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Interview With Secretary Rod Paige, Rep. George Miller
Aired June 10, 2003 - 15:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Education Secretary Rod Paige joined President Bush a short while ago at a White House ceremony, as the president praised the No Child Left Behind education reform law. The event marked the fact that all 50 states have now submitted their plan to comply with the law and they have been approved. Secretary Paige is with me now from the White House.
Mr. Secretary, when this bill was originally signed into law it was a bipartisan effort, Democrats and Republicans. But many of those people on board in the beginning are now saying the president has not lived up to his promise to fund the bill. What do you say to them?
ROD PAIGE, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Well I think that it's still a very strong bipartisan effort, and we get great bipartisan support. There are some differences about funding, but those differences will be worked out. The important thing is that all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico now have submitted and had plans approved on how their state will come into compliance with this great law.
WOODRUFF: Well, on the funding, they say that they are really concerned. They say what was put in the budget for schools this year is $10 billion less than it was supposed to have been. They say there was $6 billion less for disadvantaged kids. They talk about after school programs being slashed 40 percent. And they're saying, how do you expect the states to comply?
PAIGE: Well, I think what they should realize -- and I think they do realize -- that the president's proposal for the '04 budget rises to $53.1 billion, a record. No other president in the history of our nation has requested such strong support for our nation's school children. And the $53.1 billion is $11 billion more than what the president found when he took office just a few years ago. So the president's been very strong about supporting education in this country.
WOODRUFF: Well let me also ask you about a comment from Senator Edward Kennedy who, as you know, was very much on board in the beginning.
PAIGE: Yes.
WOODRUFF: He's asking now, when the administration, in his words, is cutting some public school funding, why then is it separately proposing to put money into private schools through vouchers when these private schools don't have to live up to any of these accountability standards? PAIGE: Well, the first thing I would say is there's no cutting. You know the definition of cutting in Washington D.C. is quite different from the definition of cutting all over the rest of the world. The budget is increased; it's not being cut. The budget is up to $53.1 billion; $11 billion more than what the president found when he got to Washington.
WOODRUFF: So you're saying he's just wrong?
PAIGE: Yes. I think there is -- there's no cutting.
WOODRUFF: Well, let me also ask you about -- we've looked around the country at a number of reports, Mr. Secretary. In the state of Utah, for example, there are state officials who say they are concerned that these reforms, which are, in their words, are inflexible, are going to lead to some schools losing teachers in those very schools that most need help because those teachers don't want to be associated with so-called failing schools.
PAIGE: Well, you know I think the strongest statement from the states come from the chief state school offices in every state. And today we can say that all 50, all 50 states submitted plans on how they're going to perform in that state. Plans on how they're going to reach the law and how they're going to be in compliance with the law.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. So, there's some jabbing around the edges, but in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we're very excited about the amount of enthusiasm we're getting in the states about the No Child Left Behind Act.
WOODRUFF: So you just dismiss these criticisms as being unwarranted.
PAIGE: Well, I think as we go forward we're going to have criticism and difficulties. But all of those just represent barriers that we need to overcome, and we will.
WOODRUFF: And back on the point from Senator Kennedy about the private schools, it is the case that the president is putting some more money into private schools which will not be held at the same accountability standards, is that correct?
PAIGE: Well, first of all, I think we make too big an issue of the clear line between what is public and what is private. The deadline is much more blurred than it is clear. And what we're interested is in whatever delivery system provides the best education for our children.
We realize that there will be multiple systems as we go forward. There'll be cyber schools, home schooling, private schools, what we refer to now as the public schooling. But what we're interested in primarily is making sure that our public schools perform well, and we're getting great enthusiasm from the schools and the state. And we think that we're on a roll in terms of changing because of education in America.
WOODRUFF: Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, it's good to see you. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to us.
PAIGE: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.
PAIGE: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: Well a key congressional Democrat who supported the No Child Left Behind law is not so pleased with how the reforms have been put into practice. Democrat George Miller of California is with me now from Capitol Hill. He is the Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee and one of the authors of the bill.
Congressman, you just heard, I think, what Secretary Paige said. That this argument about funding really has no merit. He said there's never been a president that has put as much money into education as this president.
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, that's true, but the country is much larger than when any other president had responsibility for education. And over half of the money that has been put into education since President Bush came to office, he opposed that effort.
The Congress had to override his opposition in order to foot that money. But the fact remains the same, that the president is $11 billion short on his promise to the states. When he signed Leave No Child Behind Act, he said this is our blueprint for the most dramatic reforms in public school elementary education since 1965.
And these are the reforms that we want as the federal government. In exchange for that we will give you the following amount of money to carry out those reforms. The president is out of compliance.
