[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 17 (Monday, April 30, 2007)]
[Pages 515-521]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Harlem Village Academy Charter School in New York City

April 24, 2007

    Thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate you making a Texan feel 
right at home here in Harlem. [Laughter] I have had a remarkable 
experience here at Harlem Village Academy Charter School.
    You know, it's interesting, one of the children said, ``Why here? 
Why did you come here, Mr. President? Of all the schools in the country, 
why this school?'' And my answer is, because the President has an 
opportunity to herald excellence, and I have seized that opportunity. I 
have come to a school where some may say, ``These children can't 
possibly exceed high standards''--but, in fact, they are. Secondly, I 
wanted to be nice to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
    I think any time I can thank a teacher, I need to do so. So for the 
teachers here, thank you for teaching; for the principals--[applause].
    Interestingly enough, this week is called National Charter School 
Week--I mean,

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next week is called National Charter School Week, so a good way to 
herald National Charter School Week is, come to a charter school, 
particularly one that's working. I'm a big believer in charter schools. 
I think charter schools make a lot of sense, whether it be here in 
Harlem or anywhere else in the United States.
    And so a way to express support for a charter school is to come to 
one that's working and say to people, if you find excellence, you might 
want to take a look at why; what is it about this school that enables a 
parent to say, I really enjoy sending my child here. Or what is it about 
this school, where a child looks at the President and says, I don't mind 
being tested, because I know that they're going to help correct problems 
early, before it's too late. This school is working, and I appreciate 
you letting me come to talk about not only this school but also about an 
important piece of legislation called the No Child Left Behind Act.
    Before I do so, I thank Deborah for being what I call an educational 
entrepreneur. That means that--[applause]. So I said to Deborah--you 
know, I've never met Deborah before, and I said, how did you get 
involved in this school? She had a personal tragedy, and rather than 
allowing the personal tragedy to drag her down, she said, ``I want to 
make a contribution. And I can't think of a better contribution than to 
help start a charter school''--as a matter of fact, not only one but 
two. I also thought it was interesting, she said, ``If you're going to 
be somebody who helps start charter schools and works to make charter 
schools excellent, that you better be on the frontlines of education.'' 
So she became the principal of this school.
    If you're interested in helping your community--whether you be an 
individual, such as a Deborah, or a corporation, for example--promote 
school excellence, do something for the community in which you live. A 
lot of times if you wait for government, things won't happen. She's 
proven my case. She says, ``I want to be involved, and I want to start 
some schools.'' Corporate America needs to take the same interest in 
local schools if they expect there to be a--if we expect our country to 
realize its promise.
    Mateo Myers introduces Dr. Kenny and introduces me--Mateo Myers. So 
I said to a lot of the kids here at this school, ``How many of you want 
to go to college?'' They all rose--raised their hand. That's a good 
sign. In other words, this school believes in high expectations and 
putting in a child's mind the possibilities of achieving a dream.
    I appreciate very much Joel Klein. You talk about a guy who has 
taken on a tough job and, in my judgment, my humble judgment, is doing 
it with excellence, is Joel Klein. As a result of that endorsement, he 
may never find work again in New York, but nevertheless--[laughter].
    See, I love it when somebody heralds that which is working and takes 
on that which is not working. I like a man who says, ``The status quo is 
unacceptable,'' when it's unacceptable and is willing to do hard work, 
all aimed at making sure every child gets a good education. And we 
appreciate the standard you've set and appreciate the example you have 
shown, Joel.
    I want thank Ed Lewis, chairman of Village Academies. Ed Lewis is a 
successful businessman who, instead of taking his successes and 
disappearing, has taken his successes and used that which enabled him to 
be successful to plow back into a community. And that's an example a lot 
of other people need to see.
    People say to me all the time, ``What can I do, Mr. President? How 
can I contribute?'' Well, if you want to contribute, work on school 
excellence. I can't think of a better way to contribute to the future of 
the United States than to promote alternatives if the school systems in 
your community aren't--isn't working. In other words, just don't set the 
status quo if children are not meeting standards; challenge that status 
quo, and do something about it.
