 Thank you so much, what a generous introduction and what a warm and friendly crowd. I could really just repeat what Dennis has said and sit down and I think I would be complete, a great statement of your belief. He and I have talked literally hundreds of hours together over the years and I've always had such great respect for him and thank you so much. John Stocks is great to be with you, John Wilson, my longtime friend, Harriet Sanford and head of this foundation. Thank all of you for this warm welcome and it's a real honor for me to be back in Washington speaking with you. Some of you might know I celebrated my 80th birthday this year and I had the thing about that is you have dozens of parties. So first thing I want to urge all of you to take good care of yourself. If you can make it to 80, you have these wonderful parties and I mean it really is nice. You really haven't done anything, you've just reached 80. I remember the story I heard some time ago at the senior citizens meeting and said that it was an expert, a couple of your experts here for this meeting and he was talking about aging and he had a blackboard and he said did you realize that for every 80-year-old man, one man, there are three 80-year-old women and some guy in the back stood up an old man and he said Mr. Expert, that is the most useless information I've ever heard. I would urge all of you to try to make 80 but please keep doing the good work that you're doing. I always feel at home with a fine group of educators and education supporters. That's what we have here today, people who are committed and believe in public education system that we have. But nowadays it seems a lot of people, again it's referred to question the quality, the value of public education. Some criticism might be valid but I strongly believe there are many that are not accurate and many statements that are really unfair and are not productive. For instance, I was very disappointed that the media hardly mentioned four very important findings in the 2013 Gallup poll on public education just recently released. First, the poll found that a majority of Americans, more than 50%, give their community public schools an A or B grade. That's the highest rating ever recorded by this poll, their own schools where their children go. However, as you and I know over the years this has been true, fewer than 20% of the people, less than one in five, give our public schools nationally a B or better. And that is the lowest rating of confidence in our public schools nationally. I suppose again we shouldn't be surprised that with the flood of negative media that is out there about our public schools constantly. A second important finding in my view is that our public places value on the teaching of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communications, collaboration and creativity. Harriet mentioned collaboration. I like that word Harriet and I know you do and I'll use it several times here. Third, more than 70% of respondents indicated that they have trust and confidence in their own public school teachers and principals, 70%. And fourth, 70% of Americans oppose private school vouchers. The highest level of opposition to vouchers ever recorded in this annual survey that's been going on quite a while. These results confirm what I hear and what I see as I travel around this great country, as I talk to parents and I talk to other stakeholders and those who are into education. And the fact is that our country is blessed with a lot of dedicated teachers, school administrators, staff, families, communities who want only the best for their children. They like all of you are working hard to achieve that goal. Anybody who knows me knows one thing that I am very interested in and that is the word partnership. I think that's a critical word. Anything that works well together works well generally. People who work together, parents and other caregivers, teachers, other school personnel, really business, faith and community leaders, youth serving groups, after school providers and so forth, all working together can accomplish much, much more. I also believe in government, which can and should be a partner when it comes to improving education for our children. Now regardless of any political or ideological fact that one might have or difference, all of us should share a common goal and that is to provide every one of our children a quality engaging education that Dennis so eloquently spoke of coming out of high school, prepared for college, prepared for careers, prepared for citizenship. We must give our students the skills and the knowledge, the opportunity to participate in the social and economic mainstream of our great democracy. From their first days in school to the last day, our children need our individual and collective help to succeed and prepare them for adulthood. Now the success of the NEA Foundation initiatives, the Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative, the Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning clearly illustrate the value and the impact of partnerships. Despite high poverty rates and other challenges at your sites, collaboration among your association, school district and community leaders is resulting in greater student achievement and that's what we're all about. So with input from all stakeholders in developing your priorities and a strategic plan for attaining them, followed by goal setting, action and regular monitoring, you have a strong foundation for improvement as well as sustainability and boy is that important. The Lee County Florida site is an example of that successful formula and I know from personal experience that any education reform is difficult, but sustaining a reform over any period of time is really difficult. So I thank each of the leadership teams for your dedicated effort as well as the NEA Foundation for the support of your site initiatives to improve teaching and learning. As a nation though, we are in a critical moment of transition