Ladies and gentlemen, to introduce the president , please welcome mr. Antonio martin. [applause] my name is antonio martin. I am an eighth grader at Kenmore Middle School. Years ago, president obama came to kenmore to talk about making the Education System better for all students. I care about education because it opens a world of possibilities. I want to be an engineer. I work really hard in school. I love science and math. All my teachers have helped me in rich my love of learning. Kenmore has opened new possibilities because it is an arts focused school. My drama teacher is amazing. She wants the cast to do well. Is integratedt into all subjects. Education is important because it gives people a chance to improve their lives. It helps people become who they know they can become. Future are inhe school with me, and the future will blossom from our minds. Education is a very important resource that this act will strengthen. Now, it is my honor to introduce the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] president obama antonio, do not leave me hanging. You so much, everybody. Have a seat. Welcome to the white house. First of all, i want to thank antonio for being such an outstanding role model. In 2011, when he was much shorter, i visited Kenmore Middle School and saw firsthand their great work helping students like antonio achieve their potential. And that is why we are here today. This is an early christmas present. After more than 10 years, members of congress from both parties have come together to revise our National Education law. A christmas miracle a bipartisan bill passes. [applause] as i was obama telling lamar, we should do this more often. Law thatd to sign a will make sure every student is prepared to succeed in the 21st. Century. No child left behind, the predecessor of this law were high standards, accountability, closing the achievement gap, making sure every child was learning. In practice, it often fell short. It did not consider the specific needs of each community and led to too much testing during classroom time. It forced School Districts into cookiecutter reforms that did not always produce the kinds of results we wanted to see. And that is ok. Sometimes, Reform Efforts require trying something, it does not work. You learn some lessons and make modifications. So my administration, when we came into office, tried some different things. We tried to lead a race to the top. That is why we gave states that were willing to perform more flexibility in how to improve student achievement. Fromwere receiving waivers some of the requirements of no child left behind. The truth is that can only do so much. Years, i haveor called on congress to come together and get a bipartisan effort to fix no child left behind. It to a lot of time. It required a lot of work. Thanks to the tireless efforts of many of the people on the stage, some people in attendance today, we finally reached that deal. There are some people i especially want to thank. Senators Lamar Alexander and ray and representatives john kline and bobby scott. The house side, as well as their dedicated staff. This would not have happened without them. [applause] president obama i just want to if not for some significant ideological differences on these issues there were not but this is a good example of how bipartisanship can work. People cannot agree on everything at the outset, but they were willing to listen to each other in a civil, instructive way. To work through these issues. Compromise where necessary, while still keeping their eye on the ball. I think it is really a testament to the four leaders of the respective committees that they set that kind of tone. That is not something we often see in washington. Not a lot of grandstanding or posturing, just a lot of hard work. I want to thank them for their outstanding work that they did. [applause] president obama i also want to thank my outgoing secretary of education, arnie duncan. He has dedicated his life to the cause of education. Sometimes, in the nicest possible way, he has gotten on peoples nerves because he has prodded them and try to make sure we set High Expectations and that we are holding ourselves accountable for childrens performance, the schools performance, how they were delivering for our kids. As tenacious as he was, i think we would not have as good a product as we do today. Arnieot be prouder of duncan. [applause] president obama we are going to miss arnie duncan a lot. Fortunately, in addition to some great staff he has assembled that will be staying on, we have a great replacement in dr. John king, who will be joining us. [applause] in addition, we have had some outstanding advocates. Unions, we teachers got our civil rights organizations, philanthropists, Community Groups that have been active and involved with governors organizations and School Districts. We have also been involved with superintendents. We thank them all for their contributions. All the stakeholders have really buckled down to make this day possible. And the law comes at an important moment. Over the last seven years, the good news is our students have made real strides. We have seen states raise academic expectations for all students, meaning we are in a better position to outcompete other nations at a time when knowledge is the biggest determinant of economic performance. High School Graduation rates are at an alltime high. Dropout rates are at historic lows. The number has been cut almost in half. We are training tens of thousands of outstanding math and science teachers. More students are graduating from college than ever before. More than one million additional black and hispanic students