[applause] thank you. Hello, everyone and welcome to the white house. I know many of you travel to be a part of this moment and have taken time away from your family and necessary wear. So we are grateful to you for giving us a little more of that time this morning. Now that yesterdays storm has passed. Im telling you, it was so quiet here at the white house last night because they sent everybody home, there was no secret service. Service. Just kidding. [laughter] so i want to thank you, all of you, for being here. Our purpose today is powerful. I want to thank you for your commitment to this cause. As some of you probably know, probably everybody here knows it, i teach at a Community College not far from here. And right now, educators are in the final weeks of those, you know, where the teachers putting the finishing touches on their lesson plans. I know i am, i have my first article ready to go. The linoleum floors as you all walk into the school you know , they are just waxed. They never look like that again after the first day. [laughter] you know, the scuffs of sneakers, and there is a possibility, the hum of possibility in the air as the year seems to stretch out in front of us. You feel that excitement, if any of you were in the classroom, which i am sure most of you have been. You cant even sleep the night before, right, no matter how many years it has been. You still feel that excitement. It has been the new year is filled with Amazing Things to discover. With each new semester, Technology Becomes a new indispensable part of making sure that our students imaginations can soar. And ensuring that administrators can run their schools smoothly and safely. But in districts around the country, Cyber Attacks have brought those systems to a halt. And i know most of you have seen it. Social security numbers and medical records stolen and shared online. Classroom technology paralyzed. Lessons ended. So, if we want to safeguard our childrens futures, we must protect their personal data. That is why my husband, joe, is bringing together experts from across his administration to help strengthen cybersecurity for our elementary, middle and high schools. So today, not only do we have with us the secretary of education, the secretary of Homeland Security, and the chairwoman of the federal communications commission, we are joined by leaders from the National Security council, the office of the National Cyber director. The cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. And the fbi. That one was easy. [laughter] they will be announcing resources for districts like yours and sharing best practices to help stop those attacks before they begin and resolve them more quickly when they do. But we cant do this alone. And thats why we are working with businesses across the country. And later, they will be sharing the new commitments they are making to ensure the technology of our classrooms is reliable and more secure. I know, because i teach in a computer lab. So it is going to take all of us, local governments, state and federal agencies, educators, businesses, labor leaders and nonprofits sharing our good ideas, and Innovative Solutions to protect our students. So, i am grateful to all of you for being part of these discussions. You are on the frontline, supporting your communities. I want to ask you to keep going. Together, each day, we are building the foundation of our childrens future. And we must do all that we can to keep it sound and strong and ready for whatever life may bring. Because every student deserves the opportunity to see a School Counselor when they are struggling, and not worry that these conversations will be shared with the world. Every classroom should be enriched by new technologies, giving students who Love Computers the skills they need to succeed. And every family should know its information will stay safe and secure, so that our children can keep reaching for the Endless Possibilities that exist inside of each one of them. So, thank you. Thank you all for what youre are doing. Thanks. [applause] thank you. Dr. Biden now, it is my pleasure to introduce someone who is working tirelessly to support our children and their digital security. Secretary miguel cardona. My friend. [applause] secretary cardona good morning. How is everyone . Isnt it great to have a teacher in the white house . How about dr. Biden . [applause] thank you. Thank you for your leadership and for always understanding how important it is to make sure that our schools are safe for our students, for our educators, and championing it the way that you do. Thank you, everyone for being here. I know we had a bit of a carb ball curveball yesterday, and either you pac12 or you supported our local you packed well, or you supported our local stores and brought a different shirt for today. [applause] we are here to discuss a very important topic, Cyber Security in our schools. At the height of the pandemic, it wasnt boardgames that got my own children the socialization that they need, it wasnt even books or sports, because, you know, they werent able to get out on the field. For my son, at the time he was about 16 years old, it was his xbox. For those of you with teenagers, you may know where i am going with this. He was playing madden with his cousins online, socializing with his family members and his friends. That was his socialization he was getting. For my daughter who was about 14 at the time, it was an