[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 20 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[Pages 875-882]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion at Parkersburg South High School in Parkersburg, 
West Virginia

May 13, 2004

    The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming. Please be 
seated. First, thanks for the invite. You all got the best seat in the 
house. At least you got the best view of me. [Laughter] I really want to 
thank you all for coming. I want to thank our panelists for being here, 
because we're about to have a discussion on how to make sure every 
person in America can realize their dreams. That's what we're here to 
talk about: Dreams and how they can be realized; how to make sure the 
education system works the way every mom and dad, every teacher, every 
principal, every concerned citizen wants it to work.
    And this is the perfect place to come and have a discussion about 
education, because Parkersburg South is educating the kids. They're 
doing a fine job here. Tom, I want to thank you. I've spent a lot of 
time at schools, and there's always a common denominator in excellent 
schools, and that is you've got a good principal, see--somebody who 
listens to the teachers, somebody who interfaces with the parents, but 
somebody who sets high standards, somebody who believes in the best for 
every child. And I appreciate you taking on a tough job, and I 
appreciate you doing it well.
    I want to thank Bill Niday as well. He's the superintendent here in 
Wood County. I know something about superintendents, and I know how 
important they are for education. See, I picked a superintendent of 
schools to run the Department of Education, the superintendent from 
Harris County, which is Houston, Texas. I mean, the superintendent is on 
the frontline of education. They're involved with all aspects of local 
education. So

[[Page 876]]

I picked a man who understands how it works. And the reason I brought a 
superintendent in from Texas to Washington, because I believe in local 
control of schools. I want the people at the local level running the 
schools.
    I appreciate Barbara Fish, from the State board here in West 
Virginia, for coming. Where are you, Barbara? Thank you for coming. I'm 
honored you are here. I appreciate what you said. Barbara said to me--
I'm going to talk a little bit about No Child Left Behind here in a 
second. She said, ``I love the spirit of No Child Left Behind.'' See, I 
love the spirit of Barbara, who understands that by setting high 
standards and measuring and making sure curriculum works and making sure 
your dollars are well spent, that we can make sure no child is left 
behind in America. So thank you for your vision, and thank you for your 
care.
    They're telling me Jimmy Colombo is here, the mayor. Where are you, 
Mr. Mayor? There you are. I appreciate you coming. Who you got with you? 
There he is. We'll try to get you a better seat next time, Mayor. 
[Laughter] But thank you for being here. I'm proud you're here. I really 
appreciate so many of the citizens of this good city coming out and 
waving, and it means a lot to me. And Mayor, the fact that you're here 
means a lot too. I appreciate you serving your community. Just make sure 
you fill the potholes. [Laughter]
    I appreciate the Patriots. All of the Patriots are here. Thank you 
for hosting us. I want to congratulate the seniors who are getting ready 
to graduate. Make sure you don't take the foot off the gas pedal too 
soon--isn't that right? Keep studying until the final bell rings. But 
good luck to you.
    Today I had the honor of meeting Heather Stout. She came out to the 
airport. She's a sophomore at West Virginia University in Parkersburg. 
I'll tell you why I mention her. Where are you, Heather? She's 
somewhere. Oh, there you are, right there. I'm sorry. I beg your pardon. 
You know what? The reason I bring her up is she's a tutor. She is a math 
tutor for fourth grade students. Here's a person going to college who 
has taken time out of her life to help children learn math.
    Listen, we talk a lot about the strength of our country, and I'm 
going to spend a little time talking about the strength of our--a lot of 
the strengths of the country. But the true strength of this country is 
the hearts and souls of the American people. That's the strength of 
America. We're strong because there are good people willing to teach. 
We're strong because there are good citizens willing to love a neighbor 
just like they'd like to be loved themselves. See, there are people who 
hurt in our country, but that hurt can change as a result of a loving 
citizen saying, ``What can I do to help?'' See, societies change one 
heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. That's how societies change, 
and that happens when people like Heather, and I'm sure people here in 
this crowd, are willing to take a little time to love and spread 
compassion.
    The reason I mention Heather is because I want people in this good 
part of the country to do everything they can to help the lonely, to 
feed the hungry, to find shelter for those who are looking for a place 
to stay. Heather, thanks for the example you've set. Thanks for having 
such a good heart, and thanks for following your heart.
    One of the things that I'm so proud of is the United States 
military. I'm proud--[applause]--thank you all for coming. Thank you 
all. Corporal Ferguson, where's--there he is. Lance Corporal Ferguson--
excuse me. He just came back from Iraq. He was one of over 200,000 men 
and women who have served this Nation. And the reason I bring him up--I 
want to say a couple of things--thank you, go ahead and be seated. I 
appreciate you being here. Thank you for your service. And that's Joe 
Ellison--yes, Lance Corporal Ellison is with him too. I didn't mean to 
leave you out, but thank you for your service too.
    Let me say a couple of things that you need to know. First, our men 
and women are serving in historic times. We have a duty never to forget 
the lessons of September the 11th, 2001, and when we see a gathering 
threat--when we see threats, we can no longer hope they go away. We 
can't hope for the best. We've got to take action. Now, action doesn't 
necessarily mean use of the military. Action can mean using diplomatic 
pressure, all kinds of pressures. But the

