• Thanks to Dr. Holly Robinson for introducing me
• State Superintendent Kathy Cox
• Atlanta Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall
• Together, you're showing just how much a little girl power can achieve
• This is my sixth visit to Georgia, and every time I'm here I see students making more progress

I'm honored to be here with the members of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. As President Bush told you in September, "You take on tough questions, you apply innovative thinking, you push for action, and you do it all without regard to politics."

I appreciate the fact that you've made education reform a priority. As leaders of companies like IBM and Lockheed Martin, you know better than anyone that our schools are simply not keeping pace with the demands of the global knowledge economy. Across America and in every other country I've visited, I hear this message from business leaders, parents, and policymakers.

Just recently I met with another great conservative thinker from Georgia: Newt Gingrich. He's been speaking out for years about how education is the solution to issues like poverty, crime, and unemployment—especially in our cities, which as you know face real challenges in these and other areas. We agreed that keeping America competitive in the 21st century depends on leaving no child behind.

Today, ninety percent of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary education. But half of all African American and Hispanic students fail to graduate high school on time, let alone college!

As you know, this is not just an education issue. It's an economic issue, a civic issue, a social issue, a national security issue... and it's everybody's issue. That's why President Bush and I continue working to help states and schools equip students to not only survive, but thrive in our ever-flattening world.

You realized years ago that to meet the growing demand for highly skilled workers, we must reinvent our schools for the twenty-first century. So you built Tech High Charter School, based a proven model imported all the way from California. Its goal is to prepare every student for college, and its motto is "no excuses."

In building this school, you didn't look to precedent. You thought about the needs of your community, your businesses, and most importantly, your children. As a result, Tech High focuses on math, science, technology, and leadership-skills that are the common currencies of today's global economy. Its students can take college courses and certified in health care, information technology, and other growing fields—all before they graduate high school!

Tech High's Principal, Elisa Falco, is here with us today. She's a former systems analyst who went into education because she wanted to make a difference. But when she first became a teacher, she noticed that a lot of good ideas were stifled by the system.

"You'd be voting and voting and voting," she says, "and totally losing sight of students." But now, as a charter school principal, she has the freedom to devote time, personnel, and resources to meet her students' needs.

That approach is helping her students improve dramatically:

• 9 out of 10 are African-American, and 3 out of 4 are from low-income families
• At the start of the school's first year, only 10 percent of 9th graders met minimum math standards, and less than a third met minimum reading standards
• Today, the school ranks first in the Atlanta school system

I believe that with help, every school in America can achieve similar results, whether it's a public charter or a traditional public school. But to get there, we must provide parents, teachers, and administrators with the tools they need to succeed. And we must hold the system accountable for every student's achievement.

That's why we passed No Child Left Behind. With this law, we committed to have every child reading and doing math on grade level by 2014. That's a historic promise in the history of our country and the world. And it's working!

• Younger students made more reading progress in 5 years than in the previous 28 years combined
• Reading and math scores are reaching all-time highs in the early grades, where we've focused our efforts
• Here in Georgia, more than 1,600 schools are meeting annual progress goals—that's 85 percent of schools, and more than one million students learning on grade level!
• In addition, 100 Georgia schools came off the "needs improvement" list this year—which is a real credit to students and teachers and leaders like Kathy Cox and Beverly Hall

As you know, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there about No Child Left Behind. We've heard it all before... we're teaching to the test. We're narrowing the curriculum. The law is punitive. It unfairly labels schools as "failing." And its goal of having all students on grade level by 2014 is simply not possible.

The truth is, this law helps kids by measuring their progress and holding schools accountable for results. It helps teachers by providing them with information and resources to better help their students. And it helps parents by giving them a more direct say in children's education.

As you know, No Child Left Behind is now up for renewal. I'm counting on reformers like you to help get the job done this year.

• Georgia's Senator Johnny Isakson helped draft this law, and I look forward to working with him, Senator Saxby Chambliss, and Representatives Tom Price, John Lewis, Hank Johnson, and other members of Congress to reauthorize it

As President Bush said in his State of the Union address last week, "Because we acted, students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap. Now the task is to build on the success... without watering down standards... without taking control from local communities... and without backsliding and calling it reform."

In practice, that means we have four main goals as we head into reauthorization:

• First, we're dedicated to maintaining the law's core principles: high standards, accountability, student progress data, and all children on grade level by 2014
• Second, without violating these fundamental aspects of reform, we will continue to implement the law in a common-sense, flexible way... because we've learned some things in the last 5 years
• Third, as I mentioned before, we will continue working with states and districts to prepare students to compete in the global economy
• Finally, we want to provide local leaders with more robust tools to create meaningful change, especially in the lowest-performing schools

As Beverly Hall has said, "Everyone knows that the second half of the climb is the toughest. The next phase of our school reform agenda will be more challenging... [and] will require agility, creative use of staff, resources, and the knowledge of how to conquer the rocky terrain of total district reform." I completely agree.

We know that between 1,700 and 1,800 schools—less than two percent of more than 95,000 public schools nationwide—have failed to meet state progress goals for five or more years.

In these emergency situations, the President and I want to help superintendents like Beverly entice their most effective teachers to go to these schools. We'll provide more flexibility to target key resources like tutoring and funding to the students who need them most. We'll make it easier to re-invent schools as charters, and empower states to use federal funds to replicate quality charter schools like Tech High. And for parents who are tired of waiting for schools to improve, we'll provide free intensive tutoring or scholarships to transfer their children to better-performing schools—whether they're traditional public schools, charters, or private schools.

For proof that these methods can work, just head over to Sequoyah Middle School in Doraville, which I'll be visiting this afternoon. 95 percent of students there come from low-income families. 74 percent were born outside of the United States... in 28 different countries. At home, their families speak 22 different languages.

Until last year, students at Sequoyah failed to reach state learning standards for more than 5 years straight. As a result, No Child Left Behind required school leaders to make fundamental changes.

Starting over from scratch hasn't been easy, but as I'm sure you know, with a strong leader like Tech High's Elisa Falco or Sequoyah's Trenton Arnold, it can yield impressive results. With a new curriculum and many new teachers, Sequoyah's students finally reached their goals last year. From what I've heard, I'm hopeful they'll do the same again this year. But they need our support.

In the future, if you hear someone doubting the great goal of having all children on grade level by 2014, I hope you'll point to Tech High, Sequoyah Middle School, or any of the more than 60,000 schools across our country that are meeting annual progress goals under No Child Left Behind. Now that we're shining a spotlight on their achievement, tens of millions of students nationwide are making tremendous gains. Every day, they're proving that if we raise the bar, our children will rise to the challenge.

Thank you. I'd be happy to take your questions.

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