For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 8, 2002
President Visits Logan High School in Lacrosse
Logan High School
LaCrosse, Wisconsin
1:05 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you all very much. It's --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We all love you!
THE PRESIDENT: Your mother may be watching, behave yourselves.
(Laughter.) I'm honored to be here. I want to thank the citizens of
LaCrosse, Wisconsin for such a warm welcome. I'm -- great to be here
in Logan High School. It's a great place. (Applause.)
So I was being briefed about Logan High School. I'll tell you what
impressed me the most. I was impressed by the fact you've got a great
baseball team. (Applause.) I was impressed you've got a great girls
basketball team. (Applause.) But I was most impressed when I saw that
the school raised a banner for the Academic Super Stars. (Applause.)
I'm at this school, of course, to talk education. But I'm also
here to herald excellence. And we have found excellence at Logan High
School, and thanks for giving me a chance to come by. (Applause.)
I appreciate the Secretary of Education traveling with me today.
You know, we've got a lot of people who like to theorize in Washington,
D.C. -- kind of philosopher types. I'm kind of a role up your sleeve
and get it done type guy. And that's what I want the people --
(applause) -- and I picked that kind of man as our Secretary of
Education, as well. This is a fellow who's been on the front lines of
education. I had the honor of meeting your superintendent here in
LaCrosse. They were able to talk superintendent talk. (Laughter.)
They know how to get things done. And so I've got a really good man
who's joined me in my administration to help make sure that no child in
America -- and we mean no child -- is left behind when it comes to
education. (Applause.)
I want to thank Logan High grad, class of '81, Congressman Ron
Kind, for joining us today. Thank you, Ron. (Applause.) I really
appreciate you coming today. I'm honored you're here. I also want to
thank your Governor, Scott McCallum, for traveling with me today, as
well. (Applause.)
I want to thank Michael McArdle, who is the president of the
LaCrosse School Board, for being here. I want to thank all the school
board members. I appreciate Thomas Downs, who's your superintendent.
Interestingly enough, he showed me a picture of he and my dad when he
was -- I think a teacher, he said -- in Iowa. I really want to thank
Scott and the staff and the teachers for making this visit possible.
You know, one of the things I've learned, as governor and now
President, is that when you find a good school, you also find a good
principal. (Applause.)
There's going to be some folks here graduating, I understand,
pretty soon. (Cheers.) Don't take it for granted. (Laughter.) But
you'll be the first high school class that has graduated with America
under attack. We got under attack in September, and you're graduating
in a time of war. And I want to talk to you a little bit about what
that means for America, what it means for our country, what it means
for a nation to fight for what it believes in.
I can't imagine what went through the minds of our enemy when they
attacked us on September the 11th. You know, they must have thought
America was so self-absorbed, so materialistic, so selfish that we
would cower in the face of a challenge -- well, we might file a few
lawsuits or two, but that would be all we would do. But that's not the
America I know and that's not the America you're a part of. This is a
country that when it comes to defending that which we believe in, when
it comes to defending our freedoms, we are patient, we're deliberate,
and we are plenty tough. (Applause.)
You're graduating in a time of war, right here in America, but a
war that your textbooks really haven't been able to describe before.
It's a new kind of threat to our country. Now, you need to know right
off the bat that our enemy are nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded
killers. And they hate America because of our freedoms. They cannot
stand the thought that we worship freely, that we've got freedom of the
press, that we debate freely. They can't stand that. It bothers
them. And therefore, they're out to hurt us again.
Now, you need to also know that we're doing everything we can to
protect the American people. My most important job is the security of
the American people. I learn that every day when I walk into the grand
Oval Office. In the morning, I walk in there, and first thing I do, of
course, is -- after I bring the First Lady a little coffee --
(laughter) -- is take Spot and Barney down, let them work the South
Lawn for a while. (Laughter.) Spot was born in the White House, she's
13 years old, she understands the decorum of the Oval, so she gets to
go in. But Barney is only a year and a half and we got a new rug, so
he doesn't. (Laughter.)
Every morning I read about threats to America. I read about the
enemy wanting to inflict some more harm on us. And every morning it
reminds me that I will do everything in my power to protect the
American people.
