John King, now at federal Doe, formerly New York Ed head

King: honor and a privilege to be here today
"always be a New Yorker...honored to work with Sec'ty Duncan"

try to ensure that we fully the promise of equal educational opportunity for all students
"all here because we believe deeply in the potential of every child"
"at a critical moment"
"juncture at when we will decide who we are as a country"
would have been easy for teachers to say "what could we expect of him?" (of himself)
teacher created an inspiring and nuturing environment
"that led me to become a teacher and a principal"
"we are moving there as a country...have made very significant progress these past years"
graduation rate the highest it's ever been
NAEP scores the highest they've ever been
"continue to move forward or go backwards"
worry about our children having the same opportunities we have
other countries have outpaced us by moving forward faster than we have
how we invest in all of our schools for all of our children
two out of three jobs require post-secondary education
"what does moving education forward look like?"
"it doesn't look like just English and math...art, music, physical education, libraries, and librarians"
AP courses, IB courses, calculus courses...should have access to these opportunties
"a new paradigm for the federal role in education"
"tight on the goals, loose on the means"
NCLB: was tight on the means, loose on the goals
"must honor the Civil Rights tradition from which original ESEA emerged"
waiver "has created important flexibility for state and districts"
"has made sure that districts and schools are not wrongly identified as failing"
"make sure students and parents receive regular progress about how they're doing"
"how much did students gain over the course of the year, year by year"
"reduces unnecessary testing" cites earlier mentioned bill on testing
Congress should challenge states to set limits on time spend on standardized testing
"has to be about more than testing...have to talk about resources"
additional funding for Title I in president's budget ($1B)
early learning: new ESEA to prioritize $500M in president's budget
invest in innovation: I3 fnds
more investments in teachers and principals in school: states and districts to improve teacher quality
tripling amount in Promise Neighborhoods "it all matters" (out and in school)
support for Pell grants: to go beyond high school
"ensure the full range of opportunity for all of our citizens"
"open to your feedback and your advice"