    I appreciate very much Nick Timpone, who is the principal here at 
Harlem Village. [Applause] That's a good sign. Like, I'd be worried 
about the silence, you know. [Laughter] It turns out that good schools 
such as this have good principals, people who work hard, people who, you 
know, motivate the teaching staff, people who listen to parents. And I 
appreciate you very much being at the center of this important school.

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    Traveling with me today is the Secretary of Education, Margaret 
Spellings. I appreciate you coming, Madam Secretary. Her job is to work 
with local school districts so that the Federal, State, and local 
relationship is a collaborative relationship that actually works and 
doesn't get in each other's way. And her job is to implement No Child 
Left Behind. And I couldn't have picked anybody better to do so.
    I want to thank, again, Charlie Rangel. He is the chairman of the 
Ways and Means Committee. You can imagine what it's like traveling in 
the Presidential limousine down Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard hearing 
Rangel say, ``I was raised over here, and here's the hotel I worked in 
when I was a boy.'' You know, the people in Harlem have got a fantastic 
Congressman in Charles Rangel. He cares deeply--[applause]. He can agree 
with me a few more times, but--[laughter]--I don't expect him to. But I 
do expect him to do what he does, which is work for the good of the 
country. And I'm really proud to be with you. Thanks for coming, 
Charlie.
    Peter King, Congressman Peter King and Vito Fossella is with us 
today. Both of these Congressmen care about education. I appreciate the 
members of the New York charter school community who have taken time to 
come. I want to thank the Harlem community leaders who have joined us 
today. Thanks for letting me be here. I particularly want to thank the 
students for letting me come by to say hello. I've really enjoyed my 
trip here, and you've impressed me.
    I do want to say something about Virginia Tech, the Virginia Tech 
community. It's a community that still hurts, and the people in 
Blacksburg, Virginia, must know that citizens, whether they be in Harlem 
or anywhere else in the country, still hold those folks in their 
prayers.
    Schools should be places of safety; they should be a sanctuary of 
learning. And when that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt all 
across the country. It's felt in every classroom. And I know you've 
worried about such violence here, as a result of the Virginia Tech. And 
I want to thank the principals and teachers for reacting and helping 
calm nerves and assure people that this is a place of safety and a 
sanctuary for learning.
    I have asked people in my administration to travel around the 
country, to listen to folks at the State and local level to determine 
what lessons can be learned from the Virginia Tech horror. Margaret 
Spellings is going to be a part of this team, as is the Justice 
Department, Health and Human Services. We, of course, will provide 
whatever assistance we can to Virginia Tech, but we also want to be a 
part of a review of broader questions that have been raised.
    And so they're going to travel the country. They're going to talk 
with mental health experts and educators and State and local officials, 
and come back and summarize what they have learned. And we'll share the 
summaries of what they've learned, all in the hopes of learning lessons 
from a horrible moment. It was--it's a tough time down there.
    I want to talk about schools, and I want to talk about educational 
excellence for every single child. And I want to emphasize that in my 
remarks--my hopes of the public school systems in every State and every 
community excel. That's our goal. The public school systems have 
provided great opportunities for a lot of Americans. One of the great 
assets of the United States of America is a public school system that 
works.
    I also believe that parental involvement is an important aspect of 
having a public school system that works, and I like the fact that 
charter schools encourage parental involvement. I like to be able to sit 
with parents and say, I have chose school for my child--chosen the 
school for my child--I could use a little extra help. [Laughter]
    Isn't that an interesting concept? ``I made the choice to send my 
child here.'' That has got a nice ring to it as far as I'm concerned. I 
appreciate the fact that the teachers involve the parents in the child's 
education. There's a lot of information flows that take place between 
the parent and the child, and the child and the teacher. I appreciate 
the fact that teachers give parents their cell phone numbers. I think 
that's an important way to make sure parents are involved in the 
education of their children.

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    I appreciate the fact that folks here set high standards. I know 
this isn't all that profound, but when you set low standards, you get 
bad results. I used to call it the soft bigotry of low expectations. You 
kind of say, well, certain people can't learn; therefore, let's make 
sure the standards are low. This school challenges that soft bigotry and 
insists upon high standards. And guess what? That's what parents want. 
