[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 40 (Monday, October 9, 2006)]
[Pages 1749-1750]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Department of Education

October 5, 2006

    I want to thank Secretary Spellings and her fine team for welcoming 
me here to the Department of Education. I have just reassured the 
Secretary and the folks who work here that the reauthorization of the No 
Child Left Behind Act is a priority of this administration. And the 
reason I say it's a priority is because this act is working. We strongly 
believe in setting high standards for all students, and we strongly 
believe that in order to make sure those standards are met, we must 
measure to determine whether or not the schools are functioning the way 
we expect them to function and the way the parents expect them to 
function and the way the taxpayers expect them to function.
    No Child Left Behind is working, and we've been strategizing here as 
to how to make sure we not only defend it during the reauthorization 
process but how we strengthen the law.
    And so I want to thank you all for your work. I particularly want to 
thank the teachers and principals who have taken the No Child Left 
Behind Act and have implemented it and have seen the dramatic results 
that can be achieved by rigorous academics and strong curriculum and 
hard work in the classroom.
    The most important function of Government at home is to make sure 
that a child receives an excellent education, and that's particularly 
important in a world that is becoming more globalized. I'm optimistic we 
can achieve our objectives. I know this law is working, and I look 
forward to working with Congress in the next legislative session to 
reauthorize and strengthen the No Child Left Behind Act.

[[Page 1750]]

    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:03 a.m. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.