INSIDE WASHINGTON

References:
About Eugene W. Hickok, http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/hickok.html, visited August 15, 2002
“Speeches and Testimony by the Secretary and Other Senior ED Officials,” http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/index.html, visited August 15, 2002

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Thank you, Senator Dunlap, for that introduction and for your leadership as 2002 National Chairman.

I also want to thank all the ALEC leadership up here with me. I see some good friends of education here, and I want to tell you something: It is an unbelievable honor to serve as your Secretary of Education and to be part of implementing President Bush’s vision for education for America.

Since September 11^th, he has been an unyielding force against terrorism. Yet never once has the President lost his laser-beam focus on the things that matter most right here at home:

• creating jobs;
• expanding opportunities to save and invest and own a piece of the American dream, and
• educating every single child.

Even while building an international coalition to fight terror, President Bush was building a bipartisan coalition in Congress to improve our nation’s schools. His efforts resulted in the education reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Thank you for all you are doing to make our nation a better place. The future of America remains bright because of leaders like you who are committed to the principles that have made our nation the envy of the world.

President Bush and I know that the states are where the rubber really hits the road. He was a state governor. I was superintendent of the 7^th largest school district.

We may be in Washington now, but we know that the real action is in your cities and towns. It’s in your statehouses. And it’s in your wisdom that encourages innovation that drives fundamental reforms – be it welfare delivery or the tax code or education.

A good example is the charter schools movement. The idea was to create innovative centers of learning where even the most difficult to teach children could excel.

Defenders of the status quo said it wouldn’t work. They said it was too radical. That parents wouldn’t go for it. That children wouldn’t learn.

But 10 years later more than half a million children are learning in more than 2,400 charters nationwide.

Charters said to parents, “If you are unhappy with the status quo, then competitive options are available.” And parents voted with their feet. Nearly two-thirds of all charter schools have waiting lists. And the competition has spurred improvement in public schools.

Like most great ideas, the charter movement didn’t start in Washington. It was born in the states -- the little “laboratories of democracy” the Founding Fathers envisioned.

The President and I see our role and the role of the federal government as your partners, providing the tools to help you do what you do best.

And you’ve got a great tool in the reforms of No Child Left Behind. This new law

says we aren’t going to educate just some of the children. We are going to educate every child — regardless of where they came from or how much their parents earn.

No society has ever made such a bold commitment. This new law is truly historic. It represents the most sweeping change in education in 35 years. And it recognizes that just throwing money at a problem won’t make it go away.

Since 1965, state, local and federal governments have spent trillions of dollars. And still:

· 2 out of 3 fourth graders can’t read proficiently;

• 7 out of 10 inner-city and rural fourth graders can’t read at the most basic level;
• Nearly a third of college freshmen need remedial classes before they can handle entry level courses;

• And America’s 12^th graders rank among the lowest in math and science achievement among their counterparts in other industrialized nations.

President Bush realized that to solve the problem, you must first create a framework for change. No Child Left Behind provides that framework by insisting on high standards, accountability and results… local control and flexibility… parental choice and options…early reading….and teaching methods that work.

We have backed up these reforms with significant new resources.

• Record levels of federal funding
• The largest education budget for disadvantaged children in U.S. history
• And the President’s most current budget request to Congress calls for $56.5 billion in funding for education—a 34 percent increase over education funding levels when he took office.

The big difference is that now taxpayers know what they’re getting for their hard-earned money. And parents know if their children are learning.

And if they’re not learning, if schools are not meeting their mission, then moms and dads now have an unprecedented menu of options. They can choose one-on-one tutoring, or after-school help, or enroll their children in a better public school.

This new law gives states and school districts unprecedented flexibility. It says to local parents and teachers and leaders: You know what’s best for your children and we trust you to decide how to spend these federal dollars as you chart your own course to excellence.

For example: If your state has done a good job with education technology and you want to use your money for school safety or teacher quality instead, then the new law lets you do it. States and districts can take up to 50 percent of certain funds and transfer them to another.

