U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today hailed the nation's school principals as leaders in education reform during remarks at the annual conference of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) in Arlington, Va. The following is the prepared text of Secretary Paige's remarks.

It's a pleasure to speak with you once again. Many of you were with me in Orlando just five months ago. But given the pace of educational change sweeping the country, it's never too soon to reacquaint!

Principal Leadership

I say leadership, but in truth you are all leaders. The dictionary defines the word "principal" as "a person who is in a leading position [or] has controlling authority." Although, given the many responsibilities you juggle, you may not always feel in control!

A principal must be many things. You are teachers and counselors, administrators and fundraisers. You're expected to know personnel, the budget and—increasingly—the law. You are soft-spoken diplomats who sometimes must raise your voice to get things done.

A great many look to you for answers. You are not only representatives of your school—you, much more than I, are the public face of public education.

As a lifelong educator myself, I know the pressures you face. When I served as Houston's schools Superintendent, I gave principals control of 75 percent of the school budget; it was five percent when I arrived. That's because you are the engines and drivers of change.

Equal Access, Educational Excellence

You know, every morning on their way to work, our employees see our Department's mission statement, written in bold letters on our marble walls. It reads, "Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation."

This principle plays a big part. You work to ensure that these two noble goals work in concert, like finely meshed gears, and not at cross-purposes. I believe it is possible, as the NASSP Statement of Values says, to "promote [both] equity and excellence." And that is the purpose of the No Child Left Behind Act.

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind is in the great American tradition of universal public education. Pioneers such as Horace Mann believed it could exude "radiance and warmth [to] reach the darkest and coldest abodes of men." These were reformers and visionaries—men and women of plans and passion. They were not satisfied with the status quo of their day. And neither should we.

Unfortunately, in recent decades America did become satisfied with the status quo. Somewhere along the line we lost our way—and lost the zeal for reform. Sure, we still believed in public education—but we were not vigilant about educating all of the public!

That is why No Child Left Behind provides consequences for underperforming schools, extra attention and resources for students, and real choices and options for their parents.

Shining a Light on the Achievement Gap

First and foremost, it shines a bright light on the problem. It tests all students so we can diagnose their problem, then treat it. I want to thank you for supporting this goal. Long before NCLB was passed, your organizations called for "tests and assessments" to "improve student learning."

Some powerful voices in education and politics do not share that view. They jeer the law, calling it "No Child Left Untested." To which I say, it's about time!

And to anyone worried about "high stakes testing," I ask, are there any higher stakes than a child's education?

Testing is confirming what we've long suspected. It's no secret which children have been left behind. People of color and people with disabilities. Special education students and limited English learners.

Millions were ignored, disrespected and pre-judged, moved to the back of the room and quietly pushed through the system, their difficulties left undiagnosed and untreated. Like Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," they were cast into the shadows, then cast out into life without the skills to succeed.

This created a chronic achievement gap that mocked the promise of public education. According to the nation's report card, by the time they reach twelfth grade, only one in six African-Americans and one in five Hispanics are proficient in reading. In mathematics, only three and four percent, respectively, are proficient.

Ladies and gentlemen, the achievement gap does not end when the final school bell rings. It turns into a skills gap, then an employment gap, a homeownership gap—really, a gap in what is expected from life. A new study has found that one out of every four African-American males are unemployed and idle the year round. This figure does not include those who are homeless or in prison. For school dropouts the figure is a staggering 44 percent. Of those black males who do graduate, more than 60 percent are not in college.

Is this an isolated problem? Absolutely not. In the Information Age, in a global economy, nothing is isolated; everything is connected. We spend more per pupil than any country on Earth except Switzerland. And yet we outperform only two—Cyprus and South Africa—in science and math. This, my friends, is another consequence of the achievement gap—a competitiveness gap with the world.

Making Progress

Not all students were treated this way, of course. And not all teachers and principals have stood idly by. Far from it. You have worked wonders—sometimes miracles—in the classroom. Many of you have tried for years to get your unions and public officials to listen, to recognize the problem. I'm proud of the job you've done.

But the inertia of the system has thwarted our best efforts. So the system itself has to change. This is what we are doing.

As you know, under No Child Left Behind, schools must meet what is called "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) in reading/language arts and mathematics. These goals are set by the state, which knows far better than the federal government the needs of local school districts. All 50 states now have accountability plans that, for the first time, are truly being enforced.

A school that does not meet its AYP targets the first year deserves and receives a second chance. But after years of chronic underperformance, its students deserve new choices—such as free tutoring or after-school classes, or transfer and transportation to another public or charter school. The bipartisan Citizens Commission on Civil Rights calls these "very useful tools in improving educational opportunity for disadvantaged children." I agree. I believe there is no more powerful advocate for children than a parent armed with information and options. And No Child Left Behind provides both.

