President Bush Comments on Education Agenda During Media Availability; High School Teacher Discusses Prospect of Voucher Program
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to interrupt because we're just now getting some tape in from the White House where George W. Bush is making some comments this morning with Dick Cheney at his side. We're going to go there right now. This tape is just now coming into us.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we'll agree on things, we won't agree on things, but we'll always agree that making sure every child is educated is of national importance. It is a major priority. There's a role for the federal government, there's a role for state government, there's a role for local governments and part of our discussions and eventual legislation will recognize those roles. And I'm so honored that the senators came over and members of the House, the leadership that's going to help carry legislation. I believe the best way for the vice president and I to help the legislative process is to discuss issues in a frank and open way, and that's the beginning of a process here. So thank you all for coming. I'm honored you're here.</s>QUESTION: Mr. President, Senator McCain yesterday said that he has a mandate. Do you agree with him that he has a mandate...</s>BUSH: I'm going to meet with the senator tomorrow night to discuss issues of concern for him. I suspect one of them might be campaign funding reform. But I'll let you know how the conversation goes. I'm confident it's going to be friendly and productive. John and I are friends. I remember we debated the issue several times. I think you might have been there. And I think there's a need to discuss good campaign funding reform and we will.</s>QUESTION: Mr. President, how much of the sticking point for Democrats do you think your school choice or voucher program is? And are you willing to give ground in order to get a broader deal?</s>BUSH: I think that there is consensus on a couple of things: One, accountability is the cornerstone for reform. And secondly, in order for there to be an accountability system that's got merit, there has to be a consequence, and that's what we're going to discuss. Representative Miller from the state of California understands that accountability is crucial for success, and so does Boehner, and I hope the senator -- I haven't had a chance to speak specifically with Senator Kennedy; I'm about to. But we've got a measure and there needs to be flexibility at the local level to make sure that local folks can chart their path to excellence. But in order for an accountability system to work, there has to be consequences. And I believe one of the most important consequences will be, after a period of time, giving the schools the time to adjust and districts time to try different things if they're failing, that parents ought to be given different options. If children are trapped in schools that will not teach and will not change, there has to be a different consequence. None of us at the federal government should try to impose a school voucher plan on states and local jurisdictions. That's not the prerogative of the federal government, as far as I'm concerned. But to the extent that the federal government spends money, we ought to expect good results and good consequences.</s>BUSH: I can't tell you want a pleasure it is.</s>PRESS: Thank you.</s>HARRIS: This is some tape, as we just said moments ago, that we were just getting in that was being fed into us directly here at CNN. We were expecting President Bush to outline exactly what he's going to be introducing with his education reform plan. The details are still to come. However, the emphasis is going to be placed on accountability and consequences. He also -- you heard him just say a few moments ago that parents ought to be given different options if the schools are not performed up to par. Let's check in now with CNN's Eileen O'Connor. She's actually been talking with some parents and some students and educators about this sort of thing. Eileen, good morning.</s>EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. Well, one of the things that President Bush is talking about is expanding funding for charter schools. And that would give parents and students choice; also introducing a voucher program so that if public schools didn't meet certain testing standards for three years in a row, then the parents would be eligible to have $1,500 in a voucher given to them. They could then take that, use it for tuition, or perhaps use it for tutors or for transportation purposes to another school. And with me is Frazier O'Leary, who is the English teacher -- honors English teacher of this 11th grade classroom. Thanks for joining us, Mr. O'Leary.</s>FRAZIER O'LEARY, ENGLISH TEACHER, CORDOZO HIGH SCHOOL: It's nice being here.</s>O'CONNOR: Mr. O'Leary, could I ask you what do you think the voucher program would do? Would that, in fact, give accountability and improve schools?</s>O'LEARY: I think the voucher system might be a good idea, depending on the planning of it. It seems to me that what they're talking about, a three-year program where they're going to find out whether the students have reached certain levels, and then they're going to move them and give them a voucher to go to other places. I don't know what those other places are. We have charter schools in the city whose standardized scores are no higher or even less than the public schools. And the vouchers, if there's $1,500, $1,500 is not going to get our students to any of the prestigious private schools in the area. And I don't know what the voucher would take them to.</s>O'CONNOR: The average tuition for those private schools is about $15,000, correct?</s>O'LEARY: I'm sure it's at least that much.</s>O'CONNOR: Also, in terms of raising standards, how do you think -- what do you think should be done as the best way of raising standards? Is it by making people reach certain test scores, or is it by also investing more in these schools right now?</s>O'LEARY: It seems to me that if President Bush is talking about being compassionate and he's talking about working with education first, that the schools that need the most help are the schools that should get the most funding. We have students who are minority students, Asian student, Latino students, African-American students who are lower-income students. And all want to be successful in life. And I -- we would like to have as much help from the federal government as possible to help them raise their scores. We have teachers who care about them and we would like to have as much support as we could get.</s>O'CONNOR: One of the parents told me that she finds that sometimes that a lot of the parents have trouble getting involved, and she might find herself as being one or two parent in a PTA meeting. Do you think that's also an obstacle, perhaps the trouble for some parents to be involved, and that makes the school more than just a school for these children and therefore, really, a safety net for these children?</s>O'LEARY: Parent involvement is definitely a problem that we face every day. It would be nice if we would have as many parents as students at PTA meetings. I think we offer a place for students to feel safe, to get their education and prove themselves. Some of them come from homes that aren't necessarily the most functional, and we are able to provide services that they don't have outside of the school. It's -- I think it has to do with walking in someone's shoes. I mean, a lot of the politicians and people are always talking about what they're going to do to improve this and improve that, but they need to come to the school and see what's happening in real life rather than just talking about some fantasy land.</s>O'CONNOR: Now, while the concern here is that perhaps by this voucher program could in fact siphon off funds from some of these programs that Mr. O'Leary was talking about. Well, the argument that the Republicans are also making, though, is that this would, in fact, improve these schools, force schools to improve and help these students in the long run -- Leon.</s>HARRIS: All right, so the debate begins. Eileen O'Connor reporting live this morning from Cordozo High School in Washington. Thanks much. We'll talk to you later on.