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Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Apr. 14
everybody thought we would win the cold
war as a matter of course-1964.
Four years later, when I finished college
in '68, we had riots in our cities. It was 2
days after Senator Kennedy was killed,· 2
months after Martin Luther King was killed;
9 weeks after Lyndon Johnson said he
couldn't run for reelection because the country was divided on Vietnam. And before you
knew it, the longest expansion in American
history was over, and we had failed to meet
th~ large, long-term challenges of America.
Actually, I think. we have fewer internal
and external crises now than we did then ..
But the challenge is the same, and because
we hjlve feWer crises, the responsibility is
greater. I believe ourlarty's had a solid eco- .
nomic policy, a soli technology policy, a
solid education policy, a good crime policy,
,il good welfare reform policy. But we need
you. We need more and more partnerships.
We need to keep working to create the conditions and give people the tools to do more
and better. But we've got to be guided by
the right vision. And the right vision is not
a tax cut so big that it either puts us back
in a deficit or keeps us from meeting our
long-term objectives.
The right vision is to have a tax cut we
can afford, targeted to purposes that are
needed in the context of meeting the big,
long-term challenges of America. That's what
. I. stand f~r. I believe that's what our party
stands for. And· I hope that it's one of the
reasons that you're here tonight.
.Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:21 p.m. in the
. Ballroom at the Phoenix Park Hotel. In his re
marks, he referred to Senator Robert G. TorriceIli,
chait:", and Senator Patty Murray, vice chair,
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. '
Remarks and Ii Question-and-Answer
Session With the Education Writers
Association in Atlanta, Georgia
April 14, 2000
The President. Thank you very much, Kit.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be
herewith all of you, along with Secretary
Riley and Bruce Reed, my Domestic Policy
Adviser.
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819
It hasbeen over 20 years now since Dick
Riley and I, as young Governors, first began
to grapple with the need to reform education.
It's been 17 years since the UN ation At Risk"
report sounded the. alarm about the state or'
education' nationwide; over 10 years since the
Education Summit in Charlottesville, which
put us on a path to national action; and as
Kit.said, it was 10 years ago this month that
I got up at 4:30 in. the morning to fly to Chi
cago to speak to this group. I hope you'll for
give me if I, don't remember exactly what
I said in the fog of that early· morning.
[Laughter]
.
Doubtless, some of the veteran reporters
here have been around long enough to have
seen this whole fascinating. drama unfold.
Today I'd like to talk about the progress our
public schools have made and the hard work
still ahead. First I want to note something
astonishing that I think everyone in this room
should be proud of: 17 years after the "Na
tion At Risk" report, over 10 years after
Charlottesville, there is still a pasSionate
sense of national urgency about school re
form, about lifting standards, improving ac
countability, increasing learning..
I can think of no other issue that has sus-
tained to such an intense level of commit
ment from the public: elected officials, busi
ness leaders, and the press. If anything, the
determination of the American people to im
prove our schools. is greater than ever. That's
a tribute to the love of our people for their
children, to their understanding of the im
portance of education in the global informa
tion economy, to the realization that we have
the largest and most diverse student body in
our history, and to the enduring American
belief that all our children can and must
..
learn.
It is also a tribute to the commitment and
the enterprise of education writers in cities
. and towns all across this country who have
kept the story of education reform in the
news year after year.
This intense national commitment has pro
duced real progress. Today I am pleased to
announce a new report by the Department
of Education which documents the progress
of the last 7 years, some of which Kit men
tioned. The report makes clear that math and
reading scores are rising across the country,
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Apr. 14 I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
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with some of the greatest gains in some of
the most disadvantaged communities. For in
stance, reading scores· of 9~year-olds in the
highest poverty schools rose almost entire
grade level on the National Assessment of
Education Progress between 1992 and 1996,
reversing a downward trend.
The report also. shows that 67 percen~ of
high school graduates now go on to college,
up 10 percent since 1993. This is a copy of
it, and it will be available soon, and I hope
all of you.will read it and then distill it for
the people who read you ..
Clearly, we're making progress. Our young
people are getting the message they need a
college education to have the future of their
dreams. We've tried to make those dreams
more affordable, With the largest eXPanSion
of college opportunity since the C.I .. bill, in
cluding the creation of the HOPE scholar
ship tax credit, which over 5 million families
have already claimed since 1998; education
IRA's; more affordable student loans, which
have saved students $8 billion-about a third
of our student loan recipients are in the di
rect loan program now-they've saved stu
dents $8 billion, and the taxpayers $5 billion
more. They have helped us to take the de
fault level from over 22 percent to under 9
percent, and to triple annual loan repayment
rates.
We also have more Pell grants; we're up
to a million work-study slots; we've had over
150,000 young Americans earn scholarships
by serving in AmeriCorps, many of them in
our public schools. And the CEAR UP pro
gram. is now pairing college mentors with a
quarter of a million middle school students
who are at risk, ~o prepare them for college
and convince them the money will be there
.." when they're ready to go.
. ," College entrance exam scores are rising,
even though more students from disadvan
taged backgrounds are taking the test. And
, before the Congress this year is my proposal
to prOvide a tax deduction for college tuition
of up to $10,000. If we can do that, along
with another increase in the Pell grants and
the other proposals I've mentioned, I think
when we leave, Dick and I, we'll be able to
say that' we have truly opened the doors of
4 years of college education to all Americans.
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We also see progress in the fact that about
two-thirds of all of our classrooms are con-'
neeted to the Internet, with the help of the
E-rate program which the Vice President pi
oneered. Th!lt's up from only 3 percent in
1993. Ninety-five percent of our schools have
at least' one Internet connection, including
90 percent of our poorest schools. And I
think we'll be right at 100 percent ,by the,
end of the year for not only the schools but
for almost all the classrooms, "except"--:-and
this is a big "except"-in those schools that
are literally too dilapidated to be wired for
the Internet.
.
We se~ progress in falling class sizes in
the early grades, and we're trying to help that
with our program to hire 100,000 new highly
trained teachers, 30,000 of whom have been
funded, and we're trying to go to 50,000 in
this year's budget. We see progress in the
very large increase we've had for preschool
and I've proposed the largest in history for
this year-and in the fact that 1,400 of our
. colleges and universities are providing volun
teers for the America Reads program to help
make sure all our third graders can read inde
pendently by the time they fmish that year.
And we see progress in the growing public
consensus about what must be done to reach
our Ultimate goal, prOviding a world-class
education for every child in America. I think
this consensus can be summed up in a simple
. phrase that has been our mission for the last
7 years: Invest more in our schools; demand
more from our schools.
When I became President in 1992 the edu
cation debate in Washington, I felt, was fairly
stale and predictable and unfortunately di
vided into what I thought were partisan
camps with. false choices. On the one side
were those, most of them in my party, who
believed that money could solve all the prob
lems in our schools, and who feared that set
ting high standards and holding schools and
teachers and students accountable to them
would only hold back poor children, espe
cially poor minority children.
On the other side, there were those, most
ly in the other party, who fundamentally did
not think the public schools were fIXable and
therefore didn't want to spend much money
trying:-- Also they felt education was a State
responsibility and therefore should not have
�Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I Apr: 14
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821
a comprehensive national response. Some of not be undone as Congress looks at Title I
them, you'll remember, even tried to get rid again this year.
ofthe Department of Education.
In 1994 we began encouraging more com
Vice President Gore and I believed both petition and more choice for parents within
those positions were wrong. There was plenty the public school system, including magnet
,of evidence, even then, that high levels of schools, schools within schools, worksite
schools, arid the creation of public charter
learning were possible in even the most dif
ficult social and economic circumstances. schools. We also invested the resources nec
The challenge was to make the school trans
essary to get the charter school movement
formation going on in some schools available off the ground. When I became PreSident,
and active and real in all schools. And we there was just one charter school in all of
sought to do it by investing more in our America, in Minnesota. Today, thanks in part
schools, and demanding more. from our to our investments, there are over 1,700. Vice
'schools.
President Gore has called for tripling that
This did not reqUire, as some have charged number.
I think the spread of the, charter school
even recently,' micromanagement of our
movement is one of the great underreported
schools by the Department of Education. In
deed, under Secretary Riley's remarkable, stories in education, one that makes the
steady leadership, Federal regulations on whole debate over vouchers into something
schools K through 12 have been reduced by .ofa sideshow. Charter schools prOvide choice
two-thirds. In addition, we made ed-flex and competition that proponents of vouchers
say they want. And unlike private schools,
available to all 50 States, which makes it,pOs
sible for them to reduce even further Federal charter schools are accountable to the public
for results. They all haven't succeeded, al
regulations on the details of how Federal dol
though most of them have done q1,lite well;
lars are spent.
In 1993 we passed a new economic plan but then they can be shutdown, if they don't.
that cut hundreds of programs in order to I think we should be working to make all
reduce the deficit and improve the economy. public schools more accountable, not divert
But even in that harsh budget year, we boost ing much-needed energy and ,money away
'
ed education spending. Over the .last 7 years, from them.
The strategy of gr~ter accountability and
we've nearly doubled investment in edu
cation and' training, even as we've turned greater investment continues to guide every
thing we're fighting for in education. I have
recorq deficits into record surpluses.
In 1994 we overhauled the Elementary sent Congress an "Education Accountability
and Secondary Education Act, requiring Act" to fundamentally change the way the
States to set academic standards for what Federal Government invests in our schools,
their students should know. We passed the to support more of what we know works and
GoalS 2000 legislation, which provided States, to stop supporting what we know does not
with more resources to create and implement work.
strategies to achieve standards. Since theI,l, . , We want quality teachers in all classrooms;
, we've gone from only a handful of States hav- report cards to parents on school perform
ing
s to nearly every State with them. ance, for all parents and all schools: no social
Fo'
ight States also have assessments in ' promotion, but help for students, not blam
place to measure student progress in meeting ing them when the system fails them; a plan
those standards-although, as Kit noted, I to identify failing schools and improve them,
have' been unsuccessful so far in convincing , or, shut them down; a systematic effort to
the Congress that we ought to have national make our schools safe, diSCiplined, and drug,
'
standards and a voluntary national test to free. '
measure them. But because we insisted in , I've also asked Congress to make a range
1994 that Title I funds be better targeted, of other investments to make accountability
95 percent of high-poverty schools get them work. Yes, we must end social promotion.
. today, up from 79 percent 7 years ago. And ' But I say again, we need more investments
I think it's very important that this progress in after-school and summer school programs.
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. Apr. 14 I AdministmHon of William J. Clinton,20(J0
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It is wrong to blame the students for the fail- fund, so that we'll have adequate funding to
ure of the system.
help-more schools tum around or be shut
We had the first Federal support for after- down. School districts can use this money to
school programs in 1997, at a million dollars make the sweeping systematic changes that
a year;· $40 million in '98; $200 million in have proven so effective in turning around
, '99; $453 million in 2000; and we're asking low performing schools, from Dade County
. for a billion dollars in 2001..lf we get it, we to Kentucky to Chicago.
.
,will soon be able to provide after-school proLast year, for example, I gave a Blue Rib:.
grams to every student in a poor-performing bon Schools award to Beaufort County Ele- .
school in the United States.
'mentary in Beaufort, South Carolimi.. ClassiWe must also invest in modernizing our fied as one of the State's worst performing
schools, to get our kids out of overcrowded schools 5 years ago, Beaufort embraced ac-.
classrooms or classrooms' where the walls are countability and higher academic standards
too old to be wired for the Internet or where and started after-school lind summer school
i1'sso stifling hot in the summer that students programs for students who were lagging be
in summer school can't learn. There are hind. Today, their math and test scores ex
many cities in this country where the av~rage ceed the State average. and.local parents are
school bUilding is 65 years of age or more. pulling their children out of private school
There are schO()ls in New York City that are and putting them in the city's public schools.
still being heated by coal-fired furnaCes.
If, for whatever reason, a school doesn't
, There are literally school buildings all across turn around, our educational accountability
the country that cannot be hooked up to the fund can be used to allow parents to transfer
Internet-they simply can't be wired: And . their students out of these schools into better
we all know the stories of how many of our performing ones, including charter schools.
kids are in trailers. The largest number of
The standards movement is making a dif- .
, trailers I have seen behind the smallest ference. I believe when we passed Goals
school was 12, outside an elementary school 2000 'and provided funds to help States de
in Jupiter, Florida, a couple of years ago. So velop standards and strategies for meeting
I think that is very important..
them, we made a contribution. Now, the real
We have also worked on this for a long key is-and I thinkit's embodied in the topic
time. For 4 years I have tried to get the Con- ofyour conferenc&-ls if we have standards
gress to approve my tax credit to help to build in all the States, how do we get them in the
or modernize 6,000 schools. I have made the classroom? And how do we make sure they're
proposal again this year, along with an appro- making a difference in the lives of the stu
priation that would allow us to do renovations dents? That, to me, is the real key.
on another 5,000 schools a year for the .next·., .And you have to begin, I think, with im
5 years, in districts that are so poor it is sim- proving the capacity of principals and teach
ply unrealistic to expect that they could float ers to do the~r jobs., We have $40 million
, a bond issue and raise the money, even with in our budget to help States improve school
a tax credit.,
management and school leadership, instrucSix years ago we passed legislation calling tional leadership, by prinCipals. I have pro
, "~ on States and school districts to identify and posed a new teacher quality initiative to re
improve low performing schools. States have cruit more talented people into the class
now identified some 7,000 low performing. rooms, to reward good teachers for staying
schools, and they're working to improve there, to give all teachers the training they
them. The education budget that I have pre- need. This will build on the strong support
sented last year-that we passed, excuse me, we have given for incentives for people to
we passed last year reqUired States that failed . go into inner-city. and other underserved
to tum around their'low performing schools areas, that we've given to the National Board
to let their students transfer out of those for Professional Teacher Certification.
schools to other public schools.
There were no board-certified master
I've asked Congress now to double our in- teachers when I took office; there are now
. vestment in the educational accountability 5,000. We've done everything we could to
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Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I Apr. 14
823
support that program. There are 10,000 think AI Shanker would be very proud of the
teachers who are in the application process AFT, his successor, Sandy Feldman, and all
at this time. Our goal is to provide funding of them. And I think all of you should be
enough to get up to 100,000 teachers that proud of them.
are board-certified qlaster teachers, with the
We need to demand more of our teachers,
idea that there ought to be one in every but we need to reward them better. We're
school building in America. When that hap- going to have a couple of million teachers
pens, I think it will Significantly change the retiring in the next few years. We already
culture of education in our country, because have the largest student population and the
of the rigorous certification process and the most diverse one in our history. We're going
work that is done to make sure that the teach- to have to work very, very hard to get more
ers are actually effective at teaching our chil- qualified teachers in the classroom. There
dren.
are already too many teachers teaching class-
We're also trying to help deal with some es for which· they're not fully qualified, and
of our teacher shortages. Secretary Riley has this problem is going to bedrainatically exac
established· a commission on math and erbated by the size of the student population,
science teaching, and Senator John Glenn combined with the retirement plans and just
has taken that on as his next mission. In Octo- the ticking of the time clock for many of our
. ber they will give us a report which I hope teachers. So we have to focus more and more
will spur further action in that area. The Sec- and more attention on this.
retary has also called for the creation of more
And in that connection, let me say I have
dual schools, that prOvide English plus edu- repeatedly challenged States-I'd like to do
cation in at least one other foreign language, it again today-to spend more of their budg·_
.which could, I think, help to moot the whole
English-only debate, show that we're inter- et surpluses on raising teacher pay. Most of
ested in teaching all of our kids English and our States are in terrific shape today, but
teaching ~em in English,· but recognize the they, too-every one of these States is faCing
vast diversity we have in the country and the the prospect of too many teacher retire
need we have to have more teachers who ments. With very low unemployment, they're
are bilingual and who can teach in an effec-· having the same problem recruiting teachers
tive manner the students who come to our that we're now havingin some of our military
schools whose first language is not English. positions, recruiting and retaining. But they
I would also like to mention that in our don't have any of the sort of supplemental
proposal to create ,100,000 new teachers for benefits that you get if you're in the military.
Everybody says this is the most important
. smaller class sizes, the teachers are required-everynew teacher under that pro- thing in the world. Most of the money still
posal is reqUired to be fully qualified. And comes at the State leveL When the budget
I think that this whole movement to improve surpluses are there, when the money is there,
teacher quality is really catching on. I know now is the best time most States have had
that you know that today the American Fed- in a generation to make a dramatic increase
eration of Teachers is proposing a. national in teacher pay, and I hope they will do so.
standqrd and a national test for all new teachNow, let me just make a couple of points
ers. Arid I applaud them for it. I've been about where' we are and where we're going.
fighting for testing for higher standards, for The fundamental lesson of the last 7 years,
better pay for teachers for almost- 20 years _ it seems to me, is that an education invest
now. In 1993 Hillary and I passed a law that ment withoutacconntability can be a real
made Arkansas the first State in the country _ waste of money. But accountability without
to test teachers. That was .a really popular investment can be a real waste of effort. Nei
law at the time. [Laughter] It was an inter- ther will work without the other. If we want
esting experience .. But because our teachers our students to leammore, we should do
performed, I might add, better than anyone both.
The strategy is working. But again I say,
anticipated, it happened that. the children
began to perform better, as well. Today, I with the largest, most diverse student body
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824
in history and the educational premium ris
ing every year in the global information soci
ety, we must do more. I've been very pleased
at the proposals that Vice President Gore has
made and the education plans he's put forth.
I'm als,o pleased that. after some struggle, we
have had bipartisan majorities for the edu
cation budgets of the past few years: Unfor
tunately; it's still a fight every year. Yesterday
the House Education. Committee passed a
so-called reform bill that eliminates after
school programs, abandons our class size ef
fort, which is totally bipartisan. and fails to
modernize a Single school in yet another year.
This comes on top of the Senate's education
bill, which rolls back reform even more.
" I believe that the majority of people in the
other party in Congress are still resisting the
investments our schools need. In the name
of acCountability, they are still pushing
vouchers and block grants that I believe
would undermine accountability. And both
bills greatly underfund education.
There's an even bigger problem with many
of the plans being discussed in this election
season, and many of them apparently appeal
ing. But the problem is, even the apparently
appealing plans advanced by Republicans are
in trouble because of the combined impact
of their proposed tax cut and defense spend
ing increases. You. know, one of the things
, somebody asked me the other day, 'Well,
Mr. PreSident, what was your major con
tribution in your economic reform package
to this longest expansion in American his
tory?" And you know what my answer was?
"The return of arithmetic; We brought arith
metic back to the budget. We replaced sup
plY-Side economics with arithmetic." [Laugh
ter] And 10 and behold, it worked.
And so when anybody says anything
they're for this, that, or the other thing.......:.
'. you have to say, 'Well, how does all this add
..:". up? Here's the surplus; it's' going to be re
duced by X amount, depending on what your
tax cut is. Then it's going to be reduced by
Y amount, depending on what you require
for defense. Now, what are your plans for
the retirement of the baby boomers? How
will you deal with the fact that Social Security
today is slated to run out in 2037, before the
:end of the baby boomers' life expectancy?
What about Medicare? What are you going'
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to do with education?" Arithmetic is a very
important element in politics and public life.
And it is often ignored-YOU're laughing, but
I'm telling the truth, and you know it.
[Laughter]
And so here's the problem with some of
these education proposals. If you take over
$1 trillion out over 10 years for a tax cut,
and you increase defense even more than I
have-and I've been a pro-defense Demo
crat; we've increased defense spending every
year I've been President-there simply will
not be the money left to fund a lot of these
education and other proposals. I think it's
wrong to spend about $100 of the surplus
on tax cuts for every dollar you spend on edu
cation. I just don't think that is consistent
with our national priorities.
A study came out last week shOwing that
the percentage of income the average Amer
ican family is paying on income taxes is the
lowest it's been since 1966. And it is true
that income tax for lower income working
Americans'is now largely negative, because
of the impact of the earned-income tax cred
it. It is true that people in the highest 20 .
percent are paying higher rates, but because
of the way the economy has grown, their
after-tax income in' real; constant dollars,
even, with higher rates, is 24 percent higher
than it was 12 years ago.
So I support, as I think all of you know,
I support a tax cut. But mine is conSiderably
more modest. I want the $10,000 deduction
for college tuition. I want a refundable c,hild
care tax credit. I want an increase in the
earned-income tax credit. I want families to
have a $3,000 tax credit for long-term care,
to care for an elderly or disabled family mem
ber-it's becoming a huge problem, and as
the aging of America progresses, it will be
a bigger and bigger problem.
I want to give people with money, upper
income people, financial incentives to in
crease philanthropy and to invest in the poor
areas of America-the new markets of Amer
ica that have been left behind-and to invest
in new technolOgies thilt will help us clean·
the environment and combat global warming.
But I have applied arithmetic to my pro
posal. And I think it is very important that
we think about this, because it would be trag
ic if, after we're finally beginning to really
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�Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Apr. 14
make some nationally measurable progress in
education here, not just in the inputs but in
the outputs; and we know so much more
about how to do it than we did when "Nation
At Risk" was issued; so much mare than we
did in 1989 when the national education
goals were written, in that wonderful allnight session in Charlottesville I'll never for. get-we know so much more today. And
. we're able to invest in what works.
But the American people, their wealth,
and their welfare will be far more greatly en~
hanced by making uniform excellence in edu. cation, proving that people, without regard
to their race, their income or their cultural
or linguistic backgrounds, can learn what
they need to know' and keep learning for a
lifetime. That will do so much more. for the
American economy, for the strength and coherence and fabric of our national· community, than a tax cut which cannot be justified
and which will either throw us back to the
bad old days of deficits or reqUire big cuts
in domestic programs, including education,
or both.
So one of the things that I hope education
writers will talk about is old-fashioned arith-·
metic.
Now, finally, let me just say, I think when
all is said and done, there are only about.
three things worth fOCUSing on. Do you believe that all children can learn or not? Do
you' believe that it's more important than
ever before, for the quality of an individual's
life, for the shape of a family's future, for
the strength of the Nation? And dp you believe we know how to do that now, with more
investment and more accountability for higher standards?
If the answer to all three·of those questions
is yes, then I will consider that the work that
the Secretary and I have done, even though
we haven't won every battle, will have been
more,than worth the effort. .
Thank you very much.
[At this pOint, the question-and-answer session began, and Kit Lively, president, Education Wtitern Association, real) questions
from the audience.' The Jim question was
from ajournalist with the Los Angeles Times,
. who asked what the President could do to
head off a growing backlash against testing
and stand.ards.]
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The President. Well, one of the things-
Dick and I were talking about. this on the'
way in today-one of the things that we
. thought would happen, if we could actually
get some accepted national standards and
then a voluntary national test that would
measure against that~ is that would prOvide
an organizing prinCiple, if you will, which we
thought might allow some of these other. tests
to be dropped. I think it is absolutely true
that in some districts there may be too many
tests. And what are they measuring, and what
do they mean?
I also think that on all this testing business,
every few years you have to have kind of a
mid-course review. You have to see where
you are and where you're gOing. And I think
. I've earned the right to say that, since you
know I believe in them. I mean, I've got a
pretty long record here on this subject.
I think we shouldn't obscure the major
pOint, which is, it is very difficult to make
progress that you can't measure. There must
be some' way of measuring our movement.
On the other hand, you don't want our chiIdren and our teachers to spend 100 percent
of the' time teaching to a test that does not
encompass all the things our students need
to know and our schools need to prOvide.
You don't want the test to be so easy that
the whole thing is a mockery and looks like
a bureaucratic fraud. You don't want it to
be so hard that it crowds out all the other
endeavors that a school ought to be dOing.
But all of that, it seems to me, argues for
looking at the number apd the types of tests,
what you want to measure, and whether you
goals are sharply focused. It's not an argu
ment against testing and accountability. I see
no possible way to continue to reform all our
schools without some sort of testing and ac
countability.
!
Look, if none oEus had ever come along,
ever-including me-you know, it's hard to
admit this, especially when you can't run
again, but if none of us had ever come along,
a lot of the good things that have happened
in education would have happened. I've been
saying for 15 years, every problem in Amer:
ican education has been solved by somebody
somewhere.
How many times have you gone to a school
and then you've written this gripping story
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about, oh, my goodness, look at this school' standards if you're not going to measure
in this high-crime neighborhood with all . whether you're meeting them.
.~
these poor,kids and all this terrible disadvan
~\
tage, and the kids have-.:..they live in these [Ms. Lively read a question submitted by a
,\
....
little apartments, and they have to go into journalist from Catalyst Magazine, which
'.'
the bathroom to study at night in the bathtub asked if the Chicago school system's ap
and read all their books-I mean, how many proach to retention and promotion should be
of those stories have you written~ Every one a modelforthe Nation.)
.
of you have written those stories, right? And
The President. Read the first part of the
.
question again. I didn't understand.
look what the kids are dOing.
What is the problem in American eduh
cation? It is not that nobody does this; it is [Ms; Lively repeated t at research showed
that we still have not figured out how to make students retained had not benefited and were
achievement universal.
more likely to drop out. J
Every one of you has written this story
The President. Well, in order to answer
, . ,
,
. about somebody succeeding against all the .that question, I would have to know the an
, .
odds, about a great teacher, a great prinCipal, swer to something'I think is equally impor
a great school. What is' the problem? We tant, which is, what happened to the kids that
have not devised a method to make learning weren't retained because of their perform
.'
,
ance in summer school? Are they doing bet
occur at a universally high level.
. And that's what the voucher people argue. ter than they were? Are they learning more?
They argue that that's because public schools Are they more likely to succeed and stay in
have a monopoly on revenues and customers. school?
So we soughtto break the monopoly without
Keep in mind, in the Chicago system, if
lOSing the accountability by promoting school you fall, you get retained only if you either
choice, charter schools', and other alter- . don't go to summer schQol, or you go to sum
natives. But. you still have to have standards mer school and you don't make the grade
and measurement.
there. So most of the people-Chicago's
. And let me just say this-I realize I'm talk- summer school' is now the sixth biggest
ing this question to death, but this is pretty school district in America. It's one reason
important because it really gets to everything that the juyenile crime rate is way down
else. If I were to suggest to you that stand- there. And it's the sixth biggest school district
ards and measurement are quite distressing in America.
So I can't. answer that question without
and troubling, and so-and I'm worried
about the anxiety they cause, so I.think we'll knOwing whether those kids did better and
ease up on them in the military-:therec\.vould are more likely to stay in school and learn
be a riot in the country, right? Thank you more, because it wouldn't be surprising that
very much; send them back to the training. kids that are retained get discouraged and
And.so I do think it's time to review all drop out. But th~re was a study a few years
this; I think thete are too many of these tests ago! and I haven't kept up with the literature
and some are too easy; some are too hard; as much as I should have since I've been
some are too off-beat;. some may crowd out PreSident, which showed that one big reason
, : other educational missions. But that's why we for dropout after the middle school years was
tried-Dick and I did-to have a .set of gen- that kids weren't learning. If they weren't
erally accepted national standards with a vol- learning anything and they were being passed
untary national test to measure· them and to along, tbey got bored and dropped out, too.
So I don't want to disparage the study, but
have it done by a nonpolitical group and sort
of modeling on what the NAEP people do, I don't know if it's right c;>r not. And neither
does the person who asked the question,
which I think is qUite good, by the way.
And so, anyway, that's my answer. Just be- until you follow what happened to the kids
cause there may be too much or wrong. that weren't retained because they went to
doesn't mean you don't have to measure. You summer school and made the grade, and
do have to measure. Might as well not have what are the percentage of those who made
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Apr. 14 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
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�Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I Apr. 14
827
the grade' as opposed to those who were re , that people of more or less equal intelligence
tained.
may learn in dramatically different ways and
that some of the people who seem to be im
[A participant cited studies showing that kids pervious to the best efforts of education, but
in the Chicago system who went to summer they would like to learn, may be able to learn
school and passed did indeed stay, but she in radically different ways. And Chicago may
clarified the question by pointing out that have enough people to identify a class offolks
10,000 students were retained in the last sev a special national ef
that we ought to make
eral years, and, despite efforts to help them, fort to see if there are some other strategies
became increased risks.]
that would help them.
I don't know the answer to that, but I'd
Th~ President. But let me ask you this.
Does it follow that they would have been be willing to try if they are, if they want to
helped by being promoted, or that it's worth do it, if they want some help from us. .
promoting them even if they couldn't be
[Ms. Lively read a question asking the Presi
helped, because the social stigma of being
dent's position on gay youth groups in high
, retained and dropping out makes them more schools.]
,
.
'likely to turn to crime? I mean, l think that's
the answer.
The President. I think it ought to be de
I don't believe-I guess, fundamentally, cided by the school districts. I don't think
what I'd like to see done is-and you may . the ,States' ought to prohibit them. I think
be right---:-Iet me go back to that. My answer the school districts ought to make a deciSion
to your question is, I don't know, so I'll start ' based on what the facts are in every district. '
Look, I think the teal issue here is a lot
with that.
But you may be right. But what's hard for of parents, even parents that are fairly open
me to believe is that we can't help these minded on such matters, are worried that if
young people. I mean, one of the' things that you have these groups when children are still
I thought would happen with the Chicago ,impressionable, that somehow they'll be
system, sooner .or later-and may be hap.; sanctioning or encouraging people to adopt
pening sooner, rather than later, from what a lifestyle that they may have a choice not
'
you s19' about the study-is that we would to adopt.
On the other hand, there's a lot of evi
identiiy young people who might not meas
ure out to be special ed kids, for example, dence that a sexual stigma for gay kids is one
but who, for some reason, even though they of the reasons that they have high suicide
showed up in class and seemed to be trying, ,rates and other associated social problems.
just weren't learning, even though the teach
And I think that the facts will tend to be
different from place to plape, and that's why
ers were trying, everybody was trying.,
And I think there may' be some of those I think it would be better if the people who
kind of kids in virtually every district, but in are on the ground who care about the kids
a district, a town as big as Chicago, you'd and who aren't homophobic-that is, they're
have a larger number. And'one of the things not interested in bashing them, but they un
derstand there's got to beat some point .
that I would like to see is, before the prin
Ciple is abandoned, I would like to see some below which you would not go, probably an
new and different efforts made to see if dif
age-were able to make these judgments .
fer~nt kind of strategies would help those
based OIl the facts. That's my thinking about, '
it.
,
'
kids to learn.
Ms. Lively. Those are the three questions.
One of the reasons I like the potential of.
The President. Go ahead. ,
this whole computer revolution in the
schools-even though I think it can be over
Ms. Lively. That's all we have. "
The President. Oh, that's all? [Laughter]
, sold and there area lot of computers being
unused because either the software is not This is the first press group I have ever been,
good or the teachers haven't been trained or with that said, ''I'm sorry, we're out of ques
whatever-but one of the things that I do tions." Where were you when I needed you
believe is that there is quite a bit of evidence ' the last several years? [Laughter]
r,:"":,,
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�Apr. 14 I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
828
Okay, go ahead.
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[Ms. Lively read a question, by ajournalist
from the Savannah Morning News, who
asked if the President remained in favor of
charter schools despite studies showing they
were not meeting their original goals and
were draiJIingfunds from local systems. ]
The President. Yes, but what I think' the
"
',', .:.
in another school, and you've got' to have
those kids somewhere, I don't think it's fair
, to say that, especially if you're not-unless
you're paying for physical facilities you
wouldn't otherwise pay for.
Ms. Lively. I've. been told that was our .
last question. So, thank you. We know you
have a busy day, and we apPI:eciate you com
:
ing.
The President.' Thank you again for your
i,nterest. I've enjoyed this vel)' much. Thank
. you.
studies show is, some work and some don't.
And the idea is that, unlike-when we started
them, there were two ideas behind charter
schools, let me remind you. There was an
upside idea and a downside idea. The upside . NOn:: The President spok~ at 11:35 a.m. in the
idea was that if teachers and parents and oth Grand Ballroom North at the Sheraton Colony
ers organized these charter schools, either to.. Square Hotel. In· his remarks, he referred to
deal with a certain kind of kids or to meet Sandra Feldman, president, American Federation
a certain mission or whatever, they would be of Teachers.
more likely to succeed ..
The downside hope was, if they failed, un
like other schools, the parents and kids could . Remarks at a Reception for
leave immediately and the thing could be Representative Cynthia A.
shut down-that is, the school district, in re McKinney in Atlanta
turn for letting the charter schools be free April 14, 2000'
of a lot of the rules and redtape that other
The President. Thank you. Well, first of
schools would be under, should have the dis
cipline to shut the thing down if it had had all, I'm glad to see you. [Laughter] And I'm
enough years to operate to see that it wasn't glad to see you in such good spirits. And I
succeeding. And I think. the evidence is, a want to thank you for being here for. Cynthia
lot of them are doing quite well. And the and thank her for giving me Ii chance to come
ones who aren't, the thing I'm worried about here and be with you.
I think we ought to give another hand to
is that the ones that aren't will 'become just
like other schools that aren't doing so well, our hosts, the Sadris, for letting us come into
and nobody will want to shut them down ei their beautiful home today. [Applause] Beau
ther.
-tiful place. I appreciated Governor and Mrs.
I mean, the whole purpose of the charter Bames and Mayor Campbell for being here.
school was to bring the sort Qf hope-the They had to leave. And as Roy and Bill said
concept of empowerment of the parents and on the way out, '''We've got to go, and be
the students into the pu~liceducation sys sides, we've heard this speech before."
.
tem, and it would work on the upSide. And [Laughted
That reminds me of something Tina
if it didn't work on the upside, it would at
least work on the downside. And that's where Turner said once. Tina Turner is my favorite
I think we need to focus.
political philosopher. [Laughter] I went to.a
:,·But I think that some of them have done concertpf hers, and she sang all of these new
vel)' well, and some of them have not done songs. And at the vel)' end, she started sing
so well. And what we need is to make sure ing "Proud Mary." It was her first hit. And
the downside potential is present as well. But the whole crowd just went nuts, you know,
yes, I do still favor them, based on the ones . clapping for her. So she didn't start singing;
I've been in and the kinds ofthings they've she just waited until they quit clapping. She
.
been able to do.
said, "You know, I've been singing this song
And I don't think it's fair to say they drain for 25 years, and it gets better evel)' time
resources. If you don't spend any more per I do it." [Laughter] So l' thank the rest of
kid in a charter school than you do per child you for hanging aroun~.
I
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�978
May 2 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
Message to the Congress
, Transmitting a Report on the
,
National Emergency With Respect to
Significant Narcotics Traffickers
Centered in Colombia '
May 2, 2000
Accordingly, I hereby direct all executive
departments and agencies, in consultation
with the White House Program for the Na
tional Moment of Remembrance (Program), '
to promote a "National Moment of Remem
brance" to occur at 3 p.m. (local time) on
each Memorial Day.
,
Recognizing that Memorial Day is a Fed
To the Congress ofthe United States:
As required by section 401(<;:) of the Na eral holiday, all executive departments and
tional Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c~, ' agencies, in coordination with the Program
'and section 204(c) of the International Emer- , and to the extent possible and permitted, by
gency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 law, shall promote and provide resources to
U.S.C. 1703(c), I transmit herewith a 6 support a National Moment 'of Remem
',..
'
month periodic report on the national emer brance, including:
• .Encouraging individual department' and
gency with respect to Significant narcotics
agency personnel, arid Americans, every
traffickers centered in Colombia that was de
,, \1ihere, to pa~se for one min?te at 3:00
clared in Executive Order 12978 of October
p.m. (loCal time) on Memonal Day, to
21,1995.
remember and reflect on the sacrifices
WilliamJ. Clinton
made by so many to provide freedom
'
for all. '
The White House,
May2,2000.
• Recognizing, in conjunction with· Me
morial Day, department and agency
personnel whose family members have
Memorandum on the White House
made the ultimate sacrifice for this Na
Program for the National Moment
tion.
ofl\emembrance
,
• Providing" such information and assist
,May 2, 2000
ance as may be necessary for the Pro
gram to carry out its functions.
Memorandum for the Heads ofExecutive
I have asked the Director of the White
'Departments and Agencies
House Millennium Council to issue addi
Subject: White House Program for the
tional guidance, pursuant to. this Memo
National Moment of Remembrance
randum, to the beads of executive depart
As Memorial Day approaches, it is time ments and agenCies regarding specific activi
to pause and consider the true meaning of ties and events to commemorate the National
this holiday. Memorial Day represents one Moment of Remembrance.
day of national ,aw~eness and reverence,
WilliamJ. Clinton
honoring those Americans who died while
defending our Nation and its values. While NOTE: This memorandum was released by the Of
we should honor'these heroes every day for Ace of the Press Secretary on May 3.
the profound ~ntribution they have made
to securing ou(~ation's freedom, we should
honor them especially on Memorial Day., . Remarks at the Audubon Elementary
In this time of unprecedented success and School in Owensboro, Kentucky
prosperity throughout our land, I ask that all May 3,2000
Americans come together to recognize how
fortunate we are to live in freedom and to
Thank you very much. Thank you. I am
observe a universal "National Moment of Re delighted to see you all here. I think we
membrance" on each Memorial Day. This 'should give Karen Cecil another round of ap
memorial observance represents a simple plause. She did a great job, didn't she? [Ap
and unifying way to commemorate our his plause] Superintendent Silberman, you
tory and honor the struggle to protect our might oughtto just put her on the road as
freedoms.
an advertising for the district.
'I',
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�Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I May 3
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I'm delighted to be here with all of you. the pig is not sent off to make bacon. And
I want to thank Governor Patton and Judi it's a pretty good stOl), for real life, I think.
Patton for, first of all. for many years of [Laughter] I may recommend it to the Con
friendship and support, and for, Governor, gress when I get home. [Laughter]
your truly magnificent leadership in this
I am told that I'm the first President to
State. I have served-I was a Governor for come to Owensboro since Harry Truman. He
12 years, and I have served with over 150 always did have good judgment, Harry. But
Governors. And since I've been President 8 I have known about Owensboro for a long
years, I guess I've known about 100 or so time, now. The Baptist minister that married
more. So I have some experience in this. He's Wendell and Jean Ford was my next-door
one of the be!!t I've ever seen, and I thank neighbor in 1961. And his daughter grad
him very much. Thank you.
uated from high school with me and became
I thank your Lieutenant Governor, Steve one of my best friends and now is very active
Hen~I' for beinfJ here. And my longtime in the national adult literacy movement. So
frien and also fe low former colleague, John there's something in the atmosphere around
Y. Brown. thank you, Governor, for coming.
I'm glad to see you. And Senator Wendell here that promotes good education. I under- ,
Ford and Jean, I'm glad to see you. We miss stand Lieutenant Governor Henry's mother
you in WaShington. I had to be funny Satur- was a 25-year veteran, of the school system
day night; they don't laugh enough since you here in this coQnty. So I'm delighted to be
carne home. [Laughter] And we miss you. here.
I want to thank Attorney General
I am on the first stop of a 2-day tour to
Chandler and Treasurer Miller 'and Speaker highlight for the American people the good
Richards for being here, and the other State things that are happenhig in education in:
legislators who are here. And. Mayor Morris, . America and the challenges. that are before
thank you for welcoming me, along with the. us. I want people all across this country to
City Council. And I thank the Bow of Edu- know that there are places where people,
cation for their good work. I want to thank against considerable odds, are bringing edu
the AmeriCorps volunteers who are here for cational excellence to all our children. I want
the work they do in the America ReadS pro- people to know this because the great chal
gram. And thank you, Superintendent Silber- ·lenge before us is how to get the reforms
man, and thank you, Diane Embry. for the that worked in Audubon Elementary School
work you do.
