For Immediate Release November 04, 2009

James C. Wright Middle School, Madison, Wisconsin

1:40 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Hello, Madison! (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you. Everybody, please, have a seat. Have a seat.

It is good to see all of you. Good to be back in Madison. I want to first of all just say that Jim Doyle is not only one of the finest governors we have in the country, but is also a great friend, a great supporter; his entire family has been wonderful. And so I just could not be prouder to associate myself with the outstanding work that Jim has done in the state. Please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)

We’ve got two wonderful mayors in the house. First of all, your own, Dave Cieslewicz, is here. Dave. (Applause.) And Milwaukee’s outstanding mayor, Tom Barrett, is in the house. (Applause.)

I am so impressed with the work that’s been done here at Wright Middle School and I know that Principal Nancy Evans deserves a huge amount of credit, so please give her a big round of applause. (Applause.) And to the faculty and the staff, but most importantly, the students, who I had a chance to meet with earlier today, they are just some outstanding young people. So if there are any parents of students in the house you should be proud — and give them all a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Now, it’s great to be back in Madison, great to be back in Wisconsin. And I’ve heard great things about Wright, so I’ve got very high expectations for all the students here — and I told them this. I expect them to keep up the good work that you’ve already been putting in to make sure that you succeed not just in middle school, but also in high school, also in college, and for the rest of your lives. And parents, I want you to stay on them because — because that is an absolutely critical ingredient for their success.

You know, one year ago, Americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see. (Applause.) Election Day was a day of hope, it was a day of possibility, but it was also a sobering one because we knew even then that we faced an array of challenges that would test us as a country. We already saw that there was a financial crisis that threatened to plunge our economy into a great depression — the worst that we’ve seen in generations. We had record deficits, two wars, frayed alliances around the world.

Facing this reality, my administration had two fundamental obligations. The first was to rescue the economy from imminent collapse. And while we still have a long way to go, we have made meaningful progress toward achieving that goal. We acted boldly and swiftly to pass a Recovery Act that has made a difference for families right here in Wisconsin, and Jim, your governor, described the difference that it’s made.

We’ve put a tax cut into the pockets of 95 percent of hardworking families. We created or saved over one million jobs, including 4,000 education jobs right here in Wisconsin. We’ve taken steps to unlock our frozen credit markets so that the ordinary American can get the loan that he or she needs to buy a home or a car, to go to college or start a new business. We’ve enacted measures to stem the crisis in our housing market to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes and curb the decline of home values overall.

So all these things contributed to the first quarter of economic growth that we’ve had as a nation in over a year. The rate of job loss is slowing, although not nearly fast enough yet. The work continues. But we’re moving in the right direction, and we are going to keep on fulfilling our obligation to do every single thing we possibly can to pull this economy out of the ditch and to make sure that people can find jobs that pay good wages. That’s our top priority. (Applause.)

So that was the rescue part of our job, just solving the immediate crisis. But we also came into office with another goal, another obligation — not simply to do what needed to be done to deal with an emergency crisis, but to make those long-term investments necessary to build our economy stronger than before. It was an obligation to tackle problems that had been festering, problems that had been kicked down the road year after year, decade after decade; problems that have to be overcome for America to move forward.

See, even before the crisis we were having big problems. We were just papering them over. Manufacturing was declining and we weren’t producing as many high-tech, high-skilled jobs as we needed to be. We had an energy situation where suddenly oil producers or speculators want to constrict supply, and next thing you know you’re paying four bucks at the pump. So we didn’t have energy independence. Health care costs were skyrocketing — before the crisis — so that families were seeing more and more out-of-pocket costs and essentially trading away salary and wages just to keep up with their premiums.

So we had an obligation to create a better health care system that works for our people, our businesses, and our government alike. (Applause.) And that’s why we’ve been pushing so hard on health care reform. That’s why we took up the cause of a clean energy economy that will free America from the grip of foreign oil and generate millions of good-paying jobs in the process — green jobs in retrofitting old buildings to make them more energy efficient, creating the batteries and other technologies needed for plug-in hybrids that can get 150 miles a gallon — and will help to curb climate change. And that’s why we’re taking up the cause that I’m here to talk about today, and that is offering the best possible education to America’s sons and daughters. (Applause.)

American prosperity has long rested on how well we educate our children. But this has never been more true than it is today. In the 21st century, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, there is nothing that will determine the quality of our future as a nation and the lives our children will lead more than the kind of education that we provide them. Nothing is more important.

And here is what we know: Over the course of a lifetime, those with a college degree — and I want the young people here especially to listen to this — over the course of a lifetime, those with a college degree earn over 60 percent more than those with only a high school diploma — 60 percent more. Most of the fastest growing jobs require a bachelor’s degree or more. This is what we were talking about earlier in the classroom. Four out of every 10 new jobs will require at least some advanced education or training within the next decade. So put simply, the right education is a prerequisite for success. There was a time when if you just got a high school education and you were willing to work hard, you could get a job in a trade or in the factory that paid a middle-class wage. And those days are declining. The currency of today’s economy is knowledge.

And yet we continue to trail other countries in a number of critical areas. The United States, a nation that has always led the way in innovation, is now being outpaced in math and science education. A handful of states have even gone in the wrong direction, lowering their standards at the very moment that they should be raising them. We used to rank number one in the number of college graduates and advanced degrees. That’s not the case anymore. Meanwhile, African American and Latino students continue to lag behind their white classmates — an achievement gap that will ultimately cost us hundreds of billions of dollars because that’s our future workforce.

Of course, these problems aren’t new. We’ve heard about them for years. But instead of coming together to solve them, we’ve let partisanship and petty bickering stand in the way of progress. (Applause.) It’s been Democrat versus Republican — it’s been Democrat versus Republican, it’s been voucher versus public schools, it’s been more money versus more reform. In some cases, people have seen schools as sort of a political spoil having to do with jobs and contracts instead of what we’re teaching kids. And this status quo has held back our children, it’s held back our economy, and it’s held back our country for too long. It’s time to stop just talking about education reform and start actually doing it. It’s time to make education America’s national mission. (Applause.)

