[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 2 (Monday, January 12, 2004)]
[Pages 16-19]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion at Pierre Laclede Elementary School in
St. Louis, Missouri

January 5, 2004

    The President. Well, I'm glad to be here, Madam Principal. 
[Laughter] One of the things you find in a successful school is a 
strong-willed, smart, capable principal. And that's obviously the case 
here, and I appreciate your hospitality.
    I'm here at Laclede because this is a school that has defied 
expectations. It's defied expectations by raising the bar and believing 
that every child can learn. That's not the case in some parts of our 
country, unfortunately. In some parts of the country, schools just 
shuffle kids through, and that's not right. That's not the American way.
    This school is a school that has performed, you have to say, 
brilliantly. Since 1999, 7 percent of the kids could read, and now 80 
percent can read at grade level in the third grade. That speaks to 
strong principals; it speaks to really good teachers. It says this 
school has got teachers that believe in the capability of every child. 
It says the school has raised standards and is not afraid to measure.
    And see, one of the things I'm here to talk about is the No Child 
Left Behind Act. Laclede has been named a No Child Left--Blue Ribbon No 
Child Left Behind School. And the--inherent in this No Child Left Behind 
Act is the desire to spend Federal money and spend it wisely. We've 
increased budgets. The Title I money is up 43 percent since 2001--41 
percent. The teacher training money is up. The reading program money is 
up by 4 times. But finally, the Federal Government has said, ``Why don't 
you show us whether or not that money is being well-spent. Show us 
whether or not you believe every child can learn. Show us whether or not 
objectives are being met.''
    And this is exactly what's happening here at Laclede. As I was 
reminded, Laclede was doing this before No Child Left Behind Act was 
passed. Joyce was quick to point it out.

[[Page 17]]

[Laughter] She may point it out again. [Laughter]
    But the important thing is, inherent in the No Child Left Behind Act 
was not only the desire to measure, the need to measure, the need to 
show, the need to track each child, but it's also the trust of local 
people to make the right decisions. See, you can't have a system that 
is--meets objectives if you're hamstrung by Federal rules and 
regulations. And so, inherent in the No Child Left Behind Act is trust, 
trust of the principals, trust of the teachers, trust of the parents, 
trust of the local officials, like Speaker Hanaway and Peter Kinder from 
the State house and State senate who are with us. I want to thank you 
for coming, by the way.
    I appreciate all the State officials who are here. I know we've got 
some school board officials. You've got the ball in our--in terms of how 
to achieve excellence. It's up to you. The Federal Government is a 
source of money. It's now a source of inspiration. It's a source of 
measurement. But it's up to the local people to really make it work.
    I also appreciate so very much that Senator Jim Talent is with us. 
Senator, thank you for coming. Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson and Kenny 
Hulshof, and of course, Congressman Lacy Clay, whose district we are in. 
Congressman, thank you very much for joining us today.
    I went into a classroom of fourth graders. I asked this question, I 
said, ``How many of you are going to go to college?'' You'll be happy to 
hear that every hand went up. That's a good sign. They were also doing 
something that was fundamentally important. They were practicing their 
reading. I also asked the question, ``How many of you read more than you 
watch TV?'' About 50 percent of the hands went up. [Laughter]
    But what's important is for schools like--around the country to 
understand what's happening here, and that is that the people here use 
reading programs based upon what works, not what sounds good, reading 
programs based upon the science of reading. And it's working.
    And so I'm here to congratulate this school and to really hold you 
up for the Nation to see what is possible when you raise the bar, when 
you're not afraid to hold people to account, when you empower your 
teachers and your principals to achieve the objective we all want. And 
that's to make sure no child, not one single child in America, is left 
behind.
    I'm honored to be here at this Blue Ribbon School. And I appreciate 
your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

[At this point, the discussion continued.]

    The President. Yes, you are. Listen, one of the things you hear, of 
course, is that you can't test kids, see. You can't test. We test too 
much. How do you know if a child isn't reading if you don't test? How do 
you know who needs help? I mean, if the idea is to make sure not one 
child is left behind, you better test.
    The test isn't a punishment, you know. It's not to punish anybody. 
The test is to determine who needs extra help. And that's exactly why 
Laclede is doing well, I'm convinced, or one of the main reasons why. 
They've got a book here that says, ``Every child matters. Every child 
can learn, and therefore we're going to measure as to whether or not 
we're meeting expectations for every child, not a few of the children 
but every child.''
    And so when you hear this talk about testing, testing is bad, 
testing is--you know, teach the test, what testing is--what testing does 
and what measuring does is determines whether or not every child is 
learning, and if not, whether that child is getting the help he or she 
needs early, before it is too late.
    We've got to stop this business about just shuffling kids through 
the schools in America. We've got to stop social promotion and focus on 
whether or not each child is getting the instruction he or she needs, 
and that's exactly what this book says, and that's why I'm here at 
Laclede to tout this program, because you're making great sense.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Yes, I think it's important. The Federal Government 
can help, and we have. I think we've increased the teacher training and 
recruitment budget significantly, like by about 40 percent since 2001. 
And that's important to make sure teachers have the skills necessary to 
be able to teach. I mean, it's one thing to have a good heart;