,"
into every elementary school in America. •
I've been in so many schools over the last
And the first 'thing that you have. to do
20 years, I can be in one for 5 minutes and if you want to achieve that goal is to know
know whether it's doing well or not' And what was done and to believ.e it works. I came
there are a lot of rules, and you heard some to KentuckY ~o show Am~rica how a whole
of them today, but one of the things that State can identify and turn around its slow
Diane Embry did not say is that you nearly performing schools with high standards and
never have a good school unless you've got accountability, parental involvement, and in
a great prinCipal. And it's obvious that you've vestments to help the schools and the stu
got a great principal here.
And I'd like to thank the bands who .dents and the teachers meet the standards.
pla~~~ And most of all, I'd like to thank After I leave you, I'm going on to Davenport,
CryStal Davidson for letting me come into Iowa, to highlight the importance of having
her class and read with her students. We read good school facilities. And this is a big issue,
a chapter froin "Charlotte's Web," a wonder- too. The average school building in America
ful book. And Crystal said it was the students' is over 40 years old; in many of our cities,
. favorite chapter. It's called "The Miracle," the average school bUilding is over 65 years
and it's about how Charlotte .the spider old. We have school buildings hi· some of our
weaves a magic web that says, "some pig." cities that can't be wired for the Internet be
And everybody thinks that it's the pig that's cause the building just can't accommodate
special, not the spider, and as a consequence it. We have school buildings in New York
�"
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May 3 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
City still being heated with coal-fired fur- the 1980's, so he's been at this a long time,
naces. We have elementary scnoolsin Amer- too. And I guess the first thing I would say
ica with 12 or 13 trailers out back because to people all across America who are inter
there are so many kids in the schools. So I'm ested in this: This is not a day's work or a
going to Iowa to try to emphasize that
weekend's work or a month's work. You've
And then tomorrow I'm going to St. Paul, . got to make a long-term disCiplined commit
Minnesota, to visit the first public charter ment to your children. And I thought one
school in America, which was basically cre- of the best things about what Karen Cecil
ated to give more accountability with less bu- said was how she charted the improvements
reaucratic paperwork, and I'm going to talk in this school through the lives of her chi!
about that. And then I'm going to Columbus, dren. It was personally very moving to me,
Ohio, to talk about the importance of teach- but it also made the larger point that if you
really want excellence in education. you have
ers and results in the classrooms.
Dick Riley and I have been working on to be prepared to pay the price of time and·
.
this for over 20 years, since we were young really work at it.
Governors together in 1979. We met in late
Now, here's what Kentucky did~a lot of
. 1978, when we went to Atlanta-they had you know this, but I think it's,worth repeating
. a conference to show us how to be Gov- for the audience across th,e country inter
ernors. They recognized that there was a dif- ested in this. First, in 1990 you set high
ference between· winning the election and ' standards for what all Kentucky children
doing the job. [LaughterJ And for over 20 should know. Second, you .identified the
years we've been wrestling with the challenge schools where year after year students didn't
of how to improve our schools and how espe- learn enough to meet those standards. Third.
cially to give people who live in communities you held the schools accountable for turning
where there are a lot oflower income people themselves around, with real consequences
the same excellence in education that every for the failure to do so, from dismissing prin
.
cipals and teachers to allowing parents to
American has a right to.
And because he's from South Carolina and transfer children into higher-performing
I'm from Arkansas, we feel a lot of affinity public schools. And fourth, you provided the
with Kentucky. I have been here-I came investment and other supports necessary,
to Kentucky for the first time in 1979. I, which your principal and your parent have
served with flVe Kentucky Governors, and I identified here today, to turn the schools
feel like, since Paul has been so close to us around, from more teacher training to high
these last 7 years, I've served with six. And quality pre-school, after-school, and summer
I wanted to come here because I believe so school programs, to the latest educational
strongly that we can have the kind· of edu- technology. You have to do all of these things.
cational excellence we· need for every child
The results have been truly extraordinary.
in the country if people will take the basic You know, because we're all here today with
things you have done here and do them.
. our friends from the media who will put this
I believe that intelligence is equally dis- story out around the country, I want every
tributed throughout the human race, and I American who doubts that we can provide
thinlc ed.ucational opportunity ought to be excellence in education to listen to these
",also equally distributed. And I do want to Kentucky numbers. In 1996, Kentucky iden
. ','"say just one thing about Dick Riley: I don't tified 175 schools needing major improve
. think there's any question that even my polit- ment. Two years later-in 2 years, 159 of
ical opponents would admit that he is the those schools, 91 percent, had improved befinest Secretary of Education this country has yond the goals you set for them.
ever had.
Audubon Elementary, where we are today,
Governor Patton talked about a decade of .is a particularly dramatic example. Now listen
commitment to excellence since you passed to this; this is what this school did. This
your landmark reform bill in' 1990. But he school went from 12 percent ofyour students·
was on a committee called the Prichard meeting or exceeding the State' standards on
Committee for Academic Excellence back in writing tests to 57 percent, from 5 percent
�7
Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I May 3
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meeting or exceeding the State standards in for our vision to fade. Now, this country is
reading to 70 percent-I saw that today in the best economic shape it's ever been
from zero students meeting or exceeding the in, and all the social indicators are moving ,
State standards in science to 64·percent. This in the right direction. And now is the time
school is now the 18th-best performing ele to ask ourselves, what's really out there for
mentary school in the State, despite the fact us to do? ,How are we going to meet the
that two-thirds of your students qualify for challenge of. the aging of America when 'all
free and reduced-price school lunches. That the baby boomers retire? We don't want to
is truly amazing.
'
bankrupt our kids and their ability to raise
In fact-this is also very interesting-you our grandkids. Therefore, we should length
can say that-I know that people who don't en the life of Social Security and make sure
agree with what we're trying to do will say, Medicare is all right-I think add a prescrip
"Well,. so what? You know, they have tion drug benefit.
Einstein for a principal there or something."
How are we going to continue to grow the
[Laughter} And yOu may. But listen to this. economy at the end of the longest expansion
In this entire State, 10 of the 20 best per in history? I think we have to sell more of
forming elementary schools in science-in our stuff overseas, but we also have to--as
science-are schools where half the students I said in ,Hazard, Kentucky, last summer
are eligible for free and reduced-price we've got to bring economic opportunity to
schools lunches. Don't tell me all children the places that have been left behind. It's
can't learn. They can learn if they have the inflation-free, economic' growth. How are we
opportunity and the system and the support. going to lift our children out of poverty and
Income is not destiny. You have proved give them all a world-class education? Those
that all children can learn, and you have also are three of the biggest challenges this coun
proved that, public schools can succeed. try has. "
When we. were Worried about unemploy
Therefore, in
judgment, the answer to
excellence for al our children is not to take ment, when we were worried about crime
money away from our schools through vouch never going down, when we were worried
ers but to combine money with high, stand about welfare roles exploding, it was hard to
ards, accountability, and the tools teachers, think about these big long-term challenges.
children, and 'parents need to succeed. Be Well, things are in hand now. We're going
cause all children can learn, and because ,in the right direction. This is the best chance
both the children and the Nation need for anybody in this gym today will ever have in
all children to l~am in the 21st century infor your lifetime to deal with these big chal
'
mation economy, I think turning around low lenges.
And so I-that's another reason I'm here
performance schools is one of the great chal
lenges this country faces in the 21st century. today. We can do this. We'can give all our
And I want to go off the script here for kids a world-class education. And if we're not
a couple minutes to tell you, you know, I'm going to do it now, when in the wide world
not running for anything this year, so I can will we ever get around to doing it? We can
say this, I hope, with some credibility. In not afford to break our concentration. Now
times of adversity, people tend to pull to is the time to.say, thank you for this good
gether and do what has to be done. You had time, to be grateful to Cod and to our neigh
a .t~rrible tornado here in January. I' know bors and to all the good fortune we've had,
it·was awful for you. We tried to give the and then do the right thing by our kids. This
support that we were supposed to give at the is the' best time we'll ever have to do this,
nationalleveI. ButTm sure you were amazed and so--[applause]. Thank you.
I can also tell you, we don't have unlimited
at the community response.
sure you
were all inspired by it. At times of adverSity, time to do it. We've got the biggest school
we find the best in ourselves.
population in our history. It's finally, the last
Sometime,s we are most severely tested in 2 years, been bigger than the baby boom gen
good times, when it's easy for our attention eration. It is far more diverse. The school
to wander, for our concentration to break, district just across the river from Washington,
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May 3 I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
DC, in Alexandria, has kids from 180 dif- not have an excuse any longer not to do that.
ferent racial-ethnic groups, speaking 100 dif- You have to set high standards. You have to
ferent first languages. And the country will have accountability. You have to train and
grow more diverse.
' pay decent teachers and principals. You've
Now, in a global society, that's a good got to provide the technology, and you have
thing. Just like you want to have computers to have the support staff. And you have to
way out in the country, because they're con- have the parental involvement and the com
nected to the world, right? This is a good munity support. And kids have to have the
thing. not a bad thing. But only if we have extra help they need to meet the standards.
You shouldn't declare children failures when
.universal excellence in education.
Now, the other thing I'd like to say is, the system doesn't work. So it's okay to hold
when Dick and I started doing all this, and the kids accountable, but you've got to give
John Waihee was elected the next year, back them the help they need to make it~
,
in the early 1980's and the late seventies, we
Now, that works-invest more, demand
were struggling to try to figure out what to' more. For 7 years in our administration, the
do. Even when the "Nation At Risk" report Vice President and I and Secretary Riley and
was issued in 1983-and a lot of us re- the others, we've worked to give States like
sportded to it; we tried basically to just do Kentucky the tools you need to do the job.
what they said. We didn't even have-many When we were cutting spending like crazy
States didn't even have basic, adequate grad- to tum deficits into surpluses, we still had
uation requirements for high school.
nearly doubled the national investment in
But we've now had 20 years of serious ef- education and training. We required States
fort at educational reform. So we not only to set academic standards, but Secretary
have good economic times, we have' the Ril
rid f
1
h d f th
knowl,edge that we didn't have even 10 years " . ey got
0 ne,ar y two-t if s 0
e regu
lations on States and local school districts,
d
th
k d
, ago about how to replicate what you have
done here. And that's another reason we do to re uce e unnecessary paperwor an to,
focus on what was really critical. ,
not have any excuse for not doing this. We
know what works. And what you've done
And we've also worked to help you reduce
here will work in any community in the coun- class size. I was thrilled that-you know, I
try.
"
didn't think of you as a Clinton teacher, but
W'll h
be od fi d ~ th
I -[laughier]-I'll take it any day of the week
1 it ave to
m i e or e peop e I think it's wonderful, and I'm honored that
that live there and the community condi
tions? Absolutely. But you know, I used to you're there.
.
frequently visit an elementary school in Chi- , But when I was in Crystal's claSs today,
cago, when the crime rate was really high, ,and all those kids, everyone of those children,
in the.early ninetieS, in the neighborhood read to me. Every one of them. Now, some
with the highest mur~er rate in Illinois. And of them had a little more trouble than others,
the' principal was an African-American partly because of the arcane nature of the
woman from my home State, from, the Mis- book we read and the way they were talking
sissippi Delta. And all the parents were in about Desotos and Studebakers and Pack
:,' the school. They had a School dress code. ards-[laughter]-and not Isuzus and
, . ,_ They had no weapons in the school. They Hondas and other things. But every one of
never had any violent incidents. They had tho'se children was in to reading and obvi
a zero dropout rate, and they performed' ously had' received individual attention. Be
above the State average, just like you are. cause-I think there were 19 students in that
So we would see this from time to time. We class today, and you ('.an't do that with 40
would come across these jewels in the rough., kids. So this is a big deal.
But nobody could really figure out, for a long
So we're into our third year now of trying
time, how to make this universal.
to fund 100,000 new teachers, to help to reWe know, now, what the basic things you duce the class sizes in the early grades so
have done are and how to make them avail- that the young people can learn to read. And
. able in every school in the country. We do I'm also glad that young peop!e like Crystal
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Davidson want to be teachers and are dedi
cated to it, because we're going to have a
· lot teachers retiring in the next few years.
We've also supported the America Reads
trogram. We have these volunteerS here
rom AmeriCorps. There are 1,000 colleges
· now in America where youn~ people are
working in the elementary sc ools of our
country. In addition to that, you have RSVP
,programs; Retired Senior Volunteers, which
· I think is a sponsor of the program here in
this county, and other groups, church groups,
other peo~le all across this country helping.
And I thin that's very important.
I said I was going to the charter school
in Minnesota. We had one when I became
President: there are 1,700 today, and· we
think we'll have 3,000 school starts next year.
We've really worked on this.
The.Vice President foughtvery hard to ~et
something called the E-ratein the Te e
. communications Act of 1996, which enables
schools like this to hook the classrooms up
to the Internet and to get a discOunt to do
so. It's worth about $2 billion a year, so that
the poorest schools in the country can afford,
just as the wealthiest schools can, to hook
up their classrooms to the Internet.
.
When we started in '93, there. were only
3 percent of our classrooms with Internet
connections. Today, nearly 75 tercent. have.
Only 16 percent of the schools ad even one
connection; today, 95 percent do, including
90 percent in low income areas in America.
So this is making a difference, and it's very
important.
.
Now, across the country math and reading
scores are rising; 67 perce~.t of all the hig
school graduates ar~ now going to college.
, That'S 10 percent more than in 1993. Part
of that is because we tried to open the doors
of. 'College finanCially to all· Americans with
the creation of the HOPE scholarship which'
· is a $1,500 tax credit for the first 2 years of
~llege, 'which makes community coll:1e at
least virtually free to most families, an an
other tax credit for junior and senior years
and for graduate school. There are 5 million
families taking advantage of it already-it's.
just been in since '98.
And we've expanded the Pell grants; we've
created education IRA's; we've cut the cost
of .the student loans through the Direct Stu
983
dent Loan Program by $8 billion. Students
~ave saved $8 billion on the program and
lower interest cpsts on student loans, in just
6 years. And I'm trying to get the Congress
this year to allow the cost of college tuition
to $10,000 a' year.
to be tax-deductible
And if we do that. we 0 that one last piece,
we will really be able to say. that we have
opened the doors of college to every Amer
ican family, and everybody will be able to
go, and money should not be an obstacle.
So we're trying to get this done.
Okay, that's the good news. Now, :what's
the bad news? The bad news is that you're
here, and we're celebrating, but there are still
a whole lot of schools in America; hundreds
. of them, that Jail to give children the edu
cation that you give the children here in
Audubon. And in this economy, that is bad
for them and bad fortha rest of us, because
welive in an economy in which it's not only
what leu know that counts" it's what you're
capab e oflearning.
The whole nature ofwork is being radically .
revolutionized by information technology.
It's accounted for 30 percent of our eco-'
nomic growth in the last 8 years, even thout
people working directly in information tec
nology are only 8 percent of the work force.
But if you work in a bank, if you work in
an insurance company-in my part of the
country, if you drive a tractor-yourlife has
been changed by the way computers work.
And this means that it's not only necessary
to be able to know certain things, you've got
to have these learning skills that kids get in
grade school to keep on .learning Jor a life
time. It is profoundly important. .
And we do need what the Vice President
has called a revolution in education. But it's
not a revolution to find something that
doesn't exist. It's a revolution to take what
works here and put it everywhere. That has
always oeen the great challenge of American
education. It's just that we weren't sure what
it was we wanted to put everywhere:,Today,
weare.
And again I tell you, there will never be
a better time economically to do it, and we
don't have any excuse not to do it. because
we know what works. After 20 years, we
know what works. .'
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May 3 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
Last year, Dick Riley and I sent Congress . So to make this strategy. work, we've got
an educational accountability act that would to have the courage to do what Kentucky is
fundamentally change the way we spend the doing, to identify the schools that aren't per
$15 billion we give to our schools. not to take forming, not where the students are failing,
it away from our commitment to helping where the schools are failing the students ..
lower income communities and kids .but to The grown-ups have to take respOnSibility for
say we're going to invest in what we know this. Then we can help to turn them around.
works. and we're going to stop investing in Today I am directing-that's a misnomer, be
wnat we know doesn't work. It would essen~ cat,lse we agreed in advance, Secretary
tially require States that take Federal money Riley-to begin to prOvide an annual report,
to do what you have done in Kentucky. to national report on low performing schools,
identify low performing schools. to develop to tell us for the first time how many of our
a strategy for turning them around, based on Nation's public schools are failing; where
a set of standards and an accountability they're located. what the States are doing to
turn them around.
mechanism.
Second! as we press Congress to pass our
It would require the ending of so-called
accountability legislation; )ATe .must ensure.
Social promotion but. again, not branding the
children failures. It would require that only that the States do what they're supposed to
. if you also had after-school. summer school, do under existing laws. Therefore. I'm direct
tutoring. the support services necessary for ing the Secretary to send teams to States to
make' sure they're meeting their responsibil
. . the children. to succeed. And it would em
. ities on low performance schools, to work
power parents. by encouraging more parental
involvement in schools and guaranteeing re with States to apply the kind of successful
strategies that have worked here, to identify
port cards to the parents on school perform
Federal resources like these after-school
ance, not just the students' performance,
grants which States can use to turn the
compared to other schools.
.
schools around.
.
I t would provide funds tQ make sure that .
I never cease to be amazed when I go
all teachers are trained in the subjects they places that there are people that literally
teach-which is going to become a huge don't know we have this money there for
problem when all' these math and science them. I'll bet you there, are people that need
teachers retire in high school. getting people this teacher money that haven't applied for
.who are actually certified and trained to' it. And I nearly know there'are people that
teach the courses they're supposed to be need this after-school money that haven't ap
teaching-and prOvide more support for plied for it, because we have grown this pro
.school districts for extra training.
.
gram very fast in response to a clear national
I've asked Congress. to double our invest,. ~~.
.
.
.
ment in the education accountability fund to
. These actions will help us to spread the
help people turn around low performing lesson we have learned during these last 7
schools or shut them down. And rve asked years; In education, investment without ac
. : ,y Congress to double our investment in after
countability can be a waste of money. But
.. " school and summer school programs. .
accountability without investment is a waste
The Federal Government, when I became ofeffort. Neither will work without the other.
PreSident, was spending nothing on these
Ten years ago, when 'things looked pretty
programs. Then we-I got an appropriation grim for public schools, before alot of these
for $1 million, and then $2 million. and then reforms got underway, the late head of the
$40 million, and then $200 million. Then it's American Federation' of Teachers, Al
$400 million this year-$450 million.' And' Shanker, who was a great friend of mine and
I'm trying to get $1 billion. If we get $1 bil
a very vigorous advocate of high standards
lion. we can provide summer school in this and accountability, said something to his fel
country to every student and every poor. low low teachers that I thought was very moving.
performing school in the United States of. He said, we have to be willing to tell the
American people the bad news about our
America. That is very, very important.
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985
public schools so that when the schools begin straint, and citizens have the knowledge t~ey .
to tum around and we have good news to need to exercise the power of self-govern
ment.
.
.
report, they will believe us.
'.
Well, today here in Kentucky and in other
places across America, there is good news
Statement on the Death ofJohn
to report. The American people believe that.
. Cardinal O'Connor
But they' expect us to. keep at it until the
good news is the real news in every Single May 3, 2000 .
sch()Ol in this country..
Hillary and I were saddened to learn of
Thank you. Thank you for what you have
the death of Cardinal O'Connor. For more
done to help make that happen. Thank you
than 50 years, he reached out with uncom
very much.
.
.
inon fortitude to minister the needs of Amer
ican Catholics. From his first Philadelphia
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:10 p.m. in the
gymnasium. In his remarks, he referred to Karen parish to soldiers on the battlefield, from the
. Cecil, parent, who introduced the President: carnage of Bosnia to the tragedy of AIDS,
Stuart Silbennan. superintendent of schools, he also so.ught out and served those most in
Daviess County; Gov. Paul E. Patton, and his wife, need. His lifelong .journey of faith was our
Judi, Lt. Gov. Stephen L. Henry, and fanner Gov. Nation's bleSSing. From his distinguished ca
John Y. Brown of Kentucky; State Attorney Gen
reer as a Navy chaplain, to his determination
eral A. B. Chandler III; State Treasurer Jonathan
to give voice to the poor and marginalized
Miller; State Speaker of the House Jody Richards;
Mayor Waymond Morris of Owensboro; Diane. in New York and across America, the courage
Embry, principal, and Crystal Davidson, teacher, and firm faith he showed in his final illness
Audubon Elementary School: fanner Gov. John inspired us all.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his
Waihee of Hawaii; and former Senator WendeD
family and all who loved him.
.
Ford and his wife, Jean.
Statement on World Press
Freedom Day
May 3, 2000
Executive Order 13153-Actions To
Improve Low",Perfonning Schools'
May 3,2000
On' the occasion of World Press Freedom
By the authOrity vested in me as President
Day, I want to salute journalists. in every by the Constitution and the laws of the
country who dedicate their lives-and risk United States of America, including the Ele
their lives-to increase our understanding of mentary and Secondary Education Act. of
the world and to shine a spotlight in support 1965 (ESEA), the Department of Education
of truth and accountability.
. Appropriations Act, 2000 (as contained in
This past year around ..the world. from Public Law 106-113), and in order to take
Colombia to Chechnya to Sierra Leone, actions to improve low-performing schools,
more than 30 journalists were killed, many it is hereby ordered as follows:
more were imprisoned, and more than 100
Section 1. Policy. Since 1993, this Admin
nations still exert forms of harassment that istration has sought to .raise standards for stu
dents and to increase accountability in public
inhibit press freedom. Right now, Govern
ments in Iran and Serbia are cracking down' education while investing more resources in
on journalists, closing news organizations, elementary and secondary schools .. While
and trying to block a public dialog that is much has been accomplished-there has
so essential to humatl rights and freedom. been progress in math and reading achieve
. As a nation long blessed with liberty, the ment,.particularly for low-achieving students
United States has a responsibility to stand and students in our highest pqverty schools
with those who are upholding the. values we much more can be done, especially for low
.
cherish, to speak up for press freedom, and performing schools.
Sec• .2. Technical Assistance and Capacity
to speak out against repression so that jour- .
BUilding. (a) The Secretary of Education
nalists can do their jobs without risk or re
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986
May.3 I Administration of WiUiam J. Clinton, 2000
("Secretary") shall work with State and local .
educational agencies ("LEAs") to develop
. and implement a comprehensive strategy for
providing technical assistance and other as
sistance to States and LEAs to strengthen
their capacity to improve the performance
of schools identified as low performing. This'
comprehensive strategy shall include a num
'ber ofsteps, such as:
(1) providing States, school districts, and
schools receiving funds from the school
improvement fund established by Public
Law 106-113, as well as other districts
and schools identified for school im
provement or corrective. action under
Title I ofthe ESEA, with access to the
latest research and information on best
practices, including research on instruc:
tion .and educator professional develop
ment, and with the opportunity to learn·
froni exemplary schools and exemplary
State and local intervention strategies
and from .each other, in order to ~m- .
prove achievement for all students in .
the low-performing schools;
(2) determining effective ways of pro
viding low-performing schools with ac
cess to resources from other Depart
ment of Education programs, such as
funds from the Comprehensive School
Reform Demonstration Program, the
Reading Excellence Act, the Eisen
hower Professional Development Pro-.
gram, the Class Size Reduction Pro
gram, and the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers Program, and to make
.effective use of these funds and Title
I funds;
(3) providing States and LEAs with in
formation on effective strategies to im
prove the quality of the teaching force,
including strategies for recruiting and
retaining highly qualified teachers in
high-poverty schools, and implementing
research-based professional develop
ment programs.aligned with challenging'
standards;
(4) helping States and school distriCts
build -partnerships with technical assist
ance providers, including, but not lim
.ited to, federally funded laboratories
and centers, foundations, businesses, .
community-based organiZations, institu-
tions of higher education, reform model
providers, and other organizations that
can help local schools improve;
(5) identifying previously low-per
forming schools that have lllade signifi
cant achievement gains, and States and
school districts that have been effective
in improving the achievement of all stu
dents in low-performing schools, which
can serve as models and resources;
(6) proViding assistance and information
. on how to effectively involve parents in
the school-improvement process, in
cluding effectively involving and inform
ing parents at the. beginning of the
school year about improvement goals for
their school as well as the goals for their
own children, and reporting on progress
made in achieving these goals; .
(7) providing States and LEAs with in
Jormation on effective approaches to
school accountability, including the ef
fectiveness of such strategies as school
reconstitution, peer review teams, and
financial rewards and incentives;
(8) providing LEAs with information
and assistance on the design and imple-·
mentation of approaches -to choice
among public schools that create incen
tives for improvement throughout the
local educational agency, especially in
the lowest-performing schools, and that
maximize the opportunity of students in
low-performing schools to attend a high
er-performing public school;
.
(9) exploring the use of well-trained tu~
tors to raise student' achievement
through initiatives such·' as "America
Reads,~' "America Counts," and other
work-study opportunities to help low
performing schools; .
(10) using a full range of strategies for
disseminating information about effec
tive practices, including interactive elec
tronic communications;
(ll) working with the Department of
Interior, Bureau ofIndian Affairs (BIA),
to prOvide technical assistance to BIA
funded low-performing schools; and
(12) taking other steps that can help im
prove the quality of teaching and in
struction in low-performing schools.
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(b) The Secretary shall, to the extent per
flect the best research available, as well as
mitted by law, take whatever steps the Sec~ the experience of successful schools, school
retary finds necessary and appropriate to re
distriCts, and States as they address similar
direct the resources and technical assistance objectives and challenges; and .
.
(c) assist States, LEAs, and schools in mak
capability of the Department of Education
("Department") to assist States and localities ing the most effective use of available Fed
in improving low-performing schools, and to eral resources.
ensure that the dissemination of research to
Sec. 5. Consultation.' The Secretary shall,
help turn around low-performing schools is . where appropriate, consult with executive
, agencies, State and local education officials,
a priority of the Department.
Sec. 3. School Improvement Report. To educators, commUnity-based groups, and
monitor the progress of LEAs and schools others. in carrying out this Executive order.
in turning around failing schools, including
Sec. 6. Judicial Review. This order is in
tended onfy to improve the internal manage
those receiving grants from the School Im
provement Fund, the Secretary shall prepare ment of the executive branch and is not in
an annual School Improvement Report, to tended to, and does not create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforce-·
. be published in September of each year, be
ginning in 2000. The report shall:
able at law .or equity by aparty against the
(a) describe trends in the numbers of United States, its agencies or instrumental
LEAs and schools identified as needing im
ities, its officers or employees, or any other
provement and subsequent changes in the person.
academic performance of their students:
WUliamJ. Clinton
(b) identify best practices and Significant
research findings that can be used to help. The White House,
turn around low-performing LEAs and May3,2000.
schools: and
(c) document ongoing efforts as a result [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register,
".
of this order and other Federal efforts to as
11:45 a.m., May 4, 2000]
sist States and local school districts in inter
NOTE: This Executive order was published in the"·
vening in low-performing schools,' including Federal Register on May 5.
improving teacher quality. This report shall
be publicly accessible. .
.
Sec. 4. COmpliance Monitoring System.
Executive Order 13154
Consistent with the implementation of the Establis~ng the Kosovo
. School Improvement Fund, the Secretary Campaign Medal
shall strengthen the Department's moni- May 3, 2000
toring of ESEA requiremellts for identifYing
and turning around low-performing schools,
By the authOrity vested in me President
.as well as any new requirements established by the Constitution and the laws of the
for the School Improvement Fund by Public Uriited States of America, including my au
Law 106-113. The Secretary shall give pri- thority as Commander in Chiefof the Armed
orilY .to provisions that have. the greatest Forces of the United States, it is hereby or
beating on identifying and turning around dered as follows: .
Section 1. Kosovo Campaign Medal.
low-peTforming schools, including sections
1116 and 1117 ·of the. ESEA, and to devel- There is hereby established the Kosovo Cam
oping an ongoing, focused, and systematic paign Medal with suitable appurtenances.
process for monitoring these provisions. This Except as limited in section 2 of this order,
improved compliance monitoring shall be de- . and pnder uniform regulations to be pre
scribed by the Secretaries of the Military De
Signed t o : .
(a) ensure that States and LEAs comply partments and approved by the Secretary of
with ESEA requirements;
Defense, or under regulations to be pre
(b) assist States and LEAs in implementing scribed by the Secretary of Transportation
effective procedures and strategies that re- with respect to the Coast Guard when it is
as
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988
May 3 / Administration of William]. Clinton, 2000
not operating as a service in the Navy, the
Kosovo Campaign Medal shall be awarded
to members of the Armed Forces of the
United States who 'serve or have served in
Kosovo or contiguous waters, or airspace, as
defined by such regulations; after March 24,
1999, and before a terminal date to be pre
scribed by the Secretary of Defense.
" ,,<'
you. I also want to thank the Jazz Band and
the Marching Band for playing. You did a
great job today. Thank you very much. '
I am glad to be here. I want to say I appre
ciated meeting at least two of your student
leaders, Kelly Witt and Ricky Hams-thank
them for-[applause]. And I want to thank
Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson, Attor
Sec. 2. Relationship to Other Awards. ney General Tom Miller, Secretary of Agri
Notwithstanding section 3 of Executive culture Patty Judge, and the director of edu
Order 10977 of December 4, 1961, eStab cation, Ted Stilwell for joining us today. And,
lishing the Armed Forces Expeditionary Mayor Yerington, thank you for welcoming
Medal and section 3 of Executive Order us back to Davenport. And the oth~r Quad
, 12985 of January 11, 1996, establishing the City mayors are here: Mayor Leach of Mo
Armed Forces Service Medal,. any member line; Mayor Ward of East Moline; and Mayor
who qualified for those medals by reasons Mark Schwiebert of Rock Island. I think I
.of service in Kosovo between March 24, ' pronounced that proper!>"and if I didn't he
1999, and May 1, 2000, shall remain qualified can reprimand me later.lLaughter}
for those medals. Upon application, any such
I'd like to thank your superintendent, Jim
member may be awarded the Kosovo Cam Blanche, for making us welcome here. And
paign Medal in lieu of the Armed Forces Ex , since we're here for construction purposes,
peditionary. Medal or the Armed Forces to talk about better sch~ol buildings, I'm glad
Service Medal, but no person may be award to be joined by the president of the Building
ed more than one of these three medals by and Construction Trades Union, Mr. Ed
reason of service in KOsovo, and' no person Sullivan. So thank you all for making me feel
shall be entitled to more than one award of welcome.
,
I love this community. I came here in late
the Kosovo Campaign Medal.
'"
Sec. 3. Posthumous Award. The Kosovo 1992 on a bus with Hillary and with AI and
Campaign Medal may be awarded post Tipper Gore right before our election. Then
humously to any person covered by and I came back in 1993 after the terrible flood,
under regulations, prescribed in accordance and I watched you come back from that. And
'
with the first section of this order.
today I want to talk about another kind of
building.
,
William J. Clinton
I'm in the process of going around the
The White House,
country for 2 days-we just left Owensboro,
May3,2000.
Kentucky. And I want to do two things. I
,..
want, first of all, to make t.1-tis trip an oppor- ,
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, tunity to show America how good the young
11:45 a.m., May 4,2000]
people of our country are, and how much
NOTE: This Executive order was published in the they are learning in our schools, and how
Federal Register on May 5 . ,
' bright their future is. But the second thing
/
. I want to do is to point out what challenges
are still out there if every young person in
Remarks at Central High School in
America is going to have a world-class edu
cation.
Davenport, Iowa
And one of the things that we know is that
May' 3, 2000
you are not the only group of young people
, 'Hello. I think we should give Barb Hess in school facilities that are either over
another hand. She did a good job on her crowded or too old or both. And if we want
speech. [Applause] And your principal, Mr. learning to occur, we have got to give all of
Caudle, give him another hand. [Applause] our students the facilities they need.
Now, this is a beautiful old school. It's
And your great Governor, Governor Tom
Vilsack, I'm glad to be here with him. Thank even older than the high schO<?l' I went' to,
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�Administrati~n of William J. Clinton, 2000 I May 3
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which was built in 1917. I've been to the top
floor. I've seen the physics lab. I went· into
a biology class. I went underneath the
bleachers here, in the locker room. I saw
where you have your meals in the cafeteria,
which was built in the '85 extension. And I
have been given a briefing by your principal
on how you're going to handle the. mod
ernization.
But what you need to know is there are
people allover this counhy who are in situa
tions even more severe. In the city of Phila
delphia, the average school building is 65
years old. In the city of New York there are
still buildings heated in the winter with coal
fired· furnaces, where people literally shovel
coal into them like they did a hundred years
ago. .
.
We have school bUildings so old they can't
be hooked up-they cannot be wired. to the
Internet. The Vice President and I have
worked for 6 years to connect every class
room in America to the Internet. When we
started, 16 percent of the schools were con
nected and 3 percent of the classrooms.
Today, 95 percent of the schools and.almost
75 percent of the classrooms are connected.
But believe it or not, there are some which
literally can't take a connection. And I saw
some of your classrooms here today that have
severe limits on what. can be done in terms
of electricity provision. .
So what's all this got to do with what we're
dOiI.1g now? Well, when I became President,
we could never have thought of doing any
thing for school constructioI! or school mod
ernization or repairs because we had a big
deficit. Today, we're in the midst of our third
budget surplus. By the end ofthis year we
will have paid off $355 billion of our national
debt And I'm proud of that.
We are in the midst of the longest eco:;
nomic expansion in history. And the big ques
tion before the voters this year, and all the
adult citizens ofAmerica that you young peo
ple can have an impact on-and some of you
are old enough to vote now-is what are we
going to do with our prosperity? So we've
got the lowest unempJoyment rate in 30 years
and the lowest welfare rolls in 30 years and
the lowest female unemployment in 40 years
and the lowest African-American and His
989
panic unemployment ever recorded, so what
are we going to do with it?
A lot of times, in free societies, when times
are good, people do nothing. They just sort
of hang around and enjoy ii:. That would be
a terrible mistake, because we still have chal-·
lenges. And one ofthe challenges we have
and everyone of you know it'~ true-edu
cation is more important than ever before.
It's more important to you, and it's more im
.
portant to your country.
We live in an information economy where
what you know and what you can learn will
determine in large measure .the shape ofyour
adult lives and the kind of lives you'll be able
to give your own children.. So one of the
things that we have to do with our prosperity
is to ask ourselves-;-Iet's take an inventory
where are we not giving our young people
a world-classeducation'? Why are we not
doing it? And what are we to do about it?
Because if we can't do this now, if we can't
make uniform excellence in education a re
ality in America now, at this time of historic
prosperity, we will never ,get around to it.
So we have to do it now.
One of the things that we ought to do is
to make sure that we can put all our kids
in facilities that are modem enough that they
can be hooked up to the Internet, that people
can learn, that we can do what we need to
.do here, not just the science classes, not just
the labs but all the classes.
Let me just give you an example. I just
talked to Senator Harkin about this before
I came in, because he got some money for
Iowa to do this; the first Federal money ever
to help in school construction he got on the
basis of a pilot project for Iowa. And now
you heard the Governor say
State's put
ting money in. But 4 years ago, when we
started to talk about this,. the Government
said it would take $112 billion to modernize
schools for all of our kids. Today, they say
it will take $322 billion.
The engineers of our country, the people
charged with building things, a couple of
years ago evaluated all of what.we call Amer
ica's infrastructure, our roads, our bridges,
our railroads, our ports, our airports, our
water systems. You know what? They said
the worst system in the world that we had, .
the worst one in our country, was our school
the
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buildings, that they are too old and not ready
to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
. I have been to schools, elementary schools,
in Florida-I went to a little town in Jupiter,
Florida, and went to one elementary school.
There were 12 housetrailers out behind the
school, because the kids were so numerous,
the school district had groWn so much, that
they couldn't go in there. Even in this school,
where you've got' a lot of rooms, you have
a lot more students here than the school was
built for. And it's one of the things the teachers talked to me about today.
So, why am I here? Because I hope that
America will see this problem and this 'X:portunity throu~h you and your school, anks
to our frien s in the media. And because I
, have given the Con~ess now for one more
year, my &roposal, w ich basically would say:
One of t e things we ought to do with our
t:rosperity is to help build or masSively overau16,000 schools, and we ought to give the
States enough money to repair another 5,000
schools every single year for the next 5 years.
The students of this country and their fainilies deserve i t . ,
'
, Back in 1907 this highschool was called,
I quote, "a high school for the future." Back
then the population of Davenport was
39,000, about a third of what it is tOday, and
Central High had half the number of students it does now. It was a high school for
the future. You have some new renovations
planned over the next 2 years, which I hope
win make it a high school for the future again.
But ~ want ev~ry Single school in America
to be a school of the future. You need it.
You deserve it. And if the Congress will pass
,my ~roposal, we will help you get it.
'
T ank you, and God bless you.
'
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May J I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
Remarks at the City Academy
in St. Paul, Minnesota
May 4, 2000
Thank you very much. Well, after Tom and
Milo talked~ I don't know that I need to say
much of anything. I thank you for what you
said and for the example you have set. And '
I want to say a little more about Milo and
this school in a moment. I'd like to thank
my friend ~ruce Vento for not only doing
a superb job in reresenting the people of
,his community an , indeed, the people of
Minnesota in the United States House of
Representatives but also being a wonderful
friend and adviser to me these last 7 years
and a few months. You should be ve~roud
of BruCe Vento. He's a very, very go man.
Thank you.
"
,
'
When Lieutenant Governor Schunk told
' me that she was going to visit every school '
distriCt in Minnesota, I was wishing I were
the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. That
sounds like a good job" to me. I thank ~ou.,
And Mr., Mayor, thank you for being ere
today. It's good to see you again, and it's good
to be back in your community.
There are a. number of other peo£le I
would like to acknowled~e, and doubt ess I
will miss some, but r d ike to thank Education Commissioner Jax for being here; and
Superintendent Harvey; Majority Leader of
the Senate Roger Moe. The mayor of Min
,neapolis I think is' here, Sharon Sayles
Belton; former Attorney General Skip
Humphrey. 'I'd like to thank State Senator
Ember Reichgott Junge, a longtime friend
of mine, and former State Representative
Becky Kelso, who were the original cosponsors of the charter school legislation. The
Charter Friends National Network director,
NOTE: The President s\:ke at 6:27 p.m. in the Jon Schroeder, who drafted the original Fed, auditorium. In his remar ,he referred to Barbara' eral charter law, which we adopted. The
Hess,' teacher, who introduced 'the President; ,Center for School Change director, Joe
Henry L. Caudle, principal, Kelly L. Witt, student Nathan, a longtime personal friend of mine
body preSident, and Frederick L. (RiCky) Harris with whom I worked for ma% years. .
III, senior class president, Central High School;
And rd like to acknowle te some people
Gov. Tom Vilsack and Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson ,who came on this tour wit me, some of
of Iowa; Mayor Philip Yerin~on of Davenport.
whom who have been very active in the charIA; Mayor Stanley F. Leach 0 Moline, II.; Mayor
Bill Ward of East Moline, IL; and Mayor Mark ter school movement for' a long time: the
W. Schwiebert of Rock Island, II.; and Jim preSident of the Progressive Policy Institute
Blanche, superintendent, Davenport School Dis- in Washington, Will Marshall; the president
of the New Schools, Venture Fund, Kim
trict.