Our law enforcement officials are talking better amongst each
other, we're sharing information a lot better way now. The federal
government is in better communications with state and local
governments. And anytime we get a hint, or anytime we get kind of a
sniff that something might be fixing to happen, you need to know we're
acting -- we're acting within the confines of the United States
Constitution, but we're acting.
But the best way -- and I want the students to understand this --
the best way for me and our government to protect the homeland is to
chase these killers down one by one and bring them to justice. And
that's what we're going to do. (Applause.) And it's going to take a
lot longer than people want; it's just going to take a lot longer than
people want. We're not dealing with an organized government with the
al Qaeda network. We're dealing with people who, on the one hand, send
youngsters off to kill themselves and they, themselves, try to hide in
caves. That's the way they are.
It's important for you to know, as well, that when your country
speaks, we're going to do what we say. And we told the Taliban, since
you're harboring those terrorists, you're just as guilty and we ran
them out of business. Thanks to the United States military and a
mighty coalition, we ran them out of business. (Applause.)
Our country doesn't seek revenge. I want the high school kids here
to understand, we don't seek revenge -- we seek justice, that's what we
seek. And when we went into Afghanistan, I want you to remember -- and
history will record -- that this nation -- this decent, kind nation
liberated a group of people from the clutches of barbaric people who
would not even educate young girls. We went in not as conquerors, but
as liberators. And I'm proud of our nation and I'm proud of our
heart. (Applause.)
Now, it's going to take a while -- it's going to take a while. But
much to the chagrin -- I guess to the chagrin -- I haven't spent a lot
of time talking with the enemy, but I got the feeling they're going to
be disappointed to hear that we're going to remain united as a country;
and that we're resolved, and we're patient, and we're plenty tough.
That they think they can hide, but they can't. Our strategy has been
not only to disrupt the government that harbored these people, we're
destroying their training camps, we're disrupting their finances.
We're chasing them down. We're denying them sanctuary in other parts
of the world.
Listen, these are the kind of people that if they can find a soft
spot, they'll light. If they can find somewhere where there may be a
weak government, they'll try to move in. And that's why, when I look
at some of these leaders and send a message, either you're with us or
you're with them, they understand that we mean what we say. And we're
beginning to deny sanctuary.
No, it's going to take a while. But the people in this high
school, the kids in this high school have got to understand, it is
worth it. I will not let, your government's not going to let people
destroy the freedoms that we love in America. We fight for
civilization. And they're going to find out what this country is made
out of. This country is going to defend our values to the core, and
we're going to win. (Applause.)
But not only do we work to make our country and the world safer, we
also got to work to make it better, a better place. And it starts with
making sure every child in America gets educated. (Applause.) I --
there's been a lot of talk about this bill I was able to sign -- by the
way, worked on by both Republicans and Democrats. It was a -- it was a
refreshing change of what sometimes takes place in Washington, or a lot
of times, where people are in there just trying to promote their own
political party without worry about the nation. This is a piece of
legislation where we worried about the nation and not our political
parties, and the nation is better off for it. I want to thank Ron for
his vote on this piece of legislation, by the way.
But here's what -- here's what -- let me tell you the philosophy in
the bill. It first starts off by saying, in order to achieve
educational excellence around the nation, we must have high
expectations and high standards. It starts with the belief that every
child can learn. If you have low expectations, in other words, some
can't learn, you're going to get bad results. It starts with a
mind-set. See, I believe every child can learn, and I expect every
child to learn. We have raised the bar of expectations.
And in order to make sure that's happening, we're insisting that
people show us it's happening. See, if you believe it can happen, then
you want to know if it's happening. If you don't believe it can
happen, you don't care. If you have low expectations for students, if
you have low standards, you don't care whether they're learning,
because you don't think they can. If you have high expectations, you
care, and therefore, you want to see.
And we want to know. We want to know through an accountability
system, designed not by the federal government, but by the good people
of Wisconsin. That's who's going to design it. We want to know. We
want to know -- we want to see the scores. We want to post it for
everybody to see, because we believe every child can learn. I know you
don't like to take tests -- too bad. (Laughter.) It is important.
(Applause.)
It's important. So what we're saying, that after a period of time,
the state of Wisconsin must develop accountability, grades 3 through
8. If we spend federal money, we're going to see some results. And so
we want to know. And by the way, an accountability system is not meant
to punish anybody, it's meant to be used as an information tool. And
if things are going well, we ought to use the accountability system as
a way to praise the teachers and principals for success.
