PRINCIPAL JARRETT: Thank you. Good morning. Welcome, everyone.

STUDENTS: Good morning.

PRINCIPAL JARRETT: This is indeed a pleasure, and once again we welcome U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (applause); Mr. Chairman, Congressman Charles Rangel (applause); and Joel Klein, our School Chancellor (applause).

I've been asked to tell a little bit about our school, but how can you do that in two minutes, because there's a lot of history wrapped up in the school. But one thing I can say is our school is named the Harriet Tubman Learning Center and we all know what Harriet was about. She worked very hard to free the slaves, and we know what the North Star was used for. We have to maintain her legacy, and our North Star is the state standards and high achievement, education for all of our students.

So in order to do that, this is not something that we do day in, day out by ourselves. This is a collaborative effort. I was speaking with Madame Secretary. She asked, "What is it that you did at the school to turn this around?" I said to her, "It was many things. We have a group of teachers who are very hardworking, and when we took over there were teachers who would come early in the morning and stay late at night because they knew what the mission was and they continue to work with one voice. They still continue to do that."

We cannot do this alone. Parents are also an integral part of the support that we need to make this work, and our parents support us because we cannot do it alone. So it is a partnership.

Another thing that we do is collaboration. And anyone who knows me knows that I will go anywhere to get resources for my children. So there are community resources that I use to make sure our children get exposed in an excellent education.

One of the community resources is Teachers College, and I see two of our partners from Teachers College, Dr. Streim and Dr. Arnold, who are here with us. (Applause.)

We not only use our college partners, but we also use business. And Verizon is a partner, and Sandy (inaudible) (applause) is our Verizon partner. Verizon has been providing mentoring for our students because we not only have to focus on academic but we also need to focus on the social emotional. And sometimes we just need someone who's going to say, "I love you, let's do a little work." So the mentors from Verizon have fulfilled that void. And about three years ago, Sandy took it a step further and Verizon adopted us via the Adopt-a-Schools program. So these are two of our partners that's with us.

I would also like to acknowledge my Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Yvonne Young; and the new family member to us, Elaine Goldberg. She is the CEO of (inaudible) (applause).

What we do here we do on a daily basis. Teachers work hard and they're supported by everyone. So at this point, I'm going to turn the mike over to Chancellor Klein, who visited with us about four years ago when the original reorganization started. He came and he met with our staff and talked about the work we had to do. So at this point, Chancellor Klein. (Applause.)

CHANCELLOR KLEIN: Thank you, Ms. Jarrett. I am thrilled to be here and so proud of the work that you, your teachers, guidance counselors, your students and parents are doing here at 154. You know what's going on in public education in New York City. It's so exciting. We were just named the best urban school district in the country, and I want to acknowledge one of my partners, a friend, a true champion of public education, the Chair of our Education Committee on the City Council, Robert Jackson. (Applause.)

It's such a privilege to be able to have Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, and Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, with us today. You know, you're at the Harriet Tubman School and you understand history and you understand the role of Harriet Tubman in history; but today, boys and girls, is truly a historic moment. And I hope for the rest of your lives you'll understand the significance of what's happening here today.

On this stage, the two people that we welcome to 154 are two of America's truly great leaders. They're two of the most powerful and important people in the world. Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, conducts our foreign policy. The future of this world depends upon the work she does. And Secretary Rangel, who is in charge of the money organization in Congress, called the Ways and Means. So how do you spend our money (inaudible)? (Applause and laughter.)

Now, why is that so important and why is today a day that every one of you -- indeed, I wish every kid in our school system could be here today -- should remember? Because you know, when I was a kid growing up in a public school in New York City, you could have never had a day like this. There could never have been a time, even a decade ago, five years ago, when two of the most important, powerful people in this country were both African Americans. African Americans from different political parties who understand that the future of this country depends on all of us working together to eradicate poverty, to give a great education to each and every child. I am so proud that this historic moment is taking place in a public school in New York City and so thrilled to welcome here today these two great Americans. (Applause.)

Congressman, I get to introduce you, and here's what I'm going to say. If you read one book, you read Congressman Rangel's book about what it was like growing up in this community, about how against all the odds he changed his life, and how his passion now is education for our kids. You’re a champion Charlie.