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Administration of WiUiam J. Clinton, 2000 I May 4
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Smith; the policy director of the National is~. And some of the people involved in this
Urban League, Bill Spriggs; and a longtime enterprise have been working with me for
friend and city council member from New years on educational matters when I was the
: York City. Guillermo Linares. And they're Governor of Arkansas.
over here to my right. They've come a long
I also knew that if Minnesota was doing
way to be with you, to see this first charter, it, there was a pretty good chance it was a
school in the United States. So I hope you'll good idea, since the State already had some
.'
of the best performing schools in the United
make them-[applause].
When I was listening to Milo Cutter and . States. And I think the State and this commu
Tom Gonzalez talk first about this school, nity deserve a lot of credit for the general
how it got started, what its'mission is, and direction Qf education reform and rising test
then hearing Tom talk about his life and how scores. Minnesota really is about to become
his then-girlfriend and present wife got him Lake Wobegon, where all the children are .
into this school, it reminded me of all the above average. [Laughter] And that's good
struggles that I have seen the charter school for you. Good for you.
movement go through throughout the United
I'm here today because I want all ofAmer
. States and reaffirm my conviction that every ica to know about you, and through you, to
effort has been worth it. ' .
,understand what might be done in other
There are a lot of people here In this room communities with the charter school move
who have devoted a lot of their lives to trying ment. to give all of our chUd~en the edu
to help young people in trouble. I was de- cation they need and the education our coun
lighted to hear Milo mention Hazel try needs for them to have in a 21st century
O'Leary's support for this school. She was information economy.
my first, Energy Secretary. And I want to
This is a good time for us'to be doing this.
thank, in particular, one person who's made Our economy is in the best shape it's ever
an extraordinary commitment to helping been. We have been working for 20 years
, young people lead the lives of their dreams on school reform; no one can claim anymore
and avoid the lives of their nightmares, my' they don't know what works. We now have
good friend Supreme Court Justice Alan enough evidence that the charter school
Page, who's out here. Thank you. Alan, for movement works if it's do,ne right, as it has '
everything you have done.
'
been done here. And we have the largest and
. The idea behind charter schools is that not most diverse student' body in our history.
all kids are the same. They have different which means there are more different kinds
needs. They have different environments. of people that may learn in different ways .
But there is a certain common level of edu-, and have different personal needs, but they
cation that all kids need, no matter how dif- all need-l will say again-a certain high
'ferent they are. And that it would be a good level of educational attainment.
thing to allowscliools to be"developed which 'The strategy that clearly works is account
had a clear mission, which could reach out ability for high standards, with a lot of per
to kids who wanted to be a part of that mis- sonal attention and clear support for the edu
sion and who could achieve educational ex- cation mission of every schooL We've tried
cellence for children who otherwise qlight be to support, that now for 7 years: .The' Vice
left,'behind or, to use Tom's phrase, might President, and I have supported everything
fall through the cracks.
.
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from increasing Head Start to smaller classes
It is true that when I ran for President in the early grades to funds to help all of
inJ992, Minnesota had the only public char- our States and school districts set high stand
ter school in the country, this one. And so ards and systems for implementing account
when I. went around the country talking ability for those standards to opening up the
about charter schools, mo~t people thought doors ofcollege to more Americans.
I had landed from another planet. because . ,Here in S1. Paul, our movement to put
most people hadn't been here. Most people 100,000 teachers on the streets-in our
still haven't been here to this school. But I schools, I mean-has led, I think, to 23 more
knew it was idea that had enormous prom- _ teachers being hired. And here in this city
an
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May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
the average class siz.e in the early grades is of the reasons is that you have set such a
good example.
.
18. If that were true in. every place in Amer
Now, what I want to talk about today is
ica, the children would be learning and all
of our third graders would be able to read, how the charter schools work a little-I want
more of them would stay in school, fewer to say a little about that. And then I want
of them would drop out, more of them would· to answer-if you'll forgive me for doing it,
do. well. So I want to congratulate you on since you don't have this problem-:-I want
to answer some of the critics of the charter
making good use of that, as well.
We've also tried to make sure all of our school movements who say that not all the
.
schools were wired to the Internet. We're schools have worked.
going to do a little work on the Internet later . Schools like City Academy, as I said, have
this morning. When the Vice President and the flexibility to reach out to students who
I started and we got the So-called E-rate . may have had trouble in ordinary school ex
passed in Congress, which allows lower periences. At the same time, very often we
inCome schools to get subsidies to be wired .see charter schools provide an even greater
and to use the Internet, to access it, there atmosphere of competition that induces ki9s
were only 16 percent of the schools and 3 to work harder and harder to learn. Studies
percent of the classrooms connected. Today, show that charter schools are at least as ra
95 percent of the schools and almost 75 per cially and economically diverse as the puplic
cent of the classrooms are connected. And schools, generally. And here in Minnesota,
I think by the end of this year, certainly some they're more diverse than average schools.
time next year, we will have every classroom· . SUlveyS show the vast majority of parerits
in America, certainly every school, con with children in our 1,700 charter schools
think their children are doing better aca
nected, except those that are literally too old
demically in those schools than they were in
and decrepit to be wired. And unfortunately,
. their previous schools. There are long waiting
there are some, and I've been out on another
lists to get in most charter schools all across
crusade to try to build new school facilities the United States.
and have the Federal Government help in
Now, does that mean every charter school
that regard, too.
is a stunning success? No. But I don't think
But we've come along way. And yet, we that anyone can cite any endeavor of life
know that there are still schools which aren't where everybody is doing a great job. The
performing as they should. Even though test idea behind the charter schools was never
scores are up, even though college-gOing is . that they would all be perfect, but that be
up, we know that there are schools which cause they were unlike traditional schools
aren't performing. And I wanted to come they had to be created with a charter and
here today because of what you've done, be a mission that had to be fulfilled. If they were
cause you've proved that charter schools not successful in that mission, they could be
were a good idea.
shut down or changed, or the children could
As I said, when I started running for Presi
go somewhere else.
.
.. dent, there was a grand total of one charter
And" so that they would be under a lot
. : ,.school-you. You were it. Now there are over more-pressure may be the wrong word
. 1,700 in America And we have invested al but the environment would be very dif
most half a billion dollars since 1994 to help ferent-that if they didn't work, the kids
communities start charter schools. That's wouldn't be stuck there forever, that there
why there are over 1,700, and I'm proud of would always be other options, and that they,
that.
.
themselves, . could be dramatically trans
And .this is actually National Charter formed.
School Week, which is nice for me to be here
Now, the one problem we have hadis that
by accident in this week. And I can say that
not every State has had the right kind of ac
you know, my goal was to at least fund 3,000 countability for the charter schools. Some
or more. by thetime I left office. And I be
States have laws that are so loose that no
lieve we are going to meet that goal, and one matter whether the charter schools are doing
. <.:. .
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their jobs or not, they just get to stay open,
and they become .like another bureaucracy.
Unfortunately, I think even worse,some
States have laws that are so restrictive it's
almost impossible to. open a charter school
in the first place.
So the second point I want to make to the
people, especially to the press folks that are
traveling with us who have to report this to
the country, is that not only has this first
charter school in America, City Academy.
done great. but Minnesota's law is right. You
basically have struck the right balance. You
have encouraged the growth of charter
schools, but you do hold charter schools re
sponsible for results. That's what every State
in the country ought to do.
. .
And I think. indeed, we shOuld build the
level of accountability you find here in the
charter school system into all the schools. in
our system. That's what I'm trying to get
Congress to do. Bruce and I have been work
ing for a couple of yearS on an educational
accountability act, which. basically would in
vest more money in what we know works and
stop investing money in. what we know
doesn't work, the kind of direction taken not
only by the charter schools but by this State,
in terms of standards, accountability, not hav
ing social promotion but.not blaming kids for
the failure of the system, permitting after
school. summer school programs, and real
support for people like you.
Unfortunately, this week the Congress is
the majority is trying to pass legislation that
neither puts mere money,or more account
ability into the system. Bul I'm still hopeful
that we'll be able to pass a good bill that
really works before we go home.
, ,Let me finally say that there are some peo
ple who criticize charter schools by saying
that even though they are public schools,
they amount to draining money away from
other public schools. That's just not true. You
would be in school ,somewhere. And if you
were, whether your school was doing an ef
fective job or not, the tax money would be
going there. The charter school movement,
if it works. can help to save public education
in this country. by proving that excellence
can be provided to all children from all back
grounds.no matter what experiences they
993
bring to the school in .the first place. That's
what this whole thing is about.
My goal is to get more money and more
people involved in the charter schools mbve
. ment, to break down the walls of resistance
among all the educators to it, and to get com
munity feople allover the country more·
aware 0 it. Today we are going to. release
. about $137 mUlion in grants to support new
and existing charter schools in 31 States. the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. I am
going to ask the Secretary of Edu~tion today
to develop guidelines for employer~ and
.faith-based grc>ups so that theywill know how
they can be actively involved in supporting
the charter school movement. .
While charter schools have to be non
sectarian, there is a role, a positive role, that
faith-based groups can play. And employers.
.we find around America, increasingly are
willing to provide space an<l other resources
to help charter schools get started. In nearby
Rockford, Minnesota, for instance, there is
the Skills for Tomorrow ~chool, sponsored
jOintly by the Teamsters Union and the Busi
ness Partnership. Union, corpomte, and
small business leaders have helped to de
velop the school. They also prOvide students
with internships and take part in judging
whether they have met their academic grad
uation requi~ements to ensure that theyhave
the skills they' need to succeed. I think the.
guidelines I'm calling for today will get more
businesses and more faith-based groups in
volved in the charter school movement. '
We have learned now for 7 years that char-'
ter schools will work if you have investment
and accountability, and if you make them less
bureaucratic and more mission oriented. I'm
very proud of the fact that in our administm
tion the SeCretary o~ Education has reduced
the regulatory burden on local schools and
States in administering Federal aid by about
two-thirds, while we have doubled the invest
ment in eduCation for our schook
And I'm very proud of the fact that long
ago, even though I wasn't given the privilege
of coming to this school, I heard about Milo;
I heard about the City Academy; I heard
about the charter schools movement. I talked
to Joe Nathan. I talked to Ember about it
and a number of other people. And I ran
for President in 1992 pledging that if the
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May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
people voted for me, we would have more
of these schools. And over 1,700 schools,
later, thanks to your example, my cOmmit
ment, I think, has been fulfilled and Amer
ican education has been advanced. I only
hope that my presence here today will help
to get us to 3,000 and will help to get us
, to the point in America where every school
operates like a charter school.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:45 a.m. in the
gymnasium. In his remarks, he referred to Tomas
Gonzalez. 1994 graduate, who introduced the
President, and MiTo Cutter, founder and director,
City Academy; Lt. Gov. Mae, Schunk of Min
riesota; Mayor Norm Coleman of st. Paul;'
Christine Jax, commissioner, Minn!'lsota Depart
ment of Children, Families & Learning: Patricia
HlUVey, superintendent, St. Paul School District
No. 625; State Senate Minority Leader Roger D.
Moe; former Minnesota State Attorney Genera/.
Hubert (Skip) Humphrey III; and State Supreme
Court Justice Alan Page.
'
All of you know that I'm speaking .to you '
from the City Academy in St. Paul, Min
nesota. It, was the Nation's first charter
school. I believe iri these schools, and I've
tried to promote them and want to do more,
and that's why I'm here.
The most important thing that we can do
today is to reach out and answer questions
from the students of America, so let's begin.
How do you want to do it, Tracy?
Education and Mooing Out o/Poverty
, Ms. Smith. Well, our first question is actu
ally from Amy, who is from City Academy
we do have it in the computer here; it's ques
tion number zero-which is,what more can
education do to improve people's lives and
move them out of poverty?
, "
The Presiclent. Well, I think the obvious
answer is just to look at the differenCe in
the job prospects and the income prospects
of people who, have education and people
who don't. Education in this economy, where
we have the lowest unemployment rate in
30 years, if you have enough education 'you
have almost 100 percent guarantee that you'll
have a gqod job and you can move out of
poverty.
But it is, by and large, necessary to do
more than graduate from high school. Most
people, to have good job prospects, need at
least 2 years of college. And I have worked
very hard in the last 7 years to open the doors
of college to everyone. We've increased the
Pell grants. We've made student loans less
expensive. And we have given a tax credit ,
,worth $1,500 a year to virtually all Americans
for the first 2 years of college. So the most'
important thing for you to know is, you'll get ,
out of poverty if you have an education, but
rou need more than high school.
Technology in Education
Ms. Smith. All right, great. A tech ques
tion, of course, since we're talking to a bunch
of techies out there. This is question number
200: Mr. President, my math teacher uses
technology to teach us every day. Do you
think this is an important part of learning?
The President. Yes. I don't think it's a
substitute for knOwing the basics, but it facili
tates learning.
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995
And one of the things that we know now puters in the schOols. Frankly, the big issue
. and I bet a lot of you here at City Academy now is making sure that the teachers are well
have learned this-one of the things we know trained to maximize the potential of the com~
now.is that people learn in different ways. puters and the educational software. You
And sometimes, like in grade school, some know, most teachers will tell you that in every
kids will be identified wrongly as being slow school, there are always a few kids that know
learners· or maybe not very smart when in more about all this than the teachers do. So
fact they learn in different ways. We know what we've had to do is to go back and re- .
that some kids learn by ·repetition, doing . emphasize training the teachers ..
basic math on a computer, better. Some kids
And let me just say one other thing. I be
learn by listening better. Some learn by read lieve that the next big move will be to try
ing better. So I think that's important.
to make personal computers in the home
. But the main thing that technology, is going available to more and more people who can't
to do for education is something entirely dif- afford them now, lower income people.
ferent. Look at this. We've already got over· . When Tom was up here talking earlier, he
2,000 questions. We're talking to people all said he was born in Mexico. I went· to a
over the country here. Because of. tech school district in New Jersey where most of
. noiogy, we can bring· what's in any textbook, the kids are first-generation immigrants. And
anyplace in the world~ not only to a place the school district, with Bell Atlantic, put
like the City Academy in S1. Paul; we can computers in the homes of more and more
bring it to poor villages in Africa, in Latin of the parents so they could talk to the prin
America, in east Asia. Technology can enable.. cipals. and .the teachers during the day. And
us to bring all the knowledge stored any it had a dramatic impact on the learning of
where to anybody who lives anywhere, if they the kids and on redUCing the dropout rate.
have the computer-the poorest people in· And the kids, of course, could then use the
the world. And so it is going to be, I think, .computers at home as well.
the most important fact about education for . So· I think that's the next big frontier. Can
we make the use of the computer as universal
the next 20 or 30 years.
as the use of the telephone is today? I wish
Government Initiatives in Computer
I were going to be around, but' I think that's
Availability
a big frontier the next President should try
Ms. Smith. I guess the followup question to cross.
to that is question number 721:. Mr. Presi
Ms. Smith. This is question nu~ber 2,173.
dent, how can the Federal Government help We are getting a lot of questions· today. This
provide enough money to have enough com is from Lawrence, from Fayetteville, Arkan
puters in school for everyone to be able to sas,
..
. . .
have access to a good compu~er? .
.
The President~· I've been to this school.
The Presideni~ Well, let me tell you what This is the town that Hillary and I were mar
we have done. In 1996 we passed something ried in. I lived there when I went home to
in Congress called the Telecommunications Arkansas and t;lUght in the univerSity..
Act. And Vice President Gore led our fight
to. require in that law something called the School Violence
E-rate, the education rate, to guarantee that
Ms. Smith. All right. He's in the seventh
all schools and libraries could afford to logon
to the Internet. Irs worth over $2 billion a . grade, and he wants to know what you plan
year in subsidies to schools. That's why 95 to do about making students feel safer·in to
percent of our schools are hooked up now day's classrooms.
.
to the Internet, connected to the Internet,
The President. Well, first of all, I think
because they can afford it
. the only way to make you feel safer is to try
I have also worked very hard to try to get to make sure you are safer. But you should
the Government to give all the computers . know that, in spite of these horrible examples
we could to schools and to go out and work of school violence we've .seen-we just cele
with the private sector to get more com brated the anniversary of Columbine; we had
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May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
the terrible incident in Arkansas. and Mis old. And there are. rooms in that building
sissippi, Oregon, lots of other places-that, where there were no electrical outlets in the
overall, school violence has gone down. And walls, and there are all kinds of problems
I think the main thing you have to do is to there. It's a magnificent building. They
keep guns and weapons o~t of schools, to shouldn't tear it down, but they neea to mod
try to keep people off the schl?Ol grounds that ernize it.
don't belong there, and to have a zero-toler
And. so I do, I think it makes a big dif
ance policy for guns in the schools and for ference. That's why for over 2 years now I've
violence.
been trying to get Congress to adopt a plan
Then I think it's also. important to have to let· the Federal Government help build
positive ways of dealing with conflict: I think 6,000 new schools and help repair 5,000
there need to be peer mediation groups in more every year for the next 5 years, because
schools. I think students need to have access it's a terrible problem. The average school
to counselors and, if they need it, to mental building in Philadelphia is 56 years old-65
health services. I think that we have to teach years old-in New Orleans, over 60 years
young people that there are nonviolent ways old. In New. York. there are school bUildirigs
that they can resolve their legitimate con that are heated still by co~~fired furnaces.
flicts, and there are nonviolent ways they
And also, there are all these overcrowded
have to get their anger and frustration out. schools. I went to a little grade school in Flor
So I think there's partly a law enforcement ida with 12 housetrailers out behind .it to
strategy to keep guns and knives and other house the kids-12-not one or two. So yes,
weapons out of the hands of kids at school, I think it makes a big difference.
.
to keep people off the school grounds who
shouldn't be here. Then I think there has . School Uniforms
to be a positive human development effort
Ma. Smith. Let's go to-here's one I know
to get people to adopt nonviolent strategies you have an. opinion about-2.987. This is
for dealing with their anger,· their hurt, and Brandon: What do you think about school
their conflicts.
.
uniforms?
The Preaident. I support them in the .
EducCltion Infrastructure
early grades. I think-and I'll tell you why.
Ma. Smith. Let's do 201. This is from I have been a big supporter of school uni
Elena":"l hope I'm saying that right: Presi: forms-well, I support them for high schools,
dent Clinton, do you think that the physical too, if people want them. But let me just
condition· of a school bUilding has an effect say, we have a lot of evidence .that particu
.
larly in elementary and junior high schools,
on learning in the classroom?
The President. Yes, I do. If it's. bad school uniforms perform two very valuable
enough-in two or three ways. First of all, functions: They promote discipline, and they
I think if a school is in terrible physical condi promote learning. Why? Because in the early
tion, when children go through a school every years, school uniforms remove the economic .
.
day, if the roof is leaking and.the windows distinctions between kids.
I went to a junior high school out in Cali
are broken and it's stiflingly hot-I mean,
young people are not stupid; they're smart. fornia, in the third-biggest school district in
They say, "Okay, all these politicians and California, where they have a school uniform
teachers say we're the most important people policy. And I had an inner-city young boy
in the world. If we're the most important talking and a young girl who was probably .
people in the world and education is the most upper middle class. And both of them loved·
important thing in the world, why are they the ~niform policy, because they said it re
letting me go to school in this wreck of a moved the distinctions between kids, and it
removed the pressure to try to show where
building where I'm miserable?"
.
rhe second problem is, it's actually harder . you were in some. economic or sOCial hier
to teach in difficult physical facilities. I was . archy by what you were wearing.
But I also can tell you, there is lots and
. at a school-actually, a very beautiful school
. yesterday in Davenport, Iowa. It's 93 years lots of evidence that it reduces conflict and
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�'Administration of WiUiam J. Clinton, 2000 I May 4
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violence and promotes an atmosphere of dis
cipline among younger people. So I think
you know, I really think that having that pol..:
icy is good. I've seen it allover America. I've
done everything I could, to/romote it. I've
been ridiculed and attacke and made, fun
of for promoting it, but I believe in them:
I think they do good. I do."
,
Ms. Smith. We've done lots of stories on '
that. I don't think every' kid in America
agrees with you, but-'
Tlie' President. I know they don't.
[Laughter] You ollght to see my mail about
it. [Laughter]
997
I would leave it to the schools or the school
districts to decide what the young people
should do. But I think it does us all good
to get out and deal with people who are dras
tically different from ourselves and who-no
matter how bad we think our lives are; there
is always somebody with a bigger problem
and a bigger need and a bigger challenge.
And I just think it's good for people to serve,
other people in the community. So I would
make it a part of the curriculum. I would.
Educational Opportunities for the
Disadvantaged - "
'
Ms. Smith. Okay, this is 3,348, from Mis
Com~, nity Service
sion Junior High, in Texas: What is being
done to ensure that economically disadvan
Ms•. Smith~ Question number 296. This is ' taged students are prOvided the opportuni- ,
from Melinda. from Dublin High School. We ties for higher education?
,
don't have where Dublin i s . ,
' The President. Good question. Let me
The President. Ohio, I think, isn't it?
, give you all the answers. This has been a big
priority of mine. Here's what we've, done.
Ms. Smith. Is it Ohio?
Since I've been President, we have increased
The President. I think so.
Ms. Smith. Very good. Do you believe that
the number and the amount of the Pell
students should be required to do commu grants, which ~ the scholarship the Federal
'nity service as a part of their core cut Government gives to the poorest students.
We have also changed the student loan pro
riculum?,
. '
The President. Yes. That's the short anM gram, so that it's now cheaper to take out
swer. I do. Maryland is the only State now a loan if you get one of the so:.called direct,
that requires community service as a require 'loans, issued directly from the Federal Gov
ment. To get a high school diploma in Mary-' ernment. The interest rate is lower. And then
land, at some point you have to do some com when you get out of school, if you take a
munity service.
'
job that has a modest salary, you can limit
You know, I've been a big supporter of your repayments to a certain percentage of
community service. I founded the your income. It's saved, in 5 years, $8 billion
AmeriCorps program, and now 150,000 in student loan costs for America's students.
young people have served their communities· We've raised the number of work-study'
and earned some money,Jo go to college 'positions from 700,000 to a million. And we
, through various AmeriCorps projects. We passed the HOPE scholarship. That's the big
, started a program called America Reads. gest deal. It's a $1,500 tax credit for the first
There are now people from 1,000, different 2 years of college, and then also for the junior
colleges, going into the grade schools of and senior year and for graduate schools you
Ainerica, helping make sure all of our third get a tax break. And I'm now trying,to get
graders can read-and a lot of retired groups, Congress to adopt a law which allows people
to deduct up to $10,000 in college tuition
too.
I believe community service is one of the from any tax burdens they have. So I think
most important things that happens in Amer that will help.
'
ica to bind us together across the lines that
If that passes, I think we can honestly say
divide us. And in 1987, 13 years ago, I was that income is not barrier to ·going to col
on a commission on middle schools which lege. Between the scholarships, the loans, the
recommended that community service, be work-study programs, and. the HOPE schol
made a part of the curriculum. So I've been arship tax credit,' which 5 million families
a believer of this for a long time.
,have already used, that's why college-gOing
a
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May 4 I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
�Administration of William j, Clinton, 2000 I May 4,
. we should expliCitly make that option avail
able; we'should respect the people who
.' choose it, but we ought to say. "If you do
.it, your children have to demonstrate that
they know what they're supposed to know
when they're supposed to know it."
,
Ms. Smith. Just an update, we've received
more than 10,000 questions so far, Pretty
good.
' .
The President. I need to give shorter an
.
swers. (l.t.rughterJ
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Goals o/Education
Ms. Smith. Question 4,154, this is Howard
from Providence: Do you consider the goal
,of public education to be to make someone
ready for employffient, practical; or to make
. , someone a well-rounded, enlightened indi
vidual?
The President. Both. That is, I think
when I say ready for employment, if you're
talking about getting through high school,
I've already said I don't think that ~ll make
most people ready for employment.
We live in a world in which what you know
,is important, but what you're capable of
learning is even more important. because the
'stock of knowledge is doubling once every
5 years, more or less. So I think that being
able to be a useful member of society is im
portant. But I also think being able to be
a good citizen and having a liberal arts back
ground is important. So I tl?ink we should
pursue both. '
,
I've never thought of education as purely
a utilitarian thing, just something that is a
meal ticket. It also makes life more inter
esting. All these young' people here-you'
know. if you develop the,. ability to read and
to think and to feel comfortable with ideas
and emotions and concepts, it makes life
more interesting. It makes your own life
. : more fulfilling. So I think education should
, both prepare you for the world of work and
help you live a more fulfilling life and be
a better citizen.
Standanli Testa
M8~ Smith. Okay, this question 5,492. This
is Eliza from New York: How can the testing
system be changed so that teachers are not
pressured to the point that they are cheating
for the, kids? Don't you see it as a flaw in
999
the system more than in the teachers? I guess
,they're talking about high-stakes standards
testing,
,
The President. Yes, well, here's the prob
lem. First of all, I think that it is almost un
avoidable, if you believe as I do, that there
has to be some measure at some point along
the way in school of whether young people
have actually learned what their diplomas say
they have learned. And what I think is impor
tant-the way-I can tell you how it can be
changed so that the teachers aren't pressured
to cheat. You can have one or more second
chances.
'
Ms. Smith. So if you fail a test-
The President. Yes, yes. Let me give you
an example. In Chicago. for example. which
most, people believed a few years ago had
the most troubled big-city school system in
the country. they adopted a no-social-pro
motion strategy~ And if you didn't pass the
exams and make' appropriate grades. you,
couldn't go on. But they gave 100 percent
of the people a chance to gO to summer
school and do well. As a result of that, today,
the Chicago summer school i~listen to
Jhi~it's the Sixth-largest school district in
'America, just the kids going to summer
school. But as a result of that, there aren't .
very many people who are held back, and
that dramatically reduces the tension to
cheal
I think an even better system is to make
sure that all the kids who are having trouble;
and particularly an the schools that are low
performing, have really rich and substantive
after-school programs, weekend programs, as
well as summer school programs, so that the
tests measure whether the children are learn
ing.
,
Look, we know nearly-literally right at
100 percent of the people can learn' what
they need to know to go from grade to grade.
·You know, this whole business that all chil
dren can learn is not just a slogan. So I think
it's very important not to blame the children
"
when the system fails them.
So the answer is-to reduce the tension
to cheat, is to have a lot of second chances
but to make sure that when a you!lg person
is told you get to go on because you learned
something, that the stuff has really been
learned.
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May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
Education Then and Now
berfect and without challenges. But we're
etter off being integated than segregated.
Ms. Smith. We want to squeeze in just
one mor:Juestion, question 249, from Leah We:re better off ~ the new technology.
in Cybe . lage: Mr; President, how would We re better off WIth the assum~on that we
you compare your education in grade school ought to try to prepare every 'd and give
every child the chance to goto college. That's
to public education today?
The President. Well, first of all, in many myVlew.
. Ms. Smith. As you see from the number
ways, it's better today, althouth one of the
of ,questions, we could do this. all day, but
things I will say is I was very lessed; I had
great teachers. I had-my sixth grade teach- we re out oftime.
The President. These are great· ques
ers, Kathleen Scher ~ was typical of the teach
ers of the early-the first 50, 60 years in this tions-I mean, great. .
Ms. Smith. Aren't they great? There are
country. She was a lady who-she never mar..
so many, one affer the other.
.
ried; she lived with her cousin. They were
The President. I wish that they all had
both teachers, and they lived to be 90 years
old. And I corresponded with her until she yes/no answers; I'd just run down. [Laughter]
died. She came to see me once a year. We . Ms. Smith,. You know what, they can all
were frieqds, and she was a great, devoted . E-mail you, right? [Lau~hter] Just kidding.
Well, I want to than you so much for
teacher.
being here; Mr. President. This was a treat.
The discrimination against women· in the
workplace in the first part of this century I want to also thank the distinguished guests
worked to drive the smartest and most gifted that were here, thank City Acade~, thank
and most dedicated of public servants among Yahoo! for prOviding this chat au itorium,
women in~o the classroom. They were teach~ and of course, all of the students across the
ers and nurses-women-because that's country who lo~ed in and Jlarticipated in
this. SonY we cou dn't get to I ofyou. Great
what they could do. And the end of discrimi
questions.
\
nation among women, which has been a great
· The President. Thank you. Great job.
thing for women, has given women lots of
Thank you.
.
.. .
other options.
But I had good teachers. So that's the good · NOTE: The inteIView was taped at 10:13 a.m. in
thing I will say about that. I was very fortu
gymnasium at the City Academy and was broad
nate and blessed. But I went to segrefated cast online via the Internet. In his remarks. the
schools, which I resented at the time. I new President referred to Tomas Gonzalez, 1994 City
it was wrong, before the civil rights move: Academy graduate. A tape was not available for
ment. And it's better today that we have a verification of the content of these remarks.
diverse student body, and we'reall learning
to live together and work together in school. Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion .
. There were no computers, although we
.. read a lot. And at the time, it was assumed on Reforming America's Schools in
.
that .most people would not go to college, Columbus, Ohio
instead of that most people would. So in that· · May 4, 2000
sense, I think things are better today. .
· [Barbara Blake, principal, Eastgate Elemen
. Now, violence was hav:r a fist-fight on
the playground. Nobody h a gun. So there tary School, welcomed participants and outlined improvements in student peifomumce
was less fear. The only thing you ever had
· at her school. She then introduced the Prest
to fear was whether somebody that hated you
dent, noting that she had requested infonna
was going to beat you up. You never had the
tlan an education·al reform from him while
fear that somebody would pull a knife or a
he was Governor ofArkansas.]
gun. So I'd say those were the differences..
But if you look, on balance, we're better . The President. Thank you very much, Ms.
off today than we were when I was in grade Blake. I guess I should begin by saying I'm
school. We just have to deal with today's certainly glad I answered that letter-[laugh
challenges. There will never .be a time that's terJ-so many years ago. I wan~ to thank you
...
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�Administration of William]. Clinton,2000 I May 4
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for .welcoming me here. And 'thank you,
Mayor Coleman, for your leadership and for
welcoming me also.' Thank you, Super
intendent Rosa Smith; Representative
Beatty; City Council President Habash;
House Minority Leader Ford. I'd like to
thank the leaders of the Columbus and Ohio
Education Association, John Grossman and
Gary Allen, who are here. And I'd like to
thank all of our panelists who are here.
I have· been on a tour these last 2. days
to highlight the good things that are hap
pening in education in America, to highlight
the reforms that make these good things pos
sible, and most important, to highlight the
great challenge before the United States
today to tum around all low performing
. schools and give all of our children a world
class education. '
. Yesterday morning I was in western Ken
tucky in the little town of Owensboro,. which
has had extraordinary success. in turning
around its lowest performing schools. In.
1996, the State identified 175 of them. Just
2 years later, 159-0ver 90 percent-had im
proved beyond the goals the State set for
them. In the little school I visited,' where
two-thirds of the children were eligible for
free and reduced lunches, in 4, years they
had recorde.d the same sort of improvements
that you mentioned here, on a trend line,
which proves that income and station in life
are not destiny, that all of our children can
learn, that intelligence is ,equally distributed.
And that means the grownups among us have
a big re~nsibi~ity to give eve~ single. one
.of these kids,hke those ,beautiful. bnght
eyed' kids that I saw in this school-and I
just shook hands with' every one of them
have a chance to live up to their dreams.
Then after I left Kentucky yesterday, I
went to Davenport, Iowa, and I visited a 93:
'yellJ:-old high school finally beginning to get
the renovations it needs so that students have
the lean:ting environment they need. Some
of those school rooms didn't even have cIeC
. trical outlets in the walL And believe it or
not, it was even hotter in the gym there than
it is here today. [Laughter] sorm just as
Cool as a cucumber now.
This morning I was in the Nation's first.
charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota, which
is providing an excellent education to stu
1001
dents whowere not succeeding in other pub
lic schools. That was the first charter school
in the country. established in 1992. They
were basically schools within the public
school system set up by teachers and parents
and citizens with a specific. definite mission,
and schools that can be shut down if they
fail in that mission.
There was one in the whole country. that
one I visited today. in '72. We've invested
$500 million since then, and there are now
1,700, prOviding excellence in education to
special needs, of the people and their com
munities. And while I was there, I actually
, had a Webside Chat on the Internet with
students all across America about the chai
lenges in education. And in a matter of about
20 minutes, they sent me over 10,000 ques
tions. [Laughter] So don't let anybody say the
young people of America are not curious.,
They could ask faster than I could answer.
I really can think of no better place to wrap
up my tour than here in Columbus, which
has had a long history of educational inter
. vention and innovation and excellence. In
1909, Columbus opened the Nation's very
first junior high school. And now, again,
you're on the cutting edge of reform and im
provement.
.
rm here today prim~y not to talk but
to listen to the panelists here about what
you're doing right. But I want to say. for the
benefit of the country and through the press
who are here, that this community has imple
mented high academic standards and assess
ments to see if the students' and the schools
are meeting those standards. They've given
students help to meet those standards, from
after-school programs to smaller classes.
Their strategy, which is our strategy in the
Clinton-Gore administration. of investing
more and demanding more, is working. .
Now,
heard our principal talk about
the advances; Just in the last 3 years, the test
scores have skyrocketed, and the test scores
themselves have gone up more than 200 per
cent. But I don't know if you listened to
that-the percentage of students dOing,an
acceptable job-listen to this-in one year
she talked about 2 years ago and last year,
not this year-in one year went up almost
500 percent in reading. over 300 percent in
you
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, . May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
math, and 300' percent in science-in one We have doubled our investment in edu
cation and training. And I think that's very
year. All children can learn.
I want to say a special word of appreciation important.
But we also said to people that got Federal
, to the teachers who I also met outside and
to those of you who work to improve the aid to education, "If you want this Federal
quality of the teacher corps. Listen to this:. aid, you have to have high standards for what
More than a third of these teachers have a your children should know." We've given the
master's degree and over lO years' experi- States the resources they need to help
ence teaching. I understand your peer assist- schools implement those standards. We've
ance and review program is helping both new required States to identify their low per
, and veteran teachers to do better by learning forming schools and come up with strategies
from each other, something I very much be- to tum them around.
.
Iieve in.
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'
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We've helped to reduce class size in the
, And this is very important: You have cut early grades with our program, now in 'its
the attrition rate of first.:year teachers by 40 third year, to prOvide 100,000 new, highly
percent. This is terrifically important because trained teachers in the first 3 grades. I'm
we have so many teacherl! who will be retir- happy to say that 55 of those teachers are
ing.in America in the next few years, and now in Columb~s, 2 here at Eastgate. And
we have the largest number of students in this community has taken the average class
our schools in history. So redUCing the attri- size in grades one through 3 from nearly 25
tion rate is a big deal and something you down to 15. That is, doubtless, one reason
"
.
should be very proud of. .'
WhUe there is still more work to be done ,you're seeing these big improvements in stu
here and, indeed, in ev,ery school in the cou,n- dents' performance, and again I applaud you
for that.
try, you have proved that with the right ideas
When I became President, there was no
and the right tools, yo1,1 can do what needs
.to be done.
' .
,Federal support for summer scltool proSince 1993, our administration has worked grams. All these studies would show the kids
hard to make education our number one pri- that were having trouble learning forgot a lot
ority, ,not just in a speech but in reality. And of what they did learn over the summer. And
I must say, I don't know that I have ever then the, teachers would have to spend 4, 6,
heen more touched,by anything J have ever sometimes as many as 8 weeks reviewing
seen in any school in my life as I Was when what Was done the, year before, before they
I looked up-hanging from the ceiling on the could even start on what they were being
corridor when I"came down here-and you ' held responsible to teach in the new year.
,We went from a $1 million program in
had put up ahistory of what our administration had done since January of '93 in edu- ' 1997 to $20 million in '98, to $200 million
cation. I was completely blown away. I dare in' '99, to $450 million this year. And my
say that outside of Hillary, the Vice Presi- budget asks for a billion dollars. If the Con
dent, and Secretary Riley, you now know' gress will give it to me, we will be able to
more about what we have done than anybody guarantee summer school opportunities to
else in America. [Laughter]'
.
every student in every low performing school
But let me just briefly review a couple of in the entire United States of America. It
the things that I think are important. When is terribly importaht that we pass this.
What you have'done here-I know that
I came in office,we had a $295 billion deficit.
, Interest rates were high. Unemployment was 30 fourth graders in this school participate
high. We had to get rid of the deficit. We in such programs. I said summer school; I
had to keep doing things. We got rid of hun- meant after-school, although the, funds can
dreds of programs. And as we turned a deficit also be used for summer school. I just came
.into 3 years of surpluses, now this year we from Minneapolis, where a third of all ,their '
will have paid off $355 billion of the national students are now in summer school pro-\
debt, well on our way to getting America out grams, in the entire school district. Why? Be
, ofdebt entirely, for the first time since,1835. ' cause they have so many people who are
�Ad'!'inistration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I May 4
'1003
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coming from other countries whose first Ian
guage is not English. They wOllld never even
have a chance to not only master the lan
guage but learn what they need to learn if
slimmer school weren't made available to
them. So the after-school and the summer
school programs are important.
, We're trying to builq or radically overhaul
6,000 schools and to modernize another
5,000 over the next 5 years-5,OOO a year.
We now-when I became PreSident, we had
only 3 percent of our classrooms and 16 per
cent of our schools connected to the Inter
net. Today, we have nearly 75 percent of the
.classrooms and 95 percent of the schools with
at least one Internet connection with the Erate, which the. Vice President pioneered,.
that gives a $2 billion subSidy so that poorer
schools and poorer Communities can afford
td have their schoqls log onto the Internet.
So we're working on it. I have sent Con
gress an education accountability act that ba
sically seeks to ratify what you're dOing. It
says: Set high standards; enforce them. End
the practi~ of social Eromotion, but don't
punish the kids for the ailures of the systeJIl.
Give after-school programs; feve summer
school programs. The kids can earn. We see
it here. Have a system that workS., And I hope
'.
that this will pass this year.
And let me just make two final points. As
your prinCipal said, I've been working at this
a long time. I've been in a lot of schools,
and I never get tired of going into them. I've
shaken harids with a lot of kids, and I'll neVer
get tired of shaking handS with them. They
make us all perpetually young..
But I can tell you this:- There is a world
of difference between what we know now
and what we knew in 1979. when Secretary
,Riley and I started in education reform. And
th~re is a world of difference between what
we know now and what we knew in 1983,
when the "Nation At Risk" report was issued
and when Hillary and I passed our first
sweeping reforms at home in Arkansas.
We know what works. You're seeing what
works in this school. What does that mean?
It'means again that the adults among us no
longer have an excuse not to give these op
portunities to every child in America; be
cause now we know what works. .
The second thing I'd like to say is, with
the' strongest economy in our history, the
. grea~ test the American people face this year .
in the elections-and those of us who are
elected officiitls-and as citizens is, what is
it that we mean to do with this prosperity?
If we're not going to do this now, when in
the wide world will we. ever get around to
doing it? We're in the best shape economi
cally we've ever been in. We can afford to
do it, no matter what anybody says. And I
think we ought to get about the business of
doing it.
So that's why I came here, why I wanted
to hear from all ofyou. And what the purpose
of this panel is, is to sort of fIll in the blanks
of my remarks here so that we will have a
clear sense of how far you've come, how you
did it, and what we need to do from here
on out.