are now going to college. There is some good work that has been done. A foundation to build from. But we are here because we all know that there is a lot more work to be done. As wonderful as antonios school as wonderful a learning experience as a lot of our young people are receiving, we know that there are other schools that are just not hitting the mark. A highys economy, quality education is a prerequisite for success. We will have to ask for not just the basics, but to have our young people become critical thinkers and creative problem solvers. Our competitive advantage depends on whether or not our kids are prepared to seize the opportunity for tomorrow. We need to build on momentum that has already been established. We need to learn what works and do more of that and get rid of the stuff that does not work. That is exactly what the every Student Succeeds act does. It has a National Goal of ensuring that all students rajoy prepared for college. It builds on reforms that have helped us make progress already, holding high standards for teaching and learning, empowering safer School District to develop strategies for improvement. Dedicating resources to our vulnerable children. Andnvests in children helping schools improve, focusing on the lowest performing schools and closing achievement gaps. Second, this bill makes longoverdue fixes to the last education law, replacing a to aizefitsall approach commitment to providing every student with a wellrounded education. It creates partnerships between the states, which will have flexibility to tailor their plans with the federal government, which will have the authority to make sure the plans are sound. It helps reduce unnecessary standardized tests, something we talked about a couple months ago , because what we want to do is to get rid of unnecessary standardized tests so more teachers can engage in student timeing while at the same making sure parents and teachers have clear information on their childrens academic performance. Number three, we know that the early years can make a huge difference in a childs life. This allows the expansion of high Quality Resources and creates incentives for innovative approaches to learning and supporting Great Teachers. Finally, this bill upholds the core values that animated the original elementary and secondary act signed by lyndon johnson. Education is a civil right. Thatthis bill, we reaffirm fundamentally american ideal that every child, regardless of race or background, deserves a chance to make out of their lives what they want. This is a big step in the right direction. A true bipartisan effort and a reminder of what can be done into these enter issues in the spirit of listening and compromise. But, of course, now the hard work begins. Laws are only as good as the implementation. And that means we are going to have to be engaging with the schools and communities all across the country, educators, school leaders, families, students, elected officials, community leaders. Philanthropies. All to make a promise of a long a reality. It is going to take students like antonio. He is doing his part, taking advanced classes. He plays the violin, he plays sports. He owns one share of stock in tesla. [laughter] president obama he is clearly going places. I would invest if i could. One of the reasons he is thriving is because he has Great Teachers and a great principal. They are helping him to harness his energy and talent. That is what we want every single child in america to have. We just want to give them a chance. And so many of them are full of that same talent and drive. But we let them slip through the cracks. Enough innot creative thinking about how they can be engaged or they just do not have the resources they need in the classroom. Or they fell behind early because they did not get the , given that they needed the tough circumstances they were born into. ,nd we want to make sure that through this piece of legislation, with our hard work and our focus and discipline, with our passion and commitment, that every kid is getting the same opportunity antonio is getting. I want this not just because it is good for the students themselves, not just because it is good for the communities involved, i want it because it is good for our economy and it really goes to the essence of what we are about as americans. There was a time when upward mobility was the hallmark of america. We have slipped on that front compared to other countries. Whereme of it is because we used to be so far ahead of other countries in investing in education for every child, now, by some indicators, we have been lagging behind. Hopefully this will get us back out front. There is nothing more essential to living up to the ideals of this nation than making sure every child is able to achieve their godgiven potential. I could not be prouder of the people on the stage and the people in the audience that helped us take one step closer to that reality. With that, we sign this bill. [applause] [applause] [applause] [inaudible] [applause] announcer coming up tonight on cspan, hearing on increasing military effectiveness. After that, remarks on the changing demographics from the israeli president and the hearing on the impact of terrorism on global oil markets. Thanks to air force and navy Senior Officers on increasing military effectiveness. They testified before the Senate Armed Services committee on thursday for one hour and a 45 minutes. Well, good morning. Mccain we have reviewed the reforms on our defense Acquisition Management and personnel system, and our past few hearings have considered what most view
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