[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 35 (Monday, September 3, 2007)]
[Pages 1134-1137]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Hurricane Katrina Recovery Efforts in New Orleans

August 29, 2007

    The President. Madam Principal, thank you for having us.
    Principal Doris Hicks. You're quite welcome. It's our pleasure.
    The President. Laura and I are honored to be here. During the moment 
of reflection, it is a time to ask for the Almighty's blessings on those 
who suffered, those who lost a loved one, and remember that there's 
always a more blessed day in the future. And that's what we're here to 
celebrate, a more blessed day. And there's no better place to do so than 
in a place of hope, and that's a school. And so we're honored that you 
would welcome us. We love being with your teachers and your students. 
Thanks for being here.
    Governor, thanks for coming. Governor Kathleen Blanco is an 
educational reformer. She has done what leaders are supposed to do, and 
when she sees a problem, address them head on and pass law and budget 
necessary to achieve educational excellence. And you've done so, 
Governor. I congratulate you for your leadership.
    I'm proud to be with the Congressman. Jeff, thanks for coming. You 
care deeply about the students of this district, and we're glad you're 
here.
    I do want to thank Don Powell for joining us. Don is the recovery 
man who represents the White House and the administration here in 
Washington--from--in Louisiana from Washington. And I thank you for your 
service.
    I appreciate the State education superintendent, Pastorek. 
Superintendent, thanks for coming. He's got a vision of excellence for 
the schools in New Orleans and for Louisiana. He shared that vision with 
us earlier.
    I appreciate Paul Vallas, superintendent here in New Orleans, for 
his willingness to take on this challenge. He doesn't view it as a 
problem; he views it as an opportunity. I first met Paul in Chicago, 
where he was an advocate then like he is today of high expectations and 
strong accountability to make sure every child learns.
    I appreciate Hilda Young; Sister Finnerty--she's the superintendent 
of the Catholic school system here. I thank all the teachers, students, 
and parents who've joined us.
    Hurricane Katrina broke through the levees; it broke a lot of 
hearts; it destroyed buildings. But it didn't affect the spirit of a lot 
of citizens in this community. This spirit can be best reflected when 
you think about a principal who refused to allow a school to be 
destroyed by the flood and worked hard to not only rebuild the building 
but keep the spirit alive. Or it can be reflected in the fact that 
teachers commute. We met a seventh grade teacher today who commutes 30 
miles every day to be able to impart knowledge and to share wisdom with 
students who will be leading New Orleans in the future.
    And so it's--my attitude is this: New Orleans, better days are 
ahead. It's sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a 
community all the time. Laura and I get to come--we don't live here; we 
come on occasion. And it's easy to think about what it was like when we 
first came here after the hurricane and what it's like today. And this 
town is coming back. This town is better today than it was yesterday, 
and it's going to be better tomorrow than it was today. And there's no 
better place to find that out than in the school system.
    First, I do want to thank our fellow citizens for their generosity 
when it comes to helping New Orleans and the gulf coast rebuild. The 
citizens of this country thus far have paid out $114 billion in tax 
revenues--their money--to help the folks down here. And I appreciate the 
Governor. Last night we went to--we had a nice dinner here in New 
Orleans--by the way, I have yet to recover. [Laughter] Dooky Chase's--if 
you want to eat a lot of good food, go there. But during that dinner, 
the Governor expressed her appreciation to the taxpayers of America. In 
other words, the taxpayers and people from all around the country have 
got to understand, the people of this part of the world really do 
appreciate the fact that the American citizens are supportive of the 
recovery effort.
    Of the 114 billion spent so far and resources allocated so far, 
about 80 percent of the funds have been disbursed or available. And, of 
course, Don and I will try to work through the bureaucracy in 
Washington, just