Thank you very much.
. Now,. I woul!1 like to begin by asking your
superintendent to s~eak a little, maybe in a
little greater detail an I did in my remarks
. or even than Princiial Blake did in hers, and
talk about how· di you decide to. do what
you're doing and what exactly are you dOin~
to turn around low-performing schools
That's the big issue in the whole country.
And let me just make one other comment.
I've been in hundreds of schools in so many
States. Nearly every problem you could ever
dream of in American education has been
, solved by somebody somewhere. The real
problem with American education is we
never get our solutions to seale; that is. we
don't take what we're doing really right for
some r;ople and keep on at'it until it's being
done or everybody, for all the kids.
And there seems to me'to be a real systematic effort here. So that's what I would like
for you to talk about,
Smith, in whatever
way you want.
Dr.
[Rosa A. Smith, superintendent, Columbus
Public Schools, described the district's strat-.
egy to improve its schook] " .
. The President. Yes, give her a hand. [Ap:.
plausel That's great. Let me just emphasize
one thing she said because, unless you've
heard people say these things a lot, it would
be easy to miss., She said that there were
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May 4 I Administration of William]. clinton, 2000
three clearly defined goals, and then the sec that, at the rate you started. So I think this
ond point she made I think is very important. is very important. I think the· smaller classes
She said, "We are uSing a research-based ap ·really do amount to something.
proach." That means-that's a nice way of
I'd like to ask Heather Knapp to speak
saying what I said in more crude language, next. She is a teacher at East Linden Ele
that you don't have to sort of fire a shotgun · mentary, and she was hired with the help
at this· problem anymore. It's not like we of our class size reduction funds as a first
·don't know what works. There is lots and lots grade teacher. And she teaches a class of 18
of research available today as a result of the first graders, along with a 25-year veteran of
serious efforts of the last 20 years.· •
the Columbus Public. Schools, Karen John
And one of the reasons that we have not son. And you, too, have, I understand, a large
had the kind of systematic results that we're immigrant population in your school. So r d
seeing here around the ~untry is that people like for you to talk a little about what the
don't take the research and really act on it. impact of children whose first language is not
. And it's interesting, because there is hardly English is and the educational process and
. any other endeavor of your life that you what you're dOing.
would ignore that in. If you were starting a
business and 15 people had succeeded doing [Heather Knapp said that. reduced class size
a certain thing and 3 people had failed doing enabled teachers to work with students in
the reverse, you wouldn't say, "Well, I think small groups and on a one-to-one basis and
I'll see if I can't make money doing what spend time helping them t003similate.] .
the three. did. I think I can do it a little bet
The President. My notes-and they're
ter."
not always right, but they usually are-my
So I think that Columbus deselVes a lot
notes say that if you didn't have these class
of credit. I'd like to follow up by asking your
size reduction funds to hire more teachers,
principal, Barbara Blake-you've been .a
that you and your team teacher, Ms. Johnson,
principal for a good while. As ypu pointed
would be each teaching, separately, first
out, you wrote me when I was Governor and
. asked me about some of the things we were grade classes with more than 30 students in
dOing. Why do you think what you're doing thero. And.if that's true, there would be no
way in the world you could deal. with all these
now is working so much better?
children whose first language is not English.
[Ms. Blake attributed the .improvement to
Ms. K.napp. No.
8I1Ulller d03S size·and· mentor support for
The President. Yes, that's pretty straight
.teachers.]
forward [Laughter]
..
Ms. K.napp. As a first-year teacher, I be
The President. Just to give you some idea
of what she said, I went through those num lieve, no. [Laugh ted .
The President. I think many Americans
bers a minute ago, but I. can't think of how
you could possibly explain a 500-percent in · have no idea just how diverse these student
crease in. the percentage of kids reading at bodies are now. Like I said, I just came from
the appropriate level in a year other than MinneapolisiSt. Paul. We think about that as
more individual attention by someone who sort of the capital of Norwegian America.
is a good teacher and knows how to do it. And it still is. But there are children in the
And let me say, in this little class I visited MinneapolislSt. Paul school district, com-.
in Kentucky yesterday, this elementary bined, with native languages in excess of 100,·
school class, all the kids and I took turns counting all the people who come from the
reading a chapter from the wonderful book different African and Southeast Asian peo
"Charlotte's Web." And I made every child ples who are there. And the same thing is
.
read a couple paragraphs. And some of those happening all over America~ ,
Now, a lot of these kids, once they're here
paragraphs are pretty tough for kids in the
third grade, you know, and they all got for about 18 months, if they good basic
through it. In 4 years, they had almost a ten grounding, start to do very well indeed. And
fold increase. And you'll do even better than· since we're living in a global economy in an
�Administration of William]. Clinton, 2000 I May 4 '
,
"
':: '~'
'
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1005
increasingly global society, this is a great ad
like "Clinton Robs a Liquor Store!" or some
.
'vantage for the United States. We should be thing. (Laughter]
As a result of that, we often overlook what
thrilled by this. This is going to put us in
a very good poSition to do very well when matters 'most. But let me just tell you this.
all these children get out of school. Ten We forget how much our teachers need sup-'
port and training and the time and resources
years, 20 years, 30 years from now, our coun
fly will be the best positioned country in the to do that. I think a lot of times we just as
entire global society if, but onlY.if, we take sume that, well, if you went through school
and you got good grades in math and you
care ofthese kids now.
went to an education college and you took
Sometimes.people back in Washington ask
me why I spend so much time on this. You those courses, well, obviously you can teach
know, when ,Barbara introduced me, she said, math. We forget, unless we've actually seen
"the Commander in Chief of the Armed how hard they work, how much time it takes
Forces" and all that. I think this is a national for these teachers just to get through the day,
security issue for America. I think it's an im to deal with the children, give them as much
portant part of our long-term seCurity. So I individual attention as possible, give the tests,
grade the tests, deal with all the other stuff
want you to keep plUgging.
.
they have to deal with. ., ..'
I'd like to ask the preSident of the Colum
I can only tell you, most people believe
bus Education Association now to talk a little
the United States military is a pretty efficient
bit about your teacher development strate
,operation, and we fought an air war in
gies. Everybody who becomes a teacher
, knows that he or she is not going to become Kosovo and didn't lose a Single pilot. But let
wealthy, but it's, important to pay them me tell you, we did lose pilots. They didn't
enough so that they can afford to stay. But die in that war; they were pilots that die every ,
it's more than pay. People also want to feel year in the military training of the country.
And we spend a lot of your tax money just
that they're doing their job well. Most people
training people relentlessly, over and over
like to get up in the morning and look for
and over again. We don't assume that some
ward to going to work and believe that what
people are smart and some people are dumb
they do is iinportant and know they're doing
and some people can' do it and some people
it well. And that feeling is more important
can't. We assume in th~ military that the peo
for teachers probably than any other single ple we accept and the people we train are
group in our society.
capable· of doing the mission that they are
SO I'd like to ask Mr. Grossman to talk asSigned. We don't even assume that you're
a little bit about how this peer assistance re
either a born leader or not, and if you're not
view program works and how it contributes born one, you can't lead. We train people
to teacher quality.
to lead, too, in the military, and they lead.
And a lot of people who wOuld never be
[John G1VSS1TUln described hoW the peer QS
sistance review program provided mentors
picked as leaders, the whole time they're
born' until the time they
for support, training. and evaluation offirst
join the military,
wind up performing superbly.
. y'(!(jr teachers, in partnership with the union,
. ~ministrators. and Ohio State University.]
, If you look at the best run companies, they
invest huge amounts of time and money in
. , . The President. Let me just follow up on
developing the capacities of their people.
that a little bit. Again, this is one of those
And we have never done this for our teachers
issues-it's very hard-for example, we've
in the sort of systematic way that we should,
got all these folks here who· are reporting on
setting aside the time we should, investing
this today, and it's very hard to have a blaring
the money in it we should. And again, it's
headline across the Columbus paper tomor
a very hard thing for-the mayor can run
row, with an exclamation point, "Columbus
for election, somebody can run for the school
Committed Only To Use Research-Based
board, or somebody can run for President,
.Strategies!" or "Peer Review and Assistance
and it's the last thing you'll ever see them .
the Main Thing!" It doesn't have the ~dge,
say, because you can't tum it into a headline
.
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. May 4· / Administratipn of WiUiam I Clinton, 2000
And I'll do what I can to help you. But
with an exclamation cir a 30-second television
I think you d~serve it. I think you've made
ad But it matters.
That's why I wanted John to talk about the right decision about what's best for you.
it. It is so important. And it means something
Mayor Coleman. Thank you very much.
to the teachers. It's a way of reaffirming their
The President. I would like to calion a'
significance and their capacity to grow in sat
parent now, a stakeholder in this enterprise.
isl}ing their own intellectual hunger. Any Linda Hoetger-is that right? I studied Ger
time you think training doesn't matter for man in college. [Laughter] Linda and her.
education-suppose I would say to you, I've husband, Ray, have four sons, all in the Co
got a way to give you a bigger tax cut; we'll lumbus public school system. Both pf them
cease all training operations in the military, volunteer to work in the school system. And
and we'll just take smart people and see how . their 9-year-old son at East Columbus Ele- .
mentary School. got a Federal 21st Century
they do? [Laughter] So this is very, very im
Community Learning Center grant to start
portant. And I thank you for that.
Mr. Mayor, tell me, what has the mayor an after-school program. So I'd just like for
got to do with the schools here? [Laughter] her to talk to us about her. work in the after
What is it you're trying to do?
. school program at her son's schooL How does
Mayor Michael B. Coleman of Col",. . it work; how did it start; what does she do;
bus. I'm asked that question often, Mr. what is your view of the role of parents in
President. [Laughter]·
, this?
The President. They ask me, too, all the
But I would really like to begin just by
thanking you and your husband for your sup
time. [Laughter]·
. port for the schools and for your willingness
[Mayor Coleman discu~ed the city's efforts to give your time. I'd like for you to talk about
to create and fond quality after-schoofpro what you do.
.
grams.}·.
.
The President. Let me just say, I think [Linda Hoetger described her experiences as
that-first, I think you're to be commended, a volunteer for the after-school programs, of
and I assure you that I will, be fighting as fering students tutoring and standardized test
hard as I can to get the appropriation dou . preparation services.]
The President. Is all the after-school work
bled again. But as I said, in 1997, I got a
mil40n dollars out of the Congress to plan at the school,where you work designed to
for a Federal after-school program. And then ward helping prepare them for. the test or
we went from $20 million to $200 million giving them homework assistance? Are there
to $450 million in 3 years. And we estimate· any other kind ofthings-.
that if we can getup to a billion dollars a [Ms~ Hoetger said the prol!1inm (lIso ol+ered
year in Federal support for after-school, at
lenc
'JJ'
least we'll be able 'to give cities like Colum
vio e prevention classes.
.
bus enough money to target all the schools
The President. I think this is reallyimpor
where either the performance is the most ' tant. If I might just say, again, I've talked
disappointing or you have the highest per
to a lot of young people in a lot of schools
centage of low income kids.
about violence, obviously because of all the
But I think you will want to do more than very high profile tragedies we've had in our·
that, and you'll probably have to make a
schools.
to the business community and others that
But I think it's Worth pointing out that in
it's a good economic investment for the city. spite of those high profile tragedies, gun vio
But again I'll say, particularly if you have a lence in America is down 35 percent since
lot of immigrant children, it's really impor
1993. And violence in the schools has de
tanto These kids need as much time as they elined. And I think one 'of the principle rea
can to master the language so they can begin sons is involving more young people in peer
to leam all the other things they need to programs and training more young peopl~ .
learn. And they just cannot do it in the reg young people, like the rest of us-people .
ular day, in the regular school year.
. model the behavior they see, either at home
f
case
�Administration of WIUiam J. Clinton, 2000 / May 4
or they learn on television or in some other
way. People are not born knowing how to
resolve their anger, their frustration, their
conflicts in a non-violent way. And if they
don't have models, if they have either de
structive models or no inodels at all, you run
the risk of having a higher incidence of vio
. lence. So I wanted you to talk about this be
cause I also think this is very important.
Again, the more diverse the student body
becomes, the more likely there are to be mo
ments when people who won't understand
each other because their backgrounds will be
so different, their experiences will be so dif
ferent. And when those moments come it's
very, very· important that young people at
least have been given a chance to know that
th~re's some other way to resolve their dif
ferences-also that they don't have to bury
them, because that also becomes a big prob
lem. I. mean, a lot of these kids that do really
. . bad things are too far gone when the times
they do it, but it's only after years and years
and years and years of internalizing things
that had they not been buried, the children .
might have been saved.
.
So I think that you deserve a lot of credit
for that, too, and I think that should be a
. part of every school's effort, arid I thank you
for it.
.
I . want to now talk to Laura Avalos
Arguedas, who is an AmeriCorps volunteer
with the City Year program in Columbus.
She was born in Costa Rica and moved to
the United States when she was 6 years old.
She graduated from GrandView· Heights·
High School in 1998 and began a 2 year vol
unteer program in City Year, where she tu
tors four first grade students in reading at
thElSecond Avenue Elementary School. So
r alike for her to talk about that.
And I just want to say, I don't know that
I have done anything as President that I'm
any more proud of than establish the
AmeriCorps program. We've now had over
150,000 young people like Laura spend 1 or
2 years in this program, working in commu
nities-sometimes in their home commu
nities, so~etimes half a nation away-and at
the process, earning money for college. In
the first 4 years of AmeriCorps, we had more
people than we had in the first 20 years of
1007
the Peace Corps. And it's just been an amaz
ing thing.
.
.
So I'd like for you, Laura, to talk about
why did you decide to become a volunteer
in the City Year program, and how do you .
feel about the mentoring you're doing and
the relationships you're building with the stu
dents? And do you think it's improving their .
learning?
[Laura Avalos.,Arguedas described her expe
rience with the City Year program and com
mented on how popular the after-schoolpro.,.
gram was with students. J
.
The President. Mr. Mayor, I think if she
had 140 kids show up with 7 corps members,
she just made the strongest case for your
after-school initiative. [Laughter] .
Mayor Coleman. I think she has.
The President. I think you need to make
her witness A in your--·
.
Ms. Avalo8~Arguedas. We have to cut
down.
.
[Mayor Coleman pointed out the growing
needfor more after-school programs.]
.The Pres~t. I want to go now to a
product of another program I'm very proud
of that I did not start. It existed in the Gov
ernment when I became PreSident, but we .
have dramatically expanded it. It's called the
Troops to Teachers program, where people
who have served in the military, when they
.retire or when they leave the military, then
move into teaching. And in an environment
in which a lot of our kids come from difficult
home situations, I think that the Troop to
Teachers program has made a big impact in
a lot of places.
. Eastgate. Elementary has a teacher who
came out of 20 years in the Air Force, Darrell
Bryon. He's here with .us today. And I'd like
for him to talk a little bit about what made
him decide to switch careers. He doesn't look
old enough to have been in the Air Force
20 years. I don't know if~e
honest about
his age when he jOined. [LaUghter] And he
teaches a fourth-fifth grade split class. I'd like
for him to talk a little bit about how his pre
vious experience helps him in the classroom.
Mr. Bryon.
was
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1008
.May 4 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
. Darrell B",yon explained how his military ex-.··
[
perience helped to prepqre him for the de
mands ofteaching.]
The President. When you told that story
defense, because they had a lot of gangs. So
they picked colors to dress in that would pro
.tect the kids. All the gangs wore red and blue,
so all the uniforms were something other
thim red and blue. And then all the schools
about your student· sort of talking back to
you, I thought to myself, his training in the got to pick their own colors and do whatever
military' has qualified him to be a teacher; they wanted.
But I had two children talking t6 me about
his experience as a teacher may have quali
it, one young man who came from a difficult
fied him to be President. [Laughter] So I can
really identify with that.
. circumstance who told me it was the first
Harry Truman once said that l:leing Presi- . time he felt safe walking to school in 2 years!
dent was a job in which you spent most of. and one young woman who was in a much
your time trying to talk people into doing better situation economically, where she said
things they should. do without· your. having she felt like she had been liberated, that nei
to ask them in the first place. [Laughter] But thershe nor her classmates could look down
on or feel looked down on as a result of the
I thank you for your dedication.
. .
Let me now call on Shirley. Goins, who clothes ~ey. wore. They were no longer dis
is a teacher in the Monroe Middle School, tracted,· and they felt good. They were look
a sixth-grade teacher. And she has worked ing forward to goirig to high school where
as a teacher for 30 years. She's taught at they wouldn't have to do it anymore, but they
Monroe the last 18. And Monroe recently thought it had really calmed the atmosphere
in the school and that learning had increased
. instituted a school uniform policy which re
quired the children to wear white shirts and and discipline problems had decreased. I
.
,.z blue bottoms, and the:parents of the students thought it was a very interesting.
Between Hillary and those kids, I've been
supported it.
When I started supporting these several pretty well sold on it ever since. [Applause]
.' years ago, some people derided me as being Yes, one person agrees with me in the crowd.
for a little idea that a President shouldn't be [Laughter] Is this a school-by-school option
.
paying attention to, but I was inclined to dis~ in the Columbus school district?
Ms, Goins. Yes, Mr. President, it is not·
agree. And I would like for Shirley to talk
a little bit about why her school adopted this r~quired. It is a school community decision
.
policy, and what its effect on discipline and Wlth parents. .
The President. Now, how many schools
academic achievement and the way the stuhave uniform' policies in this-.-...
.
. dents relate to each other has been.
Ms. Goins. Mr. President, I cannot answer
[Shirleq Goins described how the l.mifonn that question. [Laughter]
policy helped students to focus on their work,
The President. Does anybody know? Are
rather than being distracted by frivolous there others? But there is more than one?
clothing styles. ]
.
Ms. Goins. There are others. There are
The President. That's great. You know, _several-many, I would say.
The President. I think, by the way, that's
when I started-my wife is the first person
who ever talked to me about school uniforms. a good decision. I think if you have it district
She's always been' for them. She's a fanatic wide, then you've got to-there you go, good
supporter of-now, I guess now that she's for you, looks great. That looks great. I think
a candidate for office, I shouldn't use the you .either have t<r.-if it's going to be a dis
word "fanatic." [Laughter] Subject to being trict-wide.decision, it's got to be han~ed just
used against her, I suppose. But we talked the way it would be school by school. It's
aboutit a lot for young kids.
.
. a very delicate thing. It only works if the par
And the first place I' went to explore this ents are for it-and if the kids buy' into it.
was Ne\lVport Beach, California, which is the Even if they have reservations, they've got
third biggest school district in California. And to buy into it. So it's better not something
when the junior high schools adopted it out that somebody like me decides is the right
there, the middle schools, they did it in self- . thing to do.
�Administration of William f; Clinton, 2000 ~ May 4
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What we tried to do is to show people how , age of this surplus and just dedicate it to
to do it, including how districts have dealt helping the communities hire teachers."
with the families who couldn't afford to buy Once we get the 100,000 in there, so we'
the uniforms, where they got the money, how know we can get an average class size. of 20
they did all that sort of stuff. But I do think in the early grades, the rest-we're just going
it has some merit.
to be killing ourselves to get properly quali
fied teachers in the' classroom because peo
[Ms. Goins concurred, that parents and stu
ple retire.
dents needed to agree on the policy.}
And so I think you could feel every con
. The President. Now, what school do you fidence that he would support the things that
represent in your uniform?
have been done, but that he would build on
,Student. I represent Columbus-
them and do better. That's what I think will
The President. 'Good for you. That's a happen.
great looking uniform. Thank you. I have
been hissed and cheered by students talking , [A participant said a student had commented
that the President would be a tough act to
about this. [Laughter]
Mayor Coleman. You're only going to be follow.]
. cheered here in Columbus, Mr. President.
The .President. Well, I appreciated his
[Laughter]
saying that. But the truth is that the country
The President. Is there anything else any
is changing a lot economically, and let me
body would like to say? Is, there anybody in
try to put this education issue that we've been
the audience wants to ask anybody on the
talking about here into the larger context.
panel a question? Yes, sir?
.'
,
When I became President in 1992-and
'Q. Mr. President, I was wondering if AI
the people of 0 hio were good enough to vote
Gore, if he becomes the next President, will
be continuing your policies and ideals, be for me and the Vice President-the big issue
was how could we tum the country around.
cause they are excellent.
.
The President. Yes, he actually-he's The economy was in a shambles. The crime.
been outlining his education prpgram, and was exploding. The welfare rates were ex
I would say that there are a couple of areaS, ploding. Things didn't seem to be working.
obviously, because he can look ahead 4 years And so in the last 7 years, I've tried to look
beyond what I can argue for. One of the to the long-term challenges of the future, but
things that he believes, in addition":"'he has first we had to get the ship of state righted:
supported our educational accOuntability Thing~ had to be working.
Now, you're not very cynical. anymore
fund that I just explained and all these things
I talked about. And he's going to have-he's about whether you can actually make things
actually giving a whole speech tomorrow on better. I -mean, if you look at-you know,
teacher quality, which I hope you will follow. we've gone from a big deficit toa big surplus.
He's been working very hard on it and talking We're paying down the debt. We've got the
to people around the country, educators and lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. The
welfare rolls have been cut in half. Crime
others.
.
. ':, In addition to that, in the primary, he came is downto a 25-year low. Poverty is at a 20
out·for a program to add another, several hun year low; African-American, Hispanic unem
. dred thousand teachers, federally funded, to ployment the lowest ever' recorded; female
the 100,000 that we've already prOvided. unemployment the lowest in 40 years.
I say that to say, nobody questions whether
We're very Concerned that over the next dec
adeanother 2 million teachers will retire as we have the capacity as a peOple to improve.
the number of students continues to swell., Nationwide, reading and math scores are up
And so we think it-you know, I agree-but about a grade level. But in places where
he l.'ame and talked to me about this. He there's been a sharp focus on results and on
didn't-it was entirely his idea, not mine. But turning around lo~ performing schools like
be said, "I think I'm going to go out there· Columbus. the results are much more dra
and advocate that we take a certain percent matic, but they're up. We have-90pereent
�, ~. '-,~.~.
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May 4 I Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000
ofour kids are immunized against serious diseases for the first time. We've-all the environmental indicators are better.
So the auestion that the country faces now
is a very ifferent question than it faced in
1992. The question we face 'now is, what is
it that we £ropose to do with this moment
of unprece ented prosperity? The question,
by the way, also is not whether you're going
to change. The world is changing so fast,
America will change. It will change just as
much in the next 4 years as it has in the
previous 4 and the 4 before that. So the question is not whether you're going to change.
The question is how you're going to change.
You know, if the Vice President were run~
ning for President and he said, "Vote for me;
I'll do everything' Bill Clinton did," I
wouldn't vote for him, because the world's
going to be different: That's not-his mes- '
sage is that, "Look, this ap~roach works. so
we ou~t to chanfie by ~ui ding on it. And
here's ow I'll bu' d on it. I don't think we
ou~ht to abandon the approach in economics
an education and health care and welfare
reform and all these iss)Jes, but we're going
to have to chanJe ... And my take on this as
a citizen, as we as somebody with some experience now in these affairs, is that the way
to ,decide what direction you want to take
is to first ask yourself, where would you like
togo? '
",
I remember one of the funniest things
Yogi Berra used to say is that we ma,; be
lost, but we're making good time. [Laug ter}
I mean, you've 'got to ask yourself. where
would you like to go? Now, my opinion isand again. it's not going to be on my watch,
but my opinion is that for the first time in
at least 35 years, since we had this kind of
economy again-which basically came apart
in the Vietnam war and the civil rights crisis
and a lot of other problems we had in the
country in the 1960's-this is the first time
we've had since then to say. oka&, here's
where we want to go, and here's w at we're
going to do to get there.
"
So my view is, one of our raIs ought to
, be to guarantee that every chil in this country will have access to a world-class education; that everybody will be able to afford
to go to college if they're otherwise qualified;
that poverty among children can, be elimi-
tax
nated within through the
system and
other supports; that every working family
ought to be able to at least have access to
affordable health insurance; that we will deal
with the challen~s that the aging of Amer
ica-when the aby boomers retire and
"
there's only two people working for every one
~~
'person drawing Social Secu7:!-we will act
'1
now, not then, to save Soc' Security and
Medicare and add a prescription drug benefit
that's voluntary for the, seniors-big' chal.
.:'
lenges.
_
'.1;
On the environmental front, we have to
tackle this whole issue of global warming. '
You're all in here fannin~ yourselves; the
truth is that the climate of t is Earth is going
UE at a very difficult rate. Now that may seem '
. e an obscure issue, because Columbus is
"
way inland, but it's not going to be very funny
~l
if the polar icecaps keep meltin~ and the
..
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oceans rise and the sugarcane fiel s in Lou,\"
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mana and the Florida Ev~lades were buried and the agricultural pr uction of Amer;:
ica starts togo north and the whole framework of life here is changed--:and peo¥le in
Africa start getting even more cases 0 malana and children dying from dehydration.
This is a big issue.
So that's what I gave my State of the Union
about. But I think what all you need to decide as citizens is,what dO'loU want for your
kids? What do you want or ~ur families?
~j\
What do you want for your uture? Where
"
do you want to go? Then you have to say- ,
8 years ago, I wouldn't have believed that
~?
we could write the future of our dreams. But
now I know America can work.
-~
So again. it's kind of like school reform.
We don't have an excuse anymore for not
sa~ng what would we like America to ,be like
w en our children are our afe. Because we
know we can make America etter now. We
don't have an excuse; we know that. So every
one of you-I wish you'd go home and take
a piece of paper and say, what would I like
America to look like in 10 years? And then.
how does America have to change-not
whether, but how-to get there?
'
That's how you'll know who to vote for.
That's how you know, what ideas you think
work. ,To ask yourself, where do you want
to go? And my earnest plea to the American
people this year is to do that. so we can take
"
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Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 I May 4
on these big challenges, because that's what
I've been working for. I've been working for
the day that when I left office, this country
would have both the self-confidence and the'
capacity to build the future of our dreams
for our children. And we can do it now.
That's what I think we ought to be dOing.
[Dr. Smith and Mayor Coleman, thanked the
President for his participation.]
.",".':'
The President. Thank you all. .
NOTE: The roundtable began at 4:40 p.m. in the
East Room at Eastgate Elementary School. In his
remarks, the President referred to State Rep
resentative Joyce Beatty: City Council PreSident
MatthewD. Habash; StateHouse Minority Lead
ers Jack Ford; and Gary Allen, vice president Ohio
Education Association. A tape was not. available
for verification of the content of these remarks.
. Statement on Legislation on Trade
With the Caribbean Basin and Africa
May 4, 2000
Today's vote is a key milestone toward en
actment of legislation that will launch a new
era ofcooperation between the United States
and our partners in Africa and the Caribbean
Basin. This important. measure will strength
en our economic partnership with these na
tions, lower trade barriers, help developing
nations to lift their people out of poverty,
and create a more secure world. I congratu
late those Members of Congress who have
. worked hard to reach agreement on this bill.
. I look forward to signing this historic legisla
. .,
. tion into Jaw upon final passage.
Message on the Observance
of Cinco de Mayo, 2000
. : May 4, 2000
, ',' Warm greetings to everyone celehrating
Cinco de Mayo.
This annual celebration of the Mexican
Army's triumph at the Battle of Puebla re
minds us all of Mexico's long-standing com
mitmen t to the ideals of freedom and selfdetermination. United by our common cori-,
victions, the United States and MexiCo have
long enjoyed warm ties of friendship and mu
tual respect, and in recent years, our two na
1011
tions have worked hard to cultivate this in
creasingly close partnership. From the arts
to business to education to the environment,
citizens of the United States and Mexico are
gaining a greater understanding and a new·
appreciation of each other, increasing our
prospects for a future of peace and pros-'
perity.
.
We. must continue working to open new
bridges of friendship and cooperation. This
is a promising time for the Americas, and
we have an historic opportunity to build our
collective economic strength,· improve the
well-being of our people, and advance the
movement toward democracy of all the na- .
tions in our hemisphere. As we celebrate
Mexico's valiant fight for independence, let
us rededicate ourselves to the principles that
inspired the Mexican patriots who fought at
Puebla and strive together to forge a brighter
future for all our citizens .
Best wishes to all for a wonderful celebra- ,
tion.
Bill Clinton
Proclamation 1303-National '
Day ofPrayer, 2000
May 4,2000
By the President ofthe United States
oJAmerica
A Proclamation
Throughout our Nation's history, Amer;
cans have come before God with humble
hearts to ask forgiveness, to seek wisdom, and
to offer ,thanksgiving and praise. The framers
of our democracy, on a quest for freedom
and equality, were fueled by an abiding faith
in a iust and loving God, to whom they
turned often 'for guidance and strength.
SuCceeding generations of Americans,
striving to preselVe that freedom in the face
of challenges posed by enemiesabrQad or
conflict at home, also turned their hearts and
minds to God prayer. Today, whethercele
brating the special mom~nts in our' lives,
,searching for strength and meaning in the
face of problems or grief, or simply giving
thanks for the bleSSing of a new day, Ameri
cans continue to use the powerful medium
of prayer. '
in
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May 4 I Administration of William]. Clinton, 2000
Now more than ever, Americans treasure [Fil~d with the Office of the Federal Register,
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our. religious freedom, which embraces the
8:45 a.m., May 5,2000]
many diverse communities of faith tpat have
NOTE: This proclamation was published in the
infused our society and our cultural heritage
Federal Register on May 8. '
through more than two centuries. Millions
of Americans gratefully sustain the tradition
of prayer in'churches, synagogues, temples,
Memorandum on Additional
. mosques, and .other houses of worship across
Guidelines for Charter Schools
our country.
.
May 4,2000
And we continue to rely on our faith as
Memorandum for the Secretary ofEducation .
a pillar of strength, even in this era of unprec
edented pea~ and prosperity. We pray for Subject: Additional GUidelines for Charter
the spirit of reconciliation, so that we may Schools
overcome the divisions of race, religion, cul
, My A.dministration has taken landmark
ture, and background that have scarred our
steps to help State and localities improve
society in recent years. We p~ay for the spirit educational opportunities for students by
of compassion so that we W111 reach out to providing much needed resources to reduce
others who have not shared equally in this class size, improve teach!=lr quality, and ex
world's bounteous bleSSings-those here at
pand summer sChool and after-school pro
home who struggle for economic and edu grams. Last year, for the first time ever, the
cational opportunity and those around the 'Federal' Government provided funds to
globe whose lives have been darkened by the 'States and lOcalities speCifically to intervene
shadows of poverty, oppression, natural dis and assist low-performing schools. This year,
aster, or disease. A~d we must, .alwa~ pray, our School Improvement Fund will· prOvide
for wisdom-the W1sdom to ratse children $134 million to States and localities to help
with strong values and loving hearts; the wis
them turnaround low-performing schools. In
dom to live'in harmony with our environment addition, through the 1994 reauthorization of
and to preserve its health and beauty for t~e the' Elementary and Secondary Education
benefit of future generations; and the WIS '.Act and Goals 2000, States have developed
dom to keep America the world's greatest standards and accountability systems to iden
hope for freedom~ peace, and human dignity tify schools that are low performing. Already,
".
'
in the 21st century.
we are seeing results from this focus on
The Congress, by Publ~c Law 100-307, has standards-based reform and greater invest
called on our. citizens to reaffirm the role of ment, including a rise in test scores among
prayer in our society and to honor the reli our most disadvantaged students. Nonethe
, gious diversity our ,~ree~om permits by reco&: less, much work remains to be done. In too
'nizing annually a National Day of Prayer.
many Communities, predominately low-in
',/ Now, Therefore, I, William ). Clinton, come communities, there is still a shortage
President of the United States of America, of high-quality educational opportunities
do hereby proclaim May 4, 2000, as a, Na
available to students.
tional Day of Prayer. I encourage the citizens
One of the most heartening educational
of this great Nation to pray, each in his or developments during my Administration is
her own manner, seeking strength from God the extraordinary growth of public charter
to face today's challenges, seekingguidance schools. In 1992, just before I took office,
for tomorrow's uncertainties, and giving there was only one charter school in the
thanks for the rich bleSSings that our country country, City Academy in St. Paul, Min
has enjoyed throughout its history~
nesota. Since then, because of strong leader
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set ship at the local, State, and Federal level,
my .hand this fourth day of May, in the year the number of charter schools has exploded
of our Lord tWo thousand, and of the Inde
and it is now estimated that there are more
pendence of the United States of America than 1 700 charter schools nationwide. The
the two hundred and twe~ty-fourth.
Feder~ Government has invested almost
$400 million in charter school~ since 1994,
William). Clinton
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Administration of William]. Clinton, 2000 I May 4
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1013
and advocates of charter schools credit this With the constitutional line between church
investment for the' remarkable growth, of ,and sta.te. For example, States can use their
charter schools. The Budget that I sent. to welfare reform funds to contract with faith
the Congress this year will provide $175 mil based organizations on the same basis as
lion for charter schools in FY 2001. By next other nongovernment providers to provide
year, the charter school program Will have services such as job preparation, mentoring.
helped nearly 2,400 charter schools since its 'childcare, and other services to help families
,inception, supporting my Administration's moving from welfare to work. The 1998
goal of creating 3,000 public charter schools Human Services reauthorization similarlyal
by 2 0 0 2 . ,
lows faith-based organizations to provide
Charter schools are a vital engine of school services under the Community SerVices
reform because they promote accountability Block Grant to reduce poverty, revitalize
for results, competition, and choice' within low-income communities, and help low-in
the public school, system. Unlike vouchers, come families become self-sufficient.
Vice President Core and I support such
which do nothing to increase the number of
,high-quality educational options for students efforts and believe we can do even more to
,in a community. charter schools allow local increase the valuable partnership ~ole reli-,
community groups, teachers, or parents to giouslyaffiliated and community,.based orga
open public schools that meet their needs. nizations can play in addreSsing some of the
And, unlike vouchers, charter schools do not most important issues faCing our families and
drain taxpayer dollars from the public school,,' communities. My Administration has pro
system and are accountable to the public for, posed to increase the involvement of such
results. Because charter schools are truly organizations in education, hOUSing, commu
community-based schools, created by 'local nity-development, criminal and juvenile-jus
communities to address their own particular tice programs, in breaking the cycle of teen
needs, it is esSential that all institutions in pregnancy, promoting responSible father
a community understand how they can play hood, and helping families move from wel
a role with regard to charter schools. Every fare to work. To help support these worthy
entity that can play a positive role in school caus~s. my Budget will provide tax breaks to
reform needs to be engaged in ensuring that encourage all Americans to give to charity.
children and parents have high-quality public
Schools and faith communities should be
schools and, choices among those public reaching out to each other, in ways consistent
schooIs:
with the Constitution, to support their com
Among the community' institutions that mon goals for children, and families. There
can provide important support for the gOals are successful partnerships. between public
of charter schools are local faith-based and schools and faith communities across the Na
business institutions. Bod~ have resou~es , tion in after-school programs, school safety,
that can support the efforts ofcharter schools disCipline, and student literacy. These range
to create high-quality, innoviitive learning en- I from mentoring programs jointly, run by
vironments that serve all children and help schools and interfaith groups to statewide
. 'summits on the . role of faith-based groups
them to meet high standards.
, ,-Faith-based and community-based organi in college preparation. In 1995, we sent every
,zatiQns play an important role in feeding the school ~trict in the country the guidebook
hungry, caring for the sick, and educating our ' Religion in the Public Schools: A Statem£nt
children in communities around this Nation. of Principles. Last December, building on
Already many faith- and community-based those principles, I announced a comprehen
organizations partner with government at the sive set of guidelines to be mailed to every
Federal, State, and local level to help our public school in the Nation and to leading
Nation's families. Under my Administration, religious organizations encouraging greater
faith-based organizations have also become cooperation, within constitutional limits, be
eligible to receive Federal funds in an array tween public schools and community groups,
of social programs on the same basis as other including faith-based organizations. The.
community-based organizations, consistent' guidelines emphasized both the protection of
�1014.
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May 4 / Administration of WiUiam J. Clinton, 2000 ~
private religious expression in schools and offer a new range of possibilities for those
the prohibitions against coerced student par- students who are not finding success in our
ticipation in religious expression. These· .. more traditional public schools.
.
guidelines were the culmination ormy Ad- ,Accordingly,because there is still a great
ministration's 4-year effort. to forge con- deal of confUSion about how different entities
sensus on the role of religion in the schools. can be involved in the charter movement, I
Likewise, business institutions have proven direct you to work together with the Depart
themselves to be valuable partners in helping ment of Justice to develop guidelines to be
schools and school districts better prepare released prior to the 2000-2001 school year
students to develop the skills and knowledge to help faith-based and other community
they need to be part of the 21~t century based and business institutions understand
Workforce. Over the last 2 decades, busi- the role they can play in the charter school
nesses have played a leadership role at the movement. Public charter schools must be
local, State, and national levels in supporting nonsectarian and nondiscriminatory in their
the need for school reform and advancing admissions.and practices. In,addition, as with
the standards-based movement. Although· other public schools, a charter school should
school-business partnership can be little not offer opportunities for the commercial
. more than a donation, there are many exam-exploitation 9f its students and/or its mission.
pIes across the coul1try of businesses that are However, there are numerous ways that
·working actively with schools to help improve faith-based groups and employers can play
the quality of public education. In these part- a positive role in creating and supporting.
ner~ips, businesses are working to help bolpublic charter. schools, just as other commu
ster school curricula, train teachers, imple- nity organizations do. These guidelines would
ment technology effectively, offer mentors augment the existing guidelines for public
and tutors to students, and provide lessons charter schools and the guidelines for reli
in management. and leadership. If this Na- gious expression in public schools that I re..
.
tion's public schools are to offer the kind of leased in December.
high-quality education that prepares students
Increasing the quality of education in this
for the world ofwork and active citizenship, country for disadvantaged students is a na
then businesses must playa key role in this tional priority but requires the active involve-'
process.
. ment of every affected community. In ecoBusinesses have much to offer the charter nomically. distressed communities, faith
· movement. Because charter schools are ex- based organizations and business partners
}
empt from many regulations governing tradi-can play critically important roles in pro~\'
tional public schools, they have more free- viding needed support services and job-fo-' ~.' :(.~
dom todevelop.innovative educational pro- cused experiences for students who too often
~
grams and to partner with busim:ss institu- lack either. Ensuring that faith-based and
'.
tions in creative ways. Currently, there are business institutions can playa vigorous role .~:
· over 100 employer-linked charter schools in in expanding educational opportunities while.,
operation across the country. These schools, respecting the separation of church and state
vary from those offering very focused career .and the limitations on commercial involve
preparation, to those that incorporate modest· . ment in schools is an important step to pro~
exposure to jobs, careers, and employers. viding high-quality educational experiences
What they share in common are innovative for all children.
environments that offer work-based and caWilliamJ. Clinton
reer-focused educational experiences for stu- •
dents from a wide variety. of backgrounds.
But I believe that businesses can do more Exchange With Report~~ Prior to
to work with charter schools to develop stim Discussions With Prime Minister
ulating educational environments that pre Yosmro Mori ofJapan
pare .our students for the challenges of the May 5, 2000
workforce in the 21st century. I especially·
The President. Good morning.
believe that employer-linked charter schools
�THE WHITE HOUSE
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Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 24, 1997
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION
i
The Grand Hyatt Hotel
Washington, D.C.
