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Now, over these last few weeks, during what we’ve called Education Month around the White House, I’ve been traveling across the country talking with folks about education. In fact, we’ve actually been doing that for the last couple of years. And what I’ve heard, what Arne has heard, what the rest of my team has heard loud and clear from teachers and students and parents and communities is that No Child Left Behind got some things right and got some things wrong. The goals of No Child Left Behind were the right goals: Making a promise to educate every child with an excellent teacher — that’s the right thing to do, that’s the right goal. Higher standards are right. Accountability is right. Shining a light on the achievement gap between students of different races and backgrounds, and those with and without disabilities, that’s the right thing to do.

But what hasn’t worked is denying teachers, schools, and states what they need to meet these goals. That’s why we need to fix No Child Left Behind. We need to make sure — (applause) — we need to make sure we’re graduating students who are ready for college and ready for careers. We need to put outstanding teachers in every classroom, and give those teachers the pay and the support that they deserve. (Applause.) I got some applause for that. (Laughter.)

We need to not only hold failing schools accountable, we need to help turn those schools around. In the 21st century, it’s not enough to leave no child behind. We need to help every child get ahead. We need to get every child on a path to academic excellence. (Applause.)

Now, here’s the good news. I am proud of the commitment by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to fix No Child Left Behind, to make this reform a reality — because they recognize education is an area where we can’t afford to drag our feet. As Arne says, our kids only get one shot at an education, and we’ve got to get it right. So that’s why I’m calling on Congress to send me an education reform bill I can sign into law before the next school year begins — (applause) — before next year’s school year. (Applause.)

I want every child in this country to head back to school in the fall knowing that their education is America’s priority. Let’s seize this education moment. Let’s fix No Child Left Behind. (Applause.)

Now, last week we got a reminder of why it’s so critical that we reform this law. According to new estimates, under the system No Child Left Behind put in place, more than 80 percent of our schools may be labeled as failing — 80 percent of our schools. Four out of five schools will be labeled as failing. That’s an astonishing number. And our impulse is to either be outraged that the numbers are so high, or skeptical that they’re even true. And let’s face it, skepticism is somewhat justified. We know that four out of five schools in this country aren’t failing. So what we’re doing to measure success and failure is out of line.

In fact, the list of supposedly failing schools includes schools that are actually making extraordinary progress — including Kenmore. So, yes, we’ve still got more work to do here at this school to close the achievement gap. I think Dr. Word would agree with that. We’ve got to make sure that every student is on track. But, I mean, we can see here at Kenmore — Kenmore is thriving. You guys are doing great. You got more work to do, but you’re doing fine. (Applause.)

So what this means, though, is that we need a better way of figuring out which schools are deeply in trouble, which schools aren’t, and how we get not only the schools that are in really bad shape on track, how do we help provide the tools to schools that want to get even better to get better.

That way of measuring success and failure, that’s the first problem with No Child Left Behind that we need to fix. Instead of labeling schools a failure one day and then throwing up our hands and walking away from them, we need to refocus on the schools that need the most help. We need to hold our schools accountable for the success of every child –- black, white, Latino, Asian, students with disabilities, English language learners.

We need to make sure some of our best teachers are teaching in some of our worst schools. We need to reward schools that are doing the difficult work of turning themselves around. (Applause.) We’re going to have to take a series of steps across a broad range of measures to not only target our most troubled schools, but also raise expectations for all our schools.

So first we’re going to have to fix how schools are labeled and identified. But we’ve got to do more than that. In recent years, 15 states have actually lowered their standards to make it easier for their kids to meet the targets set by No Child Left Behind. Think about that. That was — that’s a pretty perverse（堕落的，不正当的） incentive when states say to themselves, you know what, let’s lower our standards so that we have an easy time — easier time passing those standards so that we don’t get punished under No Child Left Behind. That makes no sense. That’s inexcusable（不可原谅的） .

So instead of measuring students based on whether they’re above or below an arbitrary（任意的，武断的） bar, we need to set better standards to make sure our students are meeting one clear goal –- they’re graduating ready for college and ready for a career. That’s the goal we need to set. (Applause.) To know whether our kids are on track to meet that goal, we need better assessments.

Now, I want to speak to teachers in particular here. I’m not talking about more tests. I’m not talking about teaching to the test. We don’t need to know whether a student can fill out a bubble. We do need to know whether they’re making progress. We do need to know whether they’re not only mastering reading, math, and science, but also developing the kinds of skills, like critical thinking and creativity and collaboration that I just saw on display with the students that I met here. Those are skills they’re going to need for the rest of their lives — (applause) — not just to be good workers, but to be good citizens. (Applause.)