[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 2 (Monday, January 12, 2004)]
[Pages 15-16]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

January 3, 2004

    Good morning. Two years ago this month, I signed into law the No 
Child Left Behind Act, the most important reform of public education in 
a generation.
    In that landmark law, we made our expectations clear: Every child in 
America will learn to read, write, add, and subtract at grade level. 
Schools are now required to test children regularly to make sure 
students are learning and that schools are teaching well.
    And when schools do not show progress toward high standards, we're 
giving parents better options, including tutoring for their children or 
a transfer to a better public school. Above all, the No Child Left 
Behind Act required a change in attitude from the educators and public 
officials responsible for our schools.
    We will no longer write off some children as hopeless. We will no 
longer accept or excuse schools that do not effectively teach the 
basics. We will insist on high standards and accountability because we 
believe that every school should teach and every child can learn.
    For the past 24 months, schools and State Governments have been 
putting the new reforms into action. All 50 States, plus the District of 
Columbia and Puerto Rico, have drawn up plans to hold every public 
school accountable for student achievement. We're measuring results. 
We're giving teachers the information they need to improve instruction 
and giving parents new options to help their children when schools do 
not measure up.
    We have recently received test results that show America's children 
are making progress. In 2003, math scores for fourth graders nationwide 
were nine points higher than in 2000. Math scores for eighth graders 
improved by five points. And a higher percentage of fourth graders 
tested at or above their grade level in reading.
    To mark the anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, I will 
travel this coming week to schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and 
Knoxville, Tennessee. Children at these schools once struggled, but in 
recent years, they have risen to meet our new standards. Their example 
shows that high expectations, a commitment to measuring achievement, and 
a belief in every child can change lives and turn schools around.
    Some critics have objected to these reforms because they believe our 
expectations are too high or that it is unfair to hold all students to 
the same standards regardless of background or that we're punishing 
schools that are not making progress. But the time for excuses has 
passed. Our reforms insist on high standards because we know every child 
can learn. Our reforms call for testing because the worst discrimination 
is to ignore a school's failure to teach every child. And our reforms 
identify underperforming schools because we need to direct our help to 
the schools that need it most.
    In 2003, we provided $234 million to assist the lowest performing 
schools that need the most improvement. In 2004, we plan to more than 
double that amount. We have increased

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Federal funding for elementary and high school education from about $25 
billion in 2001 to more than $33 billion in 2003, an increase of about 
36 percent and the highest level ever.
    We've committed $1.8 billion in grants to help train tens of 
thousands of teachers to use effective reading instruction methods and 
materials. We expect schools to do their job, and we're helping them to 
do their job. So there's no excuse for failure. When we set a high 
standard, we are showing our belief in the capacities of every child. 
And when we prepare them to meet a high standard, we're giving them a 
better chance in life. High expectations set children on a path to 
success. I'm pleased to report that the No Child Left Behind Act is 
helping put more of America's children on that path, so they succeed in 
school and in life.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:55 a.m. on January 2 at the Bush 
Ranch in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 3. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
January 2 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
this address.