Parents want their children challenged. Parents believe that high 
standards are good for their children.
    I appreciate the fact that people go to school here from 7:30 a.m. 
until 5:45 p.m. That's innovation. That means somebody here is saying, 
``I'm going to adjust the time the children go to school so that we can 
achieve high standards.'' I like the idea of schools having flexibility 
to meet the needs of their parents and their children. Maybe some 
schools around the country couldn't have that kind of innovation because 
the rules and the process say, well, you can't adjust that way. What I 
like are schools that focus on results, and then adjust the process to 
meet the results.
    I appreciate the fact that parents choose this school because it's 
safe. That's what parents want--they want safety for their children. I 
met with Vanessa Freeman. Her daughter, Krystal, goes to this school. 
She was struggling at her old school. The teacher said she was acting up 
in class in the old school. In other words, the parent, Vanessa, 
recognized there was a problem and--my mother probably got a few of 
those calls too--[laughter]--but, anyway, Vanessa transferred Krystal 
here to the Harlem Village Academy. She's learning algebra. She said her 
math teacher--her math teacher says her progress has given her goose 
bumps.
    In other words, something has changed here at this school. In other 
words, there is progress being made because the parent had an option to 
choose something different when the other school wasn't working. It's a 
powerful catalyst for reform, by the way, to give people those options. 
That's why I'm a strong supporter of the charter school movement--I 
appreciate providing different options.
    I want you to know that it is a national objective, an important 
national goal to make sure every child realizes his or her full 
potential. And that is the whole philosophy behind the No Child Left 
Behind Act. You know, when we put our mind to it, actually, Republicans 
and Democrats can work together; we did so to get this important piece 
of legislation passed.
    The philosophy behind the bill is this: When the Federal Government 
spends money, we should expect results. And by the way, when the State 
spends money, it ought to expect results too. Instead of just spending 
money and hoping for the best, the core philosophy of the No Child Left 
Behind says, we'll spend money, and we expect you to measure, and we 
expect you to post your scores, and we expect you to meet standards, 
because if you don't, you're failing in your obligation to educate every 
child.
    Now, if you believe certain children can't learn, then you shouldn't 
measure. In other words, if you think that, well, it's just a hopeless 
exercise, let's just move kids through the school system, then that 
makes sense not to measure--why would you--why waste the time? I believe 
every child can learn, and therefore, I believe every school should 
measure in return for Federal money, and then put the scores up early.
    I'll tell you why. I want the parents to be involved with education. 
And one way you're involved with education is, you're able to compare 
the test scores of your school to your neighborhood school. It's an 
interesting way to determine whether or not high standards are being 
met. In some cases, a parent will say, ``This is the greatest school 
possible,'' and yet when the test scores get posted, the reality comes 
home.
    Secondly, I don't see how you can solve problems unless you measure 
problems. How do you know whether a child needs extra help in reading 
unless you measure? In other words, the accountability system is step 
one of a diagnostic process that ends up making sure that each child 
gets the help that's needed to meet standards, high standards. And so 
the No Child Left Behind Act--a simple way of describing it says, if you 
set high standards, we'll give you money, but we expect you to meet 
those standards, and if not, there ought to be different options for the 
parents.

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    I appreciate the results of this school. In other words, it's 
interesting, isn't it, that the President can come and say, you've got 
good results here--because you measure. Teachers use the assessment to 
see what concepts students are mastering and which concepts ought to be 
continued and which concepts ought to be dropped. The data from this 
school that you--as a result of measurement, helps teachers tailor their 
lesson plans to the specific needs of the child. Isn't that 
interesting--the education system tailoring the needs to fit the--tailor 
the curriculum to fit the needs of the child. That may sound simple, but 
it's an unusual concept for a lot of schools.
    The school has a rapid response accountability system. In other 
words, you don't measure once and just kind of hope for the best for the 
remainder of the year; you track student progress closely from week to 
week. When student struggle, they receive one-on-one tutoring during the 
school day; if a child struggles, there is extra help on a Saturday, 
hence, No Child Left Behind. As opposed to the old system, where you 
just shuffled children through and hope for the best at the end, this 
school measures on a regular basis to make sure that we're dealing not 
with guesswork, but with results.