Now, I’m proud to say that thanks to one of the best secretaries of education America has ever had, Arne Duncan, who’s here today — stand up, Arne, so everybody can see — (applause) — thanks to Arne’s passion and understanding of these issues and the ability to bring people together, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We are making this America’s national mission: improving our schools not in unrealistic ways, not in abstract ways, not in pie-in-the-sky ways — in concrete ways we are putting our resources behind the kinds of reforms that are going to make a difference.

In the coming weeks, states will be able to compete for what we’re calling a Race to the Top award. We’re putting over $4 billion on the table — $4 billion with a “b” — one of the largest investments that the federal government has ever made in education reform. But we’re not just handing it out to states because they want it. We’re not just handing it out based on population. It’s not just going through the usual political formulas. We’re challenging states to compete for it.

And I have to tell you, this was not an easy thing to get through Congress. This is not normally how federal dollars work. But because of Arne’s tenacity and our commitment to make sure that reform happens, that’s how we’ve structured it. We’re saying to states, if you are committed to real change in the way you educate your children, if you’re willing to hold yourselves more accountable, and if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, then we’ll offer you a big grant to help you make that plan a reality.

Now, before a state is even eligible to compete, they’ll have to take an important first step. And this has caused some controversy in some places, but it shouldn’t be controversial. Any state that has a so-called firewall law will have to remove them. Now, here’s what a firewall law is: It basically says that you can’t factor in the performance of students when you’re evaluating teachers. That is not a good message in terms of accountability. So we said, if you’ve got one of those laws, if you want to compete for these grants you got to get rid of that law.

And we’ll encourage states to take a better approach when it comes to charter schools and other innovative public schools. When these schools are performing poorly, they’ll be shut down. But when innovative public schools are succeeding, they shouldn’t be stifled — they should be supported.

And I’m proud to say that already a number of states have taken us up on this challenge. Across the country, different groups are coming together to bring about change in our schools — teachers unions and parents groups, businesses and community organizations. In places like New Haven, educators and city leaders have come together to find a smarter way to evaluate teachers and turn around low-performing schools. In states like California and Indiana and Wisconsin, you’re seeing steps taken to remove these so-called firewall laws so we can have a clear look at how well our children are learning and what can be done to help them learn better. States like Delaware and Louisiana, Tennessee and Illinois are all making efforts to let innovative charter schools flourish.

So, a race to the top has begun in our schools, but the real competition will begin when states apply for the actual Race to the Top grants. See, they had to make some changes just to even join the race. But now the race starts, and we’re going to start seeing even more interesting changes at the local level. So we’ll take a hard look at states’ applications to determine whether they measure up. We’ll take a look at a state’s track record to determine whether the steps they’ve taken have had real results when it comes to their students’ education. We’ll take a look at whether states are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach when it comes to reform. And in particular, we’ll take a look at how states are doing when it comes to four key measures of reform.

And I want to get into some details about this because I want you, as parents, as well as the educators, to understand what the data and the science and the studies and the research show actually make a big difference in terms of school improvement — because that’s what we are basing this stuff on. We didn’t just kind of make it up, didn’t just do it because it sounded good, this is what the research shows is really going to make a difference.

The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century. And I’m pleased to report that 48 states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards — internationally competitive standards because these young people are going to be growing up in an international environment where they’re competing not just against kids in Chicago or Los Angeles for jobs, but they’re competing against folks in Beijing and Bangalore.

This is something I called for earlier this year, and I want to commend the leadership of the governors and school chiefs who’ve joined together to get this done. And because of these efforts, there will be a set of common standards that any state can adopt, beginning early next year. And I urge all our states to do so and to upgrade what’s taught in the classroom accordingly to meet these international standards.

I also challenge states to align their assessments with high standards — because we should — we should not just raise the bar, we should prepare our kids to meet it. There’s no point in having really high standards but we’re not doing what it takes to meet those standards. And I want to be clear. This is not just about more tests, because I know that in the past people have been concerned about, you know, is this about standardized tests, or are we going to have our young people being taught to the test? That’s the last thing we want. (Applause.)

But what we want to do — what we want to do is finally get testing right. So it’s not about more tests, it’s about being smarter about our assessments. It’s about measuring not only whether our kids can master the basics, but whether they can solve challenging tasks, do they have the skills like critical thinking and teamwork and entrepreneurship; assessments that don’t just give us a snapshot of how a student is doing in a particular subject, but a big picture look at how they’re learning overall; and assessments that will help tell us if our kids have the knowledge and the skills to thrive when they graduate.

So we’re not just interested in can they fill out a bubble. What we want to do is to take a look generally — are kids learning and gaining the critical thinking skills that they need to succeed. Now, these are the kinds of assessments that our states should be putting in place, and we’re setting up a separate competition where they can win grants, extra grants to help them do just that.

So, standards and assessments, that’s the first measure; are we doing that well? If the state wants to get a Race to the Top grant, they’ve got to do that well. And because we know that from the moment our kids enter a school, the most important factor in their success — other than their parents — is the person standing in front of the classroom, the teacher. The second measure is whether a state is committed to putting effective teachers in its classrooms and effective principals at the helm of its schools.

Now, it’s time to start taking this commitment seriously. We’ve got to do a better job recruiting and preparing new teachers. We’ve got to do a better job of rewarding outstanding teachers. And I’ve got to be honest, we’ve got to do a better job of moving bad teachers out of the classroom, once they’ve been given an opportunity to do it right. (Applause.)

And that means creating alternate pathways to teaching for talented young people by expanding programs like the one used in Boston, where aspiring teachers work side-by-side with effective mentors in a year-long residency. It means bringing quality teachers in — it means bringing quality teachers to the neighborhoods that need them the most, because right now a lot of what happens is, is that some of the best teachers, as they get seniority, they move on to the places — the school districts that pay better and, frankly, are easier to teach. And we’ve got to give them some incentives to stay so that the kids who need the most help are getting some of the best teachers. (Applause.)

It means boosting the number — the numbers of quality teachers who can help our special education and English language learners meet high standards — and you’ve done that here at Wright, so congratulations on that. (Applause.) It means improving instruction in science, technology, reading, math, and ensuring that more women and people of color are doing well in those subjects. (Applause.) So that’s the second — the second factor.

