Audience: Good afternoon.

Mr. Austin: My name is Matthew Austin.

I am an eighth grade honor student from the Howard

University Middle School of Mathematics and Science,

located here in Washington, D.C.

We love our school and we also love our teacher,

Ms. Kim Worthy.

She is here today and she was recently named the 2009 D.C.

Teacher of the Year.

(applause)

She inspires me to learn, to work hard,

and to stay focused on my education.

And now, I am very honored to introduce someone who inspires

school children all across America to work hard and to stay

in school and to be successful.

Please welcome the President of the United States,

Mr. Barack Obama.

(applause)

The President: Thank you.

(applause)

Thank you.

(applause)

Thank you.

(applause)

Thank you so much.

(applause)

Please -- thank you.

Everybody have a seat.

Thank you.

Thank you for the outstanding introduction from Matthew.

And Matthew's teacher, you're doing obviously an outstanding

job -- although I understand Matthew's mom's also a teacher

who has also won awards for her outstanding work.

So the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

We are very proud of him.

Obviously I want to thank my wonderful Secretary of

Education, Arne Duncan, who has helped to lead us.

(applause)

I want to thank all the members of Congress who are here,

the governors who are in attendance.

And I want to give a special shout out to Chairman George

Miller of the Education Committee in the House,

who has just been a outstanding partner for reform.

Please give him a big round of applause.

(applause)

You know, from the moment I entered office,

my administration has worked to beat back this recession by

creating jobs and unfreezing credit markets,

extending unemployment insurance and health benefits to Americans

who are out of work.

But even as we've worked to end this immediate crisis,

we've also taken some historic measures to build a new

foundation for growth and prosperity that can help secure

our economic future for generations to come.

One pillar of this new foundation is health insurance

reform that can control deficits,

and reduce costs for families and businesses,

provide quality affordable care for every American.

Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy

profitable, that creates green jobs that can't be outsourced,

and frees America from the grip of foreign oil.

We're also working to enact financial reforms that will set

up firm rules of the road to help prevent an economic crisis

like the one we've just gone through from ever happening again.

But even if we do all of those things,

America will not succeed in the 21st century unless we do a far

better job of educating our sons and daughters,

unless every child is performing the way Matthew's performing.

In an economy where knowledge is the most valuable commodity a

person and a country have to offer,

the best jobs will go to the best educated --

whether they live in the United States or India or China.

In a world where countries that out-educate us today will

out-compete us tomorrow, the future belongs to the nation

that best educates its people.

Period.

We know this.

But we also know that today, our education system is falling short.

We've talked about it for decades but we know that we have

not made the progress we need to make.

The United States, a country that has always led the way in

innovation, is now being outpaced in math and science education.

African American, Latino students are lagging behind

white classmates in one subject after another --

an achievement gap that, by one estimate,

costs us hundreds of billions of dollars in wages that will not

be earned, jobs that will not be done,

and purchases that will not be made.

And most employers raise doubts about the qualifications of

future employees, rating high school graduates' basic skills

as only "fair" or "poor."

Of course, as I said before, we've talked about this problem for years.

For years, we've talked about bad statistics and an

achievement gap.

For years, we've talked about overcrowded classrooms and

crumbling schools and corridors of shame across this country.

We've talked these problems to death, year after year,

decade after decade, while doing all too little to solve them.

But thanks to Arne's leadership, thanks to George Miller's

leadership, thanks to all the dedicated Americans in

statehouses, and schoolhouses, communities across this country,

that's beginning to change.

We're beginning to break free from the partisanship and the

petty bickering that have stood in the way of progress for so long.

We're beginning to move past the stale debates about either more

money or more reform, because the fact is we need both.

We're beginning to offer every single American the best

education the world has to offer from the cradle to the

classroom, from college to careers.

In recent months, I've spoken about the different parts of

this strategy.

I've spoken about what we're doing to prepare community

college students to find a job when they graduate;

to make college and advanced training more affordable;

and to raise the bar in early learning programs.

Today, I want to talk about what we can do to raise the quality

of education from kindergarten through senior year.

Because improving education is central to rebuilding our

economy, we set aside over $4 billion in the Recovery Act to

promote improvements in schools.

This is one of the largest investments in education reform

in American history.