CONGRESSMAN RANGEL: I hope that you might think of today as one of the most important days that you've had in your life, because you've just expanded your family and your dreams. My family, of course, is Councilwoman Inez Dickens (applause); City Councilman Bob Jackson; (inaudible) , my old boss, the United States -- who was the United States Attorney for the Southern District and he made me an Assistant United States Attorney; Assemblyman O'Donnell; Ted, Michelle. This is my family.

But your family is what you have at home that can inspire you and tell you where they want you to go. Fifty percent of your problems are over because you have teachers that are part of your family, and they can help you with those dreams. You have a Chancellor who's given up the private sector and monetary gain because he knows that we have the resources and the talents that can make people free (inaudible).

But when you talk about the Secretary of State, this means that you never will have any excuses for aspiring to be one of the most important people in the entire world. Because as long as it is a (inaudible) goes unchallenged that these United States is the most important country in the world, but the person who represents us and represents the President of the United States, there's no one in between her direct appointment and coordinating the activities of the entire world. We use the world so colloquially, but this is the real world of countries (inaudible).

And so I hope that you remember this day because black or white, Jew or gentile, when it comes to someone asking you, well, who did you meet, who was he or she, what were they in charge of. I don't know where they got the silly title of Secretary of State, but they should have renamed it Coordinator for the President of the United States and for all of the people in the Congress who we depend on the wisdom and the judgment as (inaudible).

So you are indeed a part of a very few people in this country that have been able to say that you met her, you've seen her and you listened to her. That's the good side. The bad side is that you will never be able to say you didn't have an opportunity to dream. I may be the Chairman, but I'm still (inaudible). All the important officials are in the neighborhood, but she's not only in Washington but she represents the entire free world and the President of the United States.

And when I visited with her, thinking I was going to talk about things concerning world and trade, she wanted to talk about you, children in California that couldn't make it. And today, she made history and meeting with the most powerful business people to tell them that if we let you down, if we let you down, we're letting down the national security of the United States of America. That's powerful.

Secretary Condoleezza Rice. (Applause and cheers.)

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you, thank you. Well, this is a great honor to be here at the Harriet Tubman Learning Center. And you know what else? It's fun to be here with you, so thank you for letting me take a little time out of my day to drop by. I want to thank your wonder Principal who's been walking me around the halls. She reminds me a lot of some of the best principals that I had in school, and you're very lucky to have her. Never take her for granted; she's terrific. (Applause.)

I'd like to thank the Chancellor. Chancellor, you have really set a high mark for public school systems around the country. Everybody knows that New York is complex and it's difficult and it's big, and you've made a difference. And I do want to thank you for making a difference. (Applause.)

I'd like to thank the District Superintendents and other schools officials who are here. You do the hard work of making sure that the schools have the right resources and the right programs, and without you it could not work, so thank you for your hard work. (Applause.)

But I most of all have to thank my friend, Congressman Charles Rangel. Charles. (Applause.) When Congressman Rangel came to see me, I told him that I did want to talk about America's future, and yes I have a lot of things on my mind on the national security front (inaudible) policy in the Middle East and issues of Latin America and so forth -- but I wanted to talk to him about you because, of course, you are the future of whether or not America is going to remain a great country.

So I have a couple of messages that I'd like to leave you with. The first is to you, the students. You do have a chance to do just about anything that you want to do. This is America, and America has always been a place where your horizons shouldn't be limited, where nobody should tell you what it is you want to be, only that you can be it. And if you study hard and do what your teachers tell you -- do you what your teachers tell you and you have to do what your parents tell you -- and I've seen great teachers here that are giving you good direction in how to get and stay smart -- I can assure you one thing: The only limitation should be your talents and your hard work.