in education reform. Dennis alluded to that, you all know that. For the first time there seems to be this consensus that he talked about, this finish in high school, the idea that you're ready for college, that you're ready for life, that you're ready for careers, that you're ready to be good citizens of this country. That's clear and those are wonderful goals. To most of us assembled here, that really is kind of a no brainer, we all understand all of that. But we know too that it has not always been the guiding force in far too many decisions that are made regarding education policies and practices. As I indicated a moment ago, the Gallup poll and other research tell us there is significant agreement among parents about what they want for their child's education. That's out there and that's positive. Interestingly, businesses have been clamoring for those same skills from our students for quite some time. Together with teamwork and problem solving, they are what we refer to as deeper learning as well as 21st century skills. So now that we have a consensus on the core goals, and as you pointed out, our attention is being directed as to how we achieve those goals. Clearly important and significant shifts in teaching and learning are necessary. What we're going is different. All students must master more rigorous content knowledge than ever before. And that will be facilitated by implementation of the common core standards, state standards as we all know beginning next year. And I've always supported high academic standards for our children in core subjects for every single child. If expectations are low, performance will be low. In one of your groups, looking at gaps that we talk about, often those gaps are a result of low expectation for early age forward. But we have a very careful, high standards, we have to be careful. High standards do not turn into standardization that takes the creativity and the craft out of teaching. Common core deals only with math and English language arts. And we are those very basic, obviously, and very important. We've got to realize, though, if you're talking about prepared for college or prepared for careers, most colleges, a lot of the colleges, of course, require three or four years of foreign language in high school, music, other arts, which I strongly support and believe in, three or four years of hands-on science, all of that required by college when you finish high school. So really, common core doesn't measure all of those things. However, common core is basic and very important, but all of us need to be aware of this number of issues that young people must deal with. So that requires certain enrichment opportunities in addition to those basics. To learn and experience after school is an opportunity for that, weekends, summers. In addition, all students must be able to apply, and that's a key word, the content knowledge that they've gained. That's where those 21st century skills come in. Research indicates that employers value both knowledge and skills. And everyone, I'm going to tell you that skills are important. Somebody can be the smartest person around, but if they don't have these basic skills, there's very little that they can accomplish in this world. They particularly seek candidates who can apply knowledge successfully. They want employees who can conduct research and use evidence-based analysis to solve real-world problems. In addition, nearly all employers rate the ability to innovate, talking about art and music, talking about all those things that develop innovative characteristics. They are also a key to success in the workplace and in the world. I personally am a big fan of project-based learning because I've seen firsthand how effective that is in learning content and then applying it. The KnowledgeWorks Foundation, which I've been on that board for 10 years or so, is heavily involved with new tech network schools. I've visited a number of those new tech high schools. Some middle schools have been so impressed and excited in the engagement of the students. They are working in teams. They are communicating. They are learning content. They are solving problems. All the skills they will need to be successful as adults. I was in one of these new tech high schools in Sacramento, a public school, a big school. And to show you, and I know you all are very familiar with project-based learning, but I was so impressed to go in there not like the normal classroom, of course, students in groups of five or six working on projects with the teachers moving around as people who are then helping coach them. This one that I was looking at particularly was studying geometry, the core standard, state standard for geometry. And they were doing it by laying out a golf course. And they went out to the golf course and they looked at all the different angles and whatever. And those of you who are golfers know that you can't angle off every now and then. But these young people were into that. I mean, it was their work. One was writing it up. One was going to speak about it. They had a leader. They had all the different groups working together solving this problem, learning about geometry. I'll tell you I was impressed with it. And I'll tell you this, they don't drop out of school. They drop out just about zero. Why? Because the young people like it. And they won't drop out generally at all. And also when they finish this course in high school, they have like 12 hours at least of college credit. So they're already moving into the college world. Anyhow, I like that. I think that's kind of the way of the future. There are a number of similar programs like that that work very well. But that's one that I'm familiar with. But through the KnowledgeWorks partnership with the Raleigh Institute at Furman University, several businesses together we were successful in gaining an I-3 grant to bring in these new tech high schools to South Carolina. Two high schools in the very poorest part of our state. We refer to it as