Third factor, third measure we’ll use in this Race to the Top competition, is whether states are tracking the progress of our students and teachers to make sure every child graduates ready for college and a career. (Applause.) So as I said earlier — as I said earlier, before a state can even apply for a grant, it has to change any laws that prevent us from factoring in the performance of students when they’re evaluating their teachers. But that’s not enough. If a state wants to increase its chances of actually winning a grant, it’s going to have to do more. It’s going to have to collect information about how students are doing in a particular year and over the course of an academic career, and make this information available to teachers so they can use it to improve the way they teach.

One of the things that teachers get so frustrated about is these standardized tests come at a time when it’s too late to use to actually help the students improve their performance. (Applause.) So if we’re going to collect — if we’re going to collect data on how kids are doing, let’s make sure the teachers have it in usable form so that they can actually start doing a better job. (Applause.)

That’s how teachers can determine what they should be doing differently in the classroom. That’s how principals can determine what changes need to be made in our schools. And that’s how school districts can determine what they need to be doing better to prepare our teachers and principals.

Now, even with stronger standards, better assessments, outstanding teachers, some schools will still be difficult to turn around. I want us to be honest about this. There are some schools that are starting in a tough position — a lot of kids coming from impoverished backgrounds, a lot of kids coming in that may have not gotten the kind of head start that they needed; they start school already behind. And even though there are heroic teachers and principals in many of these schools, the fact is that they need some extra help.

And that’s why the fourth measure we’ll use in awarding Race to the Top grants is whether a state is focused on transforming not just its high-performing schools, not just the middle-of-the-pack schools, but the lowest-performing schools. (Applause.) We’ll look at whether they’re willing to remake a school from top to bottom with new leaders and a new way of teaching, replacing a school’s principal if it’s not working, and at least half its staff — (applause) — close a school for a time and then reopen it under new management, even shut down the school entirely and send its schools — send its students to a better school nearby.

There’s always excuses for why these schools can’t perform. But part of what we want is an environment in which everybody agrees — from the governor to the school superintendent, teachers, principals, and most importantly parents and students — that there’s no excuse for mediocrity. And we will take drastic steps when schools aren’t working. (Applause.)

So these are the kinds of vigorous strategies that are necessary to turn around our most troubled schools: transforming our lowest-performing schools; using timely information to improve the way we teach our children; outstanding teachers and principals in our classrooms and our schools that are getting the support they need; higher standards and better assessments that prepare our kids for life beyond a classroom. These are the challenges, the four challenges that states have to take up if they want to win a Race to the Top award.

And these are the four challenges that our country has to meet for our children to outcompete workers around the world, for our economy to grow and to prosper, and for America to lead in the 21st century.

Now, let me just close by saying this — I’ve said this before, but I never miss an opportunity to impress this upon an audience. Lifting up American education is not a task for government alone. It will take parents getting more involved — (applause) — it will take parents getting more involved in their child’s education. It will take schools doing more to reach out with parents. It will take students — students — accepting more responsibility for their own education.

I was explaining to them that education is not saying where, you know, you just tilt your ear and you just pour it in your ear. (Laughter.) You’ve got to be an active participant in wanting to get an education.

These aren’t in my prepared remarks, but I think it’s important to note that Malia and Sasha are just wonderful kids, and Michelle is a wonderful mother. But in our own household, with all the privileges and opportunities that we have, there are times — look, there are times when kids slack off. There are times where they would rather be watching TV or playing a computer game than hitting the books. And part of our job as parents — Michelle and my job — is not just to tell our kids what to do, but to start instilling in them a sense that they want to do it for themselves.

So Malia came home the other day. She had gotten a 73 on her science test. Now, she’s a 6th grader. There was a time a couple years ago when she came home with like an 80-something and she said, “I did pretty well.” And I said, “No, no, no. That’s” — I said, “Our goal is” — “Our goal is 90 percent and up.” (Applause.)

Here is the interesting thing. She started internalizing that. So she came and she was depressed, “I got a 73.” And I said, “Well, what happened?” “Well, the teacher — the study guide didn’t match up with what was on the test.” “So what’s your idea here?” “Well, I’m going to start — I’ve got to read the whole chapter. I’m going to change how I study, how I approach it.” So she came home yesterday, she was — “I got a 95″ — right? — so she’s high-fiving. (Applause.)

But here’s the point. She said — she said, “I just like having knowledge.” That’s what she said. And what was happening was she had started wanting it more than us. Now, once you get to that point, our kids are on our [sic] way. But the only way they get to that point is if we’re helping them get to that point.

So it’s going to take that kind of effort from parents to set a high bar in the household. Don’t just expect teachers to set a high bar. You’ve got to set a high bar in the household all across America. (Applause.)

It will take teachers unions and parents and elected leaders working together as partners in common effort — not seeing each other as antagonists, but all of us having the same goal. It will take each and every one of us doing our part on behalf of our children and our country and the future that we share.

I’ll never forget a moment many years ago — this is long before I ran for President, before I ran for elected office. I was just starting out as a community organizer in Chicago. And we had set up a meeting to figure out how to rebuild our neighborhoods that I was working in — very impoverished neighborhoods on the South Side. And nobody showed up to the meeting. This is my first big meeting — nobody showed up. So I was pretty depressed. I had some community leaders, some volunteers who had helped me try to organize this thing, and they were depressed. They felt so defeated they were talking about quitting. Everybody was too apathetic, they said, there’s no point in trying.

But then, I looked outside as I was listening to them talk and I saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street, and they were just throwing rocks at an old apartment building that was boarded up. And those boys reminded me of me, who didn’t have a father in the house and who had gotten in some trouble when he was young. And I turned to those volunteers and I said, “Before we quit, I want to ask you a question. What’s going to happen to those boys if we quit, if we give up on them?” And I thought, if we can’t see that we have got a stake in those young boys, if we’re not willing to do our part on their behalf, if we fail to recognize that the fight for their future is the fight for our own future, well, who is going to do it?

So one by one, those volunteers, they stayed. Family by family, we reached out to the community. Slowly people started coming to meetings. Block by block, we helped to turn those neighborhoods around and helped to improve some of those schools in the area.