2:14 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary, that was a good speech
--(laughter) -- and fully illustrated"Clinton's third law of .
politics, which is, whenever possible, be introduced by someone you
have appointed to high position. (Laughter.) Their objectivity is
stunning. (Laughter.) .
I thank Secretary Riley and all the people at the
Department of Education for the work that they do. Stan Ikenberry,
I'm glad to be here today, with all of you. President Knapp, thank
you for your moving remarks about the HOPE Scholarship. You all
laughed when Barry said he was making a great sacrifice by going to
the Aspen Institute, but in Georgia, that's what they think.
(Laughter and applause.)
.
President-elect Myers, and to my friend Barry Munitz -
you know, we're all in a lather up here in Washington these days
about campaign contributions; everybody hates them, but nobody wants
to go to public funding. So we seem destined to some period of
hand-wringing. And since we're in a spirit of full disclosure, I
have to tell you that in addition to my coming here today, I received
a gratuity, which I intend to disclose before the whole world. I
complimented Barry on his watch, and he gave it to me. (Laughter and
applause.) And, cravenly, as we politicians are, I took it without
blinking. (Laughter.) He swears it cost $18.00. (Laughter.)
But I'll tell you why I bragged on it -- md all of you
more or less of my age group can identify with this -- look how big
I
�the numbers are, I can -- (laughter.) It's the first watch I've ever
seen I don't need glasses for. The more expensive they are, the
smaller the numbers get. (Laughter.) ,So, thank you, Barry.
I would like to begin today, if! might, with a very
personal and serious word. This is the first opportunity I have had,
really, to say something publicly about the death of Al Shanker
yesterday, one of the greatest educators of the 20th century in this
country. He was my friend for many years. I considered him my
colleague. He believed that all children could learn -- with high
expectations and high standards, high-quality teaching and high
accountability,. He literally lived a life'that was nothing less than
a crusade, with intense passion and power. And I know that all of
you will join me in wishing his wife and his family and the members
of the American Federation ofTeachers the best, and giving them our
sadness and our thanks for a remarkable American who did his job
very, very well.
I also want to come here to thank you. Secretary Riley
said, in his inimitable way, that this is a big day for us -- and
this is a big day for us -- starting with the community colleges and
their trustees and then going to this organization which represents,
I thought at last count, almost 1,700 two- and four-year colleges and
universities. Your views matter, your voice is heard, and your
endorsement of our college opportunity agenda, including the HOPE
Scholarships, the tax deduction for tuition and the large increase in
Pell Grants will help to bring that opportunity into reality, and to
fulfill my dream of opening the doors of college to every single
American who wants to go. Thank you very, very much. I'm
grateful to you. (Applause.)
This is a remarkable time in the history ofour
democracy. At the ,end of the Cold War we find ourselves as the
world's remaining superpower, with a special responsibility to try to
shape the future in a way that will advance the cause of peace and
prosperity. We find our own economy strong and growing, producing
more jobs in the last four years than i!l any comparable term in our
history, with record numbers of new businesses being formed each and
every year.
We know that this is a time of enormous change, but the
impulse to satisfaction I'm sure is great. Normally, when
democracies have times this good, one of two things happens -
sometimes both at the same time -- people get very self-satisfied and
begin to relax, and, therefore, miss the underlying currents of what
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�is really going on for the future; or they become too easily
preoccupied with small ma~ers and begin to divide among themselves
over things that bring them down, instead of lift them up. We must
give in to neither impulse.
Because the growth of the global economy and the
absolute explosion in scientific and technical information associated
with the Information Age give us an opportunity -- but not a
guarantee, an opportunity -- for undreamed of new jobs and careers,
for greater knowledge and understanding, not just for greater
material wealth, but for enhancements in the qualitY of lives for
families and communities, it is literally true that in the era toward
which we are moving more people than ever before in all of human
history will have a chance to live out their dreams. But it is·also
true that the chance cannot be realized unless we give them the power
to make the most of their own lives. So this is no time to rest.
Four years ago, we knew we couldn't rest, and we set
about laying the foundation for progress by changing the economic
policy of the country to focus on investing.in our people, getting
our fiscal house in order, emphasizing science and technology and
opening the doors of trade with the rest of the world. We changed
our social policy, centering it clearly on family and 'community and
focusing on action instead of rhetoric. The result is that we've had
marked drops in crime, the biggest drop in welfare rolls in the
history of the country, the Family and Medical Leave law, action to,
stop teenagers from being exposed illegally to the sales and
marketing of cigarettes, and a number of other initiatives.
Our foreign policy has begun to articulate the world
that we want to make, working in an interdependent way with allies
and friends oflike mind throughout the world not only to advance the
cause of peace and freedom and prosperity, but to stand up against
the new threats to our security.
Along the way, we have fought -- and I hope largely
resolved -- the battle that has dominated America for nearly 20 years
now over what the proper role of our nation's government should be.
You hardly hear anyone saying anymore that government is the enemy.
It was interesting -- in the last couple of days Hillary
and I went to see -- or brought in the movie, because we have a
theater at the White House -- it's the best perk of the job, I think
-- (laughter) -:-- but we had about all the' seriousness we could stand,
and we watched that movie, "Dante's Peak," about the volcano
exploding. And I couldn't help thinking, you know, the hero works
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�for the U.S. Geological Service, and his life is saved in the end by
a contraption developed not here at home for uses on the ground, but by
NASA for use in space. And I thought, the government is not the
enemy. The role of the government is to create the conditions and to
give people the tools to build strong lives and families and
communities and a strong nation -- and to give people the chance to
live out their dreams.
Now that that foundation has been laid, and now that I
believe we have also moved away from the very dangerous rhetoric of
the last several years that seeks to divide us against one another
based on our racial or ethnic or religious or other differences,
toward an understanding that it is actually a great Godsend for us to
be the world's most multiethnic, multiracial, multireligious
democracy, we now can actually seize the opportunities that.are
before us. But the first and most important thing we have to do is
to recognize that, beginning at the beginning, our education system
will not provide us the opportunity to do that unless we change it.
F or the beginning years we have to raise standards. For
our colleges and universities, which are plainly the finest in the
world, we simply have to make sure that the access is there for
everyone who should go to have a chance to go.
.The main point I want to make is that we actually are in
a position now to mold our future untroubled by war abroad or
disruption at home in a way that is very, very rare in human history.
We have no idea how long this moment of tranquility will last. We
have no idea how long we will be fully free to wake up and say, what
am I going to do today, without being impinged upon by some external
force that will shape us.
.
I was interested when the Secretary talked about Abraham
Lincoln and the land grant. I used to teach at a land grant school,
so I like that. But it's interesting that President Lincoln signed
that land grant bill during the Civil War. And Lincoln once said
during the Civil War -- he gave a statement today that I would be
ridiculed nationwide if I said -- he said, my policy is to have no
policy; I am controlled by events . Well, of course, he did have a
policy -- he had the most important one of all -- I'm going to hold
this Union together if we all have to die to do it, including me. .
That was his policy. But he also told an important truth. When the
wheel runs off and things fall apart, you are to some extent
controlled by events.
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�Today in a rare moment, America is hot especially
controlled by events, but we cannot be unmindful of the larger
historical trends which will shape our future. And it is the moral
obligation of every person in a position of responsibility in the
United States to take this opportunity -- not to lay down on the job
and not to fall into mindless debates, but to lift our sights and our .
visions to take advantage of this rare moment and make the most of
it. And we could do no be.tter than to give our people the finest set
of educational opportunities in the world a..rid to make sure every
single one of them has those opportunities. (Applause.)
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I was encouraged by the report I got out back, very
brief, about the words that Senator Lott said earlier here today.
During the Cold War we had a bipartisan foreign policy, because -
literally because the future of the country was at stake -- everybody
agreed we'd like to fight with you and we'd like to kick you out if
you're not in our party, but poiitics should stop at the water's
edge.
Today, in the InformationAge, politics should stop at
the schoolhouse door, because our security depends upon our ability
to give all our people the finest education in the world.
(Applause.) My shorthand expression for what we're trying to do-
and you will allrecognize there are many other things at stake -- is
that we have to create an America in which every 8-year-old can read, .
every 12-year-old can log on to the Internet, every 18-year-old can
goon to college,and every adult can keep on learning for a
lifetime. My balanced budget makes an unprecedented commitment to
these goals -- $51 billion next year. But far more than money is
required.
Thrl1e weeks ago at the State of the Union I issued a
call to action for American education based on 10 principles
necessary to prepare our people for the 21st century. First, we have
to set world-class standards for our schools and develop a system of
accountability, beginning for the first time with national·
.
standards-based reading tests in the 4th grade and math tests in the
8th grade.
Second, we have to make sure we have the best teachers
in the world.
Third, we must make sure that every child can read on
his or her own by the third grade. I see my friend the President of
. the Miami-Dade Community College out here, the largest community
college in our country and one ofthe most diverse student bodies.
�Forty percent of the 8-year-olds in this country cannot read a book
on their own -- 40 percent. And we have to do better than that if we
want all of our children to be in two- and four-year colleges when
their time cqmes.
Fourth, we have to make sure parents are more deeply
involved in a constructive way in their child's learning from birth.
The First Lady and I are going to host a conference on early
childhood learning and brain development in the spring here.
Fifth, we have to give parents more power to choose the
right public schools for their children and encourage school reforms
like 'charter schools that set and meet high standards.
Sixth, we should encourage the teaching of character
education in our schools -- and Secretary Riley has done a marvelous
job of that -- and promote order and discipline at the same time by
supporting local school initiatives, like school uniforms or truancy
enforcement or curfews, and demanding zero tolerance for guns and
drugs. I have seen in the most difficult neighborhoods in this
country that children do not have to put up with violent, disruptive
and destructive school environments. There are schools that are
succeeding against all the odds. And if some can, all can. And
until they all do none of us should be satisfied.
Seventh, we should support school construction at the
national level. I believe, for the very first time -- because we
have record numbers of school populations now, for the first time
we've got a group bigger than the baby-boomers coming through, and
the schools are growing at record rates while their facilities are
deteriorating at record rates.
Eighth, we should make sure that learriing is available
for a lifetime by transforming what can only be described as a tangle
of federal training programs into a simple skill grant that goes
directly to workers. People who need and are eligible for federal
training help, nearly all of them live within driving distance ofa
community-based educational institution that cap. give them what they
need. And we do not need a lot of federal programs to get between
them and those institutions. I have been trying for four years to
pass this program. I hope you will help me get this done in this
session of Congress, to create a new G.!. Bill for America's Workers
that simply gives people a skill grant and lets them take it to the
institution of education nearest them most able to meet their needs.
,7
�Ninth, we are determined to connect every classroom and
library in this country to the Int~met by the year 2000 and we're
making good progress on that· But finally, and the thing that you
have endorsed today, is our effort to meet the last goal, to throw
open the doors of college to all people who are willing to work for
the opportunity..
As the Secretary said, we have always expanded
education. He began with Abraham Lincoln, and we might have begun
with Thomas Jefferson, who advocated even as he advocated buying
Louisiana -- for which I'm very grateful; otherwise I wouldn't be
President -- (laughter) -- and America becoming a continental nation,
that we should educate all of our children. Thomas Jefferson even
advocated the education of every single child, boy or girl, of slave
families in America.. And we know from the beginning that it was the
education of our leaders that gave them the vision to chart the
course that has brought to this day.
I do believe, based on the sheer economic realities and
. the need forgreater understanding of our interdependence in the
world in which we're living that we have to make the first two years
of college as universal as a high school education is today. Fifteen
years ago, the typical worker with a college degree earned 38 percent
more than a high school graduate; today, it is 69 percent. Two years
of college alone means a 20"'percent increase in learning and a
quarter of a million dollars more in earnings over lifetime.
a
Now, over the past fouryears we have put in place an
unprecedented college opportunity strategy: Student loans provided
directly to people who need them and that enable people to repay
those loans as a percentage of their income. ArileriCorps, which has
already helped 70,000 young people earn their way through college by
serving their communities and their country .. Two hundred thousand
more students inWork Study as a result oflast year's budget, and a
very large increase in Pell Grants last year, taking the maximum
grant to $2,700 and expanding the number of people eligible.
The plan I have put before the Congress in my balanced
budget would expand work-study again so that one million students
will be able to work their way through college by the year 2000. We
want 100,000 of these new work-study students to join our America .
Reads efforts to help make sure all our 8-year-olds can read
independently by the year 2000.
I know that more than 80 college presidents have already
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�committed thousands of their work-study students to work as reading
tutors. I thank those of you who are here leading this effort, many·
of you on the front row here, and I'd like to ask all the rest of you
to join us. Go back home, look at how many people you've got in
work-study, see how many you could allocate to this effort.
We're going to have about 35,000 AmeriCorps students
trained especially to train tutors. We're going to challenge the
parents and the schools to open up to make sure we can get these
volunteers in there to teach these kids to read. We cannot expect
the schools to operate efficiently if children have to leave the
third grade not even being able to read. They will never learn what
they need to know. And college students will relate well to these
young kids and have a chance to literally revolutionize future
learning in America.
A lot of these children are not just poor kids, they
simply -- many of them come out of cultures where their first
language is notEnglish and they did not learn to read properly. We
should not let them go past the 3rd grade without knowing we have all
done everything we humanly can to make sure that they can read
independently. So I thank those of you from the bottom afmy heart,
who have volunteered already, and I ask the rest of you to join in
that crusade. We need you and it will make all the difference.
Finally, let me say we have got to do more in other
areas. For three years in a row now we've expanded Pell Grants for
deserving students. But our budget this year, our balanced budget
contains the largest increase in Pell Grant scholarships in 20 years.
We are adding $L7 billion in grants, a 25-percent increase, which
will make 348,000 more students eligible -- many of them older
students -- and will increase the maximum grant to $3,000. And for 4
million low and middle income students the budget will cut student
loan fees in half.
But if we're truly going to set a new standard, a
14-year standard, we've got to do more. That's why I have proposed
America's HOPE scholarship based on the Georgia pioneering program;
two years ofa tax credit of$I,500 for college tuition, enough to
pay' for the typical community college. We know it will work because
of the testimonial you have already heard from President Knapp.
Second, I propose a tax deduction of up to $lO,OOO a
year for all tuition after high school to help families send children
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�or parents to college, or to graduate, or medical school, or any
other education after high school.
Third, I proposed an expanded IRA, expanded in terms of
eligibility, in terms of who can save and in terms of purpose, so
that families can save tax free to pay for education. Together these
proposals mean that a family could save money for college tuition and
never pay a penny of taxes on it. For example, families could put up
to $2,000 of income into the IRA each year without paying taxes, then
withdraw up to $10,000 a year for tuition and deduct that from income
so that there will not be any taxes when they're paid out.
Cutting taxes to help people pay directly for college
has never been done before on a national level. But we have cut
taxes for years to help people buy a home or invest in a business
because that's the way we felt we could encourage people to invest in
their future and build the American Dream. And it has worked.
In the last four years we have seen homeownership rise
to a IS-year high, and if the rate of increase continues by the year
2000 more than two-thirds of Americans will live in their own home
-- an all-time record. In the last four years we have seen in each
successive year a record number of new businesses formed in America.
Today we ought to have that same kind of encouragement to invest in
education, an even more important investment for the future. And I
think that it is highly appropriate to adopt this device to achieve
that goal.
Let me assure you, the Treasury Departnlent is committed
to working with the Department of Education and all of you to make
this tax plan work. The IRS will not interfere with the affairs of
educational institutions. We are committed to making this simple and
straightforward for the academic community and especially for the
students of every age. The plan will give families the power to
choose the right education for themselves and the flexibility to
decide the best way in which to pay for that education.
Now, just think about what this could mean. A young
person who can't afford tuition or whose family can't afford it can
now go down to a local community college right away and sign up if
they meet the standards, because the HOPE Scholarship will pay for
it. Someone with a new family who is worried about college costs
down the road can multiply his or her savings power by putting
tuition money in an IRA tax-free every year while the children are
growing up. Then, when they're 40 and worried they might need more
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�education to move ahead, but can't spare time off from work, not only
can t~ey withdraw from the IRA for the kids, but the parents can to
part-time, or at night. But all can go to college without tax
consequences.
My plan is simple: $1,500 a year tax cut for
individuals to pay for college for two years; a $10,000 ayear tax
deduction for families for any year of tuition after high school; an
expanded IRA to help families save tax-free for education, plus the
more and larger Pell Grant scholarships for deserving students,
300,000 more work-study positions, AmeriCorps, the Direct Loan
Program.
This plan will throw open the doors of college and give
every American the great chance to make the most of the world that we
are moving into. College is opportunity for tomorrow. And creating
that opportunity is our responsibility today.
I thank you agrun for your support of this plan. As we
work if!. the weeks and months ahead to craft a bipartisan balanced
budget, you endorsement today will be an historic element in making
sure that this will be part of the ultimate budget plan. We need a
balanced budget, but it has to reflect our values and it has to pave
the way to a better future.
Today, we have committed to expanding educational
opportunities by enacting the Hope Scholarship tax cut, the college
tax deduction, the Pell Grcint increases, the work-study increases. I
thank you for standing with us. You are standing for opportunity for
generations to come in a way that will change America forever for the
better.
Thank you and God bless you. (Applause.)
END
. 2:40 P.M. EST
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Offiee of the Press secretary
(Raleigh,' North Carolina)
Fo~
March 13,
Immed1ate Release
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1997
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REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE JOINT SESSION OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA ,LEGISLATURE
,House of Representat1vesqhamber
Raleigh, North Carolina
13 : 09
A,.M.EST'
.,:,;
...... ',"
THE' PRESIDENT: Thank you very mUch. Lt. Governor
:l(er, Speaker Brubaker, senator Basnight, the other state
elF!ctedofficialswho are here; my good. friend, Governor Hunt;
Mayor Fetzer. I'd lilteto thank those who came down here with me
today., I brought ,som-e of the members of yoUr congressional
deloqation home -- they don't nQed to hear this speech, they've
h~Ard it,before, but I was glad t6 have themhete in moral
'
support-- Congressman David ,Price; congressman Bob Etheridge,
your ,former superintendent of e.ducat1on; congressman Mike ,
'MG Intire ; and ' cpnq,resswoman 'Eva Clayton.
I thank' them for,
C0m i nq _ ( App?-ause. ) ,
Wi,
, I also want to say I'm glad t6,be jo1ried today by
your'neighbor, the secretary of Education, Richard Riley, former
go'.~'~rnQr of South· carolina -- (applause) --and by our new
'
s~C1·p.ta'ry of Defense. Bill Cohen of Maine.
We're glad. to' have
hi!;1 ~1 th us today, too . Thank you, secretary cohen ( for coming.)
(Applause. )
.
I was glad that you 'mentioned my Chief of staff.
Bowles. He wouldn t t come here with me today because he
w,:u; afraid all
you would think that he was shlrk1nghis duties
ancl not at work.. ,But let me tel~ you" he is doing a magnificent,
job.
I'm very proud of him. I could.p,~t believe it when he
'
"gn~p.d to come back to Washington and take this job -- especially
because I, knew it would cost' him a small fortune. And. he
,
reminded me that his father used to tell him, once you have the '
tools you've got to spend some time to add to the wood pile. So
hp'F: up in Washington adding back to the wood pile.
And you
F.ilwuld all be very proud of him. He is a remarkable man. He's
doin9 a good job. (Applause.)
Er~ikine
of
I'd also like to thank the other North Carolinians
on mv staff :""- two of the three of them are'heretoday. Doug
so::;nik, my former political director and seni'or counselor "is n9t
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'of communications,' Don Saer, 'is, here; and', '
Duncan, the Associate Directtir of .res1dent1alpersonnel.
Thev botlicame home with me and they were glad ,to ,have the excuse
t I) come home. 'And I appreciate their being h~re ,and their'
.<i~rv1ce .
h~re;but my Director
~h~rles
I was told that this was the first time'a'sitting
;)rns1dent has addressed, the North carolina state Legislature. If'
it's not true don't disabuse ,me now, because I'm about'tosay
" ll meth1ng here.
(Laughter. ) And I am very honored ,to be here.: ,
!::7en more important, I've spent a little time'here over the,years
;lnd'ram honored and mildly surprised that you are here, because
.i ~' I S tournament time- and you've qot ,four teams , aausual"
in ,the
ll)Urnament.
(Applause. )
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You may know that I amsornethingof
a basketball
f ,JHa tic., And you may know that one of my most memorable
h;~ Gketball experiences -- I once saw North Caro-lina and, Kentucky
in the Dean Dome, and the car that I came, in was towed,.
'
) But I. had' so much fun at the, ball game I would have,
the way back to Arkansas, after it was, over.
'
(J.>;\ughter. ) I make i t a point never to take' sides in basketball,
games unless my home team in Arkansas or, my alma mater, " '
(;-.;r)l"getown, are playing. But I amlooklng' forward to the day
whon the great Dean Smith breaks Adolf Rudd's'recorci.
(Applause. )
pi ilV
i ;.·:\ughter.
w;~ lked all
There is much for the rest of the nation and
.=specially the resto£ the south of 'to, admire in North carolina
-- the determined and'vis.;ionary leadership that,has'characterized
thls state for many decades in education and economic'
,
c],:\lelopment, in brinqingharmony among peoples of differentI,l~c.k.grounds. "
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When I' was' a young man,' - I followed the work here of
'Terry Sanford who later became my friend and
colleaque~
Eighteen years ago, when I first ,started my career as'
(';nvernor of Arkansas, my best mentor and friend' was Jim Hunt.
,An:.'\ he is still my mentor and ,friend.
DiCK Riley were laughing
Ntth Jim Hunt -- we were together 18 years ago as the, governors"
OJ: Arkansas" South carolina and North Carolina" and we were
li.lUghinq that Jim was probably, the only one of us who could ,still
ryct electe.d qovernor in our horne states after 18 years ..
I [,aughter.)
And I applaud him ,on that.
th~m-Governor
It was in Chapel Hill that the cornerstone was laid
firstpub,licly funde(l univers1ty, '1n Kitty Hawk.
tool<. to the skies. And today, North Carolina is
an aeronautics.and an air travel hub center for millions of
people. Your state universities receive the highest level of
fun:ding for research and development 1n the nation .. You have
connected more of your communities than any other,state in the
cOllntry to the Information Superhiqhway ,-- something I'm trying
·to do for every classroom and library in'America by the year
'aL our nation's
'whr~re man .first
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2000.
r
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The Research Triangle has· one ofth:e h,1ghest
per.capi~a·
cl')l1centrations of ~h.D"s iri the word, and you are clearly one of
}\1lI,:>rica I smost dynamic. centers 6f econC?mic;:activity.
.'
The most impo~t~nt thine; about all tills is not. for
t:o brag- on you, you know that already, hut. to emphas1_ze,~the
ma:in poirit: . .Thesethings do ,not happen by ace:iden:t. They are
~.11!= product of, Vision. and .disciplined, lon9-term effort.·
JnP.
Now, , our country. fac!es ,thechalleriges of a new
..
/'''ntury -..;.a whole new economy; a whole new, way in ~h::lchp~ople'
l"lill work and live· and relate, to each other here.at home and" . .
.. round th~ world. It 1s driven hy inf'ormation ~nd by teclino!ogy.
:n.s best hcpEusmilY be underml..ned by ,itS ~arkest:fears t bythe.old·
(\arT\ons of racial and religious and ethnic hatreds',hy, teI;t"orism .'
,mel Darco trafficking andorganlzed crime..
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. Th1snewt1me .tpat we I removing .into , that,"
··· ..·i.ncidentally, will be plirt of a newc~m;uryandanew.·
.
1l1.illennium,.· will givemQre peopl~ in this state and tli1snat1on
th~ chance to' live 'out their dreams than at . any.·per~od ·inhuman
history if· we take advantage, of it t9 seize our ,opportunities and·
.dei\l with our challenges.
'.
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, There is unprecedenteq peace ant;1.prosPQt'ity now.
And it has been very rare'in'our coUntry's history--.yoU can gO
b;:iI::K and ~indmaybe a couple of' other examples when 'we I ve had
.
.,:c;::il securi tY,·a 'feeling of pro!5peri ty ,and yet, a whole lot of
challenqes before us. Usually when. people 'feelaecure and,
.
n.?latively prosperous, one of two. thinqs:happens .... - neither of
th<:'.m verY.laudable, but it's part of human n'ature -- we either
HI:~~. sort of happy and self-satisf1edanddon' tdoanything, or
h':'<":~llseweare notgrippe'dbybig differences, we f.all out;' with'
"'<'I('h. other over small. things' and petty t.hings' make us less than
. \';(' ought to be.
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The point I want t;o malte today is that we cannot·
afford either to be complacent or t<;> be divided among ourselves.
about small things. For we have been givenanopportunfty almost'
un.;.que ill American history to fashion a futur.e that will einbrace"
.~v~~Lybody.
Alldwe cannot and .dare not blow that opportunity.
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If you "look at wherewQ are now, you can see the
vistas of the future. Our economy produced 12 million jobs ·in
. fOllr years -- never.happened before ina four-year period.
we've
',hnd constant decline in crime.s. . we' ve had the b1ggest drop in
the welfare rolls in American history in the last four yeat"s.
1:n
North Carolina, you've seen the unemployment rate drop to 4.2
percent --75,000 people off the welfare rolls; 350,000 new jobs.
Tha·l.· S going em allover America.
But yoU know that we have more'
tOido.
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I have been going around the country to the,Michigan
and the Maryland state legislatures' -- today the Vice president,
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,t" in' california:speakinq to the state legislature as'lam'here
w1.!.h you: -~, because .:J:·know that to achieve the visi,on ,that we
sll,ire . for America we. all ,have to do' our part.' I' va said many
L lilies that .the' era' 'of "big gove,rnment 1s. over',. "'yourfeaeral
.govarnment1S' now' 295,000 people ,smaller than'.it wasth~ day I
t.ook 9fffce.
It.' s .the smalles.t 1tsbeen since President. Kennedy
,W;t~.;. in offic,e, in realterms~As ,a, percentage of the civilian,
wo5.-kforce ~ the, federal qovernment is now as s~all as it;. was when
; F'~:lnklj,n Roo:se,velt wa~: sworn ,into office· the first time .pefore.
th'" .New
Deal~,
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',. . , B u t the ch'all'enqesweface are still very biq,
,.1Jideed.,]:ftheycannot be solvea. 'ny government alone, ·a~d
I"'s::pocially by ~ the 'federal government , obviously, a new
,.
, p;:p~tnership is requ1red~ And new efforts ~ new ~ctivi ty ,new
r~,;ponsl.b~11ty 1srequiredof peopleatthe<state level, .at ,the
If,J!:aLlev'el and in their private lives • The biggest challenge we,'
f ..... :<! todaY,··I believe, is the challenge of creating a,world~' .
.r1 ;~·~s· p.ducation systgm that' ,e.mbraees'gvery child that ,lives in:
·thir; state and in: this nation •. And this must, notbeil,political
:e(H)tball ~ .
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In the coid War"because'. we knew that 'communism
tn'!."aatened o,ur: existence, 1 t ·became commOilplace. that politics'
w()u'ldstop at the water's edqe . And the Democrats and. the
~epublica:ns'would fight like cats and dogs over whatever it was
they were'fightlng'about, but when 1t'came .to'standing up to the .
. t-hl"patof communism we were together. If the President of one
iH'j'rty went abroad on a mission o'f. world peace, ,he was never
criticized ,back home by members of the,o.therparty because
'pnt,ltlcs. stopped at. the wat'er's edge.
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I think we. understand, today intuitively' that'
'holds the key' to our future in the 21st century.' 'And I
'l,H'<ieve politics must stop at the SChoolhouse door.
(Applause~)
,~ctllcati.on
When I was ,governor, a long time ago now, North
r::ti,rolina:' already had the highest percentage of its ad1,ll ts, in .
:i n,f;tltut.lons of hlgher education of .any state, in the south ...The
c--:,'onomy.was growing and it was diversifying I anc::l' yet, you' still
h"d more success in ma1ntaining manufacturing jobs than any state,
.... tn our re'gion, and .indeed, 1'n the country. You know all this~'
LOGt year you ll,ad thebi'qgest increase insth grade math scores,
I noticed, in'the country.
I was in Michigan and I said that
,
'thpy had ha,d the second bi9gest . increase in math ,scores ,·and .the
. mimite I got 'in the car Governor Hunt made' sure I knew who was'·
nu~ber ~ne.
(Laughter.) so I knew that.
The 'Governor chose to be sworn in at the Needham
LauQhton Hiah School, his old school, to make clear that school
F>tandardsand teach1ngexcellence will be his top priorities. '
But with all the progress that we.have made, you know we've got a
lot more to do.,'
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Between 1992 and the year 2000, 99 percento£ the
jobs 'created in this economy will 'reqUire more than a high
~~h~ol ievel of literacy:and*ath skills--' a? percent. :Today,
~v~nthough over aopercent of, our 'children are graduating from
;, l..-:rh Gehool, more than half -- or' about half the people ,entering
,'Lh~ work force are not, prepared with these skills .We allk.now '
t ha,t 1s true. '
,71PW
For 20 ,ye'are, 1nequal,.ity . among working Americans
In the' last few years it startet;i'to, shrink -- in the last'
f;cjuple ofyear~ -- as we've gotten _... more and more of, our new ,
'jc.'ns are' becoming higher...wage jobS and as growth and pro,duct1vity
'(-\ I'~permi ttlnqwages ,to' r1se again ~
'"Trow.
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'Many people, just a couple 6f yearsaOo. were
middle class vanishing in America, will it "
" ~I,lways besqtieezed,are' we going to create a countrY wltha huge,
,', 11 limber ,of people ,that are very welJ:off, andi:m even, much larger
~"·""b~rof. people that are poor, with a smaller middle class.
'';.1(,., ve 'seen in the ,last few years that ,that does not h.ave to
,'h:\open. ; we can begin to grow the middle class again: with
, , pr-Oductivity andgrowt:h and the r1ghtk,1nds of new jons,but we
l;,-:!"-:re to, be"able to, provide the people with the skills to hold
t.!l'')se jobs" if we're going to maintain a high"!'waoe, high-growth.
hiCJh~oPpoI"turiity society 1nAmerica in' the 21st century,.' And o,ur
~r.hools 'are still turning out millions of young p~ople'who simply
'.:ctunot do' that.,
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" , That, is why our number one pri~rity 'has to' be to '
I s
education the, best in the world.', We have to have
n nation in which every s"year-old can read independently I ' every
l~':'year-oldcan logon t.o'the Internet,' every1a~yeflr-old can go
p:-~ to cQllege and every adult Amer,ican can keep' on learning
'rh roughout an entire lifetime.'
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In my state of the union. address, I laicl'out 'a 10";
nt call to action for 'American educat,ion that, de,scribes' the
'r-:tr:lPS we ,chave to meet • First, we have to make sure the all of
our qhildrencome to school ready to learn. Our balanced budget
,"1111 expand Head start to a milli.on' ch:ildren. But we' ail must do
,mo're, and a lot of that has, to be done' at the state level. 'And I
ho~e every state in the ~ountry is looking closely at the Smart
,'st:irt program1n North Caro+ina .. (Applause.)
,.,1:.1
The, idea ofhtlv1ng all elements of a community 1n a
nonprofit environment working on not only education,
but health care and parertting skills and child 6are, irvinQ to
give our poorest children a coherent early childhood iS,terribly
'j,mportant. Scientists,have discovered that learning begins in
the earliest days of .life.
And now we have to explore how
pur~nts and educators can best use these find1nqs.
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on. APril' 17th·, the First Lady and I· will host the
. white House conference.on Early Childhood Development and
.' t~t:\L"'ning in Washington, and I want smart start to be an' important.
,pai.L of what is conI31c1erec1 there.
.
Let m'ejust give you one simple example of the
. s CIentific finding~~- Over half of the. capacity of the brain to . .'
.:It):.::orb and to learn and to grow, the capacity is developed in the .
!i;;:'st four years of life.Z~ tbefirst four years of li,fe., if a
.
,..1, i .ld has parents whounderstandth1s and who constantly --
wl;.~ther
they have
aPh.D~·
or they were high school' drop-outs
.
cr1nac1tie6,. that ch11dW111 .qet 700,000 positive contacts~
bllt: who' constantly work at nourishing ..the child's .learning
·
. But. in the typical ex:perienceof a. child ·wi tha
.
very little education and no ..6e1f
no training' .and .no understanding,'
.,w.la.. sense' thl1t no difference can' be. made, and the child that's
::;inq1e parent, let' 6 say, with
ron fidenceabout parenting and
]~rtin £~ont 6£ ~he t8l~vision 'in the fi~~t fotir YQa~s,· that
('d'dd will' qet 150,000 posit1vecon tacts -- a more than four-to..:.
difference.'
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Now, you. tell me'what tbe'future is:90inq to be life
f(',.,....them.; . Smart start can chanqe that. And our cooperative
efforts. can change that. ~utwe have to understand that we have
t<itally underestimated the impact of this whole thing. And the
ill~w scientif1c f1nd1ngs impose upon all of us"
rgspon~ibility,than
a
heavier
we have ever had for developing the
capac1tie~ of~ourchildren
fOl'ward to that .• '
,
n i :'~rnatives
in tHe1rear11~st years.
(Applause.)·
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look
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I believe we have to do more to give constructive
creative alternatives for our younq childr~n in our'
. I .favor pUblic school choice. I've' been a
p.t :>ne&.r supporter of .the charter school movement.
I think that
• 1 t . s' 1mportant to open schools that stay opened as long·. as they
I
'pllbl tc schools.
cln a
good job,' but only as long as'theydo
a good
job.
And I
knt)w that this afternoon, yoUr State Board of Education has the
oP?ortun1tyto op'en more charter schools than, any. state has ever
opr:ned atone time, .to foster' innovation and competition and
l-~'rv'!wal. . I hope the Board w111 take that step· today I and one
mh~'q
time
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North Carolina will be in the vanguard of a movement·
yn" can be proud of.
(Applause. ).
.
we have got to 'have a commitment to rebuil(1'our
schools and give' our children the facilities they need to l~arn
We have the larqest number of children.in public schools in
'TheSecretary of Education never gets tired of
rf"'!l';1nd1ng me, since I am the. oldest of the ~aby boomers I that our
.in.
hi~tory.
· gmH:!ration bas· finally been eclipsed .in numbel:'sby the people
that arQ in· thQ public schools today. Wa also hava tha'physical
facilities in many of our schools deterioratinqat a rapid rate.
So, for the first time .in history, I have ~r6poseda program that
wlll enable uS.at the' national level to support local .efforts to
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tncreasetheir investment in the physical facilities:'6f ~the "
~chools by makino,sure that the interest rates 'are lower, and' the:
~riRts' are lower in the place~' where theneedismos:t. :crit~cal~
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' I' m qoinq tdFlo;r1da' after :r leave you, 'anci tOll\(~rrow
will be at a ~chool where thQrQarQ17,.,Iun4Q:J;"~tand,
.:\(_~Gordinq to my briefing '"'!- 17 trailers for classroom space ' ',' , ' '
rlround the exi'sting school facility in a modest-sized community, "
tll Florida,
That: if? not an atypical 'experience" in ~any of QUI',.
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nt-,ates.
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We have, to meet our national goal of 'c,omlectinq .,', "
"'J~ry classroom ,and library to, the Internet by the year 2000 ~,We ,
iltlVe to open the doo,rs of college to all..
North,Carolina "
' ,,
7Y\ oneered,with you;r netwo;rk of four-year and two-yearh1ghet:"', " , .
'?ducationalinsti tutions, pioneered the idea that, educat10n:oUgh,t
tJ) be a lifetime experience and that the doors ought to- be 'open ',: . , '
r '-,' e v e r y o n e ' , , ' '
and
In the last four years, we have 'lowered tpecost
'improved the reach of the student loan program, added 200,000, : ,
~ tots to work-study, opened up 'almost, 70, 000 slots£or 'colle,ge, '
tlll'ough the national service program, AmerlCorps.;" we have worked,
\fqJ..-Y,' very hard, but I think we have to, do more"
It is clear to me ...... if you look' at the,job'profile,
percent of the new jobs will require more 'than a high
'
schooleduca.tion, we have to make two years of education, qfter
high,school-.. the 13th and 14th gradQs -- just as universa11n
'America by, the year 2000 asa h1gh school diploma' is today "
~very bit asun1versal.
(Applause.)
wtlcre8~
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achie.ve. that our'bal'ahced bu'dqet plan proposes' a
.500 HOPE Scholarship -- a'tax credit that reflects the cost
of
the ,typical community collegetuition'1n America, modeled on,"
(~()Vernor zell Miller I s HOPE Scholarship program in Georgia.' '''We
J,Jf'l)}Jose to give people a tax deductlon()f us to $10,000 a year
for the'cost of any education 'after high 'school; an expanded,:X:RA'
th,,=!tyou. can withdraw from tax-free' if the money is ,used to', pay
for higher education; and the largest increase in PellGrants
,.:u years, along With another 100,000 work-study slots. That will
help North Carolina~ and it will help America.'
"
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Finally, let me say on this subj'ect, we know we have
to make s,ure ,learning-continues throughout· a lifetime. We know
thclt we have older and older' students go'1ng baCK 'Co communlt.y
~~11eges, changing their careers and getting new careers and
openinq up new vistas~Wehave a federal response which I think
is totc'9.11y antiquated. There are at least, conservatively
f:pea.K1.nq, at least 70 different federal· programs that ~ere
developed with the best of intentione to try to help to pay for
various training programs for, people who lose th.eir jobs or
people who are grossly underemployed.
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, ,', Iba.ve, proposed for four ,yea.rs '--wi:th a.',Democrat1c:
('nngressand with : the Republica~ congrQlis :.;;,~ gQtting rid of these
-JH"ograms and 'putting the money in a pot and ·sending ask,ills
'qrnnt to an unemployed person or an underemployed person, who has'
, Qltllll!lec1 tor any . of ' 1:h~m., ,and.l.et. them go, to, 'the nearest,
('!t)mmunitycollege or four-year ,college if, it.' "the' 'appropr.i,ate
rll1p. ...;, .. whatever is. neares:t arid best to get "the1r education..
W@
(In not need a lot of government intermediaries' here:~ . People . know
:-:- people know what they ·need. They're. cap'a.bleof making a '
; lldginent ~
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,,' 'Governor 'Hunt, told me. today that he wil'l endorse our'
North Carolina,
tht?refore"woulci~e the third state to do so., The Repubiican
qO'fernorofM1eh1gan joined in, 'along with hisleqislative
I':";lders,' just a' 'few days, ago."
'
t:,ali for national,' standards and a, testing plan.
/,
"But,let me say wnat, I think we, need to do. A lot of
you ltnowa lot about 'this. we llave some standard1zed tests 1n
J\m,..rica, but we ,don't have any tests to nationally accepted
~t.;mda:rds ~,
The' closest we have is the so.. called' NAEP test, the
NRtiomU AssessmEmt, of Education Progress. But,8sall o,f you
know, 'iton'lyls given to as'ample of students ~n various
eli :.tt'icts.Tbere" is no exam1nation in America,wh1ch says, here
;;In' the, 'standards that everyone should ,know in langUage or math,
r111d'here'is a test which' reflects ~,those standards; and it doesn't
,m~i:terwhether you're first or last in yoy,r class , i t matters,
,
wh~thery6uqet over th'1s ,bar.