[[Page 877]]

enemy declared war on us. And we must be strong, and we must be 
diligent, and we must be focused. We must do everything we can to 
protect our homeland. We've got brave soldiers doing just that.
    And we're being tested, see. We're being tested because there are 
people who cannot stand the thought of free societies growing up in a 
part of the world that is used to hatred and tyranny. We're being tested 
because there are coldblooded killers that cannot stand the thought of 
freedom becoming the norm.
    And yet, we know something here in America. We know the power of 
free societies. See, freedom equals peace. Free societies will be 
peaceful societies. And we also know that freedom is not America's gift 
to the world. Freedom is the almighty God's gift to each man and woman 
in this world.
    I want these marines to know that they are serving in historic 
times. The world is changing for the better. The world will be more free 
and more peaceful, thanks to the United States of America and our 
military. These are historic times.
    I'll tell you an interesting story to try and put it in perspective. 
I was having dinner with Prime Minister Koizumi in Tokyo. Laura was with 
me, by the way. She's doing a great job, fabulous person. And here I 
was, talking to the Prime Minister of a former enemy. My dad, like many 
of your relatives, fought in the Pacific in World War II, and here I 
was, talking to the Prime Minister of the country against whom we used 
to fight, a country that had attacked us. And we were talking about how 
to keep the peace. We were strategizing about how to make sure the 
Korean Peninsula is nuclear-weapon-free.
    It was a very interesting conversation. First of all, I like the guy 
a lot. And secondly, it was a positive conversation, an important 
conversation, to help keep the peace. Had we not gotten the peace right 
after World War II, it might have been that I wouldn't be having the 
conversation with Prime Minister Koizumi. As well during the 
conversation, I thought about what it would be like for a future 
American President to be talking to a duly elected leader of Iraq, a 
free Iraq, a peaceful Iraq, a democratic Iraq, about how to deal with 
problems future generations will face.
    No, these are historic times. We're being tested. People are testing 
our mettle. And I will not yield to the whims of the few. [Applause] 
Thank you all. I won't yield because I believe so strongly in what we're 
doing, and I have faith in the power of freedom to spread its wings in 
parts of the world that desperately need freedom.
    I want to say one other thing about our troops. Like you, I have 
been disgraced about what I've seen on TV, what took place in the 
prison. But the actions of a few do not reflect on the fantastic 
character of the over 200,000 men and women who have served our Nation.
    One other thing before we talk about education: It is really 
important for this country to be wise about how we use our natural 
resources. And I have asked the Congress to pass a national energy 
policy so we become less dependent on foreign sources of energy. I've 
asked the Congress to quit playing politics and get a bill out of the 
United States Senate to my desk that includes the use of clean coal 
technologies to make sure we are less dependent. I mean, we're seeing 
what it means to be hooked on foreign sources of energy right now. And 
like you, I'm unhappy about it. But I got a plan, if we can just get 
some cooperation, so we can make sure we got more supply here at home. 
That's the way you relieve the pressure from foreign sources--you use 
what you have in a smart way. And we can do this in this country. We can 
be wise about how we use our resources, so that the people benefit.
    And you got a lot of coal here, and it's an important part of our 
country's energy mix. And we can use technologies to make sure that coal 
does what we want it to do, which is to power electricity so people can 
have reliable sources of electricity for their homes and their 
businesses.
    One of the things we're here to talk about today is how to make sure 
the workforce is educated. But we'd better make sure we've got an 
educated energy policy too, so that we can have a workforce that 
expands.
    Now, the best way to make sure we got a workforce that's educated is 
to start early,