However, if we find out children aren't learning, there's a
reason. And we need to know the reason. And we need to solve the
problems early, before it's too late. This business about just
shuffling kids through the system has got to end. This business about
kind of promoting them out -- (applause.)
The part of making sure that we also succeed is the understanding
that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to public education. I
mean, look, we don't want federal -- Washington, D.C. telling you all
how to run your schools. You've got plenty of good people here in
Wisconsin. As a matter of fact, the people who love the children in
Wisconsin are the people of Wisconsin. And, therefore, we have passed
a lot of power and authority out of D.C. to align responsibility and
authority where it belongs, at the local level. (Applause.)
Also an incredibly important part of a successful school system,
the thing that matters a lot, of course, is the teachers. And I want
to thank the teachers here at Logan High School for doing what you do.
It's an incredibly noble profession. It's an important profession.
And it's one that I hope -- I assume that you get a lot out of it by
making sure that our children learn.
The teaching profession needs to be heralded. And we've got a
great person in my administration who's willing to do just that, a
former teacher, my wife, Laura. (Applause.) When I married her, she
was a public school librarian. And the truth of the matter is she
didn't particularly care for politics -- or politicians, for that
matter. (Laughter.) Thank goodness she said yes when I asked her to
marry me. A lot of people now know why I asked her to marry me. A lot
of people are wondering out loud why she said yes. (Laughter.) But
she's great. And she's going to go around the country reminding people
that if you want to serve your community -- reminding young and old, if
you want to serve your community, teach, become a teacher.
We've got a Troops for Teachers Program for retired military to go
in the classroom. We've got Teach for America programs. We've got all
kinds of opportunities. When you go to college and you're looking for
something to do and you're wondering about your career, think about
becoming a teacher, to make a difference in the lives of our children.
(Applause.)
The bill we passed has got $3 billion additional dollars in there
for teacher training, teacher recruitment, teacher retention programs.
And that's good. But it's going to be up to the local districts, the
states and local districts, to figure out how to spend that money to
make it work for the teachers.
But I'll tell you another piece of reform that's really important
in this bill. One of the things that's important is for teachers to be
able to control her classroom or his classroom. It's essential that
that be the case. And for the first time, the federal government has
limited liability for teachers and principals and school board members
and superintendents when they enforce reasonable standards of conduct
in classrooms. (Applause.)
Let me see if I can put that a little more plainly. If you think
you can disrupt your class, you're going to get booted out and the
teacher's not going to get sued. (Applause.) So don't disrupt the
class.
Parents have got a lot to do with whether or not schools in our
communities succeed. The parents have got to make sure that young
children read more than they watch TV. That's a hard thing to do.
(Applause.) Oh, I know it's hard to turn off the TV and read to your
child. But it's really important for a mom or a dad -- if a mom or a
dad wants their child to learn, get reading to them early and stay on
it, and click off the tube. Your children are going to learn a heck of
a lot more.
It's important for parents to come to the PTAs and to be
interested. It's important for a parent to make sure that a child
understands respect for teachers when they get in that classroom; that
they have got a responsibility to be respectful. And one way to make
sure parents are involved is to use the accountability system. A lot
of parents in America feel like their school is doing just fine --
until they see the results of the children's tests, until it's a
comparative system like you do here in LaCrosse.
This man right here, he's not worried about comparing. He's a
confident principal. He's confident in the teachers. He doesn't care
if there's a comparison, because he knows he's going to do well -- he's
focused, he likes that idea of a good, health comparison.
But in order to enhance parental involvement, parents need to
know. It's amazing how many parents say, everything is going just fine
in my child's school -- until they see the results. And if you want to
enhance teacher -- parental involvement, let them see whether or not
their children are learning relative to the school across town. Just
make sure that the score card is honest and open and transparent, and
you'll get parental involvement, and even more.
This state has enacted public school choice, which basically says
if your child is trapped in a failed school we're not going to tolerate
that anymore. And if you're tired of it, you can move to another
public school. I think that's a good, healthy reform. Our bill does
just that. And not only that, if a child is trapped in a school that
won't change, after three years there are what's called supplemental
services. That means money, Title I money follows the child, a Title
I-eligible child to tutoring services, summer school, after-school
services. If you're interested in making sure no child is left behind
and you find children trapped in schools that will not change and will
not teach, we've got to make sure that they get extra help. And give
parents additional choices.