And that’s the common spirit — the spirit of common purpose, that all of us have to have in America today. And I’m absolutely confident that if we’re all willing to come together and embrace that spirit — in the living room, in the classroom, and the State House, on Capitol Hill — then not only will we see our students reaching farther, not only will we see our schools performing better, not only are we going to help ensure our children outcompete workers abroad and that America outcompetes nations, but we’re going to protect the dream of our founding and give all of our children, every last one of them, a fair chance and an equal start in the race to life. (Applause.)

Thank you very much, everybody. All right. Thank you. God bless, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

END

2:13 P.M. CST

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George N. Schmidt – September 26, 2009

The Chicago labor news organization Labor Beat is still circulating the hit video about Arne Duncan and his work in Chicago at http://blip.tv/file/2428857

As it becomes more and more clear to more and more Americans that Arne Duncan’s Chicago Plan is worse than No Child Left Behind and more dangerous than anything done during the eight year presidency of George W. Bush, it’s more and more important that every who has Internet access takes a half hour to watch the Labor Beat story about the Chicago record of Arne Duncan.

“We used to call it segregation,” the story begins, quoting me. “Now we call it school reform…” It goes on from there to highlight the massive protests that greeted all of the Chicago lies of Arne Duncan. Those lies were only sustained because of Chicago’s unique dictatorial corporate “school reform” structure. As Chicago’s lies — from charter school and privatization to “turnaround” — become more the basis for national policy, people across the USA have the opportunity to learn about what actually happened in Chicago under Arne Duncan, who served as CEO of Chicago’s public schools from July 2001 through December 2008 at the behest of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Daley’s corporate backers.

Read more…

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I’m proud to work for a President who has created a comprehensive agenda that addresses the needs at every level of our educational system, from expanding access to high-quality early childhood programs to improving the rigor of the academic programs in our K-12 schools to making college more affordable and accessible.

We have gotten off to a fast start. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have laid the groundwork for reform on the K-12 level and made an early down payment on expanding access to early childhood education and increasing student aid for college students. The law made available almost $100 billion for education. That money will help prevent layoffs, fill holes in state and local budgets, and provide financial aid to college students. The money is needed to help our economy in the short term, but reforms efforts driven by these funds will be the key to our long-term economic success.

Under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, states will receive $48.6 billion to supplement their own budgets during these difficult economic times. The Recovery Act says that states must spend most of that funding on education. $39.8 billion of that should go to schools.

I want to assure you that I will be scrutinizing how states spend their stabilization money to make sure they are focused on education. I have heard that some states plan to use their stabilization money so as to maintain their rainy day fund and that others may rely on their stabilization grants to pay for tax cuts instead of investing in reforms. I will do everything in my power to reject any schemes that would subvert the intended purpose of the Recovery Act, which is to help schools through the economic downturn and push reform, thereby ensuring our economic prosperity in the future. When reviewing applications for the Race to the Top Fund, we plan to consider whether a state used their stabilization money to aggressively push reforms.

In addition to helping states solve their budget problems, the stabilization fund lays out a path to reform. To receive their money, states must make four commitments that are essential to reforming our K-12 schools. They will improve the effectiveness of teachers and make sure the best teachers are in the schools that need them the most. They will promise to improve the quality of their academic standards so that they lead students down a path that prepares them for college and the workforce and global competitiveness. These standards need to be aligned with strong assessments. In addition, states must work to ensure that these assessments accurately measure the achievement of English language learners and students with disabilities.

Under the third assurance, states must commit to fixing their lowest-performing schools. Finally, states must build data systems that can track student performance from one year to the next, from one school to another, so that those students and their parents know when they are making progress and when they need extra attention. This information must also be put in the hands of educators so they can use it to improve instruction. Right now, according to the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, and Utah are the only states that are reporting to have comprehensive data systems meeting the basic elements of a good system. With $250 million in the stimulus and another $65 million in our annual budget for fiscal year 2009 and again in fiscal year 2010, we expect these numbers to continue to grow, which is vital for reform.

In addition to the stabilization money, the Recovery Act gave us $5 billion to spur innovation in states and districts. Through the Race to the Top Fund, we will be awarding $4.35 billion in competitive grants to states built around the four pillars of reform outlined in the stabilization fund. Through the What Works and Innovation Fund, we also will be awarding $650 million in competitive grants to districts and non-profit organizations to scale up successful programs and evaluate promising practices.

Our fiscal year 2010 budget will expand our commitment to reforms in several important ways, addressing the needs from early childhood through K-12 education.

Under the Title I program, we will provide $1.5 billion for the School Improvement program. This money is vital for helping states and districts address problems in schools in the most trouble. We already have $3 billion for this program from the Recovery Act and another $545 million from fiscal year 2009. By adding $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2010, we’ll have more than $5 billion to address the problems of our lowest-performing schools. I’d like to set a goal to turn around 1,000 low-performing schools a year for each of the next five years. I don’t want to invest in the status quo. I want states and districts to take bold actions that will lead directly to the improvement in student learning. I want local leaders to find change agents who can fix these schools. I want them to provide incentives for their best teachers to take on the challenge of teaching in these schools. And where appropriate, I want them to create partnerships with charter school operators with a track record of success. I want superintendents to be aggressive in taking the difficult step of shutting down a failing school and replacing it with one they know will work. We’ve proposed a $52 million increase in funding to develop and expand successful charter schools.

Many of you have heard me say that I believe education is the civil rights issue of our time. I truly believe every child is entitled to a high-quality education. I will work closely with the Office of Civil Rights to make sure that we properly review compliance in all programs and policymaking.

The fiscal year 2010 budget starts new programs and expands existing ones to address our priorities in early childhood education and literacy. We will create the $300 million Early Learning Challenge Fund that will award grants to help states set up the support and services necessary to build quality early childhood education. We will provide $500 million in grants through Title I to help districts use their Title I money to establish and expand preschool programs. We will expand the Striving Readers program from a small $35 million program focused on middle school and high schools to a $370 million program that addresses the reading needs of children in elementary schools as well. The program will take a comprehensive approach to reading instruction, ensuring that students develop the basic skills as well as the reading comprehension that is so vital to their success in high school and beyond.