This new law insists on quality teachers in every classroom.

General Omar Bradley once said, “The teacher is the real soldier of democracy. Others can defend it, but only he can make it work.” Very few people have the influence over our lives that teachers do, yet a recent study that we sent to Congress showed:

· Too many teachers are not qualified in the subject they’re teaching

· Too many states do not test to make sure teachers know what they’re teaching

· Too many states that do test set the bar for passing way too low

· Too many education programs require too much focus on theory and pedagogy, and too little focus on fields of concentration – like math, history or science.

· Too many barriers are built into the system that keep talented people out of the classroom and force districts to fill vacancies with teachers on waivers

Clearly, we have some work to do to meet the President’s goal of a quality teacher in every classroom by 2006.

A good place to start with all states taking a hard look at how they decide who’s qualified to teach and who’s not.

We must also tear down barriers preventing talented men and women from entering the teaching profession.

My under secretary of education was a college professor. He can teach 18 year olds as freshmen in college but he cannot teach 18 year olds as seniors in high school.

Why is that? Because he has not been through traditional certification.

One of your own members -- California Sen. Ray Haynes – sponsored legislation and fought for a Civic Literacy Act that would have required all students to study the Declaration of Independence, our U.S. Constitution and the Federalist Papers.

Yet, despite his expertise and a law degree, he cannot teach civics in public schools because he has not been through traditional certification.

At a time when we desperately need strong teachers in our classrooms, we should be doing all we can to attract and keep the best and the brightest candidates. And good sources of talent are out there:

· Teach For America -- that recruits gifted and talented students from our nation’s college campuses to teach in inner-city and rural schools.

· Transition to Teaching -- that matches talented mid-career professionals with schools with the greatest need.

· And Troops to Teachers -- that taps retired service men and women for the classroom.

The 2002 National Teacher of the Year – Chauncey Veatch was a former Army colonel who now teaches children of migrant workers in California.

Finally, we simply must demand better from our schools of education.

I’ve been a Dean of a school of education so I know the special problems they face.

But I am also mindful that the original idea behind colleges of education was to create rigorous professional training for teachers -- just like doctors and lawyers.

Yet here we are – a century later – with study after study showing that many new teachers are simply unprepared to meet the challenges of the classroom.

Yet many schools of education continue, business-as-usual.

What future teachers need most is a deeper understanding of the subject they’ll be teaching….and how to monitor student progress….and how to help students who are falling behind.

It was Alexander Hamilton who saw the American experiment with a federal republic as a test of “whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice.”

That fundamental belief in freedom to reflect and choose works whenever and wherever it is given a chance—and it is now getting a chance with Cleveland’s recent victory for school choice in the United States Supreme Court.

World events have given this cause added importance.

Our nation is at war against the forces of terrorism. In this struggle one thing is very clear: Our future depends not just on the strength of our arms but the values in our hearts. And nothing defines those values more than how we educate our children. This is the great moral challenge of our time.

And I thank you for joining the President and me in our mission to create great schools worthy of a great nation.

I ask that you continue your efforts by passing laws that expand charters and support school choice, vouchers, and tax credits.

Encourage schools to use the flexibility of our new education reforms to fund innovative programs and high priorities that best serve your children.

Help fill our classrooms with quality teachers by working to open up the profession through non-traditional routes. Help us insist that new teachers coming out of our colleges be better prepared.

President Bush has ushered in a new era in education. People I meet say No Child Left Behind is more than a law; it’s a revolution. A profound moment of change.

And years from now, people are going to look back on this historic moment in time and say, “That was the tipping point for education.”

That’s when they raised the bar and student achievement began to soar.

That’s when leadership triumphed over politics and no child was left behind.

That’s when all Americans – no matter the color of their skin or the accent of their speech – finally got a fair shot at achieving their dreams.

Thank you all.

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