[[Page 878]]

before it's too late. The No Child Left Behind Act changed the attitude 
about monies being spent out of Washington. Listen, we've increased the 
budgets out of Washington by 49 percent since 2001. That is a healthy 
increase.
    Two things I want to say about that: First of all, it's not the 
Federal responsibility to fund schools. It's State and local 
responsibility to fund. You don't want the Federal Government running 
the school system here. But we can help. We can help with Title I 
students. We can help with Reading First programs. There are ways for 
the Federal Government to help, and we are.
    Make no mistake about it, we're increasing the budgets at the 
Federal level, but for the first time we have said, ``Since we're 
spending more money, why don't you show us whether or not the children 
are learning to read, write, and add and subtract. Why don't you use an 
accountability system to let everybody know that we're succeeding.'' And 
that's what's changed. And this high school right here is using the 
accountability system, and the students at this school are meeting the 
accountability standards.
    See, we're setting higher standards. And by the way, if you set low 
standards, guess what you're going get? You're going to get lousy 
results. If you have the attitude that certain children can't learn to 
read and write and add and subtract, sure enough, certain children won't 
learn to read and write and add and subtract. So we're raising that bar. 
We're providing extra money. We're holding people accountable, and we're 
making sure there's local control of schools. See, the people of 
Parkersburg can run the schools better than people in Washington, DC, 
can. That's for certain.
    And we're making progress. The reading scores in West Virginia are 
up. That's really good news. It means the teachers are doing what we 
expect, and they're working hard, by the way. Being a teacher is a 
difficult profession, and we need to praise our teachers and thank our 
teachers.
    The test scores are up. That must make everybody feel better. It 
should. And the reason I can say that is because we're measuring. See, 
if you don't measure, you say, ``I think the test scores are up,'' or 
``Maybe the test scores are up.'' You don't know unless you measure. 
We're measuring, and the results are good.
    But let me tell you a statistic that troubles me: 68 of 100 ninth 
graders nationwide, only 68 will go to college. We ought to have a goal 
that says every child, every high school student, finishes high school 
and is capable of finding a job or capable of going on to college. That 
ought to be the goal.
    And so what we're going to talk about today is not how to make sure 
elementary school children can read but to make sure that the high 
school programs raise the bar, intervene when necessary, make sure that 
money is spent wisely, so that we're educating children that have got 
the capacity to take over the jobs of the 21st century. And there's some 
practical things we can do.
    First, there needs to be intervention programs for junior high and 
high school kids who have been shuffled through without the capacity to 
read. And we've got a program called Striving Readers Initiative, which 
is an intervention program based on a curriculum designed out of the 
University of Kansas, by the way, and it works. And I would urge the 
good folks of the--the planners here in West Virginia to access the 
Federal monies that I'm asking Congress to spend on making sure that at 
the very minimum, a kid has got the capacity to read before they get out 
of high school.
    See, if you can't read, these jobs of the 21st century are going to 
go begging. If you don't have the capacity to at least read, it's going 
to be impossible for you--not totally impossible, nearly impossible to 
get the high-paying, high-productivity jobs that are now being created 
in America.
    Secondly, we need to make sure we get more math and science 
graduates. It's really important that we emphasize math--besides 
literacy, math and science--and we're going to talk a little bit about 
that here in a minute--because math and science programs will be 
necessary to make sure the skill level is good enough for these new jobs 
that are being created, that people will be able to fill those jobs as 
well. And so I've got a plan that provides Federal grants to develop 
teaching programs, in other words, help

