[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 41 (Monday, October 15, 2007)]
[Pages 1318-1320]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the No Child Left Behind Act Reauthorization

October 9, 2007

    Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming. I want to thank Secretary 
Spellings for joining me here. And I appreciate you all--the leaders of 
the civil rights community and advocates for minority and disadvantaged 
students--for joining us as well.
    We just had a meaningful discussion about our joint commitment to 
closing an achievement gap that exists in America. We discussed why 
reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act is vital in ensuring that we 
have a hopeful America. We don't necessarily agree on every issue, but 
we do agree that education is a basic civil right and that a good 
education is important for America.
    We agree that our Nation has reached a defining moment in our 
struggle to secure a good education for every child. And we've come a 
long way since the days when children were simply shuffled through the 
schools, just moved grade to grade, whether or not they were learning. 
See, we believe every child can learn. We don't accept a system that 
simply shuffles children through the schools. We believe in setting high 
standards. And we believe that by setting high standards, we encourage 
greater results for every child. And now the question is whether or not 
we will finish the job to ensure that every

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American child receives a high education--a high-quality education.
    Our Nation made an historic commitment nearly 6 years ago when 
Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the No Child Left Behind 
Act. The philosophy of the law is this: The Federal Government will 
invest in education, and in return, we seek results. Instead of just 
hoping for the best, we've asked States to set clear standards and hold 
schools accountable for teaching every child to read and do math at 
grade level. That doesn't seem like too much to ask. In return for 
taxpayers' money, we expect schools and school districts and States to 
measure, to show us whether or not a child can read at grade level or do 
math at a grade level.
    And the key to getting good results is measuring. Measuring results 
helps teachers catch problems early, so children who need help--extra 
help can get that help. In other words, you can't determine whether a 
child needs extra help unless you measure. One of the key components of 
No Child Left Behind, it says, if a child is falling behind, we will 
provide supplemental services to help that child catch up. Measuring 
results empowers parents with valuable information about schools, so 
they can push for change if it's needed. Measuring results means schools 
are working to close the achievement gap, instead of looking the other 
way when a student is struggling or falling behind.
    No Child Left Behind is helping replace a culture of low 
expectations with a commitment to high achievement for all. And the hard 
work being done by principals, teachers, parents, and students across 
our country is producing results. Last month, we learned that fourth 
graders earned the highest math and reading scores in the history of our 
Nation's Report Card, and that's good news. I'm able to report that 
because we actually measure now in the schools. We learned that eighth 
graders set record highs for math scores.
    We also learned that scores for minority and poor students and 
students with disabilities are reaching alltime highs in a number of 
areas. As a result, the achievement gap is beginning to narrow, and the 
promise of America is expanding for children of all backgrounds. In 
short, No Child Left Behind is working for all kinds of children in all 
kinds of schools in every part of the country.
    There is more work to be done. So long as there is an achievement 
gap, we have work to do. Our goal is to have every child reading and 
doing math at grade level by 2014. That seems reasonable to me. It seems 
like a reasonable thing to ask, is to have every child reading at grade 
level by 2014 or being able to do math at grade level by 2014. So now is 
the time not to roll back the accountability or water down standards.
    It's reasonable to set an important goal such as that because as the 
global economy becomes more competitive, a good education will become 
even more important for getting a good job. Unfortunately, nearly half 
of African American and Hispanic students still do not graduate from 
high school on time. We need to raise the bar for our high schools as 
well as for our junior highs and elementary schools. We need to give all 
our children the skills they need to compete. So I'm going to work with 
Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the No Child Left Behind Act this 
year.
    My administration has offered several proposals to strengthen this 
law. By giving local leaders more flexibility and resources, we can help 
them turn around troubled schools. By giving families with children 
stuck in low-performing schools the opportunity to choose someplace 
better, we can raise student achievement. At the same time, we need to 
increase access to tutoring programs for students who struggle and make 
sure these children get the special help they need. We need to reward 
good teachers who improve student achievement in low-income schools. We 
need to make sure that our country is more competitive and that our 
children can take advantage of the best jobs this new century has to 
offer by expanding access to Advanced Placement courses and 
strengthening math and science education.
    As we move forward, we will continue to welcome new ideas. And I 
appreciate the ideas I heard today. Yet there can be no compromise on 
the basic principle: Every child must learn to read and do math at or 
above grade level. And there can be no compromise on the need to hold 
schools accountable to making sure we achieve that goal. I'll call on

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Members of Congress to come together to pass bipartisan legislation that 
will help us achieve this goal. By working together, we can raise 
standards even higher, expand opportunity for all Americans of all 
backgrounds, and build a future where no child is left behind.
    Thank you very much. Thank you all for being here.

Note: The President spoke at 2:13 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.