[[Page 18]]

it's another thing to be able to have the skills necessary to put--to 
match the good heart with the capacity to pass on knowledge.
    And so the Federal Government is helping on teacher recruitment, 
teacher training, and that's an important aspect of the No Child Left 
Behind Act. It's essential that we continue to monitor what works, 
whether the curriculum you're using makes sense--that's what measurement 
helps a school to understand--and whether or not a teacher needs a 
little extra help in order to be able to impart the knowledge that he or 
she is desirous of doing.
    I know we've got a parent here. By the way, the first teacher of any 
child is a mom and a dad. And it's--this parent right here is a good 
teacher. Thank you for being here.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Speaking about volunteers, one of the really true 
strengths of our country is the heart and soul of the American people. 
Today with us--I met a fellow at the airport who is now with us here 
today. His name is Jeff Tank. Probably never heard of Jeff. He is a 
volunteer with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. January happens to be 
National Mentoring Month.
    Where are you, Jeff? There he is. Jeff, by the way, when I went to 
the airport, he said, ``This isn't about recognition, recognizing me.'' 
I said, ``Yes, it is, because you represent a lot of other good people 
who are taking time out of your lives to make a difference in a child's 
life.''
    Schools need volunteers. Schools need mentors. Big Brothers and Big 
Sisters is a fabulous program that provides that kind of--that provides 
that kind of mentoring and help. Whether you're the superintendent of 
schools or the chairman of the school board or the President, we all 
need to be out encouraging people to volunteer.
    I always say that part of ushering in a era of personal 
responsibility means that people have to be responsible for the 
communities--for the schools in the community in which they live. You 
just can't trust that some faraway Government is going to make the 
correct decisions for the local communities. And if you're interested in 
the quality of education and you're paying attention to what you hear at 
Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you help and mentor a child 
how to read? Why don't you join us all in changing America one child at 
a time?
    And so, Jeff, I want to thank you for coming. I want to thank you 
for the example you have set for others in the community of St. Louis, 
and hope that others will follow your example. And a great place to 
start to volunteer is to show up at a local public school and ask the 
principal what you can do to help change a child's life.
    So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good 
mom and a great volunteer as well.
    Listen, making sure every child learns to read and making sure every 
child is educated is a--the number one domestic priority of this 
country. It is essential we get it right.
    Laclede Elementary School shatters stereotypes. It shows that we can 
have excellence in every single classroom across this country, that it's 
not just suburban America where we find excellence. You can find 
excellence in inner-city America. You find excellence in rural America. 
You find excellence where you've got great principals and teachers and 
leadership willing to raise the standards, willing to challenge every 
child, because you believe in every child. You find excellence where 
you're willing to measure and then correct when things aren't going the 
way they should. You find excellence when you've got skilled teachers 
carrying around a book that measures the ability of each child, not a 
collection of children but every child, and so that you can then qualify 
the curriculum to meet the needs of that child.
    And I am here for the simple reason to show what is possible all 
across America. And what is possible is to take reading scores from 7 
percent to 80 percent in places like St. Louis, Missouri, and elsewhere. 
I want to congratulate you for setting the standard. And keep raising 
the bar. Make sure that other 20 percent gets up to grade level at third 
grade--I know you will--and you will have done your duty as educators 
and Americans to make sure that our children, the very future of the 
country, have got the capacity to succeed in the greatest land on the 
face of the Earth.
    Thank you all for coming. God bless.

[[Page 19]]

Note: The President spoke at 2:33 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Yolanda Moss, principal, and Regina Davis, parent and volunteer, Pierre 
Laclede Elementary School; Joyce Roberts, executive director, Middle 
School and Priority School Education, St. Louis Public Schools, and 
former principal, Pierre Laclede Elementary School; Catherine Hanaway, 
speaker, Missouri State house of representatives; and Peter Kinder, 
president pro tempore, Missouri State senate. He also referred to 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).