'If you' re't1rst 1n your class and
',"H"body is' over, this bar, n()body know what they need to ,know. ,'If
y l ' l I l rel'ast ~ ,but you,' re over the bar ,
you're still" aoina to, do
Ql;ay in,' thiso+d; world.
'.
',' , I think thi:.\t is very important. We ,~ilneeQ to ,know
We',a.lineedto.know that. You know -~'and'let meaiso'say
th~t I know it won't be easy, because some of our.kids W(:>ntt do
all, that, weil at first.' ,If you saw the, state, of the Union,
nddress'you ,)t:.now'that I introduceCl tw() stuctentsfrom 20 scnool
, di otr1cts:1n Northern Illinois ~who 'took the Third International
Math and Science' Survey and the 20 schcioldistricts up there ,tied
.1; or first: in science ,and s~cond in math in the survey, with
,
sjngapore for'first.' But if they had finished,dead last I would
hiJvt:!be~ll eqUally proud of them becausethey'were w1li1ng'to
;'I,f"'tually. ho14 themselves to international standar9.s of ""
achievements and measure themselves.
th~t ..
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• Andth1s 1s where we need all of your: help. I '-m
that one of the reasons that' we' venever done this' in
America~ls thatw~ were 8fr~id if the ne~SW8g bad we wouldn't
',know wl1atto do about-it. And I think that, in so doing'wehave
s.old our children ,short. All theevidence1s, all thesc1entific
, "ftvldenceis, all the anecdotal ev1dence 1s that almost all of our
• "~h11dren, without regard to their race their ,income and where
'they live, can learn what'they need to know,to compete and win in
,the global economy.· . And when we do· not hold them to high
r-r.andards because weare afraid that in the beginning they won't
meet them ,we are selling their future,a dc:>wn the drain and. we are
ins'lll tina them, because they can meet, these standards., .
(~oi''iVinced
I
. What we have to be wil1ing'to do'is·to saYI okay,
we'll have the,se exams, we'll hold people to h1.ghstandardsi some
people won't make it first; ~e don't want to punish people, we
want to lift;, eVerybody up; but we can r t know how. to lift people
up unless we know where we start.
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,'When I go ~round the world people' find it '
,1111believable that we have no national staI1dard in America to tell
, , "~1l1:,parents :,and our school' leaders whether our, children .know, what
lh':!y're supposed toknow'in ~he basic,skills that are necessary.
'-,', learn 'ali' the other more apphiatieated things we wan1:people
~,,\ know.,
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i: tell you, I
J:)e11~ve' 1n the Jt1ds of thlS
(~Quntry., 'I, have been in schools
h~ unthinkable that people could
in circumstances where it would
learn ..... because of crime in the
'!If'tghborhoods ' and. because of ,povert:yin therieighborlioods. And I,
h,we seen . children perform~ng at very high.1evels, meeting ,
,!~ I it ridards that would be acceptable in 'anyplace in 'the entire
\!It_'rld:· AIldI am tired' of people tellinq, me that 'there is some
.t:"'?ason weshouldn" t have thatopportun1ty g1vento every American
, "':ll,ld ~ We are not protecting,out.ch11drenby denying the,m the
~~!'l\a:nce ,to develop their God-given capacities to measure 'up to'
'.o1hnt they need to know, and do, ,to 'do well in the future; ,And we
. .,nght ,to stop it and ,dohetter.
(ApplausQ.)
"
, . Now ,on a' lightern'ote, you may wonder why the
of, Defense is here with me today . (Laughter . ) 'Before
T ~:ame, down here ~ ,senator Helms asked me to tell you that he is
not the guard ,that Jesse once said I would need to come to North
Carolina., (Lauqhterandapplapse. ) Ever since I 99t a Chief of
sfaff that do~s nQt speak with an accent, ,we've been getting',
a.long a lot better ,Senator aelmti and 'I. ' . ' .
(Laughter. )
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'~;\f{;retary
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There is another reason that the Secretary Ot
Defens'e is here today. ,W,e want to set an example· ~-' we want to
~~tan' eXCijUple,' weth1nk. we ought to start the standards
mO'lcmontswith the schools that we run at military D,asee. At 66
schools acrossour,count:ry and 167 more around the world, our
P""nartment , of "Defense educates ,115,000 of our children every'
y~'3.r.
The Department of Defen'seruns a school system as big as
t,hat of the, s't.at,e of Delaware.
And I met some of :the children,
r::C:'JnP. of the teachers and, some of the parentfil out at the airpo~t
when I came in today.
'
Sixteen Of those schools are, at camp LeJeune and,
n~a~ly 8,000
r.:1:udentsattend them. ' It's important that we give these children
the, best possible education, too -- especially these children, ,
because their families sacr1fi~e~ they live far, fromho~e, they
often risk their lives for their country. It's important, too,
b~cause thes~ stud~nts co~e fr6m every ra¢ial and ethnic
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, hac}~qround. They, move fr.om place to place astileir parents are
. transferred from base to.base~
,
F6rtBragg, right. here in North Carolina) and
Because of this mobility, no groups of students
bf!tter underscores the ,need for common national standards and a
1m 1 form way of measuring progress than this group',"' If standards
can work' in these schools, they can work' anywhere',.
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So ' I' am pleased to announce today 'that" wi ththe ,
.
:support of theSe~retary of Defense, the Department of
.
'Dt:>fense'schools have stepped forward to aSk. that their 'students.
hf\ among the 'first to take tp.e new tests when they becol11e
~v;:lllable.Tlie secretary o~ Defense and the. S~cretary of
r-:tTl'mg
J:;r'tlloation Riley have both committed their work,'
'
~tartinq in 1999, student~ and classroom~, from
W:lesbaden Air Force Base in Germany to·Kadena Air Force Base ,in
Okinawa, to camp LeJeUne will learn the same ',rigorous material
;::!Tlel
take the same national tests as students' throughout this
~t,'te, and I hope throughout our entire nation. ,We can:ma)te,our'
puhlic schools just like our military, the best on ,Earth,!'f,
, iltp. 9ur mil1tar:y, we are willing to .adhere to high, rigorous,
,
!
GL;:mdards for all people,reqardless oftbeir background.,'Tba.t 's
whu t we ought, to do. '
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t O:tTay.
"And I thank you, Mr. Secretary "for being here
(Applause. ) ,
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Let me also say that we know we have' to dO more' work'
,And. the Department 'of, Defense is"
'belngdirected tOClay·tllrough its school system to use every,
,
to prepare all of our students.
r(tr~:ouroeto,prepare
~c1,~nce
the students for 1.999 when the new math and"
tests--or math'andreading tests are ready."
Let ,me mention one ,other thing that I th1nkis, very
important;· and. it goes well with a lot of what you are doing here
·with yourpr.-schoo1.years and.Your early years_
It is appa.lling
to me that' 40 percent of J\merica IS a-year-olds cannot· read' a book '
on their own.· But it' strue.' And the test of this' s'tuffis just
sort Ofwh1stling the breeze if people can't 'read., so
have
we
li".l.inehed the America Reads :Initiative, through the Dep~rtment of
Education, to mobilize' an army of a mil'lion, reading tutors,. .
pl"Qpe,rly trained". to, help make sure that by the year 2000 every
R-~Aar-olds can read independently.
Thirteen ,North Carolina college presidents have
pledged to commit a portion of their work"study students to serve
as tutors, and I thank them for that. We're goinq to have
30n,OOO new work-study students over a four-yearperiod~
If we
can put at least a third of them into reading'instruction for our
young children, we'll be a long way'toward those million
volunteers.'
.
,
We ought to be clear about' something else, too ,
and here's something that I really take my hat off to Governor
.Hunt for. We 'cannot expect our childrento'meet hiqh standards
unless we demand that our teacher~meet high standards.'
have
to do whatever is necessary to make sure that they Qo.
we
La~t year, the report of Gov@rnorHunt's National
, Commission on Teaching and America I sFuture laid: out a blueprint
for the road ahead~ And all of you have together across party
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" ines to develop a comprehensivQ legislative agenda~hat
l
:lmplement~the report·s recommendatlons..
We have to start by
j~~c()gn1z1ng' and . rewarding .our· best teachers.. . We .. all, know, what a".
. tllfferen.ce a gOO<1teachercanmalte 'lnthe 'life' 'of achlld."I·
lmow what a difference my teacher.s made in .mine.· '
.
;: -.'
. The Natiollal Board for profe~si()nal.·Teachlng
:itandards, led by Governor Hunt, has encouraged teachers allover "
the country to improve their sk1lls and seek. ce.rt1f19at1onas
l1\:uilter teachers .
North carolina' already has· more oertified '
.. Jla!;:.ional teachers than any .other state in the .country.· And ,the: '
(;pvernorwa's kind enough to' bring five,/ors1x·. of them out to the :
~ l.t"por't 'to meet me, and they wereno.t ashamed of ,the f actthat ; .,
they had been board:-certified: master ,teachers. .
..
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·OV~r'.20 percent of all" the'teachers that have'b~en .
. certifled are .here in North .carolina. Tnat's the go.odnews. ,The
h~cl news is that only about50ote~chersllavebeencert1f1e(l.:In
' ( " I rbalanced budget plan ,there's· enough money to help .100.; 000 '
t?i:\chers aChieve this important credential. • Now , the states ne~d
t.., do things like North· Carolina has and offer to pay' -:;;. the.
(';':lvernor's plan woul'd paymaster teachers another 12 percent·
, morc.
You have to encourage people. . But we need 100; 000 at
,
l?l'1st~ becaus~ what we really want' i& .at .least a board certi;fied
muster teacher in every slngle school building 'in ,America. If. '
Y()U get. one in every slngle schoolbu11d1ng i:ij Alrierica, w"e know,
£J..OOl the research that they will. change 'tlieeducatlon environment
~.nd help lift the standat"ds tbat other teachers,' achiev:ea.nd· help
to 11f.t the quality of teaching'in all the classrooms ..
So, that 1s one of' the ." thlngs that· we,'re ·trying to .do
our budget,. But again, I,' d say 'that we are following your'
J:{4an a,nd 'especially the year&; and, years and years that Governor.
Hlmt has put into this . I n Apr1l, secretary' Riley will hold' a ..
national forum on attractinq and· preparing teachers. withSO.o'f
nil r
nation' sbest teachers 'and thous.ands of others. . AnClwe are
'q'n~ng to have to do'more to encourage 'our brightest younqpeople
t{) become teachers.
'
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in
, .
F1nally," we a'lso have to make sure, as. the Governor'
said, .that While good teachers get. <;l :ra1se, the truly bad'
tA~chers .whocan I t measure. \1P .shouldget a pink., ~lip.
We have to
. do that in an expeditious and fair. way. .Today, that is too time
,consumlnq and costly. In some states, it can cost hundreds of
1~housands of dollars.
That same money could be and should be
U,Ii;Qd to reward good teachers and t<:) 'train .those who are' trying to
improve their skills., We can change, this, as :they. have in
<":tnc1nnati where school boards and teachers unions have worked
together in partnership to find more eff1cientand fairways to
r~move teachers who should leave the classroom.
Encourag1ng
tprlC'Ihers is not easy or cheap, but again, 1: say, we know what a.'
phenomenal'd1fference it makes.
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.' •...... Finally., . to eleVate teaching, Ithink,'we:have to
l·",C:orm the' way .we spend money in our schools and. (Jive pa,rentsthe
\.ools to demand more accountability- Today, the Vice President
, .i:: discussing tbatat the stat,e legislature in~acramento I _ .
cn11fornla. 'Hlsrelnventlnggovernment itlltl'at1ve bas helped us
t:t) abrink the national government to the smallest· it I S. been in
UH·~e decades and to take that money and invest it in . education;
.l.ilvest it iil t9'chnology, invest it' in transportation, ,invest it
.'\'11 growing the' economy and building a better· future~· . we. have to·
h?\ve tbe same sort of national effort t()analyze the way:
,
~lxl)enditures are made in public . education throuqhout America, so
. th~t' we can support those who are "commlttedto reducing
llnnece~sary bureaucratic exPenditures.andincreasingexpenditures
r'n children ana teachers ana ' leal;'nlng .
". .
'.'
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.,.
.
.. ' ". .'. Yesterday. I did a town' hall meeting, .with 35
..dli'ldren,.ondrugs. '~ndI 'askedall.these kids -- and some of'
, t: i 1p.se kids had been on .drugs'and were off drugs ~'a couple .of .
. I 11~se k,1dswere in treatment, some 'of them had'been in families
,"d' gang members who' had baan involved in drugs, and then some of
tll'em' had never us'eddrUgs~
It was' a whole panoply of·kids . But
. T \.,ent through child.' after .,child after child~' and I ask.ed them to
teLl me abotit their circumstances.' Ana they all said, we' need
m-;Utors l ' we need programs we' re interestedin:~' And one after
,;inot:he'rthey kept tel'lingme about how their school had had to
abandon:1.tslnusic program or its art program"its physical
p.duc.ation programs, its intramural athletic programs -- all' the
r,hlngs .tbat:· happen after schoo). or-on weeKend' tbat· Keep kids
invoi'ved inposit1ve·. thinqs ..
. 'we have'to understand that however.roUCh'money we
have for, our schools we have. to make sure we are spending' it·
r~l'st;:and for.emost on instruction and, 'secondly, on waysdesiqned
tl)
give the children the ,best chance to live productiv@,' .
whoJ:eso~e., good, constructive lives --' and that olight to be" a
!!i:\ t ional. effort ·as well.
.,
.
We have 'found phenomenal.·amounts of money that we
could redirect in the federal qovernment to reducing the deficit
or' .:1.nvesting in'our future simply by. slowly, ,but ,cieliberately,
~l::minating hundreds of unnecessary programs,thousands of
Ullllecessary regulat10nsandreducing -- 'without running people
,~F.r -- just slowly. reducing the siz9 of government until we have
got it to the point where I ment1onedto you earlier.
.
And. we nave to worK on t:hat: In.our schools because
afford to waste a single dollar when' it comes to these
r!l'\'iltlren's future. And it is folly to believe that we're not
,Paying for it when w,etak.ethese kids away from a chapce to have
a full, .wholesome experience and to be in those schools' after
1.:;(.:11001 hours or before school hours and doing things in addition
to their academic learning . S o I hope you will. support that.
(Applause. )
.
. '
we . cannot
HORE
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.,..
.. Let me just say one. final word. inelosing about·
. another big Job we, have .to 'do together. we have to finish the
.wrlr.k of· welfare reform.
In the first four years of my,:. .
,pn~sidencYI we gave waivers from federal rules to 43 states to do
. ',,11 kinail of things
llelp move people from welfare to work: We
how know that partly because ,of the growing economy, partly
h~'(~;:lUse of state welfare reform efforts, and partly bec.ause ofa
~"l percent increase in child support collections nationwide, the·
·w('lfa~e rOlls'went .down by 2.6 million in four years --arecord
to
·.rll1mher.'
,
.
.
'
Then the Conqr~ss passed and. I signed the welfare
Corm. bill, WlliCh· says there will stlll be. a national' guarantee
..
£'';>1:" poorehild.ren. £orfood.Clnd medicine, but there's a·limit·to
.110'11>1 long an able-bodied person can be.onwelfarew:lthoutqoing to
. ' work. . And we're going to give it, to the states and 'let the
... strltes decide how to design their' .plans to. move people from
w. ' l f are to, work.
.
.
.
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. well,· what 'I want to tell you folks is that this is ..
likethatoldcouhtry .s1nger ,chet .Atkins" used to say, you've
\10t . to be awful careful what you ask for in this old life,
because you might get . it. And now you've got i t . . And here is '
wh1:tt'y6U have: In-order to meet the demandsof:the law that was
s\ipported by almost every governor and every state off~cialin .
the country, we must move about another million people from
.
welfare .to work. 'NOW, keep in mind, when we reduced the. welfare
rt'llls· by :2.6' million'. some of those' .were ,c,hildren. -- only -about a
million of those were people moviIiafrom welfare into. the work
,force; So. we moved a million people in four years when the
"'!conomy created alm.ost 12 million jobs. We have to move another.
mi:llion in the .nextfour years beclluse of what; the . law says ,
,whether the'economy'creat~s jobs or not. Anatt is your.
r~sponsibilltyto design a plan "to get that done.
.
.
.. NOW, I want to help. And I have ProPP.Sed .f.eaeral. .
l('t;islat1on .to .give a tax credit of 50 percent for up to $10,000·
in salaries' for people who hire' people' specifically off· wal.fare.··
I ·llaveproposed to give extra c:ash. toh1gh-impact, high.
unemploynrent areas so people can do publ ic serv.ice w.ork,
commun1tyserv1cework, if necessary .
. But there' are more' ;things you can do. . Your work
program here in North Carolina. is encouraging pr1vate
employers by subsidizing payChecks andholdlng job fairs. These.
ar;;l the. kinds of thinqswe·have to do everywhere.
But you really
need 1::0 look at· how your. proqram works.. And yqu ntiuiad to look at
whether you have a system for challenging private employers to .
loox.at the incentives that are available. And you need to
figure out how many people every count'ryis q01ng to have to move
from welfare to work in order for you not· to have· a train wreck
at ~heend o~ the rtext four years.
F~,rst
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EVery state has to' do this. And it's going to hav9
be done county by count', commun1tyby community. Because I'm
. ~~. u1nq you, everybody that ever said, people who are able-bodied.
,,0 welfare ought to bave .to ,work. now ,has a .moralobllgation to
.m"'ke sure that the 'people ,who have been told .they have to work
I'lctually have jobs.so they can·work. We' have to do that.
(Applause.,)
t'o,
Let me. just say - - I have .been to a lot. of state.s
. ;""d looked ata lot· of programs _. In MiliiSiouri, they 90 to .
I;'mployers and say,' we ill give you the welfare check for up to
four years if you need it; but you have to pay people $1. 75 over
.. Uie minimum. wage and' we'll 91 ve you the. welfare check' as an
"'mploYment-1n-traininq supplement •. And you can have .it for a.
!':,10t, but not for a particular individual, for up to 10 .years if
....'>U'll just keep being part· of.. Our program . 5 0 they f ve got. a lot
<lremp19yers -- small, med1um and large-- who are part of that
..
,
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You 'have to.do somethinq like that to do something
.the employers who. are nO.t taxed.Communitynonprofits and
rf.:'liqious organizations can hire a lot of people ,from w.elfare
iutothe1r ranks, an<1bave a lot· 1:.0· do with integrat1ng their
f::lmilies into the mainstream of life in .North Carolina. But they
.h4iure .to have some. incentive to do so. .
.
(liT
The second thing I would urge you·to do is to make
that as you realize. savings from peo.ple mov1ng from welfare
t.O work,' I think you can meet your goals better if. 'YOU turn
~ro~nd and invest at least the- ini~ial6f those savinos back into
the .transition.· We did aqoodjob of adding $4 billion to'child
CC\L'e for p¢ople moving from· welfare to work. .
But we still may
110t have ~nouqb child care. to do the job.
And we know that. is a.
hnqe barrier.
You cannot ask people to hurt their kids when they
. go towork~
.And a lot of folks entering these entry-level jobs
o(")n't make much money .. NOW, we can carry them over with Medicaid
health,' insurance for their kids for a while --~hey 've· go~ to
hnvA the. child care.
.~ure
This bill gives you a .lot· of flexibility .and now you
hove to design this program. I would just implore you to really
yet down to brass tacke, <:Jet the facts;
How ma.ny. people does
Nor.th carolina have to move from welfare into jobs in four years?
HOW many is that per county? How many is that per community?
What are the tools we have? Who have we asked 'to do the job?
I believe that the private sector is anxious to be
asked to participate .in this. I believe they want to end the
permanent underclass. in America and help people move into the
thriving, grOWing middle class .. But we have to do it in an
o~Oaniz.d, disciplined way state by etate.
we're going to do our
p·art .' but we need you to do yours.
.
Finally, let me say that it is obvious from looking
at education that we have to have. a new partnership 1n America.
Waghington can l~ad the way, but the work haeto be done by all
Americans. North Carolina has led the way for a long time.
.J
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, .I was, ~m111ng today when I 'got up and I ,thought"
' ..
r\hntit coming 'down here, and I thought' about the first 'time I was
p-vt':r in 'a meeting with Governor Hunt and Governor Ri1ey,..~ 'lB,
ygars 'ago -~ we were all much' younger ' then .. ~dwe ha'd'this i\dea,'
t.hAt all ,the, southern states would' reach the pat10nal average in
Pf"l" capita income and have all these g~eat opportunities ,-for. o\lr
p~'JP1e if only we could have an education system that 'was as goo4
',.:I.:.' anyplace' in the country and ,i.t would reach· everybody" ,without'
~p~r\rd' to ~ace 6~ income.
, ' ,
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'And, ironically, the mission that many Of' US, who are':
'F:nllther,ner-s have carried for 20 or 30 years1ii our heartis: is,now
,th.:) mission of America in,a global~ociQty dom1n'a:tedby'
.information and technology. And'it is within our reach,
" , ;;,
l:i.terally, to give every single ch11din.Americathegreatest,
1:11.ture in humanh1story 1!we create.. the conal tlons 1nwhlchwe .:
cnn.flourish -- that's partly our job, through national defense'
:I.nrl meeting the,secur1 ty _challenges and I?rovidinoa qood economy·
-- but also having the tools.
' . . . . . "..' ..... ' ".
we cannot guarantee the futurefora~y childibutwe ."
c",Ii give every child the tools to make, the most of, his or har·. oWn •.
l:i-f.e.' That is now America's mission.. Itis~imission this state ...
. h'ac. pursued for'
best days
are
it long time.
If you will lead the way-, America's···'
.
still a h e a d . '
I
Thank you and God bless you all.
END
.
12: 00 Noon EST .
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(Apl>ia~se.)
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3/5/974:30pm
PRESIDENT WILLJAM J; CLINTON
ADDRESS TO THE MICHIGAN STATE LEGISLATl]RE
STATE CAPITOL
LANSING, MICHIGAN
MARCH 6, 1997
Acknowledgments: Mr. Speaker, Governor Engler [more to come]
I am especially honored to become only the-second sitting President ever to' have
addressed this legislature. Ninety years ago, Teddy Roosevelt, on his way to give a speech at
what was then Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State, stopped here to address a
joint session of the Michigan legislature at this same rostrum. You have since renovated this
building to restore the charm and artistry that was in place when Roosevelt visited. In 1907,
America was at the dawn of the Industrial Era. This building had only been wired for electricity
two years before. Arid President Roosevelt went from here to the college campus in a brand new
automobile, built by a Lansing company that was then just 10 years old. This year, Oldsmobile
celebrates its centennial.
This too is a rare moment in American history. Peace and prosperity abound. We have
. just completed four years where we produced more new jobs than in any other presidential term
in our history. And we are looking toward a world that is full of exciting new opportunities -- a
true Age of Possibility. Only a few times before -- after World War II and at the start of this
century when we were entering the Industrial Era as a powerful at:ld wealthy country at peace -
have we experienced anything like this. We have an incredible responsibility -- in America and
in Michigan. Thanks to the hard work of all of you here and across the state, your unemployment
rate has literally turned around -- from 7.4 percent in 1993 to 4.7 percent today. You have added
more than 380,000 new jobs. Your welfare roIls have dropped 30 percent. And student
achievement has risen as more schools are meeting the high standards you have set. Things are
good and getting better.
But this is a time for us to build a new century. We cannot afford to squander it, in
complacency and division. That is why I am pleased that a Republican Governor and a bipartisan
state. legislature have invited me here today. For we will meet our new challenges only if we
reach across party lines -- acting together, Democrats and Republicans, people from every point
on the political spectrum, coming together as One America.
.
.
.
The message ~ bring today is the same one I carried to the Maryland legislature last month
-- the same one I will carry to other state legislatures,communities, and forums in the months to·
corne. I am asking for a new kind of partnership -- with the people ih this chamber, and people
all across America. The era of big government is over. But the era of big national challenges is
not. And while national leadership can point the way, the real responsibility is one we all share.
1
�Today, I want to talk about what we. must do in two critical areas where the respoqsibility
rests at least as much with you as with the national government: giving our children the best
education and raising standards so our children master the basics, and breaking the cycle of
dependency by finishing the job of welfare reform, and moving millions to work. Taken
together, these issues are at the core of what we must do to prepare America for the new Century.
We must help all Americans have the tools to make the most of their own lives in this knowledge
economy -- and have the opportunii.y to do so.
As I said one month ago in my State-of-the-Union Address, we must never forget that one
of the greatest sources of our strength throughout the Cold War was a bipartisan foreign policy.
Because our future was at stake, politics stopped at the water's edge. Now we need a
non-partisan commitment to education -- because education is the critical national security issue
for our future, and politics must stop at the s~hoolhouse door. .
What we must do is to prepare our children and all our people to know what they must
know to navigate the world ahead. Between 1992 and 2000, 89% of the new jobs created in this
economy will require post-high school levels of literacy and math skills. But only half the
people entering the work force are prepared for those high-paying jobs. Our schools are still
turning out millions of young people who simply are not equipped for the new world of work.
That is why our number-one priority, must be to make our public education the best in. the
world. Our goals must be: every 8-year-oldcan read; every 12-year-old can log on to the
Internet; every 18-year-old can go to college; and every adult can keep learning for a lifeti~e.
. In my State of the Union address, I laid out a ten-point plan, a Call to Action for
.
American Education [hold up booklet], that describes the steps we must take -- and the State of
Michigan is already doing many of the right things.
Many of those points relate to what we must do for our people before they start school,
and how we help them in college and beyond. We must begin with the youngest children, by
expanding early childhood learning. We must open the doors of college wider than ever, making
the 13th and 14th years of college as universal as high school is today. In my balanced budget
plan, I have proposed education tax cuts to help more families afford the fine colleges such as .
those here in Michigan. We must give our workers the abilitY to learn and to earn for a lifetime
through my G.1. Bill for Workers -- transforming,the tangle of federal training programs into a
. simple skill grant that goes directly into workers' hands .
. But today, I want to spend special time talking with you about what we must do to
prepare our students in our schools for the 21st Century ..
We must rebuild our nation's crumbling schools; we cannot raise our children up in
schools that are literally falling down.
2
�We must harness the forces of technology, connecting every classroom in America to the
Rep. Debbie Stabenow, who has helped lead
Internet by the Year 2000. [ThankJreshman
efforts]
.
u.s.
And our schools must teach discipline and character -- and serve as safe havens for our
children. So I have proposed funding 1,000 new community schools programs across this
country to help keep our school doors open after school, on the weekends and in the summer.
We must recognize that the best schools are only as good as the teachers in their
classrooms. For years, educators have worked to establish nationally accepted credentials for
excellence in teaching -- through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards,
'headquartered in Detroit. . Michigan has the third highest number of board certified master'
teachers in the country. My new budget will enable 100,000 teachers across America to seek
certification as master teachers.
'
We need a strong system of public education that gives parents and communities more
freedom and flexibility in education. We should work together to give parents more choices of
what public schools their children attend, and help teachers, parents, museums, and others create
new public charter schools. I have proposed doubling the size of our public charter school
program to $100 million. We can help charter schools set an example for expanding
accountability in public education by holding them to the same state and national standards we
expect of all our schools, making sure they are open to children from all backgrounds, supporting
those that work, and shutting down those that are not up to standard.
All of this is important. But the most basic thing we can do -- the most important thing
we must do -- is to make sure that all our children master the basics that will be the foundation of
success in the 21st Century ..
When 40% of our fourth graders do not read as well as they should -- when students in
Germany or Singapore learn 15 to 20 math subjects in depth each year, while our students often
race through 30to 35 without really learning them at all-- we are not doing what we should to'
prepare our children for a knowledge economy.
'
Let's understand why these basics are so important. The point is not merely to teach our .
children facts and figures, but to teach them the ability to think and reason and analyze -- to give
them the tools and skills that will serve them in jobs and careers we cannot even contemplate
today. We are not doing right by any of our students when we set low expectations. We must
put an end to social promotions, and make sure education means something.
We must have a high standard of excellence that all states can agree upon. That is why, I
have challenged our country to meet national standards of excellence in the basics --not federal
government standards, but national standards, representing what all our students must know to ,
succeed in the 21 st Century. I am calling on every state to test every 4th grader in reading and
3
�every 8th grader in math by 1999, to make sure these basic standards are met.
We already have widely-accepted, rigorous national standards in both reading and math-
and wid,ely-used tests based on those standards. Michigan and more than 40 other states have
participated in a test called the National Assessment of Educational Progress -- which measures'
the state's overall performance against a high national standard of excellence: Just last week, we
released the annual assessment of math performance, and it shows that across the country our
4th, 8th, and 12th graders are doing better., Michigan's score was among the most improved in
the nation.
Tens of thousands of students across the country have also taken the Third International
Math and Science Study --a test that reflects the world-class standards our children must meet for
the new era. The headquarters fo1' that test is just down the road at Michigan State. I want to
thank Dr. William Schmidt at Michigan State for his leadership of this important study, and I am
pleased that he is here with us today.
Unfortunately, the current tests don't provide scores for individuals; they only measure
how an entire area is doing. What we need are tests that will measure the performance of each
, and every student, and each and every school. That way, parents and teachers will know how
every child is doing compared to students in other schools, other states, and other countries.
That is why I am presenting a plan to help states meet and measure the highest standards.
Over the next two years, our Department of EducatioI'! will support the development of new tests
for 4th grade reading and 8th grade math to show how every student measures up to the existing,
widely-accepted standards. The tests will ~e developed by independent test experts in
consultation with leading math and reading teachers. The federal government will not require
them, but these tests will be available to every state that chooses to administer them.
I am pleased that today Go~ernor Engler has endorsed our plan to test all 4th
8th graders to
graders to make sure they are meeting the challenge in reading and
ensure they are measuring up in math. We have plenty of standardized tests; now it is time
to test for standards. Together, we a,re saying, this is not about partisanship. There is no
Democratic or Republican way to teach. There is no Maryland or Michigan way to learn.
Reading is reading and math is math. Ifwe are serious,about holding our children to the
highest standards, every state in America must put politics aside, work in a bipartisan
fashion, take up our challenge, and test our children in the same rigorous way.
all
Raising standards will not be easy. Some of our children will not be able to meet them at
first. But good tests will show us who needs help, what changes in teaching we must make, and
which schools need to improve. We are not talking about winners and losers; we are not talking
about tearing anyone down, but about lifting them up. But you cannot lift them up if you don't
know what the score is.
4
�Our responsibility must be to do what we can so our children can meet these standards.
When it comes to reading, 1 want to remind everyone that this past August, during my
train trip in Wyandotte, with the help of two elementary school students, Justin Whitney and
Elizabeth Schweyn [SCHWINN], 1 announced our America Reads Challenge. We set a goal of
mobilizing a: million volunteer tutors to help every 8 year old read independently. We will use
11,000 of our AmeriCorps members ~o mobilize this army -- and we should enlist at least
100,000 college work study students to join in this effort. fpossible Michigan college presidents
. announcement] You here have already launched a similar statewide tutoring effort. Let's make
sure that every child can say what Justin and Elizabeth said after they read The Little Engine that
Could: "1 read it myself." They showed us that when our students are held to high standards they
can exceL 1 am pleased that Justin and Elizabeth are able to join us here today.
And I want to do more to help our young people be ready to be tested in math.
Today I am directing the Department of Education and the National Science Foun~ation to
identify and coordinate resources throughout the Federal government and through the ~
non-profit and private sectors that can be used to help students meet the math standards.~
am als~ecting them to find ways to help our young people do better and learn more
science. he entire national government can be a vital resource as educators in every
.
comm
work to teach young people these skills. Let me give you one example. -Today,
the federal govenrment has some of the world's most esteemed laboratories and research
institutions -- we should make sure that every high school math and science teacher has
easy access to this world of learning through the Internet. As our entire nation works to
lift students and raise standards, everyone has a responsibility -- and we will do our part.
Throughout my career in public life --as a Governor, and as President --I have worked
harder on education than on any other issue. That is because renewing education, raising our
standards, and lifting up our schools is the embodiment of eveIything we must do to prepare for
the 21 st Century --to promote opportunity, demand responsibility, and build community.
When it comes to providing the tools to succeed, our other great challenge i$ helping to
move the permanent underclass into our growing middle class. And here, too, the only way to.do
it is by reaching across party lines and working together, Democrats and Republicans, national.
government and state government, business and labo,r and religious institutions.
oJO-( }.
Working together, we ended the old welfare system. Over the past four
orked
with 43 states to launch welfare reform experiments, which helped move a reco
Ion
people off our nation's welfare rolls. Herein Michigan, a strong economy and your orts have
helped m
ore than 208,000,people off the welfare rolls, a 30 percent drop. You have also
realized ' i per ent increase in child support collections. These are all accomplishments you
But this is not the end of welfare reform, it is a new beginning.
5
Now that we have
<;
�demanded that those on welfare take responsibility, we must all take responsibility to see that the
jobs are there, so people on welfare can become permanent members of the workforce. Our goal
must be to move people from welfare to work so that two million more Americans are off the
welfare rolls by the year 2000.
I have challenged the nation's businesses to join in this effort, and I have a offered a plan
to help them: Tax credits and other-incentives for businesses to hire people offwelfare;~
incentives ~or job pla~ement firms and states to create more jobs f?r :velfare re~ipients; raining;
.
transportatIOn, and chIld care to help people go to work. I urge Michigan's busmesses,'
non-profits, and religious organizations -- large and small -- to heed this important calL Each
and every one of us must fulfill our responsibility -- indeed, our moral obligation --to make sure ,
that those who now must work, can work.
The most direct and effective steps must be taken by the states. The legislation we passed
gives states the authority, for the very first time, to take the money that had been used on welfare
checks, and subsidize private sector paychecks. Missouri began doing this under one of our
waivers --and it is working. Now I challenge every state to follow their example. Use the new
flexibility you have been given. Tum those welfare checks into paychecks. That is what we
need to do to help welfare recipients find jobs and keep them.
Second, I urge you to use the money saved from moving people from welfare to work to
make sure that even more people can make that transition. Your model program, Project Zero, is
a good example -- investing in child care and transportation with the goal of getting everyone on
welfare to earn a paycheck.
Finally, I urge every state and every Governor, Republican or Democrat, to join with me
to get Congress to restore basic health and disability benefits when misfortune strikes immigrants
who came to this country legally, who work hard, pay taxes and obey the law. To do otherwise is
simply unworthy of a great nation of immigrants.
We passed historic welfare reform -- giving states the authority and flexibility they had
asked for for year~. We w~re right to do it Now states must lIve up to their responsibility, and
help us finish the job.
On education reform, on welfare reform,on all our major challenges --let us build new
partrlerships across old lines of responsibility. Preparing for the 21 st Century is not a job for any
one level of government alone~ Many of our greatest challenges do not fall under the authority of
Washington, nor should they. They do not fall under the authority of state capitals like Lansing,
nor should they. The power to solve our problems rests with ;ill levels of government, and all
sectors of society -- and that is where we must forge our solutions as well.
Together, we must seize this moment of opportunity, and prepare our people for the
changes and challenges of anew century. Together, we must renew our basic bargain of
6
�opportunity, responsibility, and community! and give everyone the tools to make the most of their
own lives. If we rise to that challenge, we will enter the 21 st Century full ofnew promise and
possibility, for all who share a stake in the American dream.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America ..
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�. Document
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
S~
DATE:
SUBJECT:
ACTlONICONCUR~ENCEICOMMENT
By;?j[I~';;';
_--'-M-'--tiih-"------'"S-'-~_;{?i_vA_J_V_I_K-_v~_(~----:---_______
AC~
VICE PRESIDENT
BOWLES
McLARTY
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.PODESTA
MATHEWS
RAINES
BAER'
ECHAVESTE
EMANUEL
GIBBONS
HALE
HERMAN
HIGGINS
. HILLEY
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LINDSEY
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McCURRY
McGINTY
NASH
RUFF
SMITH
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ACTION
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'LEWIS YELLEN
STREETT
HAWLEY
D
WILLIAMS
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REMARKS:
COllvt~~ ~
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RESPONSE:
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Staff Secretary
Ext. 6-2702
�March 6, 1997
MEMORANDUM FOR THE:
SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
SUBJECT: Preparing Students to Meet National Standards ofExcellence in Eighth Grade Math
and Improving Math and Science Education
.
Since the early 1980's, U.S. elementary and secondary school students have begun taking tougher
courses, and we are starting to see the results. National Assessment of Educational Progress
scores have improved in math and science, with gains in mathematics equal to at least one grade
leveL On the SAT, average math s.cores are at their highest in 25 years, even as the number and
diversity of test-takers have increased. However, the ·eighth-grade results of the 41-Nation Third
International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), released thisfall,.show that the U.S. is below
average in math and just above average in science. That isn't acceptable; in this technology-rich
information era, our students need to perform much better in both subjects, but especially in math,
if they are to excel at higher level math and science courses that are the gateway to college ·and to
citizenship, productive employment, and lifelong learning.
.
The first step in raising achievement is lifting expectations and setting high standards for what
students should know and be able to do. TIMSS, our National Assessment ofEducational
Progress, and the standards developed by the National Council of Teachers ofMathematics give·
us a solid framework to build on. Last month, to help parents and teachers learn who needs help,
what changes in teaching to make, and which schools need to improve, I asked the Secretary of
Education to develop a voluntary national test for individual eighth::.grade students based on
widely-accepted, challenging national standards in mathematics. The national test will be
available to states and local school districts to give to their students in the spring of 1999, and will
measure whether st~dents have reached a high level of mathematics proficiency.
The primary responsibility for achieving high standards rests with students, teachers, parents, and
schools in local communities across America. However, it is imperative that we work to ensure
that federal resources support student success as wetl. We must ensure that federal programs,
research, and human resources are used as effectively possible to help improve teaching and .
learning.'
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Therefore, I dir,ect the Department ofEducation and the National Science Foundation, together
with other agencies identified in cooperation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy
and the Domestic Policy Council, to develop an action strategy for using key federal resources to
assist states and local school systems prepare students to meet Challenging math standards in
eighth grade, and for involving the mathematics, scientific, and technical communities in support
of these efforts.
�The action strategy should include recommendations for the use offederal resources to help
states, local school districts and schools to improve teaching, upgrade curriculum, integrate
technology and high-quality instructional materials into the classroom, as well as motivate
students and help them understand how math concepts are applied in the real world. The strategy
should identify significant federal programs, activities, and partnerships available to improve' .
teaching and learning, ensure that these resources are appropriately focused on helping students
reach challenging math standards, and determine how these resources can best support state and
local reforms. In developing this strategy, the inter-agency group should review the current status
of improvements in math education, and identify and address critical areas of need, drawing on
research and input from educators and professional organizations.
Because teaching and learning in math and science are so integrally related, and because success
in both subjects is vitally important in this inforrnationera, the working group should also review
how federal resources and partnerships with other organizations can help improve student
achievement in science.
The working group should make its recommendations and submit its action strategy to me within
90 days.