[[Page 879]]

schools develop effective math teaching programs.
    Thirdly, we need an adjunct teacher program to encourage 
professionals and experts from math and sciences to teach--in other 
words, once somebody has finished their career or maybe is looking for a 
career adjustment, to allow them and encourage them to get in the 
classroom to spread their skills. We need engineers teaching in high 
schools. We need scientists teaching in high schools. We need people who 
have been in the military that have had some engineering experience to 
come out and teach in high schools. And we--I'm asking Congress to pass 
a $40 million program to encourage the recruitment and training of such 
teachers.
    As well we need to be raising that bar. We're going to talk about 
advanced placement here in a minute. Advanced placement programs are 
essential programs for challenging every child. In other words, we need 
to keep raising the standards. We've got to constantly strive to set big 
goals so people are reaching for those goals and helping schools make 
sure that the programs work.
    Advanced placement is--I love the program. We're about to talk to an 
advanced placement teacher who I suspect loves it as well, but there are 
some difficulties. I think the Federal Government should be spending 
money to help train teachers to teach advanced placement. See, a lot of 
school districts say, ``Well, I'm interested, but it just doesn't meet 
our needs right now.'' Well, it should meet the needs, and therefore, 
there's Federal money available for teacher training.
    And one other aspect: It costs $80 to take a advanced placement 
test. Now, that's high for a lot of families. Low-income families will 
say, you know, ``I'd rather spend my 80 somewhere else than taking a 
test,'' and there's a lot of missed opportunity. I think the Federal 
Government ought to help low-income students pay for the fee to take the 
AP test.
    I'm getting there. Our panelists are about to fall out, wondering--
all right. As the old guy said, ``You're just not a potted plant.'' 
[Laughter]
    I think we ought to enhance Pell grants for students who take 
rigorous academic courses. Or as I say, if you're taking a rigorous 
course load in high school and you qualify for Pell grants, you ought to 
get an extra $1,000 on your Pell grant. We're spending money at the Pell 
grant, and Pell grants are good things. We ought to use the Pell grant 
system to encourage people to keep raising their sights.
    We're going to talk about ways to make sure the Perkins Act, which 
is the vocational training act, work better. I mean, this act was passed 
in 1917. We're spending a billion dollars a year. The attitude has got 
to change from 1917. It kind of--it has some, but as a part of the 
vocational training courses, there need to be a rigorous focus on 
English and math and science. We've got to make sure the children have 
got, oh, yes, the skills that may be taught at the Perkins programs, but 
they need the basics too. And so in order to make sure the high school 
programs work all the way around, we need to reform the Perkins program.
    We're going to talk about the community college system. I'm a big 
believer in the community college system. Community college systems are 
ways to help high school students achieve big goals, and we're going to 
talk about that. The community college systems are also important to 
taking older folks that have been in one field and training them for 
another field.
    And we've spent a lot of money at the Federal level to make sure 
that we're able to match skills with jobs available. I mean, I think--
one of the stories I tell is I went to the Mesa Community College in 
Arizona, and I met a woman who had been a graphic design artist for over 
a decade. And she then went back to the community college, got help from 
the Federal Government, and got her associate degree. And in her entry-
level job in a high-tech field, she made more in her first year than she 
had made in her last year. In other words, education will not only help 
somebody become employable; education will help somebody become more 
productive, which means higher, higher wages, better job, better 
availability for work. And that's what we're going to talk about.
    So here we go. Big Tom, are you ready?
    Thomas Eschbacher. I'm ready to go. [Laughter]
    The President. He has got a program here called High Schools That 
Work, and we're

[[Page 880]]

going to spend some time talking about that. It is a way to introduce a 
rigorous course schedule into the high school curriculum to challenge 
people. You may want to talk about that, and you may want to not talk 
about that, but let her go.

[Mr. Eschbacher, principal, Parkersburg South High School, made brief 
remarks.]

    The President. Good job. That's why you're no longer the band 
director. [Laughter]
    Mr. Eschbacher. I was pretty good at that too, though.
    The President. What were you, tuba?
    Mr. Eschbacher. I'm a sax player.
    The President. Sax player, right.
    Dr. Becky Daniel is with us. She is an AP English teacher. First, 
Becky has been teaching for 29 years, which is a great credit to you, to 
be in the classroom for that long. You might want to tell people about 
the advanced placement program--I suspect some people don't even know 
what we're talking about--why it's important, how you got into it. Let 
her go. Thanks for coming.

