Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at Griegos Elementary School in Albuquerque

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 20, 2001

August 15, 2001

The President. Thank you for the warm greeting. It's an honor to be here on the first day of school. I can remember--I think I can still remember the excitement I felt when I was--the first day of school as a first-grader at Sam Houston Elementary School in Midland, Texas. At least I felt--I felt the energy of the kids, and I kind of could relate to it. And I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come.

I want you to know that the idea of coming here was Heather Wilson's. We were sitting around the Cabinet Room at the--right outside the Oval Office, and she said, "I understand you're thinking about coming to New Mexico." I said, "You bet. I used to spend a lot of time there when I was living in Midland, Texas. I think that's exactly where I intend to go during my stay out of Washington." She said, "Well, if you come to Albuquerque, you better make sure you go to a school, and I've got a good one in mind." And I said, "Yes, ma'am." [Laughter] Here I am. It shows what kind of influence she has as a Congressperson representing the great folks of Albuquerque, New Mexico. And I want to thank Heather for her service and for her recommendation.

I'm also really thrilled to be here with the two United States Senators from the State of New Mexico, Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, both of them fine Americans. I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor, who is here. Lieutenant Governor Walter Bradley is representing the State officials, and I want to thank you or being here, Walter, as well.

I want to thank--I made a pretty darn good pick when I asked Rod Paige to come to Washington, DC, from Houston, Texas, to become the Secretary of Education. I picked Rod for a reason, and I think Brad Allison, the superintendent of schools here, will understand why. I wanted somebody who had been in the trenches of public schools, somebody who had been on the front line of insisting upon excellence for every single child, not somebody who had read it in a textbook or somebody who was a theorist but a hands-on Secretary of Education who had cut his teeth in making sure that all children, not just a handful of children but every child in the school district, received a good education. And Rod Paige did just that as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. He's going to make a great Secretary of Education.

I was very impressed by Brad Allison's comments to me when I walked in. Sometimes people, when they meet the President, get a little tongue-tied. Not Brad. [Laughter] He said, "I want you to know, Mr. President, our school district is committed to two things, excellence in academics for every child and strong character education for every child." He understands that the two go hand in hand; that a complete child is one that not only learns how to read and write and add and subtract but a child who also learns the difference between right and wrong. And I applaud that holistic approach to education, Brad, and thank you for your leadership.

And I want to thank Eddie Lucero, too, the principal of the school. One of the things you learn when you spend a lot of time on public education, like I have done as the Governor of Texas and now doing as the President, that the quality of education in a particular school really depends upon the entrepreneurial spirit of the principal.

You've got a fine principal here. You know how I know? You've got an accountability system that tells us that's the case. We're not guessing in New Mexico whether or not children are learning to read. We know, because your State is bold enough to adapt a policy that says, show us whether or not the children are learning before any child gets left behind.

I just came from a second grade class. I want to thank Gloria--is she here, the second grade teacher? She is there. Gloria, thank you for your hospitality. Obviously, she has inherited on the first day of school a group of former first graders who were well-trained in reading. These kids are way beyond "The Hungry Caterpillar," let me put it to you that way. [Laughter] They read it better than the President could read it. [Laughter]

But I was very impressed. And I want to thank Gloria, but I also want to thank all the teachers, the teachers here in Albuquerque, the teachers all across New Mexico and the country, for taking on a very important profession.

We can never thank our teachers enough. One of the things my wife is doing--and by the way, I'm sorry she's not here. She is--you would find her to be an articulate advocate for making sure every child learns to read. After all, she was the public school librarian when I married her. She also is going to spend a lot of time encouraging people to become teachers, encouraging the young to become teachers, encouraging those, for example, who have spent time in the military to take advantage of the Troops for Teachers program that we have worked with Pete and Jeff on to fund, to encourage people to get back into the classroom, to make sure that our kids have got the very best instruction possible.