And so the laws we passed with Republican and Democrat help are challenging that soft bigotry of low expectation. We believe every child can learn. We want to know if every child can read and write and add and subtract, early before it's too late. We're going to stop this business about just shuffling children through the school year after year without learning the basics. We'll correct problems now. We're raising the bar. No dejamos a ninguno nino atras. No child will be left behind in America.
(APPLAUSE)
Recently I talked about a school in Georgia, northeast Georgia, called Gainesville Elementary School. It's mostly Hispanic, mostly poor. It's the kind of school where people just say, well, gosh, these kids can't learn, give up, move them through. This year, 90 percent of the students passed the state tests in reading and math. That's a fantastic statistic, isn't it? (APPLAUSE)
We wouldn't know if we didn't measure. We wouldn't know if we didn't ask the questions about whether a child can read and write and add and subtract. We wouldn't know if we didn't correct problems early, before they're too late. And fortunately, the school has got a principal that has challenged the soft bigotry of low expectations. Here's what she said: "We don't focus on what we can't do at this school, we focus on what we can do. We do whatever it takes to get the kids across the finish line."
That's what we're going to do here in this country. As we celebrate this important month, our mission, our goal, our deepest desire is for every child -- every child -- including those whose parents don't speak English as a first language, to be able to realize the promise of this country by making sure the public schools have high standards in excellence in every classroom. And that's what we're going to do.
(APPLAUSE)
As we celebrate this important month, we also need to celebrate ownership, because that's part of the American experience. We want more people owning their own home. I think there's nothing better than people opening up the door where they live and saying, welcome to my home. Bienvenidos a mi casa.
(LAUGHTER)
Thanks for coming to my piece of property. And we must be dedicated to the proposition that ownership ought to extend to every neighborhood and every group.
I set a goal to have 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of this decade. And we're on track to meet the goal -- 1.6 million new minority homeowners bought homes in the last two years. It's a fantastic statistic, I think. I think it's part of helping bring hope into people's families.
Also I'd like to talk about entrepreneurship. I mean, the Latino community is entrepreneurial. I mean, you talk about small business owners who have got vision and drive and desire, sit down with Latino business owners. They have a great sense of business and balance sheet and, as importantly, a great desire to own their own business. And one of the most hopeful aspects of our society today is the number of Hispanic-owned businesses that thrive throughout America. I love it when I meet an Hispanic entrepreneur, particularly somebody who came up with an idea at their kitchen table, and said, I want to own something, I want to own my business. And now they're employing people. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small businesses. Think about that. And the role of government is to encourage the expansion of small business opportunity and entrepreneurship through every society, every part of our society. And we're doing just that in America. And our country is better for it.
Listen, we're a diverse nation, but there are things that bind us -- our love of freedom, our belief in God, our understanding of the importance of family, our desire to realize dreams, the deep desire for people to live in a free society. I'm proud of your heritage. I'm proud of the ancestry. I'm proud to call Latinos Americans, and I'm proud to be your President. God bless, and welcome to the White House.
(APPLAUSE)
END
.ETX
Sep 15, 2004 18:38 ET .EOF
