Well, welcome to the White House,everybody. And that was one of the best introductions I’ve ever had. (Applause.) So we’re so proud of Kiara for the introduction and for sharing yourstory, and you’re just so poised. And Iknow Geoff Canada is just out there all excited -- (laughter) -- and proud, andI know your mom is proud. I know she is. She should be.
Kiara and the rest of these youngpeople grew up in a 97-square-block section of Harlem. It’s a place where the odds used to bestacked against them every single day, even just graduating from high schoolwas a challenge. But with the help ofsome very dedicated adults and a program called the Harlem Children’s Zone,they’re right on track to go to college. Together, students, teachers, administrators, parents, community, they’rechanging the odds in this neighborhood. And that’s what we’re here to talk about today -– changing the odds forevery American child so that no matter who they are, no matter where they areborn, they have a chance to succeed in today’s economy.
Now, the good news is that,thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the American people all across thecountry over the last five years, our economy has grown stronger. Our businesses have now created more than 8million new jobs since the depths of the recession. Our manufacturing, our housing sectors arerebounding. Our energy and technologyand auto industries are booming. We’vegot to keep our economy growing. We’vegot to make sure that everybody is sharing in that growth. We’ve got to keep creating jobs, and then we’vegot to make sure that wages and benefits are such that families can rebuild alittle bit of security. We’ve got tomake sure this recovery, which is real, leaves nobody behind. And that’s going to be my focus throughoutthe year.
This is going to be a year ofaction. That’s what the American peopleexpect, and they’re ready and willing to pitch in and help. This is not just a job for government; thisis a job for everybody.
Working people are looking forthe kind of stable, secure jobs that too often went overseas in the past coupleof decades. So next week, I’ll join companies and colleges and take action toboost high-tech manufacturing -- the kind that attracts good new jobs and helpsgrow a middle class. Business owners areready to play their part to hire more workers. So this month, I’m going to host CEOs here at the White House not once,but twice: First to lay out specificsteps we can take to help more workers earn the skills that they need for today’snew jobs; second, they’re going to announce commitments that we’re making toput more of the long-term unemployed back to work.
And on January 28th, in my Stateof the Union address -- which I want all the legislators here to know I’m goingto try to keep a little shorter than usual -- (laughter) -- they’re cheeringsilently -- (laughter) -- I will mobilize the country around the nationalmission of making sure our economy offers every American who works hard a fairshot at success. Anybody in this countrywho works hard should have a fair shot at success, period. It doesn’t matter where they come from, whatregion of the country, what they look like, what their last name is -- theyshould be able to succeed.
And obviously we’re coming off ofa rancorous political year, but I genuinely believe that this is not a partisanissue. Because when you talk to the American people, you know that there arepeople working in soup kitchens, and people who are mentoring, and people whoare starting small businesses and hiring their neighbors, and very rarely arethey checking are they Democrat or Republican. There’s a sense of neighborliness that’s inherent in the American people-- we just have to tap into that.
And I’ve been very happy to seethat there are Republicans like Rand Paul, who’s here today, who are ready toengage in this debate. That’s a goodthing. We’ve got Democratic andRepublican elected officials across the country who are ready to roll up theirsleeves and get to work. And this shouldbe a challenge that unites us all.
I don’t care whether the ideasare Democrat or Republican. I do carethat they work. I do care that they aresubject to evaluation, and we can see if we are using tax dollars in a certainway, if we’re starting a certain program, I want to make sure that young peoplelike Kiara are actually benefiting from them.
Now, it’s one thing to say weshould help more Americans get ahead, but talk is cheap. We’ve got to actually make sure that we doit. And I will work with anybody who’swilling to lay out some concrete ideas to create jobs, help more middle-classfamilies find security in today’s economy, and offer new ladders of opportunityfor folks to climb into the middle class.
And, personally, I hope we startby listening to the majority of the American people and restoring theunemployment insurance for Americans who need a little help supporting theirfamilies while they look for a new job. And I’m glad the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are workingtogether to extend that lifeline. I hopetheir colleagues in the House will join them to set this right.
Today I want to talk aboutsomething very particular, a specific example of how we can make adifference. We are here with leaders whoare determined to change the odds in their communities the way these kids andtheir parents and dedicated citizens have changed the odds in Harlem. It’s now been 50 years since PresidentJohnson declared an unconditional War on Poverty in America. And that groundbreaking effort created newavenues of opportunity for generations of Americans. It strengthened our safety net for workingfamilies and seniors, Americans with disabilities and the poor, so that when wefall -- and you never know what life brings you -- we can bounce backfaster. It made us a better country anda stronger country.