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like folks down here are trying to work through the bureaucracy, to make 
sure that there are adequate plans for the money. And so we're working 
through this kind of collaborative effort of Federal, State, and local 
folks working together to make sure that taxpayers' money is spent 
wisely on priorities.
    But there's been a commitment--and a strong commitment. A lot of 
people down here probably wondered whether or not those of us in the 
Federal Government not from Louisiana would pay attention to Louisiana 
or Mississippi. In other words, it's one thing to come and give a speech 
in Jackson Square; it's another thing to keep paying attention to 
whether or not progress is being made. And I hope people understand we 
do. We're still paying attention. We understand.
    One of Don Powell's jobs is to make sure that the Federal Government 
understands the hurdles that remain for recovery. One hurdle was the 
levee system. We fully understand that New Orleans can't be rebuilt 
until there's confidence in the levees. It's one thing to plan; it's 
another thing to convince people that the levees will work. And there's 
been a lot of effort by the Army Corps of Engineers. A matter of fact, 
Don Powell announced the other day that we're going to complete work to 
improve storm and flood protection infrastructure to a 100-year 
protection level by 2011. And that's a commitment, and it's an important 
commitment to make.
    We're also going to fund $1.3 billion network of interior drainage 
projects to ensure the area has better hurricane protection. In other 
words, there's Federal responsibilities. The levee system is the Federal 
responsibility, and we'll meet our responsibility. And there's a--
obviously, we want to work together with the State and local governments 
as well. Obviously, it's a collaborative effort.
    One of the things that Kathleen and I have been working on a long 
time is wetlands restoration in order to provide more protection for the 
folks down here. We got a good bill out of the Congress, and there's an 
opportunity now for Louisiana to have the cash funds necessary to begin 
a serious and substantive wetlands restoration program.
    I appreciate the fact that Al Gonzales was down yesterday, talking 
about how the Federal Government can help on local law enforcement 
matters. I firmly believe local law enforcement is just that--local. It 
requires a commitment by the local folks to hold people to account for 
crime. But the Federal Government can help. And so Al was down 
yesterday, announcing and opening a family justice center to help the 
victims of domestic violence. The VA is going to build a medical center 
in downtown New Orleans as part of the Federal commitment to helping 
people here recover.
    And so I come telling the folks in this part of the world that we 
still understand there's problems and we're still engaged. And Don will 
continue to make sure that we listen and respond when possible.
    But let me talk about the school system. There is nothing more 
hopeful than a good school system. And I firmly believe that excellence 
in education is going to be the leading edge of change for New Orleans. 
Margaret Spellings, who is the Secretary of Education, understands this 
concept. The Government has provided Louisiana with more than $700 
million in emergency education funds to help not only the public school 
system but also the parochial school system. And that's money well 
spent. It's money spent on construction; it's money spent on creating 
incentives for teachers to return; it's money incent to make sure 
children who went to other school districts--those school districts got 
reimbursed. It was good money spent because education needs to be the 
number-one priority of the State, just like Kathleen Blanco has made 
that the priority.
    New Orleans is about to open 80 schools--nearly 80 schools this 
fall. That's a remarkable achievement--nearly half of which happen to be 
charter schools. I believe in freedom to manage and accountability to 
make sure everybody learns. And that's the essence of the charter school 
movement: freedom to manage, but accountability to make sure no child 
gets left behind.
    And that's the spirit of the superintendent--both superintendents 
here. They believe in high expectations and measuring. It's what I call 
challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. If you don't believe 
that somebody can learn, you'll set low expectations. If you believe 
every child can learn,