Now, this is a school that's making sure that that's true because they're going to equip you, they're going to give you the reading skills and the skills of analysis and they're going to give you the writing skills and the math and science skills to go out and do whatever you want to do. But I'll tell you something. I studied Russia in college and graduate school, and there was no earthly reason that a young black woman from Birmingham, Alabama should want to study Russian. But I did because I loved it. So the one thing that I want you to promise me is that you won't let anybody else tell you what it is you ought to be interested in. You'll find what you're interested in and you'll pursue it and you won't let anybody say, "Why would you want to be interested in that? You're from Harlem." Well, you're going to be interested in that and you're going to do it because that's what you want to do. But you have to put the time in and invest the skills and invest the time and study hard, and then you should be able to have limitless dreams.

And that's partly because I know that at this school you’ve got great parental support, too. And whether your parent is your mom or your dad or your grandma or your granddad or maybe the neighbor next door, it is important to have people who share your dreams and help you expand your dreams. And I was lucky; I had great parents. They were, in fact, teachers and they cared most about education. But there is some adult out there who cares about you, too. I know, I met a couple of the parents through the Parent Teacher Association here. You have a responsibility as the parents, whether natural parents or acquired adoptive parents, to make sure that these kids have limitless horizons.

And then to the teachers, you're very, very special people. There's no profession that I admire more than that of teachers. As I said, my parents were teachers and they used to -- we would go out traveling around the country driving somewhere. We would go well out of our way to see the nearest college because my parents wanted me to have it in my mind that I was going to go to college. We once drove 100 miles out of the way to see Ohio State. I don't know why they wanted me to do that, but they believed that if I knew that I was going to go to college, that that mattered. These kids are going to go to college. These kids (inaudible). (Applause).

Finally, I want to say to everybody who provides a support system for this wonderful learning center -- the government officials, the folks here from Teachers College who are providing assets and expertise, the community leaders, the corporate leaders who are involved with this school -- you're doing something wonderful for these kids and that's really important because every child should have a chance to dream and fulfill those dreams. Literally, as the President says, no child should be left behind.

But you're doing something important for our country, too. Charlie's right; when he came to see me, it was in the context of how we can keep this country strong and competitive. And I said a couple of things to him that I really, truly believe. One is that if we don't prepare our children for the jobs and the skills that are going to be there for them in the 21st century, then we're going to turn in on ourselves, we're going to become fearful, we're going to become fearful of what other countries are doing and achieving, and then we're going to try to protect ourselves from them, and we're never going to win closing ourselves down and shutting down (inaudible). We're going to have to remain open to trade, to economic openness.

But the bargain for that is we also have to care that our people are able to compete in that open, global world. And there's another reason that you are helping our country. I've said many times that education and opportunity are national security priorities. In fact, the absence of them would be a national security threat. Because the United States of America is a place that has always believed and its people have always believed that if you work hard and you do what you're supposed to do and you get the opportunities, then you're going to be able to achieve.

And it shouldn't matter where you came from. It should only matter where you're going. And if we ever lose that sense in this great multiethnic democracy, then we're not going to be true to ourselves. And we know; the Harriet Tubman story tells us that we didn't always have that bargain for people of color. I grew up in segregated Alabama. I grew up in a place that the vote for African Americans wasn't even guaranteed until I was ten years old.

And so we know that America hasn't always lived up to that promise, but the promise has always been there. It is our responsibility, it is our obligation, it is our moral duty to live up to the words that we wrote, that were written for us by our framers, that all men are created equal, all men and women are created equal -- (applause) -- and to live up to what that means. It doesn't mean that everyone will come out the same way. It doesn't mean that everybody will do the same things. But it does mean that people who work hard and people who try hard and people who put in the time are going to get a fair break. You're giving these kids a great purchase on their future. You're giving them a great chance to achieve. Thank you for all that you're doing. (Applause.)

We'll take questions.

MODERATOR: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY RICE: Following directions here. (Laughter.) Okay? Do you want to sit down?

PRINCIPAL JARRETT: Madame Secretary, we, the entire student body has been studying your life over the past couple of weeks and so I think that students are familiar with you. And we devised questions and certain students were selected to ask those representative questions of you, so we will ask them now.

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Janine Susser (ph). I have a question. How does it feel to be a lady with such a powerful job? (Laughter and applause.)

