
of a reality check.
    And again, I'll repeat to you, the meetings don't take place with 
just A students. Every student--every student is going to be contacted. 
Every student is going to be involved. And then what happens is, is that 
they start promoting advance courses. In other words, it's a practical 
application of reality to what must take place in the classrooms.
    It sounds so simple, but it works, by the way. We've seen it work in 
Texas. I mean, thousands of students have been challenged to take AP 
courses. Thousands of students who didn't really realize the value of 
raising the bar have gone--taken extra credits and have learned new 
language. I mean, it is an effective way to spread the word to parent 
and student alike that if you're interested in your future, raise the 
bar. Take the toughest courses. That, in itself, has a positive effect 
on the schools.
    See, I believe teachers want the very best. I believe they love the 
thought when students say, ``Teach me more. Raise the standards for me, 
please.'' This is going to be a positive thing for the State of 
Arkansas, I can assure you. The Texas Scholars Curriculum score--Texas 
Scholars score 102 points higher on the SAT than their counterpart. By 
the way, this is thousands of students, not just a handful. Those who 
have completed physics and pre-calculus are now up by 50 percent since 
the program was started 10 years ago. It works. And it's going to be 
implemented here in Arkansas.
    One of the reasons I've come is not only to herald the need for good 
education but to talk about this center right here in your State. I call 
upon your business community to participate. The grants that we're 
issuing from the Federal Government will help kind of bring people 
together, help people understand what it takes to make this program 
successful. It takes business participation. It takes a willing school 
district. It takes a State that's willing to facilitate. It takes 
parents who care, and it takes students willing to listen. And it's 
going to happen here in Arkansas. And as a result of this program, I 
firmly believe when you implement it, your great State is going to be 
better off. You'll shine. You'll be a beacon for others to see what is 
possible.
    I want to talk about one other thing, if you don't mind. Here's how 
I think. Out of the evil done to America is going to come some 
incredible good. And I want our students to hear that. Out of the evil--
and make no mistake, what was done on September the 11th was evil--is 
going to come some good.

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I believe the world will be more peaceful. And you just need to know 
that that's the game--that's the goal, is peace in this world, not only 
peace here at home but peace in parts of the world where people have 
quit on peace, peace in parts of the world where people have said peace 
is impossible. I think it is. That's the vision I have. And I know by 
leading in that direction that we can achieve peace. I believe that.
    And here at home we can have a more compassionate America. I don't 
know what went into the minds of the people that attacked us. They 
probably said, ``Well, this country is so self-absorbed and so 
materialistic and so selfish that nothing would happen. Oh, they may 
file a lawsuit or two, but other than that, they're so weak, nothing 
would happen''--is what they probably thought. And they're learning 
something else about America. See, they're learning the true character 
of the country.
    Not only are we tough when we need to be tough, not only are we 
patient when we need to be patient, but we're a compassionate country. 
That's what they're learning. See, people understand that being a 
patriot is now--now they understand is more than just putting your hand 
over your heart. See, a patriot is loving a neighbor just like you'd 
like to be loved yourself. If you want to join the war on terror, do 
some good.
    There are pockets of despair and hopelessness and addiction in this 
good country. There just are. And when one of us hurts, we all hurt. 
Now, my view of Government is, Government can hand out money--and it 
can, and it does quite often, I might add --[laughter]--but what it 
cannot do is put hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in 
people's lives. That happens when a loving soul says, ``I love you,'' to 
somebody in need. That's when that happens. It happens when somebody 
puts their arm around a child and says, ``What can I do to make your 
life better? How can I mentor you? How can I help?''
    My call to the seniors and juniors and sophomores here is to 
understand that serving something greater than yourself in life is a 
part of being an American. And when the enemy hit us, a lot of good 
folks stepped back and said, ``What is life worth? What do we need to 
do? How can I help? How can I serve?'' Service is a part of being a 
responsible citizen. Service to somebody in need is part of being a 
whole person.
    Today I had the honor of meeting Connie Melton, who greeted me at 
Air Force One. She's a graduate of Parkview Arts and Science Magnet 
School. She is the founder of the Arkansas affiliate for Dress for 
Success, which provides suits and business attire to low-income women 
trying to enter the workforce. I met her at the airport. I said, ``How 
are you doing?'' She said, ``We've helped over 100--100--people 
already.'' She's been in business, I think she said, a little over a 
year. One hundred lives have been changed, she said, through the simple 
act of providing somebody with some decent clothes to help them out.
    You see, our society hurts in many places, but it can change. It can 
change, one heart, one soul at a time. And while we all realize one of 
us can't do everything, one of us can do something to be a part of 
helping change those hearts and souls. Connie Melton, citizen, soldier 
in the army of compassion, didn't need a Government law to tell her to 
step forward. She listened to a universal call, something much higher 
than Government. And she's affecting the community in which she lives in 
such an incredibly positive and hopeful way. Connie, thank you for 
coming--appreciate you being here.
    The reason I appreciate so very much Connie coming is, I want all of 
us, older and younger alike, to realize one person can make a 
difference. And I hope you do. I hope the youngsters here aim high and 
shoot high. I hope you set high standards for yourself and work hard. I 
hope you make the right choices in life. But I also hope you understand 
that here in America, helping somebody in need doesn't take all that 
much, but by doing so, you can help set the true face of compassion for 
this great Nation.
    It is my honor to come to this wonderful school. I wish you all the 
best. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 2:55 p.m. in the school's auditorium. In 
his remarks, he referred to Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas; and Linda 
Brown, principal, Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School. The 
Office of the Press Secretary

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also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.