app called house party. Anyone familiar with that . That was her way of seeing her friends face. She was told two weeks later, youre going to be back in school. After the second month, it was really hard and scary. That is what she used to socialize with her friends. I mentioned this because it shows that technology can benefit our young people. At its best, technology can help our students connect with each other and their learning in the way that nothing else can. It also reminds us that we live in a digital age. As i always say, the device is the new pencil in our schools. Last school year, the average number of unique Educational Technology tools accessed per School District was over 2500. Keep in mind, those numbers dont even capture the social media asked students are using for the Digital Infrastructure systems schools rely on. , when school is cyberattack, the impacts are huge. Think of the Ransomware Attack that led to more than a hundred students 5000 students and Staff Members in chicago for the schools having their personal information stolen. Or the school my home state of connecticut that had to postpone the first day of school for 18,000 students because a cyberattack hit the system the district used for managed school bus routes. Lets be clear, we need to be taking the cyberattacks on schools as seriously as we do on physical infrastructure. That is why today the department of education released a series of briefs on how to strengthen the Digital Infrastructure of education. We need collaboration within government to make that possible, which is why we are also committing to establish a new, government coordinating council. Look, we can talk about intentional collaboration at the local level and at the state level if we are not modeling it here at the federal level and thats what we are going to be proactive. We need to get the best thinking from all over the country. Be proactive, not wait for emergencies to happen to make sure we have a plan. These represent big steps forward. Together, we can manage the risks of Cyber Attacks on our schools so we can better guarantee the benefits technology has to offer our children in education. I want to give a special thanks to christina ishmael, over here, and our office of Educational Technology for their leadership. [applause] the passion that she has not only on protecting students, but in intentional collaboration, is what we need. I appreciate your leadership and deputy secretary cindy martin also, your passion on this topic as a former superintendent of schools in san diego. You recognize how critical this is, and what an opportunity we have to lead our country in this space. Thank you for your leadership as well. [applause] and speaking of leadership and partners, i am really delighted to introduce our next speaker, my cabinet colleague, but really a friend. Someone that i have grown to know over the last two and a half years and really admire the passion with which he leads. Secretary mayorkas. Secretary. [applause] mayorkas act sec. Mayorkas good morning. Thank you secretary cardona, and dr. Biden, thank you for convening us. Let me say at the outset, i have always, always, love school. [laughter] except math. [laughter] all of us here today are acutely aware of how demanding it is to work in education. The challenges that students, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members, front office staff, techsupport support and outside vendors even, confront every day would have been unfathomable even five years ago. Cyber security threats are really the latest such challenge. I wish that were not the case. The education ecosystem, like Critical Care units in hospitals, should be sacrosanct, free from cyberattacks and other threats. Children deserve the ability to learn and grow in a secure setting, and you all deserve the ability to focus on what you do best, teaching, nurturing, caring for and inspiring our children. The reality, though, is that the Cyber Threats we face have expanded to every community and every institution across our country, including schools. That is why we at the department of Homeland Security alongside , our partners across the Biden Harris Administration are committed to providing communities and School Systems with the support and the resources necessary to protect themselves, their infrastructure, and their students. Earlier this year we released through cisa, our Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency and its extraordinary leader jennifer easterly is here, a free, first cybersecurity toolkit for k12 institutions compiling , Government Resources and offering guidance on how stakeholders can best implement them. We are also working closely with Technology Manufacturers to ensure that what they provide to School Systems is secure by design. Secure right outofthebox. And to paraphrase president biden, we are showing our values not only in our words and interactions, but in our budgets as well. Earlier today, we put out a new call for applications to our state and local Cyber Security grant program, which, for the second year in a row will make , hundreds of millions of dollars available to School Districts and governments to harden their cyber defenses we. We have many, many other means of support available to you from teams across our federal government and our colleagues will highlight many of them for you throughout this summit. I want to strongly urge every School