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, good question. Well, I'll tell you, sometimes you don't feel all that powerful, okay? (Laughter.) You just try to do the best that you can. And I'm very lucky that I work with great people. I work for a President that I admire. I have a lot of friends around the world that help me to get my job done, other foreign ministers. I know that I represent a great country that stands for the right things and I have a deep and abiding faith in God, and all of that helps. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Michael Williams (ph). What do you do when you're not making decisions about the welfare of our country? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: Is that what do I do for fun question? Is that what you want to know? Yeah, okay. (Laughter.)

Well, let's see. Most of the time I'm working these days (laughter), but I also love to play the piano. And when I was a little girl I stayed at my grandmother's house during the time that my parents were both off teaching school, and she taught me to play piano from the time I was very little. And I actually went to college to be a music major and decided that I wasn't going to be quite good enough to be a concert pianist, but I still play the piano. I love sports. I watch a lot of sports. I'm a big Yankees fan. (Cheers and applause.) And I try to get a lot of exercise, so I exercise every day. That's what I do for fun. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Erica Ayala (ph). Are you ever afraid of having to go to other countries, especially those that are having conflicts? (Applause.)

SECRETARY RICE: Good question. Well, I (inaudible) in some places it's a dangerous world, but I wouldn't say that I'm afraid to go to those places. I have people who take very good care of me. But there are a lot of places that are in conflict, and I have to go to them. One of the places that I went that was probably the hardest place I've ever gone was to Sudan. And it's a very difficult place where they've had civil war for many, many years. And I went to a refugee camp in Sudan and I met there a lot of people whose lives have been completely disrupted by the war and kids -- many of them about your size -- who were just living out in the open. And so many times it's hard to be in a place that's dangerous, but it's even harder to be in a place where you see how hard life can be for people. And I'm very glad then that the United States is very involved in food assistance and refugee affairs and trying to help people who need a chance. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Christian Lewis (ph) and I have a question for you. What was your favorite book as a child?

SECRETARY RICE: My favorite book as a child was a little book that my mother bought me. I don't remember who wrote it, but it was called The Lives of the Great Composers. Because I was a piano major -- I played the piano and I loved it. And there was one story about the composer Mozart that I read over and over and over again. So again, it just shows you never know what your interests are going to be, but that was my favorite book as a child. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Maya Ahmat (ph). We've heard that you long busy hours and workdays. How many hours of sleep do you get? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: Well, that's a good question. And I'll tell you something: I believe in getting enough sleep. All right? So when your parents tell you to go to bed, go to bed. (Applause.) Because if you're half awake the next day, it's not a good thing, and in my job you don't want to be half awake the next day.

So I try to sleep about six and a half hours a day at least, sometimes seven. And I have to be very disciplined when I get home from a long day's work to turn off the television and go to bed. So I'll bet some of you have to be disciplined to turn off the television and go to bed, too. (Laughter and applause.)

QUESTION: Good evening, Madame Secretary. My name is Miles (inaudible) and my question for you today is that one day would you might run for President? (Laughter and applause.)

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you, Miles, but I don't think I'm the kind of person who will run for President. No, I really love doing what I do right now because I love foreign policy and I love traveling and I love representing our country. I'll tell you something: When you represent our country around the world, the National Anthem when it's played or seeing the flag go up, I never fail to get kind of tears in my eyes and I never fail to marvel at the fact that here I am the Secretary of State because the Harriet Tubman story would tell you nobody would have thought that possible when our country was founded.

So that's enough for me, and then I'm going to go back and teach college and see all of you when you come to college. (Applause.)

CONGRESSMAN RANGEL: You lost an opportunity to make some great news this morning. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Kimberly McMillan (ph). My question is if you became President, what would you do first?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, let's see. I'm not going to be President, but let me tell you what I think we need to do in this country. And I think it starts right here. There are a lot of things that we need to do in foreign policy and a lot of things we need to do to keep our economy strong, but I just want to say again that I think the first thing that I'm most concerned about and that when I leave this job I'll still be concerned about is that every child in America really has a chance to get a quality education. That's the most important thing we can do. (Applause.)

