Remarks at Butterfield Junior High School in Van Buren, Arkansas

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 17, 2004

See, when you've got people with those skills getting out of high school, and somebody is looking to put a business here, they can say, "Look at this. Look at the base of knowledge amongst people that we can employ in this State." People are likely to bring work here if the potential workforce has got the basics in math and science. And that's what you're doing. I want to expand the State Scholars program nationwide, just like we've done here in Arkansas. It's effective. It works.

And there ought to be incentives to encourage students, and one way to do so is to give those students who finish a State Scholars program a boost in their Pell grant scholarship. In other words, we're saying to kids in high school, "Reach higher. Here's some people to help you reach higher, some local college folks of businesspeople. And by the way, when you take a tougher course load and pass, you get additional scholarship money from the Pell grant." We've expanded Pell grants. I want to enrich them to encourage students to reach for the stars. So I've sent a proposal to Congress where they would receive an additional $1,000 during each of their first 2 years of college. This will help 4,000 Arkansas seniors a year. This will provide an incentive for people to say, "I want to do a better job in high school."

What I'm here to tell you is, I understand that public education is essential to the future of this country. It's essential we get it right. I'm here at Butterfield because I understand a good school is the gateway to hope. And we want that gate open all across America.

After decades of missed opportunities, after missing chances to make sure every child has got the basics to succeed, we finally reformed the public schools of America. It took a lot of work. It took a lot of work to convince people that change is needed. But Congress listened; we passed a bill. Let me tell you something, when you get a "yes" vote from both Senators of Arkansas and both Senators from Texas and both Senators from Massachusetts, you've got yourself a bipartisan piece of legislation.

And we're not backing down, see. I don't care how much pressure they try to put on the process. I'm not changing my mind about high standards and the need for accountability, because I know the promise it holds out for the--[applause].

We're not going back to those days where we just kind of hope something happens. We're not going back to the days where kids just got moved through, and they weren't sure whether of not they could read, and at the end of the system, they said, "Oops, they can't read." Those day were too pessimistic for me, and they don't represent the great values of the United States of America. See, we believe in the dignity of every human being. We believe in the worth of every child. We're optimistic people. We believe in raising the standards. We believe in giving schools the resources and flexibility they need. We have begun a new era in public education for the good of the United States of America.