Remarks in a discussion on parental options and school choice - Week Ending Friday, February 13, 2004

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Feb 16, 2004

The President. Oh, I don't know what's so good about that. [Laughter] But--

Mr. Butler. Well, I understand that you've spent some time there as well.

The President. Well, I mean, I thought he was going to say Yale. But you know, that's all right. No, that's good, they're at Harvard. Yes. [Laughter]

Mr. Butler. It is.

The President. Yes, I went there, okay--much to the shock of some of the press cows. [Laughter]

Mr. Butler. But I think giving our young people opportunities to get out of the building and get to universities in this community but outside of this community as well really helps to reinforce that. It also helps, too, to have alums such as Michael Steele--I'm glad he's with us today--to hold up as an example of what happens when you work hard.

The President. Michael, good. Listen, Rod, why don't you share some thoughts. Rod--Rod took--I told you, he took on a tough assignment. And I will tell you the children in Houston, Texas, benefited from his leadership. And he's a good, solid citizen.

[Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige made brief remarks.]

The President. I appreciate you--thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Local control of schools is important because innovation oftentimes takes place in spite of government. Archbishop Carroll, obviously, has been able to survive without government telling them what to do, and you're doing what's right.

But the other thing about local control of schools is the more power there is at the local level, the more parents have an opportunity to change things. And so one of the key components of the No Child Left Behind Act is that it's up to you to chart the path to excellence. We just want to know, see? That's all we're asking.

The Federal Government is finally saying, "Show us whether or not you're achieving the objectives, but you figure it out." And it's amazing what happens when parents decide to get involved. A lot of parents think everything is fine with their school until the test scores show up, until there's comparison, until they take a look at--across boundaries. Say, in DC, I bet there's a lot of folks wondering why my school doesn't have a 98 percent college attendance with the seniors. So information is important, but empowering parents is important.

Virginia Walden Ford is with us today. She is--she is a great citizen in that she's willing to seize the moment to try to effect change. She's a tireless worker on behalf of children and parents. She's somebody who has made a difference. I want to welcome you here, Virginia. Tell us about your family. Tell us about what you're doing. Tell us about how you got involved with the Parents for Choice. She's the executive director, by the way, for Parents for Choice in DC movement.

[Virginia Walden Ford, executive director, D.C. Parents for School Choice, made brief remarks.]

The President. One person can make a difference. Now Virginia has got to make sure that the parents who want to learn how the program works can find a resource. I know you will. There's--this--for example, this might stimulate a few phone calls. I suspect there's going to be some mothers and dads wanting to contact you to find out how the program works. How do you apply for the $7,500 scholarship? What does it take to be eligible? And how do we get the scholarship money out? We'll help. I know you got an advertising campaign getting ready to go.