In a speech 50 years ago,President Johnson talked about communities “on the outskirts ofhope where opportunitywas hard to come by.” Well, today’seconomic challenges are differentbut they’ve still resulted in communitieswhere in recent decades wrenching economic changehas made opportunity harderand harder to come by. There arecommunities where for toomany young people it feels like their future onlyextends to the next street corner or theoutskirts of town, too manycommunities where no matter how hard you work, your destinyfeels like it’salready been determined for you before you took that first step.
I’m not just talking aboutpockets of poverty in our inner cities. That’s the stereotype.I’mtalking about suburban neighborhoods that have been hammered by the housingcrisis. I’mtalking about manufacturingtowns that still haven’t recovered after the local plant shut downand jobsdried up. There are islands of ruralAmerica where jobs are scarce -- they were scarceeven before the recession hit-- so that young people feel like if they want to actually succeed,they’ve gotto leave town, they’ve got to leave their communities.
And I’ve seen this personallyeven before I got into politics. Infact, this is what drove meinto politics. I was just two years out of college when I first moved to the South Sideof Chicago.I was hired by a group ofchurches to help organize a community that had been devastatedwhen the localsteel plants closed their doors. And I’dwalk through neighborhoods filled up withboarded-up houses and crumblingschools, and single parents and dads who had nothing to dowith their kids, andkids who were hanging out on the street corners without any hope orprospectsfor the future.
But these churches cametogether. And then they started workingwith other non-profits andlocal businesses. And the government -- local, state and federal -- participated. And we startedgetting some things done thatgave people hope. And that experiencetaught me thatgovernment does not have all the answers -- no amount of moneycan take the place of a lovingparent in a child’s life. But I did learn that when communities andgovernments and businessesand not-for-profits work together, we can make adifference. Kiara is proof -- all theseyoungpeople are proof we can make a difference.
For the last 17 years, the HarlemChildren’s Zone -- the brainchild of Geoffrey Canada, who’shere today -- hasproven we can make a difference. And itoperated on a basic premise that eachchild will do better if all the childrenaround them are doing better. So in Harlem,staff membersgo door to door and they recruit soon-to-be parents for “BabyCollege,” preparing them forthose crucial first few months of life; makingsure that they understand how to talk to theirchild and read to their child,and sometimes working with parents to teach them how to read sothey can readto their child and give them the healthy start that they need.
And then, early childhoodeducation to get kids learning at four years old. And then acharter school that help studentssucceed all the way through high school. And medical careand healthy foods that are available close tohome. And exercise. I was very pleased to hearthat -- Michellewas very pleased to hear that -- (laughter) -- that they’ve got a strong PhysEdprogram. And then students gettinghelp finding internships and applying to college, and anoutstanding, dedicatedstaff that tries to make sure that nobody slips through the cracks orfallsbehind.
And this is an incredibleachievement, and the results have been tremendous. Today,preschool students in the HarlemChildren’s Zone are better prepared for kindergarten. Lastyear, a study found that students whowin a spot in one of the charter schools score higher onstandardized teststhan those who don’t. In a neighborhood where higher education was oncejustsomething that other people did, you’ve got hundreds of kids who’ve now gone tocollege.
And Harlem is not the onlycommunity that’s found success taking on these challengestogether. In Cincinnati, a focus on education hashelped to make sure more kids are ready forkindergarten. In Nashville, they’ve redesigned high schoolsand boosted graduation rates byalmost 20 percent over the past 12 years. In Milwaukee, they’ve cut teen pregnancy inhalf.
Every community is different,with different needs and different approaches. Butcommunities that are making the most progress on these issues havesome things in common.They don’t lookfor a single silver bullet; instead they bring together local governmentandnonprofits and businesses and teachers and parents around a shared goal. That’s whatGeoffrey did when he started theHarlem Children’s Zone. Government wasinvolved -- so don’tbe confused here, it has an important role to play. And already there are governmentresourcesgoing into these communities. But it’simportant that our faith institutions and ourbusinesses and the parents andthe communities themselves are involved in designing andthinking through howdo we move forward.
And the second thing is they’reholding themselves accountable by delivering measurableresults. We don’t fund things, we don’t start projectsjust for the sake of starting them.They’vegot to work. If they don’t work weshould try something else. And sometimesthose of uswho care deeply about advancing opportunity aren’t willing tosubject some of theseprograms to that test: Do they work?
In my State of the Union addresslast year, I announced our commitment to identifymore communities like these-- urban, rural, tribal -- where dedicated citizens aredetermined to make adifference and turn things around. Andwe challenged them. We said ifyou candemonstrate the ability and the will to launch an all-encompassing,all-hands-on-deckapproach to reducing poverty and expanding opportunity, we’llhelp you get the resourcesto do it. We’lltake resources from some of the programs that we’re already doingandconcentrate them. We’ll make sure thatour agencies are working together more effectively.We’ll put in talent to help you plan. But we’re also going to hold you accountableand measureyour progress.