And rather than divvying it up and handing it out,

we are letting states and school districts compete for it.

That's how we can incentivize excellence and spur reform and

launch a race to the top in America's public schools.

That race starts today.

I'm issuing a challenge to our nation's governors,

to school boards and principals and teachers,

to businesses and non-for-profits,

to parents and students: if you set and enforce rigorous and

challenging standards and assessments;

if you put outstanding teachers at the front of the classroom;

if you turn around failing schools --

your state can win a Race to the Top grant that will not only

help students outcompete workers around the world,

but let them fulfill their God-given potential.

This competition will not be based on politics or ideology or

the preferences of a particular interest group.

Instead, it will be based on a simple principle --

whether a state is ready to do what works.

We will use the best evidence available to determine whether a

state can meet a few key benchmarks for reform --

and states that outperform the rest will be rewarded with a grant.

Not every state will win and not every school district will be

happy with the results.

But America's children, America's economy,

and America itself will be better for it.

And one of the benchmarks we will use is whether states are

designing and enforcing higher and clearer standards and

assessments that prepare a student to graduate from college

and succeed in life.

Right now, some states like Massachusetts are setting high

standards, but many others are not.

Many others are low-balling expectations for students --

telling our kids they're prepared to move on to the next

grade even if they aren't; awarding diplomas even if a

graduate doesn't have the knowledge and skills to thrive

in our economy.

That's a recipe for economic decline, and it has to stop.

With the Race to the Top fund, we will reward states that come

together and adopt a common set of standards and assessments.

Now, let me be clear: This is not about the kind of testing

that has mushroomed under No Child Left Behind.

This is not about more tests.

It's not about teaching to the test.

And it's not about judging a teacher solely on the results of

a single test.

It is about finally getting testing right,

about developing thoughtful assessments that lead to better

results; assessments that don't simply measure whether students

can use a pencil to fill in a bubble,

but whether they possess basic knowledge and essential skills

like problem-solving and creative thinking,

creativity and entrepreneurship.

And already, 46 states are working to develop such standards.

I urge those 46 states to finish the job.

I urge the other four to get onboard.

(laughter)

One of the other benchmarks we'll be using in awarding Race

to the Top grants is whether outstanding teachers are being

placed in our classrooms.

From the moment a student enters a school,

the single most important factor in their success is the person

in front of the classroom.

Every one of us can point to a teacher who inspired us and in

some way shaped the course of our lives.

Great teachers are the bulwark of America.

They should be valued and they should be honored.

Few have worked harder to do that than our national union leaders.

Randi Weingarten is right here, and Dennis Van Roekel --

(applause)

-- are two union leaders who are here,

and I'm very pleased that they're with us today.

But if we're honest with ourselves we'll admit that in

too many places, we have no way --

at least no good way of distinguishing good teachers

from bad ones.

As Arne has pointed out in the past,

they have 300,000 teachers in California.

The top 10% are 30,000 of the best that are out there.

The bottom 10% are 30,000 of the worst out there.

The problem is, we have no way to tell which is which.

That's where data comes in.

Some places are keeping electronic records of how a

student does from one year to the next and how a class does in

any given year.

This helps students, parents, teachers, principals,

and school boards know what's working and what's not in the classroom.

You know, basketball coaches have a game tape for the team to

see what they did right and what they did wrong after a tough

series -- teachers and principals should have a way of

doing the same.

Now, I recognize there's a concern among some that a

teacher won't be judged fairly when we start linking students'

performance to the performance of their teachers.

And that's why we need to bring teachers into the process and

make sure their voices are heard.

(applause)

And that's why we need to make sure we use tests as just one

part of a broader evaluation of teachers' performance.

But let me be clear: Success should be judged by results,

and data is a powerful tool to determine results.

We can't ignore facts.

We can't ignore data.

That's why any state that makes it unlawful to link student

progress to teacher evaluations will have to change its ways if

it wants to compete for a grant.

That's why the Race to the Top grants will go to states that

use data effectively to reward effective teachers,

to support teachers who are struggling, and when necessary,

to replace teachers who aren't up to the job.

And we also need to reward states that are placing

outstanding teachers in schools and subjects --

like math and science -- where they're needed most.

That's one way to foster the next generation of math and

science teachers.

And by the way, everyone has a role to play in training these teachers.