the Cardiff shame of the I-95, Cardiff. Practically all poor. Practically all African American. Just about all rural. The most difficult area that you can imagine to work out a high quality school. So we have two of those schools right there. One is Scotch Branch High School where Brown versus Board got started. And I'm so proud of that and I'm very interested in those being a success. The entire state is excited about the opportunity this new way of learning will bring to our neediest students. And we are working to bring more new tech schools to South Carolina in the future. We've got three or four really in process. Achieving this higher bar. A bar of learning is absolutely essential to the future of our state's nation. It is the engine for our economic prosperity, our global competitiveness, our great democracy. But to accomplish this, the evidence and experience tells us that changes in education practice and teaching and learning are every bit as important as changes in policy. While we've seen a lot of changes in education policy, a lot of talk about it. Over the last decades, policy, policy, policy much less changed in schools in the classroom. As a result, we have seen only modest improvement in this new requirements that are out there in student performance. And I think we need to do better in these changing times to get our schools really in touch with the times. And I think we're moving there and that's what these two sites about. That's what you all are about. But now we have a chance to change all of this changing needs out there. For the first time, we do have this emerging consensus that we need to move to teaching models that are more personalized around each student. Project-based learning, I just mentioned, is one example of that you know many others. But this personalizing education works. It's expensive in many ways, but it works. Technology can be a big help of that. We must value a mastery instead of seat time. Plan our use of time more wisely. Deeper learning can be promoted through expanded learning time, after school, academic enrichment opportunities, and so forth. These can be provided before and after school, as I mentioned, in weekends and summers. We must utilize technology better, including apps, e-books, teacher-developed materials, and so forth. New technology is presenting a powerful tool for bringing better training, better teaching, better learning to scale. It's creating pressure for change from our first generation of digital learners. They are ready for that, and you and I know it. There are many drivers of this moment of opportunity, and I really think it's a very important moment of opportunity. The Common Core Standards in addressing the learning interests and needs of the whole child can be a bridge to the shift from a focus on policy to a focus on practice. This will require us to move beyond accountability, to focus on capacity, to focus on equity, to focus on implementation. We need to empower the profession of teachers and promote innovation, evaluation, and continuous improvement. We need to deal more directly and effectively with the effects of poverty. Poverty is out there. You and I, as much as we talk about grades and tests or whatever, poverty is an overburdening problem that we all deal with in terms of academic achievement, and everyone of you all know that. Often the obstacles to student success are too complex to overcome by one person, coming out of a family that's having difficulty and mixed all up. Even a wonderful, wonderful, brilliant teacher is almost impossible to turn that child around certainly quickly. But if the lessons being taught in school are competing with a child's hunger, competing with a child's homelessness, anger, illness, safety, other health and welfare problems, that student simply cannot learn well if at all. A recent study of the Southern Education Foundation reported that in 2011, for the first time in the last four decades, a majority of our public school students in the South, as you well know that's where I'm from. Sometimes I'm proud of that, sometimes I'm not. Anyhow, in the South and in the West are eligible for federal free and reduced price meals at school. A majority in the South and the West. A decade early, only four states reported a majority of low income students. In 2011, 48% nearly half of our nation's 50 million public school students fell into that category. Now that's what we're dealing with in this wonderful, powerful economic country. There can be no question that we must provide the supports necessary to relieve negative environmental factors if we want a child to succeed in school. We've got to deal with all of these things. It's really important for us to focus on ways to address children's readiness to learn, including even before they enter school. And that's something I'm extremely interested in right now. Again, looking at gaps. The teacher home visits in Seattle and Columbus are a step in that direction. All research, evidence and experience tell us that the single most important factor in achieving these shifts in teaching and learning is the quality and effectiveness of our nation's teachers and school leaders. Both are very important. Supporting educator capacity and empowering the profession of teaching individually and collectively must be at the core of our education agenda during this transition. A lot is happening. Teachers and teachers and leaders in education are in the middle of that. We must make sure that the system of educator evaluation are high quality and multifaceted, just as Elgin, Illinois and Jefferson County, Colorado are doing with their NEA Foundation Innovation Grant. Teacher evaluation must be accompanied by effective professional development and multiple measures. That has to be done and done right and done fairly. We must continuously improve the quality of our teacher preparation programs and find ways to bring more of our best and brightest people into the teaching profession. And we've heard