And that's exactly what this bill does. Parental involvement not
only happens when there's care and love -- I told people earlier today
at our seminar, I can't make people love one another; that's not the
role of government. But we can provide the tools necessary for loving
parents to become more involved. And one way to do so is for the
results to be open and the parents to have different options.
Now, we've got a good plan. It's up to you to make it work. The
federal government is not going to -- the federal government is going
to spend money, which we have; the federal government is going to
provide a strategy. But it's up for the local folks. And that's why
we've come to this school.
This is a school in which the community takes great pride, mothers
and dads take great interest, the teachers take great time to make sure
that every child gets educated. A better America is going to be an
America that educates every child.
I keep saying, every child. The truth of the matter is we're not
educating every child right now. We're letting a lot of them just go
on through. The tough to educate. If you don't speak English, or the
mothers or daddys don't speak English as a first language, let's just
move them through. That's going to quit, as far as I'm concerned.
That's not the America I know.
The public school system is a vital part of our democracy. It is
absolutely essential that we have educational excellence if we want our
democracy and our freedom and our system to flourish and thrive. And
that's the kind of public school system I envision, and I know it's the
kind you envision, as well. (Applause.)
I believe that out of the evil of September the 11th will come
incredible good. I believe that we can achieve peace -- that's my
dream. Oh, it's going to be tough to get there, there's going to be
some hills to climb. But out of this, by being firm and resolved,
we'll achieve peace. And that's important for America. It's important
for our children. It's important for our children's children.
I also believe out of this evil will come some good, because
Americans are such a compassionate and kind people. People ask me,
what can I do to join the war on terror. And my answer is, love a
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself -- that if you want to
fight evil, do some good. That if you want to confront the evildoers
that struck America, walk across the street and tell a shut-in that you
love them. Mentor a child. Teach a child. Go to your church or your
synagogue or your mosque and rally the compassion within the -- within
the halls there to feed the hungry.
There are pockets of despair in America. There are pockets of
hopelessness right here in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. And if you want to
fight evil, tackle those pockets of despair with love and decency.
I met Dorothy Wetterlin today. Where's Dorothy? She's somewhere
-- hey, Dorothy, stand up, will you? No? You don't want to stand up?
Okay, don't stand up. (Applause.)
Dorothy kindly came out to the airport to greet me. The reason why
is because Dorothy is a soldier in the army of compassion here in
LaCrosse, Wisconsin. She is -- helps victims of domestic abuse and
violence. She started puppet shows for young kids in elementary
schools to teach them how to make the right choices when it comes to
drugs and alcohol. She's a person making a difference. She's a person
who understands that one person can't do everything, but one person can
darned sure do something to help somebody in need. (Applause.)
America is full of Dorothys. You've got them all across this
country. And I want the young to understand that I believe you have an
obligation as an American to help make this country a compassionate and
decent place. I believe that it's important for you -- I know it's
important you go to college, or whatever you're going to do after high
school, go to work. But remember, if you're interested in fighting
evil, do some good. Lend your heart, lend your talent to help somebody
in need.
And America is doing this. I am so optimistic about the future of
our country, not only because we are strong and tough and resolved. I
am optimistic about the future of America because we are decent and
honorable and good people. (Applause.)
I think the most telling event on September 11th, and one that I
hope a lot of people remember, is what happened on Flight 93.
Basically, what I'm saying is, it's important to serve something
greater than yourself in life. It's important to serve a call greater
than yourself and a cause greater than yourself.
Flight 93, we had average citizens flying across the country. And
they realized their plane was fixing to be used as a weapon on the
nation's capital. They called their loved ones on the phone. They
said a prayer and told them they loved them. Said a prayer, and they
drove the plane in the ground to serve something greater than
themselves. That's the American spirit I know. (Applause.)
That's that sense of sacrifice that makes this country so strong.
And that's exactly what's happening. I want you to know when you get
out of high school you're going to college and you're going to college
in the greatest land, the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
And it is my high honor to be the President of the greatest country on
the face of the earth.
Thank you for letting me come. May God bless. (Applause.)
END 1:31 P.M. CDT
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