The U.S. Department of Education’s 2004 National Charter Schools Conference "Push to 50: Getting the final 10 states and growing the movement" was the largest and most successful conference yet! The Department has provided materials from the conference sessions with links to allow those interested to view or download conference materials. The approximately 2500 charter school advocates in attendance were fortunate enough to hear Secretary Paige's keynote address in which he expressed his deep belief in our nation's children and his hopes for education in America. The text of this motivating and inspirational speech appears below.

It’s great to see so many of you here today. This is a great convention. I was just taken away by how many of you are here and your commitment and dedication. Each year it seems that we get bigger and bigger. Twelve years ago we had no charter schools at all in our country. Now we have 3000 charter schools educating 750,000 students in more than 40 states. Let’s give yourselves a big round of applause.

Now this is a great story and you all should be very proud because it is about you. It is about your willingness to take risks, your willingness to be measured by results, your willingness to take the road less traveled, your willingness to stand and be counted. That is why the charter school movement is moving. That is why the movement is prospering because we have good people in the charter school movement like yourself. One more time for yourself. Give yourself a big round of applause. (applause)

But this movement is only 13 years old and like any adolescent, it has suffered a few growing pains. But I believe we are ready for another growth spurt, and one reason is because of the strong support of the President. Because he has adopted it. He is a powerful supporter of charter schools, and he has adopted the charter school model of higher expectations, focus on basics, innovation, and real parental options for all, all students. This was manifested in the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act, the most innovative and far reaching educational reform act in 40 years. No Child Left Behind has much in common with the charter school movement. Both provide freedom and flexibility in exchange for accountability and results. Both meet a need that has not been fulfilled. Both demand continuous evaluation and continuous improvement both for students and for schools. In education actions must have consequences. A charter school is a school that if the students are not meeting the expectations of its parents, then its charter is no longer there. It is as simple as that and that should be the case in all schools. (applause) And with No Child Left Behind, in a school that is chronically under performing parents are provided a real choice as they should be.

Early results are positive. I want you to understand that progress is being made. No matter about the decibel levels of a lot of the conflict that you hear. All across this nation progress is being made. Studies show that we are beginning to even close the achievement gap especially in urban school districts. And every day there seems to be more and more good news as test scores are improving. And all across the country now the dialogue and the conversation is different. We are talking about quality. We are talking about improving results. The culture of this nation is changing because of you and because of the No Child Left Behind Act.
We also are promoting charter schools in a way that matters most and that is through more resources. President Bush has proposed another $100 million to leverage improvement for facilities and infrastructure under the No Child Left Behind Act. (applause) And this is in addition to the $220 million already provided for charter education. Over all, federal support for education is up by 36 percent since 2001 but No Child Left Behind and charter schools are needed to insure that this money is well spent.

Now some see the demand for charter schools as sadly a reflection on what our traditional schools have become and I see their point. But I view it more optimistically. I believe it shows us what schools can be. Look around you. Everyone of you are meeting a need in your community. You are filling a gap including the achievement gap. You educate children with unique interests, with rare talents, and with special needs. Some of you were left behind by the traditional schools so you know how that feels. And others of you are from traditional schools that could not keep up with the pace you needed and you insist on results. And that is why you are an entrepreneur. And by doing so you create an environment of achievement and excellence that is going to penetrate education all across our nation. It would be a mistake to think that you only teach children. You also teach teachers, and you also teach administrators. All across America we are learning from the things that you are doing. You are showing us that it is possible to have both high standards and discipline. And it is possible to have fairness and accountability at the same time, and it is possible to have respect for teachers and principals. It is possible for students to learn. One of the promises of the charter school movement was to serve as a laboratory of innovation and to try new and bold and daring ideas to see if they work and if they do, we will transplant those ideas to our traditional system. Innovations such as smaller schools, school uniforms, arts and science curriculum, virtual schools, virtual classrooms, all have found a home in the charter school movement.

Of course, as you know, not everyone favors charter schools. Many of you work against a head wind of hostile political environment. Sometimes I am confused because it is difficult for me to tell whether the detractors are worried that you are going to succeed or they are worried that you are going to fail. I am not sure what they have got in mind. But we are clear about it. We want you to succeed. And so we want to make a contribution.

Today I am proud to announce the third in our series of six innovative “Innovation in Education” booklets which are designed to help teachers and administrators implement the No Child Left Behind Act. Whenever new reform is enacted the need naturally turns to find early adapters, early success models, and to share those stories with others. These booklets produced by our Office of Innovation and Improvement will meet that need. Now this is not a list of top ten schools in this booklet. It is a list of top ten schools in that schools in the list work, but we also know that there are other schools out in the community where you are that work just as well. But these are some examples that have been there over time, and they have demonstrated outstanding qualities such as parental satisfaction and improved student achievement. To date all eight of these examples have met adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. (applause) That’s good.

Now those who argue that No Child Left Behind will mean the end of electives and enrichments have clearly not spent time in these charter schools. For example, they have never been in the Arts and Technology Academy School in Washington, DC, a fine charter school. They have never seen this school where drama and dance and singing and composing and video production are rounding out the curriculum as well as the academic subjects. Or they have never seen the BASIS school in Tucson, Arizona, where students might be seen producing an opera or visiting a marine laboratory school, a biology school in Mexico.