    I appreciate the fact that this school opened in the fall of 2003. I 
want you to hear this statistic: During the first year, less than 20 
percent of the fifth graders could meet State standards in math, only 20 
percent--[applause]--wait a minute; that's nothing to applaud for. 
[Laughter] That's, like, pitiful. Last year, 96 percent of the students 
from the same class were meeting State standards.
    One of the students was Kevin Smith. His mother says that when Kevin 
came to the Harlem Village Academy in 2003, he struggled. And now she 
says, ``He can do it with his eyes closed.'' That's a math student right 
there. [Laughter] Deborah Kenny says, ``Our school proves that children 
can achieve grade level, even when they start behind.'' And that's the 
spirit.
    We can see that No Child Left Behind is working nationwide. There's 
an achievement gap in America that better be closed if we want America 
to remain the leader of the world. It is unacceptable to me and it 
should be unacceptable to people across the country, we have an 
achievement gap in America.
    It's amazing what happens, though, when you measure. The percentage 
of New York City fourth graders meeting State standards in reading has 
increased by more than 12 percent over 5 years. The percentage of fourth 
graders doing math at grade level has increased by 19 points. 
Congratulations, Joel, for holding people to account. I know, people 
say, ``I don't like to test; you're testing too much.'' I don't see how 
you can solve problems unless you diagnose the problems. I don't see how 
you can met--high standards unless you test.
    I appreciate the fact that nationwide, 9-year-olds have made more 
progress in 5 years than in the previous 28 years combined on these 
tests in reading. How about that? In other words, we're beginning to 
make progress early. The pipeline is beginning to be full of little 
readers that are competent readers. And the fundamental question is, 
what do we do in junior high and high school? Do we keep the progress 
going, or do we fall off when it comes to holding people to account?
    I believe strongly that we ought to bring the same standards to high 
school that we've had in elementary--one through eight, or three through 
eight. That's what I believe. I believe if you want to make sure a high 
school diploma means something, you better have high accountability in 
high schools. We want the high school diploma to say, this person is 
ready to compete in a world in which the graduates are going to be 
competing with Chinese or Indian workers. In other words, it matters 
what happens now in our schools more so than ever before.
    And so part of the initiative to make sure that we continue to set 
high standards is to bring these standards to high school. I believe 
strongly that we ought to--the Federal Government has a role in 
expanding Advanced Placement courses all across the United States of 
America. I'm a big believer in AP. I think AP holds people to account 
and challenges people to realize their full potential.

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    We've got an effort right now to encourage 30,000 math and science 
professionals to become part-time teachers. Why would you encourage math 
and science professionals? Because if you've got the capability of 
competing globally in math and science, you're going to be getting a 
good job, is why. It's a practical application of U.S. resources to 
encourage 30,000 math and science professionals to enter classrooms to 
encourage people to be interested in math and science.
    You know, I met a math teacher here. The man went to Harvard--now, 
we're not going to hold that against him, but nevertheless--[laughter]--
he's out there somewhere. [Laughter] He's teaching math. He'd been doing 
a lot of things, and he's teaching math right here at this important 
charter school, because he understands the importance of teaching a 
child math, in terms of that child being able to find good work and be a 
productive citizen in this challenging 21st century.
    Here are some ways we can improve the No Child Left Behind Act. My 
funding request has money for underperforming schools, when you 
recognize there's failure and these schools need help. I'm a strong 
believer in making sure that money follows children. And so when we find 
a child failing in meeting high standards, there ought to be extra 
tutorial money for that child. In other words, the measurement system 
not only helps determine who's falling behind, but it helps determine 
whether or not that child ought to get extra money now, early, before 
it's too late. That's been an integral part of No Child Left Behind. 
It's going to be a significant part of No Child Left Behind as we go 
forward.
    I believe strongly that we've got to make sure that we--if a school 
just won't change and continues to fail, that principals ought to be 
given additional staffing freedom. In other words, there ought to be 
flexibility--more flexibility as opposed to less flexibility when a 
school fails.