a lot about Finland, a model of education system because of their high test rankings. But we should look more closely at how they treat teachers. In Finland, young people are clamoring to become teachers because the profession is among the highest respected, competitive and well paid in the country. All of those are factors. Well paid is important. Respected is important. Teaching in America must become a team enterprise supported by real resources. I'll tell you, continuous learning, creative problem solving, both during school day and after school, must engage classroom teachers and community organizers all working together. Professional teams in all major professions, engineering, healthcare, law, whatever, embrace well defined performance goals. We now have goals well orchestrated. Team members join forces to improve their performance with real time assessment feedback and supportive leadership. Our teachers must have the same resources and support as these other professions do. America's teachers are the solution. They are not the problem. But they will be successful only if they are given sufficient time and resources to implement the common core and next generation science standards effectively. Political and education leaders should not rush to turn the common core standards into new high stakes accountability requirements. Instead, we must support school leaders and teachers who are modeling new teaching methods and providing collaborative work environment. Teachers need designated time. They need physical settings where they can meet with their colleagues to find the most effective ways to meet the learning needs of their students. With the new common core standards, we can begin to envision what it will take to rebuild American education. That's a start. We should keep in mind, though, that they are not a finished product, these standards. They are a work in progress. They rest on an evidence-based theory of teaching that calls for continuous feedback to extend, refine, revise the standards as their value is tested. Now, the standards are templates that will enable constructive dialogue among education stakeholders and others about our children, what they should know and be able to do. If we truly want them to thrive in a complex global community with a rapidly evolving innovation economy, we have made progress, but we have plenty of hard work in front of us. As always, educators and partnerships that we form together will be the critical component of our success. We are betting the future of our children and our country on our teachers. So we have an obligation to stand with them, to support them, and they strive to give every child the opportunity to succeed academically and become contributing members of our great democracy. The very positive findings about local schools in this recent Gallup poll should be another motivating force to tell us work harder and smarter. But I believe these findings tell us something else. All of us must find new and better ways to lift up the voices of local parents, local teachers, and other local community members into this national dialogue about what is really happening in the public schools. That's our job. The foundation, others need to find more ways to engage more local people in our public schools so that we are a larger positive force for doing what is right and good for our public school students. As many of you have heard me say for decades, better education is everybody's business, and we do it better when we do it together. And that is what NEA Foundation initiatives and all of you site representatives are all about, and I know it's not always easy work and there are always burdens to overcome. I salute your passion, your dedication, your tenacity. At the same time, I would like to see that same passion and commitment ingrained more deeply in the public at large. With all of our divisions and misinformation about education and so many other issues, I believe the American people need a clear mission for moving education forward. And I've been thinking about this to accomplish that. I think we might consider a movement in America that clearly prioritizes one thing, children. We need to come together on something we can all agree on, and I haven't thought that out completely, but we need some kind of unifying force and to have this country say that is our priority in the future I think is something to think about. When I was governor of South Carolina, we did that with the Education Improvement Act that Dennis referred to, and I'll tell you it made a difference. The EIA was more than just a position paper or a piece of legislation. It was a citizen's movement calling for high academic standards and quality education for all. I was and am very proud of that. The fact that I was a leader then, a governor of a very positive citizen's movement, all supported strongly by teachers, all educators, supported by parents, supported by the business community, all parties, all ideologies. I had trouble getting the legislature. Everybody else in the state was for it. So let's, you understand that. So let's every one of us think about that in our homes, in our workplaces, our schools, our places of worship, our communities. How can we, in a thoughtful way, make America's very first priority be our children? Their education, their health, their shelter, their character, their morals, their safety, all of it, the whole child. One America, one America for all children. That's something I think everyone understands and can get behind. A patriotic movement with kind of a laser-like focus on making America's children the number one national priority. Thank you. Now all of you already have the interest of children at the forefront of what you're doing. So let's think about how we might partner, come together across all social, political, economic segments of our society that make this American movement or something like it a reality. Thank you all very much for giving me the opportunity to be with you.