WilLIAM J. CLINTON
cc:
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR DOMESTIC POLICY
ASSIST ANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
�-a .. '
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Edu~atioD
Po1iiC~' !!JuJ.foliti.9!L!>v~~rvi{n
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Educ3tlCln is n highly jiai1isan an(j contelltiousissue in r"1ichig~U1. Thdc are \ery r~\V issues Oil
which qov, Engler and Democ'ratstate or national ofTiCiais agre:;-. f'vlo~~tDerriQcr;;t~s ?e1iev(; Ihat
the Gov~mor is hostile to. public education, a,nd see in,U1Y Qfhis s!,ecific 'lnitiati\'e:; directed
to\"'rd Ihat end,
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His charter schools initi~~riv~ i~ seen as a way otcoilvtrting preVIOusly private sch,)ols.to cha!1er,
sch90Js-·· thereb)' enabling theml~ drain public rundst)'Qm public schoQ)s ·~andas<l rhetorical'
.' '. too.l against pt~blic' edllCarlQTr. In the wake of tlie r~ccrit· eIeCtiC1D w'r-liCh .derlrivcd tl.e ReplIbficaI13 ., ..
ofa m~j'ority ()n')leStnte·Bo~rd.ofE.ducati()n (cimenl!y'4D's and 4R's),·rhetio ,.i'9(n6r iS5ue,d .all'·
'.. Execllti~'i()rder takUlg pqlicymaki'ng au!llority away from 'the Suite Boars!. Edu,::nIoriand " .
p'rovidingit totI'H~'Sr;lte pel)armicnt of Educarioll, headed by a State Stlpe':inielld~'1t ~fEdllc<it:(\n'
appoinred by the previous, majority-Republican Stat<;. Boaru ofE\1ucatiofL On Tuesday, the
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State Board
Education filed suit 10 block this iuovc. And theGo'/~m(Jr's d~cisi(tl1 to end
funcilng for Adult Education 111 the statli: w,as seen as another step b)sti!e to the public edilCation
or
of
sy:;tem.
Below is a sunu1Htry of ke}i educatioll issues
Action for American Education.
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:vlichigan relatIng to your $peech amI your Cal! to
~.
" StaDda~·ds
i:~sts: Gov'. Engler. supporlsyour call foc national' stanihrdsjnd' t\~sistbr 4'::
. grade rl::adih g arid8thgra'de~aH{, ahdhas 'alre;tdy' in,dj~atediublic'lythat he- wiuit:: Michiga: lU
participare.in thetcsrmg'programin 19~J9. He will reiterate this in his remarks t<;"l tJle legisl::Hue
before yotl spe:lk ..
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Ona related is~ue,Goy. f:ng1er SUI?Po.rte~t!lesucice~~.fuJn1o'Ye in the lastJcgislatllr·~ 10 tum lh\~ .
st.ate's· maridatorY core curriculuIll (initiaJlyrequired in 199~. legi.slation) into a \'oIDnt~l1)' 010\: ..
He. ;ugues that the state lnandated assessluent program, alIgned with the corecurrit;ulum; is
sufficient to direct local cumc\llum:, without a citniculuri1mandate. Dem6crats opposed thi's
move in the last session; and have .introduced iegislaliori tpis session (0 prO\;idc financial
1ncentive"s to school distncrs that adopt the state model Curriculum. This kgis!atiOClls IC:xpectcd
to be repolted out of the House Education Cdml11ittc.e on lVlarch4, It is expected to pass the
House; but not the Senate. Gov. Engler opposes this legislation as lU111ece:::sary
Charttlr Schools: III December L993. Mich.igan became the 9th state in tht' country to enacr
chaner school legislation. After consider~ble controversy over a local scho,'! distrkt 's dec i
to approve a 99'year ch~irter to fund a netvvork of 2,000 hOl11e~SChoolers (\\'i1ith wai: ultin '. ,!
blocked by the ton11er state superintendent of educarion) and a courtckc:ision that this "SC;Ji., r
was rneligible for funding, and that the charter school law violated the ~tate constitt:tio.n bcciHlse
It pemliWid public funding of non;.pub1ic schools, this k\\1; was modified in January 1995.
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PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
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@O(l2 i on:
TheClUTent law permits local school boards,. the state board bf edU(:allon,mHI public colleges to
issu~ ChaJ1ers. Existing private schoo.ls can convert tp public chaneI' schools.' If th:y do; the must
be open toall'slLl~ents, notcharge tuition, and they do l1Qt "grandfather" il"1 clurel1! students. All .
c~hatte[ schoois l1lu-:;t participate the state testing pr6~~am, and i.U\! accoLUlt~ble hrfuliilling
their charter and for student results.
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:vtichigan now has 78 charter schoolS operation; the' third largest of any state. ~{jchigan is
recei ving approximately S 1.4 million irifederalcharter schools funding over three years, and
Gov. Engler has indicated he intends to ~~ek additional ful1ding in response to yom budget
request (0 double federal l1U1dirig for the cluilie.r schools program. The state is also USlHg a
portion of its Goals 2000 funds to suppoli chitrter schools.
The charter school' s· progranl ha$ s.Plll:~ed~oris,ider~l~ Ie 9Pp.o~i.i ionby tea.c,he'! uni,)!1s, sch~ol
bo¥di; and many Den~ocrats:. The qebate_ iJ;!-i\1!chig~ over cl)alte:;r,schQols,is di:\-'idiogrnore
shrul)ly along partisan lines tliail'.ihJl.ost'a:nYwh~r~ els~ i'11the. nation, duero a'c,:0111binatioll of .
Engkr's personal tnvo\~:em.et1t and:lh~'heli~fniadle is attenipting' in rtian:>;;'vays 'uJJdemjil;e •..
public education and {he way the issue beclunediflned during the controversy ov'er home' .
io
schoolers
Oppoot'nts of charter schools argue that (1) charter schools divert fund.:; froll! puUic school
systems; (2) are not accountable to the public-.-especiatly those chaned by instimtions of higher
education rather than elected local'school boards; i.U].d (3) are less effective lhan public schools
(A recent evalllation showed that charter s~~hools score lower (Ill state tests than average public
-schools~ thou\?h .chaner school adv.ocatcs point outthat charter schools,also s~rve a j,m:er
proportion ·(\{lo.~i~cQine, ~d t'njl~orityst~deIlts) , "
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Gov. Engler has used your support for charter schools 10 bolster his Q\\<11dTollS, much
C\.11istemalion of ~any in the education comrntmity arid Oemocra.ts. in rheleglshilure.
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AccouutahiJity:ln hisStateciftheState Address,G.oY. Eng'lcrcalled fOleXI?'"1;'I~d ~IUlh(ll·ity. 1'01' "
the 'state take
academiCally failingschool districts, and has made clear thaI Detio.i(;·'
the top of his list for Slate' takeover. ~1ay()r Archer nas opposed th.is propos,)I, as has the J'
C:-l\.lCU$ in lhe legislature. on the grounds ihat pi-obkms can better be solved at the local k
to
ove.r
In your speech to the Education Slllmnit at Palisades last Spring, you called on t,ovemors (0
intervene in failing schools. Secretary Riley has reiterated Ihis ;.'\ Humber of times, inc luding
III
his recent Slate of American Education Address. Gov. Engler has rcce,ntiy quoti;d Secretary
Riley on this issue.
Your speech to the legislature del1berately does not address this Issue,
Technology: You will be announcing a Technology Literacy Challenge Fund g--:UH W rvlichigan
ofS8.6 million.
Early Reading: Tlw ' ,.. c,vo distinct initiatives
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
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promote t::a.rly reading
1.1'1
::Yh:higan. In
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,SeptembeL Ih': Sm'te 80Md~f Education and:a nllmller9f bu.sin\~s~ gr(iilps'lau,nched AlliaJ1cJ; for,
Children's Educi\rion'(ACE) focusedollrecnliting readin~ tutors st~l1e\Vide.' fon\Lcr~school' ,
"(ltwring vcrymuc11 ?~tterned after Amenca'R'eads' Th~i'e'is rio state !'ui!ai:ng 'for this program,
, . tlwugJ:l scho()E~ can lIse c Goal(2.000 alld Title:]. fmidslQ,SllPPl"lrr lhe qJtonng effOrt: Th~ pn.?gr:;l.\11
. i.s !ilill getring under-vay, ai1d has riot acJlievedmtich \'isibi\i.ly'~'Ct: You iha~~ gen.;rar:teference',,"
1.0 this prdgraDl ilj :>;ouspeech; 'as,part of yow o~erall cti~cu3~ion (If.Am2rica.,R~~d~,, " . ,":, ,~ ~,',
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'.Oem'oc~~ts i;~theH~lI5e 'are' preptU1ng iegiSlitl()n~~i~c'd'~t lrilprOvll1g~,eadihgbit:tiI(J!ng full (l:i)~ .)
" . . , k!ndcrg(l{tcti" reducing class ~izc K,3,prQyidl,ng teacher training, pan~mt'o~t(e;jch, awJfan1ily :,~
r~S()llrCe ceil!ers near ,:;;Jch school.: .Iris 110t clear if thislegislatirinwiJl gain"~lY R'~pl.lbHc;li;"· ",' ,
·T~ar~binl· Micltig~ i~·I:~e.ad~Uarters for·lh·e'N:i~!O~~I.H(){U"d:fo(er()ie:$Sio~JITe~';;hihg~'i:Jlid;~'\:I~;
has the ibird Iarllt':st numbel: of board-cent rled. leache;'s
. i Detrolt )': ..lnd
in !/le.cohn·ti:v, .. _
'... '
.: Scve;'n! 'yt:a; ~ '\go:'Gd;\' El1gl~~. su'cceed ;1. ':.nacti~£ lei;slail~n 'Itrrll'U~g -tl1ep9\~'~' ~i' i:caciltC':,,' .
,
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. Jll~:j6ils'an~ re~h1cting'1ejchers' rightt6~strikilvri9higan:hi.\salsOelinll n.ale~;cert{:\lcation.: \. '
Tdill'irernr:;nt~ fiJr pri'ncipals and other schQol adnlinistriHQcs.· ,., . "
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'PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATfON
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THE WHITE.HQU$E
,Offj,ck ,of :'thepresssec~etary
For
FepruarYf9, 1997
ImmediateRele~s.e
, REMARKS, BY THE PRES I DENT,
,
~TO ,'THE MARYLAND'STATE LEGISLATURE
C
'il :2Q A.M., EST
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, state' Capitol
,Annapol.,is ,.' Maryland
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THE PRESIDENT:' Thank you all for that wonderful,
reception. , Thank you" 'Mr., Speaker, for wha't you said. Th~n;k:' you,
Sel1atorMiller" ,fo~ t;hat lO,,:year.wa'lk down memory lane. ; (Laugl:lter .-)'
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It is true that, when :i:: met hismo'ther I' feli in love
with her,' even bef()re .I~,found 'out 'she, hadlo,kidS.," (Laughter.) 'It's'
not often you meet a person who can elect' you i~'her family votes'for
you. ,(Laughter~)'
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Thank: you, Governor, Glenden'lng ,', f,or your' leadership: here '
on so, many issues'- 'Lt. :Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend" ,Attorney ,
,General Curran, Treasurer, Dixon, myoId friend,' Comptroller Louie
'
'GOldstein. -I,was iri'the, first grade when he 'became Comptroller.'
(Laughter and applause.) ,The waLkingargu;ment against' term limits"
YO,ukrtow.lt's amazing. ' '(Laughter and applause.) ,
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,~"d':like t~ 'tllank' so m~ny'me~bers of yoti:r,v~_r~
distinguished congressional delegation for, jqiriing me ',today , -:-:..
Senator Sarbanes, and' SeriatorMl.kulski;' Representa,tive' Wayne "
''Gilchrest, y01;1r Congress~art';' 'Representative CO,nnie' Morella; ,
,
, Repr'esentative ,Ben ,Cardin, Rep'resentat;i,.ve Al ,Wynn _.and Representative
, Elij all cummings . ' , '
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that Al iandEl1Jab 'and'Connie'and,Senator Sarbanes ,were ,all members
of this body. It kind'of makes you wonder ,how 'Senator ~ikulski anq
congressman'Gilchrest got elected to, Congre!Ss~ '(Laugh~er. ) 'It" s
'obviously. a good training program here~ "JLau~hter.)
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I'd,like to, thank the President 'of the Maryland state
,Board of' 'Edu.cati6n,Ghristopher, Cross, : Jor ,peing here.,,' When he
. worked for 'President' Bush, he' and, I stayed up all n'ightone night,'
writing' th~' nat,iona;l education,'goals, which began ,the: pt:ocess whic:h
bring us tothi~p61nt today .. Th~nk you;,' sir" for' being' here. ' And,'
I'd like to thank your State: Superintendent of Education, Nancy'
Grasmick, for being he're.
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,Then, ,there are two people .who' 'a~e not, here, ,who are ,
here with us -in 'spirit, and Iwo,uld'·lj,ke to ask that we all' remember"
them; today ..;.- oui-'good friend,,' corigressmanstenYHoy~randhis lat:e'"
wife, Judy,. who was one of. the 'finest ~ducators this state 'ever h~d.
And, I'know we Iiliss'them today.Steny and his' family are in our
prayers,C!-ndwe ?lregrateful,for the'dedication of',Judy Royer "s, life,
to the children and, the :people ,of, ,Maryland.
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t.wo -meropers" o,f my Cabinet, Secre-tary'of: ~ducation D~ck,Riley'arid the
.secretary' of Realth arid Human,Se'rvices Donna: Shalal,a~' , They have
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served our ',admInistration arid,,' more impor:tantly, the, Am~rican people;
exceptionally well; an,d: I\th~nk',them for their presence here, today.
')4- K-' '.~' ~~L~~ ~k ,,' "
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And when I' .finish· talking', ' iJ' you want anythingels,e"call .them. '
(taughter.)
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I 'should also.' say, sihc~ Senatcr Mille,rmenticned it:,
that 'my ccllege' rccmmate,,'whc:-lived cn the~Eastern, Shcre" Tcm,Kaplan,',
is here.· And he is still my .' friend after ,.21.11 these. years" which· is
either a great tri):?ut~tc his p~i'tience cr. to. the rccts and'values cf,
thepedple 'cf Maryland~. ,so. I 'mg-lad. ·he,' shere.
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Iwarited to. ccI'ne' here tcday to." talk in.great'er 'detCi'il "
.abcut .the ',issues I' discuss~d in. ,the state' of the· Unicn. that, require,
,'us to pr'epare America fcr'the2lst' "cen~ury. ~t isimpcrtantthat we,
gather here 'at, t,his~ turning ,pcint in .our histcry. ~ It was " after all,
in this state hcuse that ,Gecrge Washingt~:m resigned his ccmmissic,n as,'
General' 6f' the' Cpntinental Army" ' In fact ,.' i t·was right' dCWrl : th~ ,ha~l'· ' .
in the Lieutenant Gcvernor' sOffice ,that Thcinas' Jef,ferscn wrcte:'
.George,Wa.sh'ingtcn' wcrds:e,f resi~naticn.,· .
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',: It was here that' the TreCitY,.of paris:" was.,p'rep~red and;,
'ratified', ending ,.the Revclutipnary War, andbeginnirig,:the gr~atest
, experiment in demccracyand cppcrtunity the world has 'ever kncwn.'
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.Just, .think what b~g2m,' here 'in this bui'lding ~ What "an.
'. experiment it has been. All the turmcil we have survived -- the'
,Civil War, the ·twc vio.rldwars"tpeCcld War,the" sO,cial ~phea:vCi.1,-
al+ the ,ttiumphs"of,c~r c'cuhtry in¢ivi:l' rights and wcmen' s rig~ts,
'"the'envi:tcnmental mcvement, 'wc,r,kers 'rights, bringing in all·the ,
· immigrants, 'the'explosicn,in . scie'nce apd technciogy, the'pclitical,
the. eccnomic, the socia,l achievements cf this ccuritrY. What ali - "
incre~ible,' experiment . it has "been since ,the events cf, so. icng ago.
'''when the tr,eaty' ending the Revcluticnary, War.'. was" signed and ratified
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'At· each •st~p,~alcng the way ~ ,"hcyt, did we keep growing,' hCw'
did we cverccme," hcw ,did we;wcrk thrcugh, hcw c:iid' we reach higher?
'We. alwaYS1"hadresponsiblecitizen's..' .. we ,were,always. able ,to ccme .'
'tcgether· 2fscne country.: 'And we wereal~ays drIven by,. a clear'.
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, . I wculd a:t;"gueto ycu' .that we are at 'anc;:>ther turning, ;
'" pcint today 'and yie, need respcnsibl'ecitizens, 'a' united ccuritry~" and a
clear vis,icn., We ,fa'cea ,mcment cfpeace'and 'prcsperity,' and~,' it giYes
us an extracrdinarycppcrtuI1ityto a'ctually decide wha:t kind cf .
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future we"want f,cr America in the 21st 'century,and'then .gc tcwcrk .
·tc build it. 'It is v~ry. lniportant ·that we understand ,that such
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moments are .
extremely ,:tare in, cur 'histcr'y.,
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,We have perhaps'had"'only erie befcre,. ·After· Wcrld War, .
. ' II,' we ,dcininated the. ,world eccncmically .,Wewerethe:mcst powerfJil
country in the wcrld mititarily'.' , We had . some ability to decide' cur
future and" thank gccdri~ss, 'we did' the right' thing with: the Marshall
Pl'an and rebuilding "Europe . and, Japa:ni : cu~,'fdrmer' friends" and 'cur.' ','
fcrmer' fces .. 'But' we 'were coristrained by the Ccld ,War.
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At the. beginning cf',thiscent.urY pr'ci?a:bly,is the time,
· mcst.' like this, chewhen, we. entered. the. Industrial' .Era .as a, pcwerful
and wealthy ccu~'l'~ry ,at pe'acfa. , But, never have,we b~enquite like "
this', ,. as, the wcrld '5 only, superpcwer,"' just ccmpleting. fcur years'
wher,e. we.produce4 'mcrenew,,'jcbs than at any ctherfcur-year pericd, 'in'
cur ~hi..stcry, lccking,tcw~rd, a wotld that is· f.u'll of trcublesj,tc be
sur~, but so. full, cf explcsive' cppcrtuni,ties .'..
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W~, have~ari ilicr'edibl~resp6nsi~'ility' ,--·,we·: in' Ameriqa ~,
and ycu in Maryland .. ·.Th~nks ,'to. the leadership.' cf ycurGcvernor, 'apd
· thewcrk" tha.t all cf you '·have dcnca;' unemployment's at a' ,six-year lcw,
, :, things aregcil").g well ;fcr ycu here. Ycur' fam~ly :il'}ccmes have' risen,
,'to.' fcurth in the' nati'pn.· ,Ycur welfare rclls.' 'have, drdpped.,'almcst, 25'
· percent sinc;:ei995'~ 'Student achie,:,ementhas'risen' and mcre schocls"
,',' MORE.'
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are ~eeting . the high 'standa~ds you ·have se:t.
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W~,are well po~{tione'd~~'
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BUt.it "is a' moment of ,choice.. We, cannot afford to ..
'squander" this moment in compl~cency :or dl.vfsion". , That' ~ nO'rm'ally
what 'happens to people 'when they sort; of get happy~, and ,s~tisfied.
They get 'complacent ,6rthey ,fallout over'little things. And this is'
,not /a time for ,us .to:. ,squander in petty. bickering or' small ambitions.
This is ;a' time, for us to.' build a new 6'entury..
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'We have to meet..ali the 'challengE1!s we stili have.,' There,
,'are still too many'poor .children in th~s'cbuntry and ,too ,many. ,lives.
of children. being' ,lost on the streets <of Am~r~ca . everyday. , ,There
:are'still tpo many of our' areas:~n, 0\l.;t' cities and 'isolated .rural
areas th~t. have "not "felt ,the; uplift:.' of'the 'economi.crecovery., ·Vfe: ,
. still h'ave not balanc:::edthe budge,t. ' We still have, 'not 'finished all '
theunfirlished business of ,the, Cold War~ 'No.t. everybody· who works .
hard is feeling the opportunities that.ar~availableiI1 America.' We
have unfinished business.. ,; ..
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,h'~ve to.·prepare f'or the aging of 'the baby 'boomers~" :t know I' mt,he
, oldest one; "that-'s a seif-in'terestplea here, . I think.
(Laughter . )
We have to ,prepare :for. the,' aging of,; the baby, boomers.. 'We hav~ to' .
make sure that we'rer:eady for this new worldwide co~pet.ition...we . \,' "
'have to meet the neW\ security threats of the 41st, century, in
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,terrorism and, ethnic 'ahd ,'religious and rac.ial 'conf;Licts.' 'We ',have' to
.. meet ,the new' envi'ronmental chal'lenges. of the 21st century" most of
.which,will 'becjlobal in . nature~ ' , : ' "
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So there, are challenges out ,there'. ',&utthe most.
impOr.tantthipg .is, there are st~ggering, oppor:tunities,. " More 'people
will ,have more chances .to live. out their".dr,eam~,.tha;rl; any' people 'who .
,e'Ver,livediri'the hist;:oryof the Earth if we do. the right things.
(Applause. ) ,If we de;> 'the tight things.
(Applause. )
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We hf1v~ ,woi-ked for' the 'last fO,ur,years essentia:lly. to
try to make sure Americ/a, works' again, :that we are func'tioning. at a'
-reasonable level· of profidiency so that w'e ,can have ~he' freedom' t.o do
) that,' to. snape" our:'. fU1:;u're. And ,we changed, the economic,course, ',of,
, this' c'ountry away from supply-side,' ecoriomics tp ihvestm¢nt econ.om,ics,
to, move toward a; balanced ?udgett', ,to \reduce the; def~cit,the intEarest
, 'rates, ,to expand our trade ~around the world and 'to:. iriv~st in our
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, . people. ' The, .results. have' been .good.
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, w:e've tried to moye'the d~ba:teove'r '~o'bia:I,POlicy in .
.' Washington away from rhetoric'to reality, centered/on families, and.
coritmun'ities.' You've got hbwf,i.ve years ofdeclin.i...ng'crime'.You'v:e
got ,the biggest drop in',weifare rolls, in' history.', .. You've 'got real. .
,effor'ts, 'being made ',throu,gl1 the family leaye law .and 'otherthings to
help people,sucgeeci in raising ;their children' and . int~e workplace.,
:We're in a' p~sition now.,to know what~works ,and 'to" k.now that we can,'
.have',cohfidel'l.cethat if we work ',togethe;+,we:'.can,: make, a ,differ~nce ,in ','
,assaultingo'ur most profound .challenges:",ere at ' h o m e . '
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the old'fight'that"s dominated ~¢rica 'almost ever ,s_ince' World War
·II',to say, govEarnmentis.,ri6t the problem, g6ve'rnment is not. the
solution ;governinemt.' s,': job is' to create the conditions -and'give
,people the :tools to' solve'their problems and make the most ,of their
own lives.' (Applause. ),
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So now we have. thischan-ce~. •And 1 t ~ s' hard' when you' re
, . not threatened 'by ,a foreign . enemy ,to whip, people up., to a fever pitch
'·of common, :iritense,sustaihed,.'disciplined' endeavor. But ~thatis .
what we must do, my feliow Americans ; Tha:t i~ wh'at "we' mu~t dp. .,'
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,We ar,e str.ong enough tp ~hap'e a future that will tak~,
'. aq,vanta$Je\ . of· all this / . life-enhancing technology " 'or these new
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" eco.npnli'c 'oppcr,tunities; ~f'the ,new' cpp~rtunitlies we,"have to. ,build 'a
, structure:cf,peacearcund'",the wcrld ,,: of the newcpportunities, w.e,. have,
,to. put, the, Infc~aticnAge' at, 'the 'fingertips 'cf,thepcorest,r a,s we~l '
as t;he wealthiest' cnildten' in 'Qur country, and we, had bette,r d'c this,."
Our-children 'q.nd Our grandchildren will never forgive,'J.,ls ~f ,we·blcw" .
,this, chance' to. make ,their f~ture ,the bestfu,tur~ ,..;.- (applause).
"lIt is ,cbvious; that to prepare, cur pecple fcr Ith,e 21st
century we ,wil,l nEaed :anew, mcre 'far':'reach;i.:ng, de~per., partnership 'in
Aine;rica. :rhe, era cf big,gdvernment' i,8 cve~ ~i,bcth .becau,se we . can ',t g,o
. cnrunning naticrial de:f,icits ti+l 'the,end;'cf 'time and ,because'tne .
'nature ,cf our' probleins requ~res ,a di,fferent, approach., But the era' cf
• big natio.nal;qh,allengesis· far fr,cm cver.' It will l1ev~t be cver .
And:thecnes' we face' are:very big ,. indeed.':, '
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National 'lead~rl?hip can pcint the: 'wa.y.,' I'f'can mcve:'
barriers cut cif the ' way ,that" have prevented cur sta,tes,'~cur9ities,
, ,and. oUr pecple frcm ~ch;ingtheir.qwn "problems;. " 'But the real
, respcnsibil,iti'e~' cf building this fliture are ones we, 'a,lY ,must bear
,tcgether. ~.I 'will dcmy,part; I will do. ,what ,i'can ,to,s!=!e that, the ,
,naticnal,.gcvernment does, ,its p:art~ . But, in turn, ycu lllust wor}l;.',with,
me and with c'thers to. ,make sure'that we' seize' this cppcrtunity'while
we' 'stand ,strcng enough, to. do. sc.,
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. : 'Todq.y,I ,want to talk abcu,t' twccritica1 areas:" g~v~ng,
cur¢hildren the,best educaticn;'and fihispingthe jc1:;l cf"welfare'
refcrm, breakingtne cycle cfdependency" mcving millicns,cf:mcre
pecplefrcm welfar.'e to. 'wcrk.' 'Taken ~cgether" these issues really: are
, ,at 'the ccrecfcur:naticnal, ~issich to 'prepare Alneri'c'a ,fcrthe21st
'centui:y.
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Everycne must, have the tccls to. succeedint.he kncwledg¢
, ' eccncmy;, that' 'means educaticn and"training.Everycnewilling to. work
.' , hard with thcs'e' tcols ! must have' . a chance ' . , " , ~mearis
to'dc' so.. , That'
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f~n~sh~ng the Jcb cf .welfare',refcrm. 'Educat~cn and 'welfare refcrm
, ..... 'are' ~b6~t bringing all' Americans to. t.hesta':i::ting l;ine of the ecopcmy:, ,".
'the~making' sure allo,f, them'are';-eady :tC) run th.e race.'
Our, ; number .
cne pricrity lnustbe .tc ensure 'that, America has ..the best.'educaticn ,in.,
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. . ." . : I ca~nct"adci,much to.' the 'statemen't,we 'made so. ,long agO', .
• in Ithe N.ati'cnal ,Educaticn'Gcals . seven years. ago. ncw; almost,. eight, .
. :y~ar,s ,ago.' .. ,su:t;.' my' sh;,orthand' statement is. every .eight-year-cld .has ·t.c ,,"
" be able to. read; every'12,-year-old. shculd be able 1;0. lcg cn to.' the
'"Internet, ,every 18,-year~cld shcul,d ~e able to. go. to. ccllege, and
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" every adult American ,shculd' b~' q.bleto,.keep Icn, l~arning ,fcr an 'entire
iifetime.' Tpat ,should be cur goal.
(A,pplause.J '.
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Because our f,utu:r:,e was ,at' stake in the Ccld 'War" we had
·.a bipat.tisan, f,cre~gn pclicy ~ .. PclitIcs' stcpped 'a:t the water ' s edge.' .'
'W~,ll,)'lC?w cur: fu~ureis at. 'stake<'inlarge:Jlleasu~e( depenc:il.ng, upon " ""
'whetherrwe can,g~ve all"f curpecple wcrld~class educatH>n.
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'Therefdre,'w~::inust have a': nonpartisan commitment .tc eg.ucaticn, and""
, po;li tic~ shculd 'stcp a,t,' thes'chcclhcu,s6: docr in 'the, 21st century. "
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, ',It' is 'not '~nc~gh:fcrmemberscf' congr$ssand' meIilb~~s' cf' ,
the state legislatures ~andelec.ted exe~utiv~s, to. embrac'e :this . '
ccmmi tment:~ 'Our. businesses, .our eq,\lcatcrs ,our, parents, . a·ll, .cur .
,:citizens mu:st~make the, sa,me:ccmmitment. 'I'm gratified t,hat ycu.'have :,',
'. , ,a.number.of.Ma'ryland 'paren:ts'and'teachers andbusinesspecple
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'ccmmItted tc'educaticnhere :tcday,. .I :,thank- themfcr;- being here ' and,I '.'
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" th'ank, i,cu fc:!;' inviting them.,' , ; , '
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, In' myState'lcf the. Unicn add're~s,I, iaid out' a "10-point
,call to actictf 'fcr,American educaticn, which is embodied in' :this
bC,c1clet'.· .Ap.id ,I want to. s'ay'just
few words a,bcl.,lt, a number cf iss~e,s
toqay ariei" then, focus cn cne' in par;t~cular .. : 'And 'I want, to. thank the
. statedf Marylandfcr taking the' lead in'dcing so. t,nany~cfi the ,rig~t
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" 'things'. A lot of you have worked with me going back 'long years
,'the past: when 'I was a'gove:;rnor on these equcationai issues,'and\I
thank yc;m:for; what ,you've, done. '
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First; everychil¢ihas to'be ~bleto'r:ead,independently •
. : byth~ thi:;rdgrade. " ~'m ple?sed 'that, the, '(]n'~ ver/sity .0fMaryland 'at,
Cq+legePaz;:k' has already pledged ,more than 2,"}00 of~ts st:udentsl to
wor~ as reading, tU,to:rs o"\(erthe, next fi y.e years.
That 'is a great, ; , "
thing., ' (Applause. >,We I te go~ng touse.-3S, oob ,of our Amel;iCorps ,
"'volunteers to help' to try, to ,mobilize a million of ,these students'.
-We think we, can get at least 100;00,0 out of the new work-study , '
students' apprpved by,Congr~ss in the': last' blldget. ,Then' all the
schools have, tpmakeuse'ofvolunteers once'they ar~ trained~ But w~
, have ',to do this ~ ~
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, 'you j usb ,thihkabout' it . I f 4 o percent of our child;ren, (,
can f tread at ,grade level, 'll,ow ,in the wide world"d'o we expect th~,m to,'
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learl) algebra, :tr,igonometry" calculus, physics, biology, 'chemistry~
It is, very important. Unless ,we get this done, the rest cannot ,
'.' :happen. And <j.t is' going to 'take a nation~i, effort of monumental'
propor,tions to do: it:" But we, cando it, ,'because'the children can do
it. ,The chil,dren ,can 'do,' it. "TheY,::lust,:i1E~ed for. u'stodo our job and
,they', then, wili do the rest. , 'So I want you' to help 'us, ,to ,finIsh that
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, ,we;mus't "exp~nd pl,lblic scp061'chbic'e.'!, And Balt:imore City I:
has 'd'onethat through its \ charter sch<;>ols. "We must' rebuild "crumbling
schoois.' , An'dyou ,hes:rd 'the ,Gove~n6r say that's',a 'priority ,for him,as
well. ,: We' must make it possible for all of our children to, have
'access, the ,same access, int.he same time , ,to t'he same knowledge., ,
,That's what hooking up' all these' classrooms, to ,the ,Internet, is all
'!3.bout~,
And,/I thank' Maryland 'for its 'com."1litment t'o .. thatobjective~ ,
'(Applallse.):
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,,' In the last' four ye'ars ,we' have opened th,e doors of
, college wider' ,th'anever before -- ,through the ¢iirect co,llege loan
~rogramand ,expandedPell:Granfs,'200,OOOJporework7study:positions,
and the Americorps' program•• "But' wehayeto do 'more,. ,And ,.ram .very
pleased, GoYernor',' that you have prop'osedthese '·state HOPE "
Scholarship~" to ,opem ,the deo,rs' of c'olleg~. '
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just -baIlie' baJek, frpm'Georgi~, -- secretary Riiey 'and I '
went ,to Augusta --: 230,000' peopie in: 'the' state, of Georgia who
mai,ntained ,a B 'average have had" theirtuitionari9- their schoolbooks
, paid for by th4e'st.ate, HOPE,Schola'rship program. Ina representative '
:crowdt.here, 'I, had p~rsonafter p~rson' after person of all ages, ' , .
, , tel'l ihg , me, I was a HOPE scholar i -I had a 'chance to ,go ' to, e'oll ege: I
never cou'ld have done it otherwise; :i:wou.ldn't, have made-it'"
otherwise.'
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, rais'e 'th~' per cap'ita~incom~ ofthis,state'IDorequickly,'it ,will 'get
over' inequalities 'in income groups more, qUickly, iand it 'will' bring'
,,'people together for, a, strong,er' future more quickly' than anythirig
el~e.
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, So I' appl'aud, thEir proposa~,' you hav~ put befor.a', the
legislature here, 'and I' also tell you'"I will ,do my, best to pass our
n'atibnal version of ,the' HOPE Scholal;"sh±pto, gJve a t'ax credit of
$1; SOOfor 'two years,-- that' sthetypica+ cost ofcommunitY'colleg~'
tuition ,-- and a tax, dedu9ti'on of ,up to $.10,000 a year for 'th~ cost'
of tuition' f9rany education 'after bigh schopl. 'This will make (l , •
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diffe~ence.
(Applause~)',
,We also, propos4e making the I'RAavailable, to more ,savers,
if the money'is'
us~d to pay fo~.education·'~- and thebiggest~ncrease in Pell Grant,
s'cholarships for ne,edystudents in 2~; years'. And, our G. I., 'Bilr',for '
,a~~ t.hen'let·pepple withdraw'from th~irlRA,tax-fre'e
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America-'s Wcrkers: 'Wculd, ,take the 70, different 'feder(il ,prc,grams~ for {,
jcb training, put them, in: crie blcck, 'and send, a skill, ,grant to' an
unemplcyed 'cr an' under-emp.!cY,ed ',wcrker and ' say,' here'~ycu ,take' it' to' , '
, the' nearest, i:nstituticncfequcatiqn and: get the training' ycu ' need. :! ,
Nearly, every American lives within', drivingdista,nce cf, a 'Qcmmunity" "
• ,cqlle'ge ,or .'ancther ccmmunity;-b}lSeduniversity, cr educaticnal ':,
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instituticnthat ,c(ln prcvidethe,'tra'ining tcday that all pecple know
they need tch'ave' a better future . '
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' So.' we' need' to' 'do. these, 'thingstcgether, and' they will '
make' a big dIfference." I also. believe we have,'1;c teach cur children
tcbe~ccd'citizensas well as gccd stud~nts.
And I'dlike'tc~thank
the Lt. Gcvernbi, ,fcr suppcrting' the st'atewide,prcgram cf' character, '
educaticn, ycu, have here, to' have a statewide ccde,cf discipline, to'
remcve 'disruptive students ,frcm, the classrc,cm,·tc prcmc,te ccinmunity' '
curfews,.' And, again, 'f' ,thank ycu for being, tp,e cniy, state. in \America"
to' require- coinmunity service' to' -g,raduate from' high schcol.' Ycu have'
'the first, class cfsenic~s~', graduatin'g tcday -;that " s a 'gcc'd thing.
That,' s a gocd thing. '-'(Applause. )
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,,'T~' give :yc~ scme id~a hqw long it takes fcr scme"of
'these ,,:t,hings t'? ,catch cn, 10years'agc, , in '1987, the then Republican ,
Gcverncr of\New 'Jersey, and,ncw the president cfDrew'University, 'rcm:
Keane, and, I 'co.-chaired a Carn'egie'Ccmmissicn: study, cn 'middle'schccl, ,
· ~ and c'ne cf 'curreccmmendaticns, was that, naticnal service shculd bea
reqUi~emept\ fcr ' public, ,schocl ' students. ' Pecple ,shculd learntlla.t
'( , they are ccnnected. to' c,thers' in their' ccmmunityand, J[iake i~a
, 'pcsitive,,' gdcd, ,whclescme' thing.,' Qnly Maryland' has dohe" it" so. far . '
',But I qertainly'h6pe-~, perhaps 'my ,presence he're :will help~~ I hope
ct:her. sta~e'swill, fcllcw' .ycur ,lead~ , Tbis I is a:n impcrtant part cf
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building a' coinmon' future fO,r ,Alnerica • (Applause.)' " , , ' " "
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i Let me say' t~e ~~st impcr'~ant, thing we can:. do. ,in
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,- educat1c;:m 1S,tO hcld ,cur' s,tudents , to' ,h1gh' sta,ndards. Children will
" grcw"acccrding ,to' the ,expectaticns", we have cf them. They cannct
, 'expect~dtc ,kncwwhat it: is they' shouldkncw, cr even,' how' 'high they
, can scar until'we, ,g,ive 'them'the right set, 'cfexpectaticns'. ,When 40
, perc~rit;cf o'llr3rd graders are nct reading 'as ,welL as theyshcu,ld -- ,
'cr, to' put it.in pI,ain languag,e,"wh¢n 40 ,percen~' cf a";,year";clds cannct.
read a bcck, on ,th:e'ir' own, that they cught to' be' able to' read, we ,have,
a ,lct to' do.. ' "
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, , When stUdents 1n,Germany cr S1ngapcre learn 15 to' 20" '
math subj ects' in <;lepth 'each year, ,-whi+e' c\1,r student,s' typidal'ly 'race
~hrcugh 3'0 to' :3.5 'withcutlearning 'any. in depth in ,a given year ,we,
aren.'t'dcing what' we !Shculd be dcing, ~c prepare, them fcra kncwledge
;ecc:momY.,that,'deinands ~hat they be able to' th~rik and, reas'cn and:, i' '
analyze ':-~ in shcrt,' deman~.s ~hat.they be able to' 'learn' ~cr'a
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"lifetime of working ,in ways that have nct yet· been', invente,d" perhaps,'
, nctyet even imagined. ' 'This is impossible' wi thcut ,a gcod fcundaticn ,
in "the basics.
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, " . ; , ~ Maryland is' making ,a, g'ocd.' .sta~t.youive developec;:l. clear
st:andards' for' whatchildr~n shculd,learn by the' 3rd, 5th, an,d ,ath ' '
. ' "grades, in particular,'
J:,'eadlng and math, and cl.~artests tc:~ ,.,'
measure them, sch?oldistrict by'schccl ,district, and scp,ocll;>y
schocl. ' Ycu: I,re"holding schccls accountable', for making th:e. g,rade,' .
r.ewa'rdingexcellerice, "interVening in scp-ccls that' (iren I t perfcrming.
Because you, haye 'set high stan<;lards, y.o.u have seen five year~ cf "
steady ,sustained prcgress tcwatdf? mee,tingthcse ~tandards~, ,"
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, ' !?ut ;:Marylandand' ~li 'ctl?-erstatesi:"must'd~' mcre... , To.
ccmpete and,w1n 1n the 21st century" we· must have a h1gh/standard,cf'
, excellence tthat all states 'agree cn.- ' That' is, why I - called, ,.in my"
,state cfthe unicn address,' 'fcrnaticmal ,standards :cf excellence 'i1n
;the basicsi": 'nct' fedcaral gpvernment st(indards" but naticnal, " "
, standardsreptesehting 'what 'all, bur st\J,dents must kncw to' "succeed in"
'a new century. 'I called :upcn, every,st~te to' test, ev~ty ,4th grader in' , " '
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,'reading ~a,nd every 8th grader"irimath, by ,1999,accordi'ng to the
national standards i to make- sure they're being met. '
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~ ,We 'already, have widely'a'ccepted rigorous, ',nat.ional
standa"rds in both reading and math,. ,and widely u$ed" tests 'j:;)as"ed" on
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those ~t~ndards. In reading, Ma~yland andm6re,ih~q, 40 othe~ states
have participated, in.. ,a 'test. called the National Assessm'ent of "
,Education Pr.ogress ior all of usedu6"ationa-l' jurlkies,calTit the NAEP',
'test-~
It measures 'a state 'soverall performance against a high'
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,nationa'l S-tandard of excellence. It' s ~a good test~,:, In 'math, tens )of
thousands'of student.sacross ournation'havealreadYi taken the'Third
, 'Internat:lonal Math' and science· Sur,vey, . call~d,tpe 'TIMSS tEtst, a' ~est '
that' reflects the world-class. ;standards; our children must meet for" '
the 'new, era..
