Contact: Lindsey Kozberg (202) 401-3026

Speaker Frequently Deviates from Prepared Text

Thank you for that kind introduction, Jimmy [Dotson]. I have enjoyed our friendship since our days together in Houston. Congratulations on becoming chief of police in Chattanooga.

I want to thank Hamilton County Superintendent Jesse Register and Congressman Zach Wamp for their strong leadership in the Chattanooga area. I was proud to see Congressman Wamp support the President's education reform program called No Child Left Behind. With his help, an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of the Congress passed the President's program…and it's going to turn out to be the biggest, most important reform of federal education policy in three decades. Over the next few weeks, members of the Senate and the House will get together and work out the differences between the House and Senate version. I am hopeful this process will get underway quickly in order to send to President Bush as soon as possible a bill that will make public schools better for all American children.

I also would like to thank Robert Rabon and the Center for Youth Issues for encouraging schools to teach respect, responsibility, honesty, and civic virtue. These core values can be taught to every child and, when taught, they will improve the life of every child. This conference helps not only to share that message, but also to help educators learn how best to teach those values.

Nelson Mandela once said that, "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." He was right. Reading, math, and science can give our children strength of mind. Character education can give our children strength of heart. I have long believed that in educating our young people we must not simply teach children how to count. We must also teach them WHAT counts. To those who say that schools should not be in the business of teaching children about character, I say—to the contrary. It's time for school to get back into the business of teaching children that character, honesty and integrity are important.

Just as prosperity must have a purpose, education must have a purpose. Today, I want to talk to all of you about the purpose of education. We believe that education is a foundation for freedom. We believe that education is a tool to succeed in your professional and personal life. However, in order to benefit from the knowledge they receive in school, our children must have a strong character.

We know we need character education to improve the lives of every child in America. We need to give our children healthier minds, healthier bodies, and healthier spirits. It is time to take action and give our children a chance at a good life in which they can find both prosperity and purpose. That is why President Bush emphasized character education in his plan to reform our public schools. He understands that a good character is not something you are born with, it is something you must learn from those who have it. The President knows that you can't build a good character if no one teaches you how.

Once we teach our children these lessons, we can give them the power to build this character as they grow. When I look at the leaders standing with me today and in the audience, I see examples of men and women who exhibit great character. These men and women grew up to be honorable people because each of them made the decision to become a man or woman of honor.

When I was a boy in Monticello, Mississippi in the 1940's, how could I have known that I would someday be the Secretary of Education? I had no idea, but I made the decision to respect my teachers, and then to respect my classmates, and then to act with discipline, and these decisions got easier and easier. By making these decisions, I gradually built my character and that character is what I brought with me to Washington, D.C. This was the same path taken by Congressman Wamp, Senator Frist, Senator Thompson, and many other honorable men and women who serve in the Congress.

We need to make sure our children are on the same path to respect, responsibility, honesty, and civic virtue. We need to ensure our children a promising future of not only academic achievement and professional success, but also moral strength. I appreciate the efforts of the Center for Youth Issues and the Hamilton County School District to introduce lessons of moral strength into the curriculum of schools. President Bush wants to help you in your efforts. He knows that too many children are being left behind, both in skills and in character. His plan to reform our school system seeks to reverse both of these trends.

For the President, character education is a special priority, and his budget reflects the importance of character education programs. President Bush would not just increase funding for character education grants to states and districts, he would triple that funding. With the help of Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, expanded character education grants are now part of the education reform legislation that passed the Senate last week. With the help of your own Congressman Wamp, the reform legislation passed by the house doubles funding for character education grants. I want to thank Congressman Wamp for his dedication to making education better and his commitment to building character in the classroom.

Character education grants like the ones being given today to Tennessee districts are used for training teachers on how to teach character. The grants also help us to study what kinds of teaching strategies actually work.

We will give schools and districts not only the money for these programs, but the freedom from government red tape to use the money to get the job done. We will allow schools and districts to form partnerships with private, non-profit organizations in order to add a spirit of innovation and a special expertise to their character education programs. These programs will be judged on the basis of results. If children are benefiting from the state and school district character programs, these programs will be worthy of our support.

Many children are born with disadvantages, but they need the same things all children do to have a happy life: a good family, a good education, and a good character. These make all the difference. Our character education plans, of course, come in a larger context of education reforms underway to address the needs of our children and of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in particular. The President's No Child Left Behind plan will make sure that public schools are held accountable for improving student performance. No longer will it be acceptable for the federal government to pour billions of dollars into the education bureaucracy without ever finding out if children are actually learning. America can no longer accept having only pockets of excellence in education. The time has come to reform the entire system to make sure that no child—not a single one—is left behind.

We want to change the culture of public education, and here are the four ways we have to do it:

• First, we must get away from the belief that it's OK for some children to fail. To do this, we have to make sure that schools are accountable for demonstrating progress.
• Second, we must give schools and local leaders the authority to make their own decisions. Reforming our schools is a job that must be done at the local level and not in Washington.
• Third, we must bring education into the twenty-first century by making use of the concrete research that shows us how children learn. Schools must not guess about how to teach children. For example, there is no longer any excuse for not teaching children how to read at a young age. There is plenty of research that shows not only how to teach children to read, but how important it is to teach reading to young children, instead of waiting to intervene later. So we must focus on educational strategies that have been proven to work. Just as NASA uses research instead of guesswork to launch rockets, so must we to educate children.
• Fourth, we must give parents more choices. The President's bill lets parents whose children are trapped in persistently failing schools use their share of Title I money for tutoring or other private services that will help their children learn. It's about time we gave parents that kind of choice. This bill also lets parents transfer their children to other public schools and even pays for the transportation. Never before has federal education legislation given parents so many choices.

We can have a positive impact on America's future by giving all of our children the tools they need to succeed in all aspects of their life…a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy heart. When we give children knowledge and skills, we give them tools to build a future for themselves. But, returning to why we are here today, when we give our children lessons in character, we give them tools to build a brighter future for their world. Everyone knows that good leaders and good people do not just have intelligence. They have a passion for improving the circumstances of others and making the world a better place. I applaud the educators here today on your commitment to strengthening the character of our young people. Through your work you are truly shaping the future of our culture.

Thank you.

Top