Remarks at Townsend Elementary School in Townsend, Tennessee

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Feb 26, 2001

February 21,2001

The President. Thank you all very much. Fred, thank you very much. I appreciate your invitation.

Principal Fred Coins. We appreciate your coming.

The President. And I'm glad I accepted. It's a beautiful part of the world. I was touched by the number of your citizenry who came and lined the roads as we came in to wave and say hello. And I thank them for that, as well. I wish I could thank them in person. I hope they realize my wave was a sincere wave of gratitude.

I want to thank Gary Pack, the superintendent of schools. Let me say a couple things about what I've learned. I've learned this as a parent; I've learned it as a Governor; I know it as the President, that a school is really only as good as its principal, and when you have a fine principal, you've got a fine school. And I appreciate your service. And the same with the superintendents.

But with--the heart and soul of any education system, of course, are the teachers. And I want to thank those who are teaching. I'm sorry that my wife is not here with us today. If she were giving the speech--and most of you, if you had heard both of us, would rather hear her--[laughter]--she would say that one of her missions will be to convince Americans who are coming up to be a teacher. There's nothing more noble than to teach. And so, to the teachers of this school and the teachers throughout all of Tennessee, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I also want to thank my friend, the Governor of your State, Don Sundquist. He is a good man, and he married--like me--he married above himself. [Laughter] But Laura and I love Don and Martha. They have been our friends for a long time, and I appreciate your hospitality.

I want to thank your Senator, Bill Frist. I'm particularly nice to Senator Frist these days, since much of what I'm proposing is going to need to be passed out of the United States Senate. But I've got a strong ally in Senator Frist, and a good friend.

I want to thank members of the Tennessee congressional delegation, Congressmen Duncan and Jenkins and Van Hilleary, for being here, as well. I got to know these folks during the course of the campaign, and they were stalwarts.

I also want to thank my friend, the chairman of the Education Committee, from the State of Ohio, Congressman John Boehner. I am so thankful the chairman is here. I'm going to be discussing education policy today, the framework for good policy, and it's going to require the leadership of John and--on the House side, and Frist and others on the Senate side to get this bill through.

So, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for not only being here--I'm surprised they didn't check you at the border coming in. [Laughter] But I'll let you on the plane so we can fly back together and talk policy.

I'm also most appreciative of the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, for being here. I've known Mayor Ashe for years and years and years, and he has done a fabulous job of being a fine public servant in Knoxville. So Victor, thank you for coming.

And finally, a former public servant, a distinguished Tennessee citizen, a man whose son is--sees my daughter at the University of Texas, hopefully in the library--[laughter]-and that's Lamar Alexander.

I want to thank these distinguished officials. I want to thank the local officials. Senator, thank you, as well. Thank you for coming.

There's no more important subject than public education. We must get it right to make sure no child is left behind. My philosophy is this: First, all of us in positions of responsibility must set the highest of high standards for every child. I believe every child can learn, and that ought to be indelibly etched into our national conscience, that every single child in America has got the capacity to learn and we should accept nothing less. And we must set high expectations for every child. We must raise the bar.

I also strongly believe in local control of schools. I believe the best way to chart the path to excellence for every child in America is to insist that authority and responsibility be aligned at the local level.

So I look forward to working with the Members of the House and the Senate to p ass power out of Washington, to provide flexibility for the Federal funds so that the Governors, superintendents, principals can design programs that meet your specific needs. As the old adage, one size does not fit all in public education--it is very true. It is very true. We had the same goal in Tennessee and Texas, and that is, every child learn. But we've got different issues in Texas than you have in Tennessee, and that's why we need to have flexibility.

The cornerstone of reform, as far as I'm concerned, is not only high standards and maximum flexibility but strong accountability systems. I think it's so important to measure. I think it's a legitimate thing--I know it's a legitimate request from those of us in public life to say, if you receive taxpayers' money, you measure, and you show us whether or not the children are learning.