We also continue our focus on promoting the teaching profession. With $517 million in our fiscal year 2010 budget, we will continue and expand our support for local efforts under the Teacher Incentive Fund to develop comprehensive strategies for recruiting, preparing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers. We also request $10 million to plan new Promise Neighborhoods, modeled on the successful Harlem Children’s Zone. We are committed to acting on the evidence. And we request $72 million more for the Institute for Education Sciences, so we can identify what works based on rigorous research.

Our agenda from early childhood through 12th grade is focused on helping states do the right thing. And that’s appropriate because States are responsible for establishing systems of education through the 12th grade. It’s our role to make it a national priority to reform schools and help states and districts do that.

For more than 40 years, the federal government has played a leading role in helping students pay for college. Continuing this vital role, the total amount of aid for students has increased by $32 billion since President Obama has taken office. By subsidizing loans and by providing work-study programs and, most importantly, giving Pell Grants to low-income students, the federal government is fulfilling the dreams of students who want to go to college but might not be able to pay for it. President Obama has set a goal that, by 2020, the United States once again will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. That’s an achievable goal but, to do that, we have to make college affordable.

The Recovery Act made an important down-payment on our plans to expand student aid. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $17.1 billion so we could raise the maximum Pell award from $4,731 to $5,350. It also added $200 million to the Work-Study program, providing colleges and universities with additional money to provide jobs to students to help with their college and living expenses.

In our fiscal year 2010 budget, we make three important and permanent changes to ensure students have access to student aid and loans. The first thing it will do is move the Pell Grant program from a discretionary program into a mandatory, appropriated entitlement. This approach will provide more certainty to students and families applying for student aid about the aid that’s available to them. In addition, the Pell Grant amounts will grow annually at a rate higher than inflation so that it keeps up with rising college costs.

The second thing this budget does is address the problems with the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. I think we can all agree that the FFEL structure is broken and the federal student loan programs are in need of a dependable, cost-effective way of providing college-bound students and their families with the resources they need to meet the growing cost of postsecondary education. The direct lending program is the best way to do that. Through it, we are able to leverage the government’s lower cost of funds to finance and originate student loans and private-sector expertise to service the loans. The President’s proposal provides a comprehensive and reliable solution for today’s students while saving taxpayers over $4 billion a year. It will be more stable and efficient – reducing risk for students and lowering costs for taxpayers.

The third thing we are doing is boosting the Perkins loan program from $1 billion to $6 billion per year. The number of students served will rise from 500,000 to 2.7 million – and the number of schools that can participate in the program will increase from 1,800 to 4,400, which also means that we will serve more students. Also, to help keep college affordable our Perkins proposal allocates funds to schools based on their role in keeping tuition down and providing grant aid to needy students. This further builds upon Congress’ recent mandate to create watch lists of colleges with high or excessive increases in tuition.

In closing, I’d like to remind you of one thing the President said when he addressed Congress in February. “In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity — it is a prerequisite.”

Thank you for your support so far in ensuring that our children and young adults have the education they need to ensure they enter the workforce with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful and to help rebuild our economy.

Delivered on May 20, 2009  | Speaker sometimes deviates from text.

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Detroit should follow the path of Chicago and New Orleans, says Duncan.  “Duncan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, newly elected Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Robert Bobb, the district’s emergency financial manager, spoke with students at Cody High School about improving education.  The city was Duncan’s second stop on his national ‘Listening and Learning Tour’.”

“He’s got billions of dollars in Race to the Top Recovery Act money that they are willing to invest in the cities that are willing to make the changes necessary to get the results we want,” Granholm said.  Despite evidence that eliminating public control over education improves what goes on inside schools, “Duncan has been a proponent of turning control of Detroit’s school system over to the mayor, and said he is encouraged by Bing’s interest in Detroit schools.”

Williams notes: “An elected school board runs the system, and Detroit voters in 2004 overwhelmingly turned down a proposal to hand over that power to the mayor. But with $5 billion at Duncan’s disposal, Bing doesn’t see a problem. “I think the mood of this city and its citizens have really changed since five years ago. Everybody is pretty much outraged with the outcomes at this point, and a change is necessary.”

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Under “General Principles” for the use of ARRA funds, the law states: “The President and the heads of Federal departments and agencies shall manage and expend the funds made available in this Act so as to achieve the purposes specified in subsection (a) [described above], including commencing expenditures and activities as quickly as possible consistent with prudent management.”      

While the ARRA provides broad latitude to heads of federal agencies, the emphasis on using ARRA funds to compel educators and state and local authorities to adopt the Obama administration’s agenda for education goes beyond what explicitly appears in the ARRA legislation and is possibly contrary to the explicit purpose of the law, that is, to stimulate the economy.

Approximately $100 billion of the stimulus package’s $787 billion is devoted to education programs. While the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the national-level association for K-12 educational administrators, recognizes that the ARRA is aimed at “stimulating” the economy and “helping states address their deficits (of which education is one of the largest state expenditures) and forestalling teacher layoffs at the local level,” it also emphasizes another feature of the stimulus. In the ASCD brief entitled “Eligible Education Activities for Funding,” the association observes that, “Education Secretary Arne Duncan has, however, signaled a third priority for this unprecedented federal infusion of education funding: reform.” Duncan demands the funds be used for activities he determines “promote student achievement.”

The one-time nature of the stimulus funding (all of it is to be spent by September 2011 at the latest) encourages expenditures on activities that do not result in ongoing or recurring expenses beyond that date, after which districts will be solely responsible for the costs. Neither the law nor federal policy regarding the disbursement of funds addresses how meeting a main stated objective — forestalling teacher layoffs for example — will not result in “recurring expenditure.” In the words of the ASCD, the Department of Education dictates funds be used to “elevate the quality of the teaching profession by using a significant amount of the stimulus funds for professional development activities.” These activities, it should be noted, will have little impact on “stimulating the economy” although they will serve to enrich for-profit providers of professional development services (the value of which has long been questioned by educators), especially those “approved” by the U.S. Department of Education or state agencies.