The states are in compliance today in submitting their plans, and it's a day for celebration that all of the states stepped up. But the federal government, and especially the president of the United States, has not stepped up to his part of the contract.
WOODRUFF: But, Congressman, what is the average viewer, consumer supposed to believe when you say the president's $11 billion under? We just heard Secretary Paige say it's $11 billion more than what the president originally...
MILLER: No. What Secretary Paige said is the president is spending $11 billion more on education than when he was elected. That's true. But he made a promise in this act to fund it to the tune of an additional $11 billion because these reforms and the standards and the assessments and the accountability are so profound that we recognize the states were going to need additional money to get the results the president, Senator Kennedy myself and others said we wanted when that bill was signed into law.
WOODRUFF: Congressman, we also had Secretary Paige saying the fact that you now got all 50 states, education leaders in all 50 states submitting their plans, saying they're on board, means that they're just fine, in so many words, with what's going on.
MILLER: Well, the secretary I think misrepresents the views of many chief state schools' officers, of many governors, of many local superintendents. They're very nervous about whether they will be able to comply.
What they did today is they put their blueprint on the table. The question now is whether or not the president of the United States will provide the funding so that we can build the new education system in this country, K-12, whether we can provide the new opportunities that Leave No Child Behind calls for.
Right now, I have to tell you that that's not going to be possible. These blueprints are not going to lead to the education system that President Bush said he wanted when he signed this bill, that I said I wanted when I stood alongside of him.
WOODRUFF: And what about the comment we heard from the secretary about -- when I asked him about vouchers for private schools, schools that will not have to be in compliance with these regulations, he basically said it's all going to work out. That, in essence, our focus is on the public schools and there is a blurred line here.
MILLER: Well you think the secretary didn't want to answer your question on vouchers? Of course they're diverting money from the public school system into the private school system in their battle for vouchers and additional ways to get money to private schools. It's simply wrong to do that with the taxpayers' money, when the overwhelming number of children in this country are educated in the public school system and the public school system in this country, in this economy is in serious trouble.
We should not be diverting moneys. I know the secretary doesn't want to admit that's what they're doing, but that's what they're doing.
WOODRUFF: Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee, Congressman George Miller, with a little accompaniment there in the background, Congressman. Good to talk with you with the singing voices in the background.
MILLER: Thank you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: Thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 10, 2003 - 15:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Education Secretary Rod Paige joined President Bush a short while ago at a White House ceremony, as the president praised the No Child Left Behind education reform law. The event marked the fact that all 50 states have now submitted their plan to comply with the law and they have been approved. Secretary Paige is with me now from the White House.
Mr. Secretary, when this bill was originally signed into law it was a bipartisan effort, Democrats and Republicans. But many of those people on board in the beginning are now saying the president has not lived up to his promise to fund the bill. What do you say to them?
ROD PAIGE, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Well I think that it's still a very strong bipartisan effort, and we get great bipartisan support. There are some differences about funding, but those differences will be worked out. The important thing is that all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico now have submitted and had plans approved on how their state will come into compliance with this great law.
WOODRUFF: Well, on the funding, they say that they are really concerned. They say what was put in the budget for schools this year is $10 billion less than it was supposed to have been. They say there was $6 billion less for disadvantaged kids. They talk about after school programs being slashed 40 percent. And they're saying, how do you expect the states to comply?
PAIGE: Well, I think what they should realize -- and I think they do realize -- that the president's proposal for the '04 budget rises to $53.1 billion, a record. No other president in the history of our nation has requested such strong support for our nation's school children. And the $53.1 billion is $11 billion more than what the president found when he took office just a few years ago. So the president's been very strong about supporting education in this country.
WOODRUFF: Well let me also ask you about a comment from Senator Edward Kennedy who, as you know, was very much on board in the beginning.
PAIGE: Yes.
WOODRUFF: He's asking now, when the administration, in his words, is cutting some public school funding, why then is it separately proposing to put money into private schools through vouchers when these private schools don't have to live up to any of these accountability standards? PAIGE: Well, the first thing I would say is there's no cutting. You know the definition of cutting in Washington D.C. is quite different from the definition of cutting all over the rest of the world. The budget is increased; it's not being cut. The budget is up to $53.1 billion; $11 billion more than what the president found when he got to Washington.
WOODRUFF: So you're saying he's just wrong?
PAIGE: Yes. I think there is -- there's no cutting.
WOODRUFF: Well, let me also ask you about -- we've looked around the country at a number of reports, Mr. Secretary. In the state of Utah, for example, there are state officials who say they are concerned that these reforms, which are, in their words, are inflexible, are going to lead to some schools losing teachers in those very schools that most need help because those teachers don't want to be associated with so-called failing schools.