[Dr. Rebecca Daniel, English teacher, Parkersburg South High School, 
made brief remarks.]

    The President. Good job, Becky. Thank you. I love her spirit. See, I 
like teachers that challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. In 
other words, she's saying, ``I'm going to keep raising that bar. I'm 
going to keep challenging.'' And it must make you feel great to see 
people achieve what you want them to do. Yes, it's got to.
    And I agree with you, I think we need to make sure AP is available 
for all kids. Part of it is the teacher training; part of it is the fee. 
I mean, I'm sure you've run into kids who say, ``My mother and daddy 
don't want to spend the money on the fee.'' And that's not a good enough 
excuse. We've got to encourage--by the way, AP--listen to what she 
said--if you pass the AP, you get through college faster. And that takes 
a lot of the financial pressure off. I mean, it's not only good in terms 
of your brain; it's good in terms of your wallet. And so, thanks for 
doing what you're doing, Becky. I appreciate your spirit.
    We've got another teacher with us today. Dave is with us. He is a 
physics teacher. Here's a guy who was trained to be a chemical engineer? 
Yes. Then he decided to be a teacher--and both of them noble 
professions, but here he is now, imparting knowledge. He turned down 
what I bet was a pretty good career in this part of the world. He said, 
``I want to teach,'' and he's a physics teacher.
    Tell us what you're seeing. Tell us what you're hearing about 
sciences. It's essential that people take science in high school. This 
job base of ours is changing. It's in transition. We're creating new 
jobs all across the country, and people are going to have to be prepared 
to succeed in these jobs. These aren't the jobs like we've had in the 
past. These are better paying jobs, steady work, but require the use of 
your brain. And part of that base, to be ready for these new jobs, is a 
science base.
    And that's why we have Dave here. Thanks for coming.

[David Foggin, physics teacher, Parkersburg South High School, made 
brief remarks.]

    The President. So, are kids interested? I mean, how do we--are 
people interested in sciences and math now, do you find?
    Mr. Foggin. What I like to do--and Tom can probably attest to this--
``All in the name of science,'' he says--I'll take kids in the hallway, 
and we'll push them on scooters and talk about force and acceleration. 
We'll go to the gym and throw medicine balls in the air and talk about 
potential energy and kinetic energy. We swing on ropes and talk about 
pendulums and harmonic motion. I try to make things active and fun and 
keep science fun, and sometimes you don't even realize you're learning.
    The President. Yes, practical--with a practical application.
    Mr. Foggin. Yes, a lot of hands on.
    The President. One of the things he's talking about is going to 
businesses--we call them State Scholar programs. We're going to talk 
about how to get other businesses involved here in a minute. But what 
businesses are interested in is they want a high school to be ready to--
be capable of training people so they can hire them. That's what they 
want,

[[Page 881]]

and so we've got what's called State Scholar programs, which is a 
collaborative effort between high schools and school districts and 
businesses to encourage rigorous curriculum that matters. That's kind of 
what you were doing when you went to the plant. You had business 
executives say, let us help figure out----
    Mr. Foggin. We met with employers all around this area and asked 
them, ``What do you want from employees? Let's see some of your 
employees.'' And we spent about a week with them to see exactly what it 
is they do, what skills they need, and then we all got back together at 
the end and said, ``Hey, everything we saw was''----
    The President. See, that's a smart way to run a high school. It's a 
practical way to run a high school. It says, ``Look, we're going to make 
sure that kids who come out of here not only can read and write, but 
they're going to have the basis so they can become employees.'' As this 
job base expands--and it's expanding--as new jobs are being created, 
we've got to get it right here in high school.
    It starts with making sure kids can read early. I mean--and that's 
what's happening. It will help when we have intervention programs all 
around the country to make sure that the literacy levels are high enough 
to become--so people can at least fill out the forms when it comes to 
finding work. But we need to make sure we stay focused on math and 
science.
    And that's why I'm so--I appreciate Dave being here. Thanks for what 
you do. I love both your spirits, and thanks for teaching. Appreciate 
you coming.
    We've got a man from Atlanta, Georgia, right here sitting next to 
the President. Gene Bottoms--he is the senior Vice President of what's 
called the Southern Regional Education Board. It is a--well, he can tell 
you what it is. But he is involved with working with school districts 
around the country to encourage them to put in place rigorous academic 
programs. Is that an accurate description?
    Gene Bottoms. That's a big part of it.
    The President. All right. Well, tell them what you do.

