Remarks at Read-Pattillo elementary school in New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 21, 2002

October 17, 2002

Thank you all for coming today. I'm-- okay, read more than you watch TV. [Laughter]

I want to thank everybody for being here. I've spent a lot of my time talking about how to make sure America is a secure and safe country. It's on my mind because so long as we embrace freedom, there are, unfortunately, some people that want to hurt us. As long as we continue to hold dear to our heart the notion that free people should be able to worship the Almighty God any way they see fit, free people should be able to speak their mind, free people ought to be--or free people should be able to have a free press-- all those aspects of freedom which we hold dear and will never relinquish are the reasons why we have to worry about the safety of the American people.

And since we're never going to relent when it comes to our freedom, and since we have a responsibility to defend that which we hold dear for not only ourselves but for our children, we'll be dealing with this for a while. But make no mistake about it, we will prevail.

And as we worry about our safety, though, it's very important for us to always remember that we've got to work to make America a better place, not only a safer place and a stronger place but a better place. And the perfect place to make America a better place is in our classrooms all across the country. And so today I'm here to talk about the importance of making sure that every single child in America gets a quality education, to remind our country that reading is the key to all learning, that we believe that every child can learn to read, not just a few, not just those who might be in the--kind of the super districts, but every single child. Children whose parents may not speak English as a first language can learn to read. People who may come from the toughest of all circumstances, they can read. Everybody can read.

It is the great passion of many in our country, starting right here at Read-Pattillo. And that's why I'm here at this school. I'm here to praise the determination of its principal and the teachers and the parents to make sure not one child who goes to this school is left behind, that every child can learn.

The passion and vision I just described is shared by your Governor. I know. I know him well. [Laughter] I know his heart. I know his strength of conviction. I know his vision, and it's clear. It's a clear vision to a better day. So I'm honored to be with Jeb.

I appreciate John Mica, the Congressman, for coming today. I just had a very interesting meeting with some of your community leaders and people involved with reading and how to make it work, One such person was Bill Hall, who is the superintendent of the Volusia County schools, and I want to thank Bill. [Applause] I know enough about schools to know that when they clap for the superintendent, that's a good sign, Bill. [Laughter]

I also know from my days as Governor and as a parent that a school is really only as good as the principal. If you have a great principal, you'll have the beginnings of a great school. Obviously, it takes more than a single soul to make sure that excellence is available for every child. But a great school starts with a principal who is dedicated, clear of vision, who sets high expectations, and of course, that principal is Marilyn Travis, right here at this school.

Judy Andersen is the head of the Volusia County school board. She was here--they had a--they call it a roundtable. It was actually square--[laughter]--a square roundtable discussion. But I thank Judy for coming.

I told her, I thought being on the school board was one of the--if not the, one of the toughest jobs in America. I know the rest of the school board members are here as well. I want to thank you for understanding that your job is to set high standards, make sure you're wise with the taxpayers money, and then hire the best and unleash them to achieve excellence for every child. So thank you very much, Judy and the school board, for coming.

I do want to thank the square-table participants--[laughter]--Joe Torgesen, who is a professor of education at Florida State. I wish he could talk to you about the fact that reading is not an art but a science, that we're learning what works, and it's the application of what works that's incredibly important to make sure that every single child learns to read.

Then we had professors that were teaching teachers to teach, and we had teachers that were teaching teachers to teach, and we had kindergarten teachers that were teaching kids to read, and it was a very exciting meeting for me and Jeb. So I want to thank you all for coming.

I know we've got some elected officials here. I see the speaker of the house, Speaker Feeney, is here. I appreciate you being here, Speaker. I know other members of the legislature, both Republican and Democrat, are here. I appreciate Jim Vandergrifft, the mayor of New Smyrna Beach. [Applause] That's a good sign, too, Mr. Mayor. Members of your city council are here, and thank you all for coming.