Thank you. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss education reform and the future of our children. Education is the single most important investment you will make as parents, as taxpayers and as economic leaders. And because of its importance, we must have high expectations. We must demand the best from our teachers, our administrators and ourselves. We must challenge and prepare students. Families must be involved. Every student must receive an education-every single one.

I realize, as corporate and community leaders, you have a strong stake in education. You have made an enormous investment. And that investment has paid dividends in jobs, opportunities and dreams. For example, this state is one of the most prominent and productive research and development leaders in the world. The technology enterprise from Las Cruces to White Sands to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the so-called Rio Grande Corridor, is one of the most profound and effective brain trusts in the world. Here you have the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Laboratories, The Santa Fe Institute, University of New Mexico and many other cutting-edge research and technology centers.

And you have powerful representation in the Congress to highlight your efforts. I know this country has greatly benefited from Heather Wilson's wisdom and advocacy. When Heather walks to the podium, Washington stops talking and listens. And this country is stronger, better and more noble because of Heather Wilson.

With her leadership, and your many great gifts in New Mexico, this state will lead the United States and the world into the future. In many ways, that is your role and we look to you for direction and vision.

The future will be determined by the quality of American education. This country's greatest strength is its education system. And millions of students receive a quality education. Every day we should be thankful, because their education will determine the future of our families, our economy and our nation. Their education will help secure our economic, political and cultural contributions to the world.

But not everyone benefits. The education system is far from inclusive, just or fair. Despite the tireless work of our teachers, and despite an investment per student that is the second highest in the world (after Switzerland), the education system is far from perfect. Many schools are broken. Millions of students do not receive their full share of our educational promise. They are left in what Nelson Mandela once called "economic darkness" because they are undereducated, ignored and disrespected. These students have been passed on and passed out, entering the workforce with little education, no skills and few opportunities. We know these students. They are African American, Hispanic, Native American, special needs, English learning or economically disadvantaged. And when they are passed out of the education system, you and I pay for their difficulties in higher taxes, more social programs, higher welfare costs, utilization of unemployment services, poor health status and many other costs. If they do find a job, the employer pays for their flawed education in training expenses, remedial education, lower productivity, higher health insurance and workplace accidents.

Even if there were no economic repercussions, these students simply deserve a better education. It is unacceptable to waste a child's life, to treat a child as unimportant or marginal, or to simply pretend the child is invisible. Each year, millions of children silently suffer, mark time, grow frustrated and eventually give up. We can do better for them. We must do better for them.

I give the president great credit for recognizing this problem and making reform a central mission of his administration. Within a week of taking office, he sent the blueprint for education reform to the Congress. Bipartisan passage of No Child Left Behind was a milestone in education reform. For the first time, our country had a national commitment to every child. We asked each state to set standards for accountability and teacher quality. I want to emphasize that fact-the states set their own standards. We only asked that they have standards. And each state came up with an accountability plan. Surprisingly, this is the first time in history that all 50 states have crafted and submitted such plans.

And the president has provided larger federal education funding at historic levels. For example, in the president's 2005 budget, funding for education would be $57.3 billion, an increase of 36 percent since 2001.

Here's what this means for New Mexico: Under President Bush's proposed education budget, federal education funding for New Mexico will increase to $776.9 million, or 47 percent more than when he took office.

New Mexico's No Child Left Behind Title I funding allocation will grow from $103.2 million in 2003 to $114.1 million in 2004-an increase of $10.9 million or more than 10 percent. In addition, Albuquerque Public Schools will receive a funding increase of 10.7 percent for Title I-from $22.4 million to $24.7 million. For the Albuquerque Public Schools, there has been a 69 percent increase in Title I funds alone since 2001.

There are some who have argued that this funding isn't enough, that we haven't paid for provisions under the law. Several studies have shown that we do provide adequate funding. I realize that some states want more than that and hope to get even more. I understand. As a former school board member and superintendent, I know how hard it is to match funding with the multiplicity of needs. But we have carefully calibrated the costs under this law and have provided the money necessary to get the job done.

Money isn't the only measurement. The administration has been working on regulatory actions that will help state and local school districts. Since passage of No Child Left Behind, I have worked on a timeline to utilize the flexibility in the law, while at the same time holding states accountable. This is a balancing effort, and that process of balanced policy development is often missed or misunderstood. We have announced new policies to assist special needs students and English-learning students. We have clarified participation rates for determining schools in need of improvement. I have also announced regulations for same-sex classrooms and other learning environments.

And, last month, I announced a new policy about highly qualified teachers that will help clarify any confusion and give even more flexibility to state and local officials. It will now be easier for states to demonstrate that teachers of multi-disciplinary work and science teachers are highly qualified, especially if they teach in rural areas.

There are a few who want to undermine this law, to stop it, to opt out or to repeal it. That would be a sad, catastrophic mistake. If we fail to fully implement this law, despite the hard work and best intentions of teachers and parents, the system will harm millions of children. We cannot continue such a failed approach.

There are some who believe we can't reach all children. They think African American children can't do the work, or Hispanic children are slow, or Native American children are locked in a cycle of despair, or special needs children are incapable of achievement, or poor children are poor learners. That kind of thinking perpetuates the problem. It is an outrage to write off a single child, much less entire classes and categories of children.

But you hear the controversy; you see the struggle to fight to preserve the old ways. There are some who will stop at nothing to thwart this law.

We can't let them win. This law is a step into the future. If we stay true to ourselves and to our children, within a generation we will see the benefits. Our country will be more inclusive. Education levels will soar while poverty will decline. Greater educational achievement is a direct answer to broken homes, crime, poor health and unemployment. I believe that as schools become fairer, racism will diminish, and multicultural respect will become more prevalent.

This is our choice. This is a future we can seize, if we have the will, the vision and the courage. I fully understand those who disagree. I am sympathetic to their concerns. But there comes a time when we must choose and work hard to implement that choice. I believe that time is now, and the choice should be for inclusion, quality, accountability, justice and equity.

And this choice is important for the business community. It is simply not fair to make you the educators of last resort. If you want higher productivity, then we must have a better-educated workforce. If you want a growing, thriving, strong and vibrant economy, then you need fully employed, economically secure consumers. That means consumers who are well educated and have a wealth of opportunities.

I know many of you think about the bottom line minute-by-minute-by minute. Well, the bottom line can also be measured student-by-student-by-student. And the single most powerful engine that drives our economy is education. There is no engine more dynamic, more forceful and more reliable. As you have discovered through your investments in education at Highlands University or New Mexico State University, education produces knowledge that makes your businesses more profitable. As you have discovered through your location in the Greater-Albuquerque area, the quality of education is an important factor in your own decision to work here and in the attractiveness of your jobs to others. And education generates employment, a larger tax base, greater consumer spending and more capital investment. As you know from your experience in creating a high- technology corridor, education is the future in a service- and research-oriented economy.

We all have a stake in the success of No Child Left Behind-every single one of us.

One final thought. Education should be a bipartisan effort. We should not play politics with our children's lives and futures. We must keep our focus on the children themselves. At a speech in December, two children walked up to me. They were special needs children going to school in Virginia. They felt that their education had improved because of No Child Left Behind and just wanted to thank me.

That's what this is all about. This is what we want. Every single child who receives a better education is a child who will have a future full of opportunities.

You know this. Heather Wilson explains this to her colleagues in Congress. Education is a matter of social justice. Who among us would condemn a child to an inferior education? Which child? Whose child?

We can choose the future now. And I am convinced that New Mexico will help lead us into that future. That is why I am so delighted to spend this time with you.

Thank you.

####

Top