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you'll raise the expectations, and then you'll insist upon measurement 
to make sure that each child is tracked, that we disaggregate results. 
That's a fancy word for making sure that we understand whether or not 
each school is meeting certain standards and then help for those that 
aren't, changes for those that aren't, and praise for those that are. 
And we're at MLK, and we're here to heap praise.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you. I agree.
    The President. This is the first public school to open in the Lower 
Ninth Ward. It is a tribute to volunteers, concerned parents, and 
citizens who care about education. It is a tribute to the fact that 
there's teachers who taught in makeshift classrooms during renovations. 
In other words, they care about the buildings, but they care more about 
education and were willing to teach no matter what the circumstances may 
be. And it's a tribute to a principal who had a clear vision.
    Mrs. Hicks. Thank you.
    The President. And so we're here to herald excellence and to thank 
the good folks in this community for supporting this school, with the 
understanding that this school is one of the great beacons for hope.
    I want to thank the educational entrepreneurs who've joined us, 
those who are in the process of helping find new teachers. Teachers--
there was a great concern, obviously, when the schools were reopening as 
to whether or not there would be enough teachers. And people responded. 
People responded to the call to help provide, at a grassroots level, the 
support necessary to encourage people to teach. TeachNOLA is such an 
example. If you're interested in being a teacher, from around the 
country, get on the Internet on teachNOLA and you'll find opportunities 
to come here to New Orleans to teach. We've got somebody from Washington 
who came down to help rally support for the school system. Teach For 
America is active in this community.
    The charter school system, by the way, spawns all kinds of different 
opportunities for people to be involved with schools. I think of KIPP 
McDonogh 15 School. It's a high standard school. It is a school that 
says, ``If there are rules that prevent us from teaching, we'll try to 
figure out how to get around them, because what matters more than 
anything is teaching a child.''
    I was impressed that when they got into the school system there, 
when they first got going in this particular school, they extended the 
school day with class every other Saturday. They said, ``What does it 
take to catch up? What do we need to do to meet standards?'' And the 
principal--the former principal put it this way: ``It took a hurricane 
to speed up and really jump-start the reform efforts in New Orleans.'' 
In other words, the hurricane was disastrous for many reasons, but it 
also gave a great opportunity for a new way forward, seized by the 
Governor and the superintendents and the principals, by the way.
    Laura and I care a lot about the libraries. That's why we're 
dedicating books. We're proud to be a part of the rebuilding of this 
library. Laura has got a foundation and has established the Gulf Coast 
Library Recovery Initiative, all aiming to make sure that these 
libraries are stocked with books. You ought to apply to her foundation, 
by the way. [Laughter] I think you'll have a good opportunity. 
[Laughter]
    The First Lady. Absolutely.
    Mrs. Hicks. I know.
    The President. I'll try to work it for you.
    Mrs. Hicks. Good. [Laughter]
    The President. I'll never forget, one time when I was Governor of 
Texas, a woman looked at me, and she said, ``Reading is the new civil 
right.'' It had a profound impact on the policies that we have pursued 
since I've been in public office and Laura has pursued as a lifelong 
reader. And that person was right. We've got to start making sure those 
youngsters can read at grade level and stay reading at grade level. No 
better way to send the message that that is a commitment, by making sure 
the libraries are stocked.
    I want to share a story with you about a woman named Rebecca 
Jeanfreau who's here. Where are you, Rebecca? There you go; thanks for 
coming. She was a Boston architect. She studied to become an architect 
and was in a firm. But she is from New Orleans. And she started thinking 
about the community she loved. And so she said, ``I needed to act, and 
I'm ready to act.'' And she came

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back to be a teacher. She left a promising career as a architect to come 
back to a community that is dear to her heart.
    It's that spirit, by the way, that is going to allow me to predict 
with certainty, New Orleans' better days are ahead for the New Orleans 
people. I mean, this is a--and there are stories like Rebecca all over 
this community, people who have heard a call to come back and help. No 
better way to help, by the way, than to teach.
    But there are all kinds of different ways people can help the people 
of New Orleans and the gulf coast recover. You can contribute to the 
NGOs or the local organizations that are still helping heal hearts. You 
can help with sending books to schools. You can get on web sites to 
determine where the needs are. And if you're a citizen of this country 
who cares about making sure this part of the region fully recovers, 
please participate. Please find a way to help and continue to do so.
    So, Governor, I'm honored you're here. Laura and I are thrilled to 
be in this school. We're really pleased that MLK School has given us an 
opportunity to herald excellence. We care deeply about the folks in this 
part of the world. We ask for God's blessings on the families who still 
hurt and suffer. And we thank God for the recovery efforts that thus far 
have taken place.
    Thank you for your time.

Note: The President spoke at 9:40 a.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology. In his remarks, he 
referred to Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana; Hilda 
Young, president, Friends of King Board; Eric Johnson, seventh grade 
math teacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School for Science and 
Technology; and Gary Robichaux, former principal, KIPP McDonogh 15 
School for the Creative Arts.