Those who believe that No Child Left Behind will spawn solely testing factories have not set foot in schools like the School of Arts and Science in Tallahassee, Florida, which uses project based approach to learning where students of many grades and many ages are working together in the same classroom.

Those who believe that No Child Left Behind does little to spur parental involvement don’t know about the Oglethorpe Charter School in Savannah, Georgia, which provides moms and dads for their students to interact with on a daily basis because they require moms and dads to donate at least 20 hours of work in school service per year they have not read the contract of the Home School Contract with the Community and Peace Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota because it too requires parents to be involved.

The KIPP Academy-Houston’s student population is 77 percent Hispanic and 21 percent African American and 86 percent receive subsidized free meals--but thanks to a strong enforced credo this school has 85 percent of their students go to college. And here is their credo. (applause) Listen to this that every student gets in these KIPP schools. It goes like this: “There are no shortcuts. Success is built through desire, discipline, and dedication,” and students believe that and they succeed.

The student body at Roxbury Preparatory School in Boston is 80 percent African American and 20 percent Hispanic. Two thirds perform below grade level when they show up, but now they are all learning. Thanks to homework support, Saturday instruction, summer school, all of them on their way to college because they are talking college prep curriculum. (applause)

And finally the Ralph A. Gates Elementary School in Lake Forest, California, enrolls more English language learners than any school in the district yet they not only provide intensive two-way Spanish English immersion for students, they also do that for parents. And so parents, moms and dads, are learning the language as well.
Indeed the most valuable testimony about charter schools come not from the facts and figures, and we like to use the facts and figures, but they come from the dedicated professionals that are running these schools. They come from the satisfied parents who are involved. They come from enthusiastic teachers and the eager young boys and girls that are setting an example for schools all across the United States. One teacher at the Community of Peace Academy praises the school administrators in that charter school by saying, “I see a change happening right here when we need it most.” Teachers at the Washington, DC, Arts and Technology Academy call it an oasis in the community. Now imagine that. Instead of complaining about the community, this school is doing such an excellent job that it is changing the community. It is not only changing the kids but it is changing the community. Charter schools are a valuable, valuable addition to our delivery system of schools.

As in life it is often the little things that count. So KIPP Academy principal, Elliot Witney, tells a story about a mom who called to complain about her son watching too much television in the afternoon. Guess what he did. He invited the mom to bring the television to school, so the mom brought the television to school. It is sitting right there on the floor in front of the class, and the kid knows that he is not going to get that television back until he brings his grades up. And that’s how to be direct about this.

These are not merely anecdotes; they are satisfied customers. And they are just the tip of the iceberg. They can be repeated a thousand times all across America. They can be repeated wherever you are or people like you. The booklet identifies common features and elements of effective charter schools. I don’t need to tell this crowd about that because I know you know. Many of you live this from day to day. These booklets provide an example, though, that we want parents in the rest of the world to see. So we ask you everywhere you find a crowd of more than two, start a discussion about charter schools.

Finally, success requires partnerships between parents, teachers, and the community at large. This is one of the real strengths of charter schools. After all, parents and teachers often start charter schools. Ladies and gentlemen, we need to bring everyone to the table and make them part of the solution. Let us court the business community. Make sure that the business community understands what you are doing. Bring your results to them so they can see your success. They know that the quality of education deeply impacts our nation’s competitiveness. They want to be a part of the solution,so invite them in. Our twelfth graders placed at the lowest levels in math and science among the industrial nations. And we have the largest concentration of adults in the lower literacy levels. Is it any surprise since World War II that productivity has grown more slowly in our nation than any other industrial societies? This is why the business community represents great potential for your help. Make sure that your story is well known to them. And I think that you are going to find that they are going to be very helpful.

Fourteen years ago as charter schools were being debated the President of the National Education Association predicted that market driven school choice would create an inequitable elitist educational system. Do you consider yourselves elitists? You are the people who are doing the work and getting the job done. He added that free market economies work well for breakfast cereal but not for children and not for schools. You have proved him wrong. This is working well for children. (applause)

As you go back to your school communities, you will undoubtedly continue to face pressures from union organizations and others who want to water down the charter school laws or lower the cap on the number of students that you can teach. We must pay attention to this part of our business as well. Most of these opponents of change see charter schools as a necessary evil, a hole in the kettle, so to speak, to let off some of the reform pressure. But as you grow more and more, your voice becomes louder and louder, and your example becomes clearer and clearer, America is becoming more and more in love with your products, so keep pressing forward. Don’t turn back. (applause) The traditional school system needs the charter school movement to grow. You are doing a big favor for the traditional school system. They are learning from you. They need your successful schools to be replicated and duplicated. They need the productive pressure. They need the wake up call. They need the competition you provide. You are making them better. President Bush has often spoken of your great work, and we must do our part to take ownership of this education enterprise and to show what is possible in this country. We must never deny the challenges but we must face them, and we must never deny the solutions to these challenges. We must continue to work them. You are the solutions. You are the ones finding a better way and we need your help. Along with your experience and your commitment we need more stories like the stories in the book that we just talked about. We want you to shout from the rooftop how life changing charter schools are. Every day you ask your students to do their best, and now I am asking you to do even more than your best. Let us not stop until we have a quality charter school on every street corner in every community in the United States of America. God bless you and God bless America. (applause) Thank you.