Major Areas of Education Funding Within the Stimulus

Most of the nearly $100 billion for education activities will be delivered to states and districts through one of four distinct mechanisms: through the existing Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) formulae, the state’s primary K-12 funding formula, and competitive grants under the auspices of the Secretary of Education. Both the $5 billion in competitive grants (“Race to the Top” funds) and the more than $50 billion in state fiscal stabilization funds (the largest portion of the ARRA money targeted to education) require application (from school districts and state governors, in the case of stabilization funds), with funds released to each state and district on the condition that the Secretary of Education judges their efforts to be in compliance with President Obama’s vision for education “reform.”

Title I, Part A—$10 billion

Title I is prominent feature of federal K-12 education funding. According to the ASCD: “The $10 billion of stimulus funds earmarked for Title I over the next two years are in addition to the regular appropriation for fiscal year 2009 of $14.5 billion.” Half of this money is being made available immediately (April, 2009), with the other half to be dispursed during the summer and fall of 2009, pending Secretary Duncan’s approval of state spending plans, record keeping and reporting. In addition, 95 percent of these funds must be allocated to districts for “school improvement” activities such as professional development as well as extension of the school day and school year.

In visits to numerous states, Duncan has suggested that states and districts that adopt governance mechanisms that eliminate unions (such as Colorado’s “Innovation Schools Act” providing waivers from collective bargaining agreements) and reduce or eliminate public control of school districts (such Secretary Ducan’s call for mayoral control of urban school districts) will be more likely to receive more ARRA funds than states that are less aggressive in adopting such measures.

Duncan’s model of education, as evidenced in his support of KIPP charter schools and similar charter programs across the U.S. that effectively ban teachers unions, require teachers “who are willing or able to work long hours for low pay” according to an article in Slate magazine. These schools run 10 hour programs during the week, half day programs every other Saturday, and require teachers to be available for hours in the evening for assistance with homework. Not surprisingly, these schools have high rates of teacher turnover, and despite monopoly media reports, do not perform better on state tests.

Title I School Improvement Grants—$3 billion

The School Improvement Grant subprogram under Title I funds “turnaround activities” at schools identified as “in need of improvement” based on the arbitrary testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Since 2004, under former Chicago School Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan, many neighborhood schools in African American and Latino communities have been closed despite public opposition. These schools were subsequently either turned into selective enrollment schools for the wealthy or over to outside “turnaround” specialists leading to corporate charter status. Closing “low performing” schools has been described by Department of Education officials as a key part of “school improvement grants” issued under ARRA.

IDEA Part B— $11.3 billion

Federal funding through IDEA helps “defray the additional costs of states and districts associated with educating students with disabilities” according to the ACSD. The stimulus funding of $11.3 billion essentially doubles the $11.5 billion for IDEA state grants in the fiscal year 2009 appropriation. “Additionally, the stimulus provides $400 million for the IDEA preschool program and $500 million for the IDEA infants and toddlers program.” As with Title I funds, half of this money is being made available immediately. In order to receive the remaining Part B recovery funds, a state must submit, for review and approval by the Department of Educaiton, an amendment to its fiscal year 2009 application to address the recordkeeping and reporting requirements under the ARRA.

Aside from the potential uses of IDEA stimulus dollars below, it is important to note that under the existing IDEA rules, local districts can reduce their state and local expenditures by up to 50 percent of any federal increase received under the normal IDEA appropriation and apply it to ESEA activities. The U.S. Department of Education is encouraging districts to take “advantage of this flexibility to focus the freed-up local funds on one-time expenditures such as the equitable distribution of effective teachers and the quality of assessments.” The move encourages state reliance on federal funding and thus increased federal executive control over state education systems.

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund for Education—$39.8 billion

$48.3 billion is earmarked for state use under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and is allocated to states by formula: 61 percent on the basis of relative population of 5–24-year-olds and 39 percent on the basis of the relative share of the total population. The money is divided into two pots for use within states. The largest pot, $39.8 billion, must be used to restore (in equal proportions) both a state’s K-12 and higher education funding to either fiscal year 2008 or fiscal year 2009 levels, whichever is higher. States must distribute these funds to local districts based on the state’s primary education funding formula. If any funds remain after K-12 funding restoration, such a surplus will be distributed to districts on the basis of the Title I formula (but is not required to be used for Title I activities).

This method does not take into account actual state and district financial needs, serving to exacerbate inequalities between states and regions. For example, states such as Texas, Alaska and Wyoming have not cut K-12 funding, yet they will nonetheless receive stimulus funds aimed at restoring educational funding. Rural districts will receive relatively little ARRA funds as a result of this calculation. States such as California and Florida will not receive enough funds under this formula to achieve the stated aim of “restoring funding” to previous levels.

The second pot, the remaining $8.5 billion, is to be used for “public safety” and other government operations and may include K-12 services (or the renovation/repair of school facilities—but not new building construction). At the district level, there are specific provisions related to the use of education funds, which can be used for any activities under No Child Left Behind, IDEA, the Adult and Family Literacy Act, or the Carl. D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act).

To receive the initial 67 percent of the State’s allocation under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, a Governor must submit to the Department of Education an application that includes assurances that the State will commit to advancing education reform in four specific areas:

(1) Achieving equity in teacher distribution;
(2) Improving collection and use of data;
(3) Enhancing the quality of standards and assessments; and
(4) Supporting struggling schools.

Secretary’s Innovation Fund—$5 billion

The most direct and obvious stimulus investment in education reform is a $5 billion fund overseen by the Secretary of Education to promote his four reform priorities. The “Race to the Top Fund” is $4.35 billion worth of competitive grants to states “making the most progress” in reform as determined by the Secretary.

The Investing in What Works and Innovation Fund is $650 million in competitive grants to Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and nonprofits that “have made significant gains in closing achievement gaps and are models of best practices. Because the grants are awarded on a competitive basis and are also somewhat contingent on state and district use of other stimulus funds, the government will award these grants last. The 2010 awards will be made in two rounds, first in late fall 2009 and then again in summer of 2010,” according to the ASCD.

Education Technology State Grants— $650 million

The stimulus plan provides $650 million for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT, or E2T2) state grant program beyond the fiscal year 2009 appropriation of $270 million. The program helps districts utilize technology to improve teaching and learning to increase student achievement and technological literacy. States must use 25 percent of stimulus funds distributed under this program for professional development.