And it's been very important for President Bush. I'll tell you something. When I first met him, it was not that -- it was actually not his foreign policy that attracted me. He had a phrase that he used that was called "the soft bigotry of low expectations." And I would say to each and every one of you don't let anybody underestimate you. Right? Don't let anybody tell you that you are less good at something because where you came from or the color of your skin. And I know these teachers are all about high expectations, and so that's what I think is true. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. Is it hard working with the President? Do you have disagreements sometimes? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: It's not hard working with the President. We've known each other for quite a long time. I knew him well before he became President, which makes it easier to work together. And he pays me to tell him exactly what I think, and so I tell him exactly what I think. (Applause.) And he's somebody who is always easy to talk to, and even if I'm telling him something that he doesn't want to particularly want to hear, then we have the kind of relationship that I can do that. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Elisa (inaudible). We read that you (inaudible) had skipped two grades and that your parents encouraged you.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I did skip two grades. I skipped the first grade just because I was born in November and you had to be in first grade by the time you -- if you were born after October 31st, so I actually would have been behind a grade so my mother homeschooled me for a year and then I went directly into second grade. And then we moved from one school district in Birmingham, Alabama to Tuscaloosa, Alabama when I was finishing sixth grade, and my parents thought that the curriculum was not as strong and that I would be repeating the curriculum. So they made the decision and I went. I think it was all right. It was kind of hard at the beginning because when I was in eighth grade I was 11 years old and that's a big gap between 11 years old and 13. But I kind of got caught up someplace along the way, and maybe I have two years coming to sometime. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is (inaudible) and my question is if you hadn't had supportive parents, do you think you would have taken the same life path?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes, I think that my parents were the most important people in my life and every day, every night when I say my prayers, I thank God for the parents he gave me because they were really, really special. And they started by giving me unconditional love and they went from there to giving me every opportunity that they could afford and some that they couldn't afford.

But I know, too, that even if it doesn’t work completely with supportive parents, you need to find that supportive family member or supportive community member or maybe it's one of these great teachers, because having an adult in your life who cares about what happens to you matters a lot. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Hello, Madame Secretary. My name is Kevin Garcia (ph) and I have a question to ask you. What do you think how our country will be like when we grow up?

SECRETARY RICE: What? When you grow up? Well, a lot of that depends on you. When you grow up and start becoming active in our country, start voting, which I hope all of you will when you're 18 years old and old enough to vote, you'll have a lot of control over our future, too.

What I think America is if we do what we should be doing, we're always going to be a country that is creative and innovative and where we're always inventing things and where we're always reinventing ourselves. And we have a lot of challengers in international politics -- countries that have a lot of people, have a lot of economic energy. But I wouldn't trade that for the energy and the creativity of Americans, and I think that's what's going to make us a great country a long, long time. (Applause.)

QUESTION: Good morning, Madame Secretary. My name is Ryan Stanley (ph) and my question is for Chairman Rangel. (Laughter and applause.) When you were younger, did you want to be a congressman?

CONGRESSMAN RANGEL: I had no idea what I wanted to be and that's why I think the (inaudible). I didn't have parents to share with me a dream. It didn't happen in school. And when I got a chance to go back to school after the Army, I had no idea where I would end up. And so it's very important that you take advantage of this visit by the Secretary, by the (inaudible) countries in the world, because once you start (inaudible) there's no way in the world you're not going to be able to dream. (Applause.)

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PRINCIPAL JARRETT: At this time, selected fifth grade students, under the direction of (inaudible) teacher will be doing a presentation for you.

(Song was performed.)

QUESTION: Thank you, Madame Secretary, for coming and visiting our school. And on behalf of my school, we would like to present you a book written by -- original stories by our third, fourth, and fifth graders. (Applause.)

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. (Applause.)

PRINCIPAL JARRETT: Once again, we would like to thank our distinguished guests. It has been, indeed, a pleasure to have you visit and to have you come to the school. Madame Secretary, thank you. (Applause.)

CONGRESSMAN RANGEL: (Inaudible) you should never forget, but reminded this is a day that I will never forget and I want to thank you for being (inaudible) and representing all of these parents and community officials (inaudible) is your principal. She's been doing this for a long time and you give her (inaudible) in her life and seeing how you conducted yourself today. So on behalf of the parents and kids and everybody -- (Applause.)