[James E. ``Gene'' Bottoms, senior vice president, Southern Regional 
Education Board, made brief remarks.]

    The President. Nationally, only 68 percent of the children who start 
from the ninth grade will graduate from high school on time. In other 
words, West Virginia is doing really well.

[Mr. Bottoms made further remarks.]

    The President. Thanks for coming. Good job.
    We've got Joe Badgley with us. He is the Dean of Academic Affairs. 
You still the interim president?
    Joe Badgley. Yes, sir.
    The President. You're still the interim president, although he named 
his successor yesterday, or today?
    Dr. Badgley. My successor was named yesterday.
    The President. Yes, we've got you coming and going. Anyway--
[laughter]--thanks for coming. He is at West Virginia University at 
Parkersburg. And tell us about the program you've got here. Just let 
us--let her go.

[Dr. Joseph L. Badgley, interim president, West Virginia University at 
Parkersburg, made brief remarks.]

    The President. So what does that mean for a mom or a dad, or what 
does it mean for the student when that happens?
    Dr. Badgley. Well, one of the great things about the program is that 
many of the high schools choose to give graduation credit so that the 
students are earning credits toward graduation from high school at the 
same time they're earning college credit, which is why the program is 
often referred to as dual credit. And it's important to note that those 
courses are delivered at deeply discounted tuition rates, which means 
that students can graduate from high school with as much as a semester 
of college work completed at a substantial savings to themselves and to 
their families.
    The President. Yes, that's a really smart idea. And how hard is it 
for the high school students? I mean, if somebody is sitting out there 
listening who says, ``Gosh, I may want to get my child, who's a 
sophomore in high school, to think about this,'' is it a steep hill

[[Page 882]]

to climb, or is it--obviously, if 900 kids are going, they've had pretty 
good success passing the courses.
    Dr. Badgley. It's a very popular program, and the students--the 
program is open to high school juniors and seniors who have a 2.8 grade 
point average and the recommendation of their principal or their 
counselor to participate in the program.
    The President. Yes, that's neat. What are you doing for worker 
training? Can you share some of the ideas with the citizens here in this 
community about why you're important and useful and necessary?

[Dr. Badgley made further remarks.]

    The President. Yes. See, I like to tell people the community college 
systems are available, affordable, and they're flexible. In other words, 
they're able to change their curriculum in order to meet the needs of 
the job requirements or the job needs here. And it's a really good 
asset. And the thing that's so impressive about the utilization of this 
good asset is they hooked up with a high school--high schools here. So 
people have got all kinds of opportunities.
    Listen, I hope you're as optimistic about the future of the country 
as I am. You just heard some, I think, incredibly positive news about 
your community. You've got people who are raising the bar, people who 
are making sure that the course load is relevant to the jobs of the 21st 
century, people who are using the asset base, the education asset base, 
in a wise way to make sure that every child has got an opportunity to 
realize the great promise of the country.
    We live in the most fabulous nation on the face of the Earth, and 
one of the reasons why is because we're a nation that believes in the 
worth of every person, regardless of their background. We're a nation 
that believes in the potential of every person. We want every child to 
learn to read, write, and add and subtract. We want every child to have 
the curriculum necessary to be able to realize his or her dreams. That's 
what we want in America.
    We're also a great nation because we've got fantastic values. And 
one of the values we hold dear is the value of freedom. We love our 
freedom. We understand our freedom. We will never relinquish our 
freedom.
    Thank you all for coming. May God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:58 p.m. in the school's gymnasium. In 
his remarks, he referred to Lance Cpl. Stephen Ferguson, USMC; and Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.