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“If folks are playing shell games, if folks are operating in bad faith, it puts their second chance at billions of dollars in jeopardy,” he said. “We have significant carrots and sticks.” — Arne Duncan, April 15, Chicago Tribute.

In a April 1, Washington Post interview, under the banner of “New Voices of Power,” staff writer Lois Romano queries Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: “So you have all this money, but, in a sense, aren’t you a little bit powerless because, in the end, the States are going to decide how to spend the money?”

Duncan: “Well, we’re going to work very, very closely with those states, and we’ve given out–we will give out over the next couple weeks billions of dollars, but we’re going to keep billions of dollars here to really watch and monitor how states do in terms of implementing these reforms.”

“Secondly, there’s unprecedented discretionary dollars, a $5-billion Race to the Top Fund where we’re going to work exclusively with those states and those districts that are really willing to challenge the status quo and get dramatically better.”

“So we’ve never had greater resources, more carrots, but also some sticks to make sure that we’re doing the right thing by children around the country.”

Lois Romano: “You talked about carrots and sticks. What are your sticks going to be?”

Duncan: “Well, again, if states aren’t doing the right thing with the stimulus package, basically they’re going to disqualify themselves from even competing for the Race to the Top Fund, and so there’s a huge financial incentive.”

During a March 24 interview with Education Week reporters Alyson Klein, Michele McNeil, and Stephen Sawchuk, Secretary Duncan was asked the following question: “Would you ever ask for money back if you found that states didn’t use it in the way you think was intended?”

Duncan: “We want to be very, very clear: If things are not going the way we like, we are going to challenge that. But … I’m much more interested in getting it right the first time, and it is absolutely in states’ best interest … to get it right the first time.”

Again Duncan is querried: “There are a couple of states [for example South Carolina] that made news because they want to reject stimulus money, especially education money. Are you working with people in those states to figure out how to possibly still get some of that stimulus money into those states, or is it going to be a dead end for you all?”

Duncan: “We are absolutely working with folks in those states who care passionately about the care of their children’s education, and there isn’t a state in the country [that] doesn’t have tremendous unmet educational need. … And so we are actually looking to be creative and work with people who have a vision and a passion for this and want to do the right thing by children.”

The reporters push Duncan: “What can you do?”

Duncan: “Stay tuned.”

Arbitrary Power against the Public & the Crisis of Legitimacy

Since being appointed Secretary of Education by President Obama, Arne Duncan and the U.S. Department of Education have initiated a massive media campaign of interviews, speeches, and news and department press releases, a sample of which is reprinted above, which focus on how the Obama Administration will use ARRA funds to further its agenda for education, with Ducan emphasizing that “this is the President’s vision.”

Key to this campaign is the role given to “incentives” at the disposal of executives, such as Duncan, who arbitrarily use the funds to support “what they like”. “We have significant carrots and sticks,” Ducan emphasizes. This arbitrary use of large sums of the public treasury by executive and unelected officials signals a significant concentration of power and a challenge to the constitutional powers given to states. But one cannot understand the drive to increase executive power, the secretary’s emphasis on “carrots and sticks,” absent an understanding of the opposition to “the President’s vision” for education.

As outlined in speeches by both Obama and Duncan, the administration is calling for more high-stakes testing, academic sweatshops for teachers and students in the form of corporate run charter schools and more mayoral control of urban school districts against more, not less, public control over education. Yet, by the U.S. Department of Education’s own accounts, and by the accounts chronicled in decades worth of independent research on school reform, not to mention people’s own direct experience these “reforms”, none of these methods have served to improve education.

So why the continued pursuit of “reforms” that have not served the aims for which they were officially established? Why the emphasis on “carrots and sticks” or what amounts to outright bribery?

While Duncan misuses the carrot and stick idiom (as it refers to a “carrot on a stick,” where a driver would tie a carrot on a string to a long stick and dangle it in front of the donkey, just out of its reach, to induce the donkey forward) the content of bribery is clear.

To bribe means to “persuade (someone) to act in one’s favor by a gift of money or other inducement”. Importantly, bribery only makes sense in the face of a norm, standard or other basis for refusal to act in a manner desired by the person offering the bribe. What is very significant from the political point of view is that, as a form of persuasion, bribery does not rest on reasoned argument, the use of facts and logic to justify a proposed course of action. At the level of federal law and policy, bribery is a form of persuasion that rests on the open assertion of authority against public opinion: one would not need to bribe educators and locally elected officials into doing what was inherently in their interest. The use of the public treasury to bribe educators is an open admission that the path being imposed by the ruling elite cannot be justified.

Thus, the use of ARRA funds to compel educators to take up “reforms” that have already been discredited as ineffective and against voters demand for change (not more of the same Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush cooperate education agenda) signals a profound legitimacy crisis. It signals a fairly broad opposition within official organizations to the wrecking of public education. The National School Boards Association has, for example, continually opposed mayoral control as both ineffective and anti-democratic. Every major education research organization, such as the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association, has opposed in some form, to take another example, the use of high-stakes testing. Only a few weeks ago, Warrick County (Indiana) Superintendent Brad Schneider criticized the Bush-sponsored No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act as “mind-boggling” and “absurd.” And, public opinion still supports public education against privatization.

The transformation of public funds into “carrots and sticks” to be used against students, educators and parents must be rejected as an illegitimate use of power against public opinion. It must also be recognized as an admission on the part of the elite that they have no solutions to the problems in education and society. What is needed is more, not less, control over institutions that have an inherent public function.

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Good afternoon and thank you.

It’s hard to believe Barack Obama was sworn in less than three weeks ago. This city seems to pack three or four days into every 24-hour period—and the news changes so frequently that it’s hard to stay abreast.

On the other hand, 91 years ago—when the American Council on Education was founded—we had an academic in the White House, we were a nation at war—and we were confronting a new global economic and political reality that required us to think differently and act boldly.

So in some ways things haven’t changed. Today we’re fighting a war that diverts us from other priorities. We face a new global reality that requires us to think differently and act boldly. And once again we have an academic for a president.

But this President is different from all of the others who came before him.

Unlike most of them, he did not grow up in privilege. Everything he and the First Lady have is because of their education and their hard work.