    I think we ought to empower mayors and other elected officials to 
take a more active hand in improving their schools. If you find failure, 
it's important to do something differently. And one way to do so is to 
encourage more power in the hands of our mayors to break through 
bureaucratic logjams that are preventing people from achieving 
educational excellence.
    And we ought to make it easier for officials to reorganize failing 
schools into charter schools. We just cannot allow the status quo to 
exist when we find failure.
    Another way we can help is to encourage our Nation's best teachers 
to take jobs in some of the toughest neighborhoods. And so we proposed 
increasing the investment in the Teacher Incentive Fund to nearly $200 
million next year. In other words, there's a way for the Federal 
Government to encourage teachers to take on jobs that are important jobs 
and making sure that every child gets a good education with a good 
teacher. The fund rewards teachers who defy low expectations. It 
provides incentives for people to come into districts all around the 
United States to challenge the softy bigotry that I was talking about.
    Third, parents of students in underperforming schools must have 
better choices. You find your child stuck in a school that won't teach 
and won't change, you ought to have a different option. I can't think of 
a better way to get somebody's attention that we're tired of mediocrity 
than to give a parent an option. I think there's a better--no better way 
to send a signal that folks are tired of mediocrity when it comes to our 
classrooms than say to a parent, you should have a different opportunity 
for your child, whether it be a charter school or a better performing 
public school.
    In Washington, DC, we did an interesting--made an interesting 
initiative, and that is, is that we provided scholarship money for poor 
students to go to any school they wanted. I like that idea. I think it 
makes a lot of sense. You know, we have Pell grants for poor students to 
go to college. I think we ought to have Federal taxpayers' money to go 
to poor parents so they can choose a different type of school if they're 
dissatisfied with the school their child is going to. And so I would 
strongly urge Congress to reauthorize and refund the D.C. School Choice 
Program and take a good look at our program that intends to expand that 
program.
    I do want to congratulate Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg for 
working with the

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Chancellor here to increase the number of charter schools here in New 
York. I appreciate the fact that they're taking a bold initiative. As I 
understand, they want to double the number of charter schools available 
for the students here in New York, and that's a good thing. You know, 
Margaret is going to help you, to the extent that she can.
    So now we're in the process of rewriting this bill--reauthorizing 
it. Here's my attitude about this: One, Congress shouldn't weaken the 
bill. It's working. The No Child Left Behind Act is working. These test 
scores are on the rise. Accountability makes a significant difference in 
educational excellence.
    And so therefore, when Republicans and Democrats take a look at this 
bill, I strongly urge them to not weaken the bill, not to backslide, not 
to say, accountability isn't that important. It is important. We'll work 
with the school districts on flexibility when it comes to the 
accountability system. And I mean that there are certain ways that we 
can make this--the accountability system actually work better than it's 
worked in the past.
    But we will not allow this good piece of legislation to be weakened. 
And if you're a parent, you should insist that the No Child Left Behind 
Act remain a strong accountability tool so that every child in this 
country gets a good education. I'll reach out to both Republicans and 
Democrats again. Last time I signed the bill, I was on the stage with 
one of Charlie's good friends and colleagues, Congressman George Miller 
from California, Ted Kennedy, and two Republican colleagues of theirs. 
And it was--we worked well together.
    And so my pledge is that I will continue to reach out and work with 
the new leadership of the Congress, all aimed at making sure this piece 
of legislation goes forward and making sure it's funded, so that we can 
say, once again, we've got law in place that will enable us to give 
every child as good an education as possible so that not one child, not 
one, is left behind in our country.
    It's such an honor to be here. I love coming to a place where people 
defy expectations. I love coming to a place where you said, we're going 
to try to do something in a different way, that the status quo is not 
acceptable, so here we go. I love being with educational entrepreneurs, 
good principals, strong teachers, caring parents, and students who are 
going to be leading this Nation in the 21st century.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Deborah Kenny, founder and chief executive officer, Village Academies; 
Mateo Myers, student, and Justin Fong, math teacher and department 
chair, Harlem Village Academy Charter School; Joel I. Klein, chancellor, 
New York City Department of Education; Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New 
York City; and Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.