US Presidency
2002

And so the new role of the federal government is to set high standards, provide resources, hold people accountable, and liberate school districts to meet the standards. I can't think of any better way to say to teachers, we trust you. And, first of all, we've got to thank all the teachers who are here. I thank you for teaching. Yours is indeed a noble profession. And our society is better off because you decided to teach. And by saying we trust local folks, we're really saying we trust you. We trust you. We want you to have as much flexibility as possible to see to it that every child that walks in your classroom can succeed. So thank you for what you do. And a fourth principle is that we're going to spend more money, more resources, but they'll be directed at methods that work. Not feel-good methods, not sound good methods, but methods that actually work. Particularly when it comes to reading. We're going to spend more on our schools, and we're going to spend it more wisely.