Adequate Funding

Now, some have criticized these new choices for "draining" or "diverting" state and local funds from the classroom. That is incorrect. They're funded by federal Title I money, not state or local funds. In fact, under No Child Left Behind, underperforming schools get extra resources to help improve. And states have unprecedented flexibility to spend their education dollars as they see fit—on the highly effective Reading First program, for instance, or the new Improving Teacher Quality State Grants.

The only loss a poorly performing school faces is the loss of a student. This is unfortunate. But wouldn't it be ironic and tragic if, after fighting to open the schoolhouse door to all students, we locked it behind them once they got in? For my part, I believe in choice and competition because I believe in public schools. And I believe the people in this room are up to the challenge!

Ladies and gentlemen, we now spend $500 billion on public education in this country in local, state and federal dollars. Under No Child Left Behind, the federal share of that pie has expanded by 36 percent since 2001. That's $57 billion overall. Studies by the GAO [Government Accountability Office] and others show the money is there to fully implement the law. In fact, most states are well on their way to full implementation, according to the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States.

NCLB is no unfunded mandate. It is real support for our schools.

The Report Cards Are In

Having said that, I would add that No Child Left Behind is shifting the paradigm. Since 1965, federal spending on K-12 education [not including special education] quadrupled while reading scores remained flat. We must now measure excellence not by numbers of dollars spent, but by numbers of children who learn. And, ladies and gentlemen, the report cards are coming in. Anyway you look at it we're truly making progress.

Item: Math scores on NAEP for fourth- and eighth-graders rose significantly across the board this past year. African American, Hispanic American and low-income students saw the biggest gains.

Item: A report by the Council of the Great City Schools, which reviewed test scores from 61 urban school districts, also found significant improvement—a seven-point gain in math scores and a five-point gain in reading.

Ladies and gentlemen, that sound you hear is the Achievement Gap beginning to close shut!

What about college? Are more students getting on track? Well, the federal government this month reported that advanced high school courses have reached the highest enrollments in 20 years. More good news.

Realistic Gains

Recently, I came across a newspaper editorial in the Kansas City Star that said No Child Left Behind's goals were, quote, "wonderful," but "not realistic." Since we haven't solved the problems of poverty, child abuse, learning disabilities or access to health care, it went on, we have no chance of bringing all students to grade level in reading and math.

I'd like to give that writer a little dose of reality myself.

Reality: nearly twice as many Kansas City students—yes, Kansas City!—scored at the proficient level or higher this year compared to 2001. It can be done.

Reality: more than two dozen Maryland schools were removed from the academic watch list this year, seven in the city of Baltimore alone. It can be done!

Reality: in Cumberland County, North Carolina, 75 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress this year. The year before it was 58 percent. It can be done!

Reality: Sixty-six percent of third-graders in Milwaukee Public Schools reached proficient or advanced, the level the entire state of Wisconsin was at five years ago. One district official said "There is a greater sense of urgency about student achievement as a result of" No Child Left Behind. It can be done!

Reality: Three high schools in South County, Rhode Island, that were deemed "low performing" three years ago made so much improvement they were put on the state's commended list in 2003. It can be done!

Spreading the News

We're eager to spread these positive examples far and wide:

• This week we held the first-ever Research-to-Practice Summit, part of our groundbreaking "Teacher-to-Teacher" initiative.

• Earlier this month in Pittsburgh we held our third teacher workshop, which have become so popular more than 7,000 teachers are on waiting lists for them.

• Last month our Department's What Works Clearinghouse released two important new academic studies.

• And this spring we launched the first of seven "Promising Practices" booklets, highlighting successful public and public charter schools for districts and parents.

Through it all, one theme we've heard over and over is the importance of principals in achieving the mission of No Child Left Behind.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, we are keeping the promise written on our wall. We are promoting excellence while ensuring equal opportunity. It's a wonderful time to be a principal or a teacher. And with 40 percent of the nation's principals planning to retire in the next few years, by your estimate, we must seize this moment.

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "To refuse to accept any change until its advantages have been demonstrated by actual experience means that we must always be behind the times." Let's stay ahead of the curve. It won't always be easy. After all, we're in a political season. And many are afraid of change. Millions of dollars worth of television ads have been spent to bash No Child Left Behind. And if you watch the convention next week, you just might hear a speaker say: "This law is bad—now please fund it!"

After you listen to the ads and the speakers, I would ask you to do one more thing: listen to the children. Listen to their parents. They don't hold conventions or fundraisers. They don't spend millions on ads. But they want your help. Lend them your ears—and your voice. As Cindy Rudrud put it, "The core attitude you need to have is the belief in all students." Your attitude will help determine their aptitude.

No Child Left Behind is the law. It is working. And it is helping us reach that marvelous day when education policy will not be grist for the partisan mill—when we can work together, black and white, rich and poor, for the sake of our children and their future.

Thank you.

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