System and every community to take advantage of these resources and to do so with urgency. Do not underestimate the ruthlessness of those who wish to do us harm. They have proven their willingness to steal and release such private student information as a psychiatric hospitalizations, home struggles, and suicide attempts. Do not wait until a crisis comes to start preparing for one. [applause] that applause was prompted [laughter] by our deputy National Security advisor, friend and colleague, anna newberger. [laughter] [applause] an ounce of prevention today is worth a pound of cure tomorrow, especially when an ounce of prevention enables you to spend more time on what really matters the education and wellbeing of our students. I joined first lady dr. Jill biden, secretary cardona, thank you for being here. Thank you for your commitment to our children, to our schools, and for building a better tomorrow. Our deputy National Security advisor anne, will kickoff the rest of the summit. Thank you so much. [applause] ms. Newburger good morning everyone. Thank you all for being here today with particularly because it is take two. Thank you all who stayed overnight to Work Together on this incredibly important topic for our children. By my count, we have an Incredible Group today. We have nearly 20 School Superintendents in this room from across the united states, from Talladega County schools, dr. Susanna lacey, to albuquerque public schools, mr. Robert elder. Thank you to all the School Superintendents who have traveled to be here today. We have teachers like ms. Kathleen bullock, secondgrade special ed teacher from brent Elementary Schools here in bc. And teachers associations like the National Association of secondary school principals. We have at least 15 cios and chief Information Security officers, folks who are on the frontlines on the topic of cyber. From cambridge, massachusetts, mr. John kramer and, to Fulton County in georgia, miss emily bell. There are Education Company ceos. From gross security, city bridge, and classlink. An founders, from google Tech Ventures and diverting hate, among others. And almost 200 other people gathered here today, committed to education, committed to school. Each of you deserve your own recognition for what you do for kids. Thank you for what you do for children every day. [applause] thank you truly for being here today to discuss an important issue that whether one is an administrator, a teacher, a parent, its close to each of our hearts. I would also like to take a moment to welcome close colleagues from the white house, the president s lead science advisor, and the acting National Cyber director. Our gathering today, and the quick reschedule putting us on dr. Bidens and the secretary calendars, represent the priority of keeping kids safe means a lot to the president and the entire administration, because today is about that commitment to ensure our kids go back to school safely. Criminals are targeting schools with cyberattacks. There were eight School Systems in the last school year alone that were disrupted. Four that actually had to close for a period of time because of cyberattacks. And as we heard, that is a part of it. Perhaps even more importantly, there is Sensitive Data of children, their psychiatric information, Sensitive Information that should be protected, released online. Data that hurts kids, hurts families, and potentially hurts their futures. So today is about changing that dynamic together. Keeping our students, our teachers and our schools safe from cyberattacks is about three things equipping schools with knowledge, funds, and people. The knowledge of how to prevent cyberattacks and respond quickly if they do occur. The finance to ensure that school tech can be upgraded and secure. And finally, the people, because we know that school i. T administrators are often short staffed. So expert teams to help them do , the work and secure their schools is key. Today you will hear significant commitments announced by both government and private sector in each of those categories knowledge, forms, and people, and you will hear about that in each of the panels. We will begin with a Panel Focused on learning from a ransomware incident against a school. We will move to an announcement of government commitments, then one on private sector commitments. Funds. Security, secure attack. And finally, we look forward to welcoming a group of School Leaders who inspired us by the innovation they brought to their schools after a significant Ransomware Attack. I would like to invite the first panel of speakers to join me on the stage. [applause] ms. Neuberger so i am pleased to introduce our first panel. About a year ago, on labor day weekend, the los angeles unified School District experienced a very significant Ransomware Attack. It disrupted the districts access to email and key systems and acquisitions they need to up. There schools. However, as you are about to hear, the swift action by the School District, closely supported by the federal government, insured los angeles schools opened on time, on september 5, a remarkable example of the power of leadership, preparation, and collaboration. I can share from my own experience over that labor day weekend, that the School Superintendent, alberto carv allos calls for support were met with quick action. The white house convened federal departments and agencies and the department of education became the foc