PAIGE: Well, you know I think the strongest statement from the states come from the chief state school offices in every state. And today we can say that all 50, all 50 states submitted plans on how they're going to perform in that state. Plans on how they're going to reach the law and how they're going to be in compliance with the law.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. So, there's some jabbing around the edges, but in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we're very excited about the amount of enthusiasm we're getting in the states about the No Child Left Behind Act.
WOODRUFF: So you just dismiss these criticisms as being unwarranted.
PAIGE: Well, I think as we go forward we're going to have criticism and difficulties. But all of those just represent barriers that we need to overcome, and we will.
WOODRUFF: And back on the point from Senator Kennedy about the private schools, it is the case that the president is putting some more money into private schools which will not be held at the same accountability standards, is that correct?
PAIGE: Well, first of all, I think we make too big an issue of the clear line between what is public and what is private. The deadline is much more blurred than it is clear. And what we're interested is in whatever delivery system provides the best education for our children.
We realize that there will be multiple systems as we go forward. There'll be cyber schools, home schooling, private schools, what we refer to now as the public schooling. But what we're interested in primarily is making sure that our public schools perform well, and we're getting great enthusiasm from the schools and the state. And we think that we're on a roll in terms of changing because of education in America.
WOODRUFF: Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, it's good to see you. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to us.
PAIGE: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.
PAIGE: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: Well a key congressional Democrat who supported the No Child Left Behind law is not so pleased with how the reforms have been put into practice. Democrat George Miller of California is with me now from Capitol Hill. He is the Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee and one of the authors of the bill.
Congressman, you just heard, I think, what Secretary Paige said. That this argument about funding really has no merit. He said there's never been a president that has put as much money into education as this president.
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, that's true, but the country is much larger than when any other president had responsibility for education. And over half of the money that has been put into education since President Bush came to office, he opposed that effort.
The Congress had to override his opposition in order to foot that money. But the fact remains the same, that the president is $11 billion short on his promise to the states. When he signed Leave No Child Behind Act, he said this is our blueprint for the most dramatic reforms in public school elementary education since 1965.
And these are the reforms that we want as the federal government. In exchange for that we will give you the following amount of money to carry out those reforms. The president is out of compliance.
The states are in compliance today in submitting their plans, and it's a day for celebration that all of the states stepped up. But the federal government, and especially the president of the United States, has not stepped up to his part of the contract.
WOODRUFF: But, Congressman, what is the average viewer, consumer supposed to believe when you say the president's $11 billion under? We just heard Secretary Paige say it's $11 billion more than what the president originally...
MILLER: No. What Secretary Paige said is the president is spending $11 billion more on education than when he was elected. That's true. But he made a promise in this act to fund it to the tune of an additional $11 billion because these reforms and the standards and the assessments and the accountability are so profound that we recognize the states were going to need additional money to get the results the president, Senator Kennedy myself and others said we wanted when that bill was signed into law.
WOODRUFF: Congressman, we also had Secretary Paige saying the fact that you now got all 50 states, education leaders in all 50 states submitting their plans, saying they're on board, means that they're just fine, in so many words, with what's going on.
MILLER: Well, the secretary I think misrepresents the views of many chief state schools' officers, of many governors, of many local superintendents. They're very nervous about whether they will be able to comply.
What they did today is they put their blueprint on the table. The question now is whether or not the president of the United States will provide the funding so that we can build the new education system in this country, K-12, whether we can provide the new opportunities that Leave No Child Behind calls for.
Right now, I have to tell you that that's not going to be possible. These blueprints are not going to lead to the education system that President Bush said he wanted when he signed this bill, that I said I wanted when I stood alongside of him.
WOODRUFF: And what about the comment we heard from the secretary about -- when I asked him about vouchers for private schools, schools that will not have to be in compliance with these regulations, he basically said it's all going to work out. That, in essence, our focus is on the public schools and there is a blurred line here.
MILLER: Well you think the secretary didn't want to answer your question on vouchers? Of course they're diverting money from the public school system into the private school system in their battle for vouchers and additional ways to get money to private schools. It's simply wrong to do that with the taxpayers' money, when the overwhelming number of children in this country are educated in the public school system and the public school system in this country, in this economy is in serious trouble.
We should not be diverting moneys. I know the secretary doesn't want to admit that's what they're doing, but that's what they're doing.
WOODRUFF: Ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee, Congressman George Miller, with a little accompaniment there in the background, Congressman. Good to talk with you with the singing voices in the background.
MILLER: Thank you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: Thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com