I believe strongly in the principle that every child can learn. When we invest in education, we are helping to ensure that our children will grow up equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to become successful adults. By providing every child with a world-class education, we are ensuring that all students have an opportunity to pursue a college degree, get a good job, and contribute to their community. And by building a culture of lifetime learning, we are preparing all students to continue their education and every worker to compete in a global economy.

I submitted my framework for education reform, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, three days after taking office and secured overwhelming bipartisan support for it less than a year later. NCLB represents the most significant overhaul of federal education policy since 1965, when the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act was enacted. The No Child Left Behind Act requires strong standards in each state for what every child should know and learn in reading and math, and holds schools accountable for closing the achievement gap between students of different socio-economic backgrounds.

Since I signed NCLB into law, each state has developed a plan to ensure that all students become proficient at reading and math and that achievement gaps are closed between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. States, districts, and schools are using their unique accountability plans to measure the progress of student achievement, report student and school progress to parents, identify for improvement those schools not making adequate yearly progress, provide support for the improvement of schools and districts, and provide options -- including public school choice and tutoring -- for children in underperforming schools.

I also know that early childhood development is one of the best investments America can make to ensure that children are successful in school and in life. Studies show vocabulary, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness, in addition to social and emotional factors, have a significant affect on later success in school. Whether in pre-school or at home with parents or other caregivers, every young child should have the opportunity to develop the skills they need to succeed in school.

I will continue my efforts to improve early childhood education through the Good Start/Grow Smart program, including a new proposal to strengthen Head Start. Additionally, I will

• Give priority consideration for federal funding to early childhood programs in states that have a coordinated early childhood plan involving Head Start, pre-K, and childcare services.
• Continue volunteer parent early literacy training through Head Start.
• Continue to fund research to develop the most effective curricula and programs for teaching children early literacy and math skills; to develop developmentally appropriate measurements; and to identify effective adult and family literacy programs.
• Expand the Reach Out and Read program, which seeks to make early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care.
• Continue and expand distribution of Healthy Start, Grow Smart booklets to give parents the information they need to enhance their children's early development.
• Engage faith-based and community-based organizations to help provide parents with the skills they need to advance their children's healthy development.
• Increase outreach efforts to minority families to better disseminate effective early childhood development strategies.

I know that more needs to be done to prepare our students for the future. My new education proposals build on the successful reforms of No Child Left Behind by

• Ensuring all high school students graduate with the skills they need to succeed in college and a globally competitive workforce. For 2006, I proposed to increase funding for the Striving Readers program to $200 million annually, and to establish a $200 million fund for states to encourage schools to develop performance plans for entering high school students.
• To ensure that high school diplomas are truly meaningful, I proposed requiring state assessments in grades three through 11 -- and will support this effort with $250 million in annual funding.
• To strengthen online educational opportunities, I will create an eLearning Clearinghouse of online courses available to students and adults.
• To reward teachers who demonstrate success in preparing their students through increases in student achievement, I proposed a $500 million incentive fund for states and school districts.
• I also have proposed providing more support for effective high school math programs, increasing funding for Advanced Placement courses for low-income students, providing more opportunities for high school students to take rigorous courses, and encouraging math and science professionals to teach in the classroom.

To make worker training more affordable, I proposed to make loans available to help workers pay for short-term training that leads to an industry-recognized credential or certificate.

And, my plan would increase post-secondary education options and eliminate needless student aid restrictions -- particularly for adult students -- giving them greater access to the skills they need to succeed. I also have proposed increased Pell Grants for low-income students who complete a rigorous curriculum in high school, and scholarships for low-income students who study math or science in college.

We must build an America that offers the best education to all our children -- wherever they live, whatever their background. That means we need more resources and more reform for our schools. Resources without reform are a waste of money, and reform without resources is a waste of time. I am committed to an agenda that offers both.

Our first priority will be to live up to the funding commitments made in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Under the Bush administration, funding for NCLB has fallen $27 billion short of the promised levels, literally leaving millions of children behind. I will fully fund the law and ensure that states have the flexibility to meet its goals.

I will also make full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) a top priority.

Teachers play a critical role in helping children learn and succeed. Teacher quality is perhaps the single most important factor in closing the achievement gap between low and high-income children. I understand that supporting teachers requires dedication and resources, not just rhetoric, and as president I will provide the necessary support for professional development, I will treat teachers with the respect they deserve, and I will support programs that encourage talented young people to become teachers.

Instead of fostering environments that drive dedicated teachers from schools, I will work to create supportive environments that provide teachers with opportunities to improve their skills, that have robust mentoring programs, smaller class sizes, and alternative education programs for chronically disruptive and violent students so that teachers can focus more on teaching and less on discipline.

While we offer more to teachers, we also need to ask more in return. Our plan will support the development of rigorous new tests for new teachers. While preserving due-process protections against arbitrary dismissal, we'll ensure that states receiving funds from our new teacher quality initiative have fast, fair procedures for removing or improving teachers who don't measure up. America's teachers will be the first to say that teachers who don't belong in the classroom shouldn't stay there.

Smaller classes promote student achievement, improve discipline and classroom order, and expand quality learning time. It's just common sense -- and it's borne out by research -- that when teachers have more time to spend with individual students, there are tremendous learning benefits to the child. I have consistently supported efforts to provide a dedicated funding stream for reducing class size. While the Bush administration has sought to terminate successful programs to reduce class size, I will champion initiatives that ensure that children are not forced to learn in overcrowded classrooms, particularly in the early grades.

The physical structure of our nation's school buildings is in desperate shape. Millions of children are learning in substandard schools in need of major renovation; and half of all schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition, such as polluted drinking water or soot-filled ventilation. I have been at the forefront of the fight in Congress to obtain federal funding for school construction, introducing legislation that would allow the federal government to issue $24.8 billion in school modernization bonds in order to help states and school districts repair and build modern schools.

As president, I will make repairing and renovating existing school buildings and building new ones a major priority. I will end the partisan divide that threatens progress on school construction and bring members of both parties together to do what is in the best interest and safety of our nation's school children.

In my administration, initiatives that help children get ready for school and provide support after school will be top priorities. Students who reach the first grade without having had the opportunity to develop cognitive or language comprehension skills begin school at a disadvantage. Children who have not had the chance to develop social and emotional skills do not begin school ready to learn. We must ensure that all children have the opportunity to succeed. As president, I will work toward providing a healthy, safe, and supportive start for all children of pre-school age.

After-school programs also are an important component of helping students succeed in school. I will create the School's Open 'Til 'Six initiative, which will offer after-school opportunities to 3.5 million children, through programs that are open until 6 p.m. and offer safe transportation home for children.

Unfortunately, President Bush has proposed cutting funding for the federal after-school program by 40 percent -- more than 550,000 children across the country would lose access to after-school programs under the president's plan. This administration's decision to decimate federal after-school funding is tragic for the hundreds of thousands of young people who will be denied a place to go after school and an unwise decision for improving educational outcomes.