Unlike all of them, he and his wife are African-American—and the fact that they are minorities provides an extraordinary opportunity to inspire all Americans to learn.

I call it the Barack effect. It’s the soft power that accompanies the symbolism of an African-American president who has made education cool and exciting and infinitely promising.

This is not insignificant. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago working and living with young children of color.

These kids were threatened every day. They lacked role models to protect them and guide them to a safe place where learning was valued and rewarded.

Barack and Michelle Obama can be those role models on a national scale—and that’s just one reason I am hopeful.

I am also hopeful because the leadership in Congress is so committed to education. They are very passionate about the issue—and they recognize its importance to our future.

I am hopeful because of the incredible progress in school districts, colleges and universities all across the country—developing new learning models—new educational approaches—and bringing new energy and ideas to the field of education.

From Teach for America to the KIPP charter schools to instructional innovations at colleges and universities, we have proven strategies ready to go to scale.

We also have the greatest higher education system in the world for people who can access it.

And I am especially hopeful because the stimulus package on the Hill includes a historic level of one-time education funding that will not only save or create jobs but will also lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform and progress.

While the numbers are still fluid and the Senate bill is different from the House, it appears that there will be enough money to close the shortfall in Pell grant funding and boost grants by several hundred dollars.

There will also be an expanded tuition tax credit to make college more affordable.

There will be some money to help stabilize states—though not nearly as much as we need. The Senate version is only half of what the House approved.

During the conference process, we need to push for every dollar we can get because public universities and community colleges desperately need that money to avert cuts—and it is crucial that it pass quickly.

This is not just good education policy. It’s good economic policy.

According to a University of Washington study that will be released later today, almost 600,000 education jobs are at risk of state budget cuts.

Without that state money, hundreds of thousands teachers and professors will be collecting unemployment instead of teaching children and young people.

Astonishingly, the Senate proposal has dropped the money for school modernization that was approved by the House—which makes no sense—since it would create new jobs quickly.

There are shovel-ready education projects in schools and universities all across America.

Later this week I will be traveling to a suburban community college with projects just waiting for funding—so I am hopeful that the construction money survives.

Finally, I am very excited about a $15 billion “Race to the Top” fund approved by the House. The Senate version is somewhat smaller but it is still significant.

The President is deeply committed to this program because it will enable us to spur reform on a national scale—driving school systems to adopt college and career-ready, internationally benchmarked standards.

It will incent them to put in place state of the art data collection systems, assessments and curricula to meet these higher standards.

And it will encourage states to recruit, train, mentor and support a great, new generation of teachers who can better prepare our students for college and work.

Taken together—the Barack effect—the leadership on the Hill—the proven strategies—and the money in the stimulus package—represent what I call—the perfect storm for reform—a historic alignment of interests and events that could lift American education to an entirely new level.

Given the state of our economy, the pace of technological change, and the scope of our collective challenges—no other issue is more pressing.

While we have a vital higher education system in America and a research arm that is the envy of the world—college is beyond the reach of most Americans—and high school is not nearly enough.

I don’t need to tell you that America has lost its global leadership in education.

K-12 achievement levels leave millions of young people unprepared for work or for college.

This is a national crisis that is rapidly creating an entire class of Americans who are unable to share in the benefits of a modern, progressive and productive society.

There simply are no good jobs for people without an education.

As all of you know—the rubber meets the road when they show up at your school. Too many of them need remedial programs just to keep up.

Too many take too long to finish.

Two year programs stretch to three or four years. Four year degrees stretch to six.

Many students simply never get through—either for academic or financial reasons—or because they just don’t get the support they need.

And the question is, what can we do about it? What can we do together—not only to make college more accessible—but to boost our overall success rate?

We have to start by recognizing that our system of education is not aligned. Every state has different high school standards.

If we accomplish one thing in the coming years—it should be to eliminate the extreme variation in standards across America.

I know that talking about standards can make people nervous—but the notion that we have fifty different goalposts is absolutely ridiculous.

A high school diploma needs to mean something—no matter where it’s from.

We need standards that are college-ready and career-ready, and benchmarked against challenging international standards.

We also need to break the culture of blame in which colleges blame high schools and high schools blame grade schools and grade schools blame parents for our failures.

We are all part of one system of learning that begins at birth and never stops.

The President talked about responsibility in his inaugural speech.

He tells parents that raising children is a job that requires time, energy, resources, love and commitment.

He tells unions that with American education in crisis—we can’t be limited by ideology.

We all must honestly acknowledge failed strategies of the past and explore new ones—from charter schools to performance pay—and if they’re not working we must be honest about that also.

So—I’m here today to extend that message to the higher education community. We face a number of challenges—starting with graduation rates.

We must work together to ensure that young people are not overwhelmed by financial, social or academic pressures and choose to drop out.

We are all defined by their success.

We can make the financial aid process simpler and make college more affordable—both in good economic times and in bad ones.

We need to ensure that federal loans continue to be available to every student and parent that qualifies—and we must do more to keep college affordable.

We can work together to strengthen colleges of education that will produce the next generation of teachers.

We need to challenge ourselves at the Department of Education as well.

Instead of being a compliance-driven bureaucracy we must become an engine of innovation, reform and support. I know from my time as a superintendent that we are a long way from meeting that goal.

So today, I offer my hand in partnership to you. I pledge the full power and authority of this administration to help advance the educational interests of our students.

Our education system—at every level—can and should be the best.

We remain the world’s melting pot—welcoming people of every culture and offering them an opportunity that no other country in the world provides.

We are still a beacon of hope to people throughout the world who live under tyranny, ignorance and poverty.

For the millions and millions of struggling Americans who wake up each day and worry about the uncertain future that awaits their children—we remain their only path to a meaningful and rewarding life.

Providing every child in America with a good education is both a moral imperative and an economic imperative.

It’s also a matter of social justice. It is the civil rights issue of our generation—the one and only way to overcome the differences of wealth, background and race that divide us and deny us our future.

I came to Washington with one goal—to give every single child in America the very best education possible.

I know that you and so many others share that goal—and I am absolutely confident that with your help, the President’s leadership, and the support of our Congress and the American people, that goal will be met.

Thank you.

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