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,AsI,~ai'd fn ,my state of the Union, last, InO,nth secre'tary' ,
'Riley and I visit~dnorthern,tllinois, where 8th grade students 'from
'2 0 di'st.~-iC:ts' took the tes,t and ,tied for firs't, in ,the world for '
sciencej and seCond in math. we 'know it'is the world standard" and
":we know'the world standard ,is the right standard ' to which we' should'
all hold ' ourselves.,
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Unfortunately, 'tpesekinds of ,te'sts ,both, the ,
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Assessm'ent of Education Progress for Itl1e, 4th grade' reading test, and
',the Third International 'surVey in· Math 'and, Science for the 8th "
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graders ~~ d.o.--not'provide individual scores; they only measure how.an
entire state is doing. What we need are 'tests th-a't' will 'measure the'
performance of each and'eyery student" 'each and every school ,each, '
and everydis;trict"so that, parents and teacher,S will iknow how every .
child 'is. doing compared to~' other~ studerits in other schools, in other'
states; in ,other countries -~ not jrist bompared to th~m) but, more,'
importantly, , ,compa~ed'against what- , to, know."
they need
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It is a false t'hing to c;::ompar~ ail kidsagain'st one
another unles!? all children ,are' first held to a high standard. "
That's what' we want to know. " That,' s ,the' c:>nly thing that really,
matters., That iswhy'I'mpresenting'a plantolielpail students in
a'll states, meet "these standards and to, measure them.
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' Over ',the nextt~o years' our Department of Edu'cation 'will.
suppor,t ,the development'for new tests for 4th grade reading ,based on
the National Assessment of Education, Progr~ss, .and '8th grade math, " , •
,based on the,InternatidnalMath arid Science, Survey,'to show 'how every
studentmeasur~s ~p, to, existing, ,widely accepted' standards. ' " The's~ " ,
'tests' will, be develop,ed 'by independent, test 'experts .in' consultation,
.' with leading math and reading\teachers~'The' federal government. will'
'not.require,them, but't.hey will.be available 't;o ,every state and'every
school district that chooses to administer t-pem.,I believe every." ,
s;tate' must.:part:i.cip~te and that every parent- ha'sa r~ght t,o honest,
'accurate information about' how his or her' child is doing based 'on
real, meaningful national. standards. . ("Applause ~ )' .
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'NOW, already' in, the la~t week" I 'have heatd some: people'
saying, sounds like
federal power' grab to me. ,That's' nonsense., ' We
will'not 'attempt to 'require them, they are not federal government '
staridards~ they are nation~l' standards.' But we, have been, hiding
.' ' 'behind avery s~allf ig , leaf' for "very,~ 'long, ,and t.be results, are riot "
\satisfabtory. ,Anybody who, says' that\ a,'count~y as, big' land diverse as
, ours, can't" possibly havenatlc;mal 'standards i l1 the basics'';';-:- ·I say
, ' from Maryland' ,to Michigan to MOz:itana ,.' reading is reading' and math is,
"mat~.'No s'chool board is' in charge of algebra,"a'nd nost.ate ' : , ,
'legi 9 lature can enact ~he law of ppysi'cs., And 'it is time we\ start.ed
acting; the way we . know, we ,should. ,(A,ppl-ause. )
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The:t:,e',s"an6therthing-that wilibesaid; now'; ,'and 'that. . '
you wil,l, have· to .C,on,front, becaus,~ I' kno~ how much -- I've been
through a .zillion stat;e legislative sessions; ~verybody's got a: new
idea 'and everybody wants ~or~' :money a I1d there's' never enough to go
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around. And you will 'b~, tOld:";- and i t.i.s true ,that we' have Ibt!S
o,f standardized tests . 'That ! s true, there are lots of standardized
test,s; "but there' is .ho national'· test, testing the standards. _ ',That's a '
very 9.if(erentthing.There is, no natfe;,nal, exam ,given :to a'll qf ,our'
. children that says, ,here's what a good fourth~ grad~r ought to ·learn. : "
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. ' Keep,' 'in mind we,don' t want Johnny 'to' make. a. better score
'tnanMary' on -t.his t'ast., Wewanti 100 percent qf our' kids to passth:\.s ,
, test.' 'And'then,' when~.a lot of them don't, we don'twantto give .them"
anF, we, want to givethem'a hamdup.We want to say, we' haven't' • .
,:d9l'l:e what we should, and we I regolng to dothi's.', (Applau~e.-)
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.It'is amazing-";, you,know,' we' .take 'it, for, grantE:~d 'we "
'hc!.ve'tfie best military
the world. Tnfn)c how silly it would be if
everyp.lace· in Aliterica wbere' we' do' basic, training, they. said, well,
youkho~, Louisiana is a lohg w?yfromGeorgia;' we. could,n" t have i
possiblY-have uniform sti:mdarCls. for basic tra:i,.nlng in the .military; .
just sort· of come up. with whatever youthinkw'ill be good, .and. 'we '11
hope i:t works the' :next time we 're in the .Persian Gulf • (Laughter.)
. You '. re' laughing.' '1 That's. what. we. do . And' even f.:f. you 'do the very-- _ .
best y:ou can" we. don't know, the, truth. It"s .wrong, for' these 'children"
. n9t' .to know the t'ruth • . This is not a put-down, now~' thisisa li~t:- . . '"
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. , .,we've got the most "d:iv:erse democracy,' in the, w'crrld .. We,
have . four school districts' now where the',children' s. first ',languages
comprise over 100 different languages --" in . four' school' districts in .
Ameri,ca. " Who are' we .kidding that 'we '.re golng to 'create the kind of .'
country .we, , want ~ . where' everybodY"sgot· .a chance, to make it ,'When we ·
'Paven' t ; even ; takeri the, first' elEpmehtal step 'to say ~ here's how.'
eyery6neshollld read l::?y the 4th: grade; here '·s: the math everybody
.ought' to .know by the 8th grade~
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.. There 'is. more"to ,do 'after that, but, let,' s start· with')
something that really matt'e;rs., We'v~ never dorie it,.,'· This has:
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noth1ng to do w1th:local control.of,educat19n. -secretary'RLley has.
. dOIle, more to g,et. rid; of "federal rule.s a'rid regulations, togivest'ates'
'arid local school' districts more:contrql~ithoutthe r,ulesand more,
. fl'exibilitythan anybody has' in, a . long t.ime. But-no In~tter how. much , "
flexibi+ ity you have ~ ,sooner or.later your,. child,r*7n are "going to have
',to face the fact' that, they either 'can read 'o~·they can 't, t:tleY·,either
':can do m,a'th ortheycan't,they'know algebra or;they 'don it'. And if '
,'we ,play 'around w,ith, all these gaines and nide~and~seek excuses" in the·
"'. end the. only people: that are going to .be hurt are those. kids,' and' the
.' rest of 'the' country will) pay the price ',f,rom now on. ,And.' w.e.',ve got to '
" . , ',stop it. '(App,laus~.• ).'
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, I 'Want to g~ve you two p1eces of' good hews , one of wh1ch
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. yoti can be e'specially proud ':'of:~ . You 4alt know,-that,th.e bus'iness'
community, hasb,een calling f~r this for a 'long time..G.overnor . "
'Glendening. w'as 'recently with. ,the other 'governors last year 'at an' ,
.. education summit in' New York wi t:q.-·the business coIiununity, and they
,were, saying, we have : to ·havestandards." ,Today I'm proud' to say that
.the Nat~onal 'Business Roundtab1.e is. endorsing our call for national
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tests for. '41:,h,g'rade. r'eading and 8th grade math~. They .will join o'ur,
:' crusade to make American, educatIon thebe'st in' the world. ,And I want,
..·'·to thank especially' No'rm ogest'ein,whois'the .cEO o'f 'Locl¢eedM~rtin .
and the head, of the BusiriessRoun9.table' s education' task 'force, a'nd
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,,~hol)as . done a' lc':t" to, help you in· Maryland. w.i)th your, schools ....
, , '. '(Applause.)'
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..'. ' . Just 'before the .speech,today" your state Board of,
Educ,at10ri ~,Cha:lrman . C~ris' Cl::"os.s "told me. that ~the .sta'te· Board' o'f'
Education ,intends to, incorporate 'these new, tests' ,of' nat;ional
standards iri1:;oyour state's program. . And I thank, 'you , . sir, for that, ,
.and I. t:hank you, fo~that. . (Applause~)
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' Let, me ,say thati::hroughout my, public 'career,'I have,been
very interested ,in this 'whole issue'of educ'atiori., There 'are ,lots of
o,ther things, li'd like 1:;:0' talk to you' about today .,' ,.1 hope you will,
En:~pportithe work that weare, doing, with the National, Board ot,
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, ~~rtificatioh fb~'Mast~rTeacher~. :to c.~tify te~~hers ,in educationaL
excellence., ' Governor Hunt from North Carolina has b~en working on '
,that for years,: and we certifi~d the last, teach,ers -- the first,
, teachers in 1995', but only soo ~ince 1~9S .We believe we need at "
, ,ieast one master teacher in every school district, 'hopefully in ev.ery
s,chool, in Anierica ~-' someone who has 'been' through th.especial, , ,
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rigorous ,prog'ram:6f, trai'ning ~nd'evaluation ,here so that t~en that
t'eacher' can share what he or:'she has learned with all the other
teachers' in't;:he schQol~ , Our'.budget c:ontains enough, funds--and it,l·s ,
'a rel~tively' low-cost program -~ toprovi,defor another 100 i QOO,
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'maste,r'teachers in the, rieixt'four ye\ars.'So I"hope you<willsupport
,that 'as well. "
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",', " " ' 'But, 'let me say, --, ,I' gu:ess you can, tell ,I fe'el ,strongly
, about this, ,but I have, spent' a lot,: of time in our schools, a lot, of
, ' ' ,time listening to, 'te~chers" a lot of 'time l::istening to parents;. I've
,Jworked harder on this issue over the, course of my public life .'th'an
'anything else becaus,eit 'has, a unique' role' i'n our history and an even
, 'mor,epowe,rfu+ role' in our future ',' , It -"is, of course, the, key, to"
, in,dividual' opportunity'~' Itisal90 the key ito responsible,',
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citizenship.; I a~ conyirjced it,isthe 'key to giving us the', ,:, ,"
'understanding we 'need' tp live together ,as' 'one nation in the midst of "
all of, our d~versity. It, ,is als,o t~e ,k~y to maintaining our wor,ld
leadership,forpea'ce' andfree~omalid prosperity. : Only if every
, ~merican has th,e full, use, o'f his or her mind can our country' ,move'
" 'forWard together.,
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So ,I hope ,t.hat ,all'of,you,will keep this in mind'.' I
hope,that'y6u'willpusp this,' and: I hc;>pe you will iead the way., I
, want to be able to tc3.kethis 'crusade across'the country, ,and telL
people ,if they 'don'lt', believe we, can' do it ,call Ma+yla'nd·.~ou have
the "cOlli,age ,t.o do , it.,' Stand up:- , (AJ;>pl a use '. )
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,Now, let', m~ /just' say a co.uple, of,words'abou't wel:~a:re
" reform;, because, that I syery, importal')t. ,For' years and years and,
years, 'all the gOvernors' "!"-: I was one' of them -:.. said ,we want' more '/,
qontrol over' 'the state's welfare system; we ,'want' to do that. · We
'could 'refo±'rQ, ,the welfare' system.' We could make i twork. ',We could'
,end the "culture of poverty and dependency. ,Well i, 'you got it.
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('Laughter.,), And ,this hasl'got,'to,be,~a'focl.ls~of your efforts:now,' '"
, because 'this is very,very important.,"
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We ended 'the old ,welfare" system bas~cally ~n two'ste'ps;;
'First of all, in the last fou'r' years, SecretarySlialala and 'I wqrked
with 43 o.f'the SO states ,to launch 'welfq.re reform experiments ,which;
alon.g with ,a' growinge,cqn6my and a SO percent incrEaase in, child' .
support,collection -.;., something I'm very proud,of -~,helped'to reduce
the ~elfar~ rolls by 2.2S mi~lion: that's~the biqgest drop ~n ~elfare
rolls· in the history of the country '~- an IS ,percent drop. You can "
be proud, of ,that and ,prpud of what you d~d. '(Applause.)
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,.Here in -Maryland you ,did bett~r than ~he national.
av:erage." 'you used: yqur, waiver to "mqye' 5.1,000 "peo.p,leoff ',the' wel'fare
rolls, and you h,ad aoout".a 2S percent, drop.' And you' 'can be, proud of
that ~ ,(ApJ?lause.)
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,:Yoli, also answe~ed'iny callta revok~ thedriyei' S:
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licenses of p'eople wl).o ,qeliberately -:-:' who can ,and don 'tpay their.,'
, 'child support. ' And I' :think that I s~ good thing.' We ',re going to do,'
,more, to collect child ~upport~\ W,e ,can 'move SOO'~ o,oci "P1ore "pe'bple, off
werfare tomoiiowif pepple just:paid the child e;lJpport they owe,and
that they ,are, capable 6fpaying.' So I thank you ,for, :that."
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NqV{ wE? come to the hard 'part., The' new law, . s;upported· l::.ly': .
the ,governors and all state, associat~~nsl' 's,a¥ls '. ~hat~very ,able-; .
bod~eq person on 'welfare must move to work "W~ th~n two years;. th~tthe
. states ca'n hay-e. a 1 ~ :ttle cushion'fund to supp<;>rt,those who. can' tI1!-·pve.
,into the work forc,e eii;.her, becaus~' they 're: p.isabled or· because th~
economy is, not so hot. ' .
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.Butn6~ ,think..·.of' this cha:i,Hmge.
In the;iast 'four, .
years, 2.25 millio.npeopl'e moved from we'~faretc::lwQrk in an .economy
that produced. 11 ~ 5 . million j cbs.· That.' s.a record for., any four:"'year
administration. We .have· t'o ,do at least that well in :the, next· four.
years •.. That' reduced d£e welf(!,re roll,s by about 20 percent" 18 'to 2'0
percent'. .'
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rilaybea '.little ,more than. 10 ,mil'liori -- andabo\Jt 4 ~ 5 'miiiion of"them'
, ',are, adults, 'and;~pout '4',ritiilion, an'ytNay, ,are 'going to be~ abl'e-bodi~d '
and "abJ,e enough to physically work., A:nd then there will be some. '.'
moving "in'a.nd. out of the work, fo~ce .... There always is, as people .'
retire and .all.·But through,deliberate,efforts'we're going ,to have
to, cre~teat ',least ? million . jobs.. And; if we don't' do. it, ,what' will, '
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Keep in mind, this 'welfare reform bi]"l has'this ring'.lng
,; declaration: ,Everybody' who can.. work,' everyboc;iy' who's ,able to :work
has to take responsibility forth,eir"own:j.ives. No'more permanent
, :d~pendency. '.Fullof moral precepts. Well, ' the morali tyshoe is "now ,
on .the' other. foot.' ,: Those .of .us who supported that·, we 'now· have a ..."
·moral obliga,tion'tb :say,eyerybodywetold, ,"you have't.o go towork ll .
.'actually is .able .to.work! 'Because if weare'not abie to do. that;, ..
then the 'law's consequence willnot.be to liberatte \,people' from.'
dep~mo.ency, but .to ~ake'p~ople;, w~o are dying to go to' work even.worse .
.' \ '. ," off j us.tb~ca USEl theycouldn' .t ,find a job.:' .
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a serious ,
stif:f chall~nge.; And 't.hechallenge
cotnmunity~ which is,the way·you·
sa~¢lyou wanted:. it~·.: But.it's'there:now. ' Youknowthat,'great old'
cotmtryniusicstar, cp.et· ,Atkins'" used to say, you ge>tto becal':eful
what you' .ask' for in thislife:"youmight ge't.. it. So 'here. it, is . . .
What~re we going to "do? .'Is 'there 'away~out?
Yes, thereis'~ Can we
"~do this? . You bet we can •. You bet we ··.can.
We cctndoit".but '·we·have
.to do it together~.:· And we ·have' to do. it with ·d:i,.scip,line'.,
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is 'primarily on you and the' employer
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A~d we' need' a plan •. ,And it 'needs ··to· gO.down toeve:f. y .
. <community. And we·'re,.going, to have to ask'peopi~;tohelp ... And.you
need to really closely follow' y,our: numbers and, make' sure you I re doing
what it (t~kes .to be done. ,
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. .'How a:t:e wego'ing, to. do it.,?,. First,~e ~aveto ,pass the .
. feqerai program, that :t rec;ommended, . which will give-tax .c~edits, ·to
priyat'teemployers of up, t~50percen:t up' to $l:-O, obo to hire, people:-
c·
,on~y if't~ey.hire'people·from welfare tp work.
And,then we have to
support: 'the. prQV;i~io,ns·lof. the ~e~fare, :t;efo~, ~aw which, cqntinue the
health care" cont~nue the nutr~tl.on,and prov~de.muchmoremoney.for
child care. ':tha,n, :t,hepr~vious taw ... That', ~ 'the good ,news.~. :.';' ' .
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This 'legislatiori also gives ybu the.authority' fpr th~
. ffrst time. to ,take money that. had been, used pn welfarec,hecksand '
, giv:~ it to private :employers ·~s.-a\iage or training. supplement. ,Now,
.. this can be verY.~mportant(in.convincing ,nonprofit empl.oyers,' who'
d'on! t 'pay taxes :anyway, to.' h,i:t~· p.epph~ off .welfa're ,and' make' an extra
·e'ft"ort. All tpe, comm~nity nonprofits;every churc;::h oJ.:' other.'
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rel'igie>uSi organization in th'e state of Maryl'i:md, . o~ any, size" without
,reg-a'I'd to their faith, they're all under an admonition to c'are.',for
'. the poor~.,Now . you can, say,·'we'll,.give you a 'little <money to help·,.if
you.wi!'l: do the ,rest.
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, Missouri' ,had a program like this, in, Kansas city, where',
· they gav,ethe welfare check'"to private employers for ,more than a year
.;.- they could keep it for, a couple' years, -~ as ,'a.wage. and ,train,ing
premium'\i~"they would hire: people off 'welfare. : Iniet a man who had a
, data, p:r:ocessi,ng 'storage company with; 25{employ~es ~ '?lnd ~i~~ of his
employees he'd"nirep., from the welfare rolls, and he loved it. And
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, Arid- i,i'we cando it", it is better tc(hir~people in
, small,'g;roups or: one 'on ;one,l:?eca\1se you're trying to ,lift', people out
, of a.' cuIture ot depe'nd'ericYliin'to a maiiistreal11 cuI ture o~ wopk. 'But., ",
this 'man was willing',to do that,. " And.they have, to .pay 'about '$1.75' ,
above the 'minim'l!m wage to get the wage subsidy tnere :,and to'give, '
'people a living'i,ncoIrle'. : But still\it 'costs, them:'less than the, '
. minimum wage to do, it:."
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':',' "'FlC)l:'id~' has.' j\;l~t 'de6id~d:t,o fbllow: suit.' An~ I' hope.
other: states wl'll,follow that: lead. You 'ye got to' -..:' believe me ,--,
· to meet ,these job" targ~ts, youremploy~r community, i~ going'to need ','
',every last, optiori ,you can g~vetheni,. . Arid ,somebody' s 90t,t9have, a "
'plan, I, mean a,game, plan, t,hatdhalleng~s every sector 'and every ,
.: community to do whE{t: has to :be,done~ So I" urge 'you to use the' ,;
flexihillity you have, been giveri ,to'dothat.-' '
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" Sec::ond1y,: ± 'u;-ge, you to ma'ke s~,re' that: ,tpe money you"
from welfare reform'will:be used to move even more people.
,to' work.,' I know Maryland has,takeriits considerable savings from
" weI fare' reform efforts aria ·P\lt t.hem intp a special \rainy--day' ,fund to','
create jobs, arid to;niove people'from w,el':fare, to, work •." And that's
something other s'tates' ought ,to copy I . because if 'weifar~:rreformis:
goTng to succeed.,in the beg'inning, all s"cat;:es,are going to ha've use: ,,'
those sayi,ngs c:>n efforts l,.ike child care ,wage, subsidies, "emploYment,
incentives i' or "other ways to, c,reat;:e private ~ sector j,obs~~ ' , ' , ,;
,hav~,sa:ved
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... ,Let me just;:'say one ot:her thing,. I 'hope as you, do this,'~ ,
you' w,illn9t forget sorteo!·. a parallel populat;onlioton welfare',' and '
. those are, young:, single meriwho are. unemployed ;Who are eligible'for
'food stamps but not welfare. 'Keep' ih' mind, their .lo'ss to,the work~,
~orde is "an. en6rmou~ loss to our society'." It leads ·to' higher c'ri'ine'.,
':, It .leads to fewer ,two-parent;. , familiel?" 'It .leads to robbing 'them of ' ,
, the potential of,' what'theY'might 'becom'e,. ,.And a .lot of places now are,
'beginJ)ing to tryt6' ~-' instead o~ 'talking j~st abo1.lt: .the ·,welfare' .
'populi!ltiori --,the'youngunemployed population ,so that·these young'
single, men can ,,:be,' :treated', in the rigl?t way" :too: /:,
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. , . ' F i m 3 . l l Y , let ,me' s~y,' what isourv1.si6n?" I; 'can" tell yOU',
, ','what,my vision "-"; why do we do all': this?: 'Here! s my vision. Here.' s ,
where 'I hope we' II.be in', a , t'ew years. ,,' I hope , all; over. Ame:r:i-ci;i,ina
few years, we will have'a'community-basedemploymerit.family,support:'
, syst,em' for: people who 'are o'!J.t'>of,work'; "and, people will com:~ in:t;.o thi1s"
'" systf?mwhe:ther they come :off .the welfare rolls or off the, employment
, rol-lsthrough th~unemploymentrqlls, ,ahd, we won't, make a.'
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"distinction.'. Itw:ill just be good people ,with kidsorwitho1.it ki~s,',
depending, whoareoqt of,'workwho need to· get back, into ,the wqrk .
force. And, we'll have. a system fqr mov}ng,themback in,', and' we,'ll
have ,a 'system' 9f, subsidies for people . at themarg-ins : sottiat,: '
';employers. will be encouraged to make .t.hate'xtra',e'ft:ort tq, restore' .
·people to, the, di.gnity' of worJ<, •. 'And ,'meanwhile, we'll a'lways ,be, .
" helping people 'suppor:t their childrem, in fulfi-lling their first; anc;i.
most, important job."
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N.ow, that's my vision.' That'~ what, I:hope',:we.:wouid get ,',,'
out 'of . this welfare ref.orm effor,t . . But tp~ next two years are going' .
'to.be critical~becauseabout·two,'years ·from now., p'eople are goin'g .tq .
· start· running 'out "o:Etheir two-year time' limit, al!-4 then the . "~ ',,' ... '
.' ' spo~light. w;il·l· shiftfr~m ,all of tpem to al,l of us.'· And we will 'be ' .
al?ked i what did :we do when the, welfa;re reform bill passed., ,What. did
we·.do to .make. su;re that.tpose we to,l¢! y,ou :have tOgo . to w,ork had· the, .
chance togo to .work~ Sol u:tg.e '~ou to.. think about, this..,
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' Th'is :ls.' excitirig ,b~t . it', s':braq1ng ;b~caus~ ,o~r, society'
has never'done anything ,like.:thisbefore. in orqinary times.', And I do "',
not· belieV.e that .whel1. ~he bi;l:l·pass~d". people ,had ";really . focused on , ••. '
, 'the· dimensions of the chal1:enge.; . I, had,· ahd I, was. willing~ to 'make ."
it~ 'I'm willing to ·try'to"~-· toj'ump off, this cliff,to hold ,up this .
· :high .stanq.ard~I "thipk.we, can do 'this .'Ithink we,' can develop a\'
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work-b?lsedsociety"that does 'not have people trappe'd,in ,permanent'
, de,pendemce. But it's going to take everybody,'think1ng aboat it,' .
· working on' it ',and doing tl:1in·gs.theY, haC! .·not .dC)ne: in 'the, pa·st. And
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.:' so I ask . you: .,t.o,do that.:', (Applause~·)
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.:t' jus~, w~n( to.~akeone,final. 'po!nt, the Governor' s'"
already. mentioned. '" I ,know, Maryland ·is,.cohsiderin'g using its' own.
·mC)ney to' continue . providing some bas,1c b:enefits for'legal immigr,ants
who liiirve lost, i'ederal, aid now' that. the federal bans have ·taken . , .' ,.'
,effect.• ' ;- Tha't' s ,the <right thing ·:to do, :butypushouidn 't have, to :do '....'
it all 'by yourself •.. That.' s' :why .everyst?lte. ahd 'every governor:"'-' . ; ,
. R~publicanor Democrat:"'~ I hope ·will, join with P-S to try ~o ,persuade,
'the Congress·to restore just :the basic healt:.h'and· disability benefits
tha,tusedto be available, untiJ. this new law passed ,When' mis'forturH~" '
strikes': them.,' . (Applause.,.}',: .
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~'~he:' atguthent made by ,the metjority,'when they pass~dthis
was,' when an 'illllliigrantcomes tci America" 'you' ve 'got to, sign a piece
of paper. tbat.says,You ',re .not going ,to take ' publi9 benefits. Now,~,'
th~t'san uhq,erstandable', policy~ 'We, shou~dn't De,invitin.g.peopl~ to
come. here oj ust 'to get .on. weI f~re or to' g~t· on Meciicaid or ;Medicare.' ,
,But we can so+ye . tha,t,.' and did, by' simply;, sayirig'that" every, iinm.l,grant.
has' ,a sponsor," a'ndthesponsor' s: income' will be.' deemed ,the
immigrant's income until :the immigrantbeC'omes' a' citi zen • That ' s' the
way, to s.olvethat ... , "
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•. 'But if you have :allthese' immigrant's comirtghere, and,,'
eyen, Defore, they can become, ci;tizehs --, suppose an Indian ',from New ,
,Delhi comes: t'o,Marylandtod~velop·.computer .sof,tware ,programs,. for 'one'
of','. y~ur ,grbwl.rig businesses ,and stays here' t;.hree ye~rs" ,~nd-has a,· ".
one~y~ar-old child ahda three-year-old c.hild •. wp.at',does ,thatpe:tison, '
40 ;:ff h.a,. or his,spOU'SEf ~etshi~'bY,!a.ca::, or.istbe'V/~ctim 'of: ~< . . ..
cr~me, or one"of the· ch~ldren ~s born w~th: cere.br~l palsy, and they,
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. " "So what 'do .we say? T~:),~lgh ,luck?'you' :had: misfortune?
Ye~'~ you) ve wOJ:'ked hard~j 'yes i,' you i ~~pa~d', 'Y0':lr ,taxes;, yes'". Y<?u 've ,
been perfectly legal; yes.,' Y0tl' vecoJnpl~ed w~ tli every . .prov~s~onof
,the law.;' ye,s,' you d~dn 't try, tp,sne,ak' ir. our country i you waitedYQur ,:,
· t~rn" just· lik,e eV,erybody, else. ,'But, I' ni ,sorry. 'Yes, we tOQk the'
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benefit ,o,f your brain •.. You 'made,; us' a ri.cher,stronger countrY ~ "We
, i wanted' you in here~
,You h<id,skilJ,.s'\ we: ne,eded. 'But. I 'n\ \ sot:i:y. This,
'" is wrong,: :,folks" ,This' ~~. unwo:rthy of.a great·.riation,'of·, immigrant~" "
and 'we :ought, to. fix i:t: '. '(Applaus~.) . ,
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".When you get right down ,to",it,~:,all', thi~busin.ess about.
, " educatiori, reform and welJare reform" and, what\do we have to do ·to '
· prepare oUr country' for ·the 2'ist c:::entury ,and will we ,have· the".
, 'disc,ipline,', strength and,;coura.ge to t~ke .advantage .of, this '~nic;p,1e,
moment in 'his:tory' :.,..- it really 'comes: down' to' twoquestion~': , What,
" does AIfter"ic~ :meari,a~d wh~t ,~oes i,t, nieanto "b'e ,an Ame,rican?" ,
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America'· must· always be ,a nation'. becoming <.' We.' re never
there ;we I r~ always. becom~ng -- becoming: '<3.' more perfect union" 'full
of . new promise-for' our own pepple arid new hopes f.ortl1e world..And'
'wh$it does.it mean to be an 'American? We're the ones who.have-'to make·
.thathappen'.
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Thank you and ·qod bless
you~
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END
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THE WHITEHOUSE,'
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',Office of the. Press $ecretary.'
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April'l'S, . 1997
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':AT~"THE:
REMARKS BY' THE,PRESIDENT"
TEACHER ,ot, .THEYEAR AWARD· CEREMONY';
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THJ!: PRESIDENT: Thap]{ you very muc.h· to, our TeacQerof ::',
the' y'eara'rid, .all ;the t~achers! of th~yea':r: .and'their ,friends 'and,
,
supporters .aridfitinily members who are. he~e, ~ SE!.riator· Glenn, :,' .. .
,
:{, Cqngress~ah ohabot, Secretary Riley~' and' Viqe 'President Gore •.' Tharik.·
you forbeirig ~uClf wonder+ulpartn~rsto,me.,
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. ' DickRilE!.Y';"~ next year, Dick ,Riley and I y!il'lhave bee'n'
.: :working together', for 20years.·'in- .oneway or another', .andwe,I re' ,about.
, ' ,~'to get the ',hang of. it.' .' (Laughter.), 'Andlreally think-he's dQrte 'a'
'wonderful job 'a's 7 0ur ' Secretary ,of Educat'ioh; . I (Applause.'.)" .' ."
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" f ,want to tell YO\l, :this Net Day 'idea that the',,v:ice,,
'pres~dent dev,eloped -- we' were j ust ~.i tti:ng aro.und talking one day,
qnd :I, was. bemoaning ,the 'fact, ,th~t he was ,doirici,' some, .' elabo+,ate' thing.'
, on his 'computer screen in his . off~qe . and 'I stilL can:, barqly: :figure:',
~ . out how to ·turn:mineon ...(Laughter.)
Arid \'.'e were all. laughirig·.'about "
.: ho:w:our' ch~J.dren'were 'leapf;rogging us in' their~ capacity to'deal wit:p. .
'computers .and one} ,thing led 'to .another ,anq,,'befo're 'yoU: know ·it,··we :: .' .
.have' a 'goal ·that 'we" 11. hook up, every library and claE?sroo:m, ir.( the " , '
'country by t-he y~ar 2.000 and, t:Q.en t~ere' s· g,oing, 1:9: b~'a Net 'D?y :~nd,' .
'all'.of a/sudde~,on~ day we 'hook 'up 20, percent of the; classrooms in" .
,California'. Ahd I nevermet,al'lyboq.y that. was any better 'at; taking an
,,' idea and; .turnif1.g it into .reality than Ai Gore., And, this Net· bay. .
thing, 'it's go'ing':to' .revolutiopize educatiori in . this· country because, "
'. we're not 'going' to'stop until w.e bring the .benef,its· ·of' technqlogyto
everi single"child.in this Country," ,and :t think,: it 'sawonderful. . '
thing. .(Appiause. ) "
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. , , : " , I pould'~ave don~· without'sec~'etary 'Riley' telling. that
, 'story that :my.-:-~(laughter).~';' my2nd,·gradeteac:;her:did. \ But ·Ilwas "',
.-.' sitting ,here -.;. ,~h~ve no' notes 'on lthis, sQif mes.s it up you'l:J.· have .
.to .:forgive, me, : but the', truth ds. that· sister, 'Mary Amata ,M¢Gee', ¥.hom:I' ,"
.,' foupd. after, ·over 30 .years/of having no .contact with her .. ·' '~he was. my, '
,',·second.and 3rdgrade teacher;·. I found .her·in Springfield, Missotir,i,
. one :hight, when!. came th~re' hear the· end ,o.f' the' 1992 'oc;tmpaign. .~ had"
"no idea 'what h'ad beqome'of her.; ! didn't know. what had.happe,ned., ,So .'.
'p I;r,eestablished,my relci.tionshipwith' her~'
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after sister :MaryAmata';McGee' ..In the. second.and3rd. grade,.' there' was
i.ouise 'vauq:p.n,· Mary: Christia:n,,"~ ',Kathleen Scher, my; ,6th .gra.d.e
.:t~acher,;who was my' steady p'en, ,pal. until ':she' died just· ,a few days' .
.
. before: she bee;:ame 90 years old~ when.:Iwas:governor..Ar:td ,then in the
" 7,tiigrad e; my, homeroom teacher was. Ruth Atkins.• , "Ariq. 'then there.:was·,
" Miss Teague; .my' .civics' teacher' in. the Sth grade~" ..And Mary'.Broussard;
,",: (names spelletiphone'tical,ly) <l~IY~ 9th grad,e. English teapher:,.who was ..
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. ,But .she was' a little, too· generous •. ·The truth is, I · ' ·
thin~ she gave ,me' a D'iri cond'uct,~~:(laughtei:) .. ..;.'... ··and.I'.thinkshe,···
.' gave mel a D not·.because·'I rai.sed 'my hand but b~cause I: spoke whether
:; I was" balled on 'or not . , ,',(Laughter. ) . ..... ...", .' ' . '"
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. 'the' (:mly person in qur'class 'besid'es me that'· supported John· Kennedy
over Richard 'Nixon.'. (Laugpte:r.:.). In the 9th grade.'
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. , And I"coUl,d gothro'llgh" my' whole pighs'chool .1,.ist of, ,
teachers, ,through my' college list of teachers ',All the people- ,around
here' have ,to put up'''with, stQries' that' 'r fdrge,t tba~I,'ve 'already 'tOld
· . once about:speci'fic'vei:'~'at1m'thin,gs'I :r~:member that"my .teachers, ih .
· , . cO,llege said 'in l.ectu,res "over 30 Yearsagb.'
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. : "N6w',do:h:'tev~r think wh?it you:dodoes'not ,matter. "'I
. remember them .all' as' ,it I were sitting witb 'themy,~sterday.. ,And"
.there·are ,things that. each of them gave to -,me that I am>nbt even
.'aware'of'today. a'fter a1l ,these..yearsof havingb~d a chance to th~hk
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,Every:o:reof you made'a decision that you'woulcinever be
,wealthy.'" "(Laughter.) .Yciu made. a~ecision'that you WOUld: give .
. ,yourselves,tothe n~xt,generation. You madea,decision·thatyou
:wouid do at "W9rk \fhat we'·re, ~llsupposed 'to do in our' families ~
'thatlY9u would, 'always' be. .thinki,ng about . tomorrow.',
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On New Yearl,s Eve, • sOlJ\eone ,askeci.me,' irithi'smeeting I
was at,'if I had,to. write, a legacy' on myto,mbstcine w:hatwould it. be.
'And. Iwouldsay,,;~- I'saidsomething:like f- I don't, remember exactly
,.what 'I$~idibut somethirigl:i-kEathat I had·. the privilege . of, le~ding "
:America into"a new ,century' .and keeping the Al:ll,erican Dream alive for
eV,eryO'ne,havfng o,u~ very diverse country, live together' as one
,Ame;rica, .artqmaintaining,out, ,leadership' as 'the ·world' s',greatest 'forqe
, ' . '~or peace, and freedom and: prospj3.r~ty. If, you 'think a.bout, that, every
single one of those, tasks requires that we do ,a better job 'of
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'edtt'cat,ing mor~"of . .ob.~people :--, eve,rysihgle.
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' . You look· around ,Merica today, . We have 5 .2~perce'tlt . ' .' " "
, , .,unemploynle~t; , it's, a great thing. .And it's' a'lso' entirely ,misleading.
, UnemploynlE!'nt is v'irtu!!lliy' zero, forp'eople, who :have the s.kliis "..
necessary. to meet the demands o.f the' emerging 'economy if they, l,ive' in"
>"a place where iriye~:rt:merit is coming in., What ~we have to ~oisto',
,
.ciose the gaps. and. tpe skill.levef.s. . Howdci you do' t}:lat? ,Give. " "
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, .. ' people better education and, ~hen ,provide<inc.entives to invest in"the '
, ',' places tha;c have been left 'behind . . ,The vice President was,in Detroit,.
·a. few days ago', . promotingour'empowe'rment zo'ne··'co.ncept ',of trying 'to'
"build 'communiti,esand give "incentives, for ;people to'., invest where
" people 'are' there· wil'lil1g to work' arid 'there ~s ,no investment. '
I,
B~tthe,unemployme~trate 'i~ ~bsOlut~lY mea~ingliss.if
.you're, unemployed •.., If Y0tl're unemployed j ",the'un:eni.ploymept, tate' is.',
10,0" percent •.', (Laugh:t:er.) It'-s'not· one or, zero or five ,or -- YOll
know, that's what it is. 'Sowe can',t creat,eopportunity 'for',all
..• ~ericans Uhl,EasS everybody first lfastl1.e. educational ski~ls.< .
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. . . . . , ..Wecertainly, can't',learn, to. live' together as one , .
'
"Ainerica,w'ith, all of ~hisriph ',diversi1;y, we .have, without, being, ' '"
'educated to j,t:';'Because for'thousand.:; of ,ye~rs, .,.peopJ,:e have 'lived in
· 'trib,al 'pa1::terns 'that ,taught them. to! 'be,' 'suspicipusOf thos,e. that .were , ".
differeritfrom thems.elves~· .' Among the Teachers of), the Year h~re ',.....'.
today, we have an immigrant :j:roni 'l'a;i..wanmakinga g~eat contribution. ". '
, ..to/ the united states.', Among the Teacher's of the Year tOday we have it .',
Japanese ,American :1/those parentswe:t;"e .in~ern:ed duririg< World\War ,II.
\ ,'My state .had one of '.:those, ihternmentcamps'•.•. I '~e ,been down .there to '
. see' it,' Cl:~d' I, stillcan"t believe mycouriti'y ever did that.· W~' have
"African' 'Americans and HispanlcAnie~icans ~ wep.ave ,peop~e .fr<?m', '
different ,religious, baqkgrounds.
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' '.You. know- that what ,unites us' is more, impOrtant: than what.
o'nce 'having recognized ,th'at, .,you. }qlow t.ha~ "wh'at
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divides 'us makes uS ,more interesting and"far better positioned to do ' .
weli .inthe'world'of' tomorrow than: countriesthat'a:r:e . less.. diverse
. , than 'we:" are. i But~~ we ,can't learn>',to dO ,this rigpt 'unless we can' not
,"divides
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only 'feel ~o:U:r, way out ,of 'this bu1:.think cnit ~ay 6utof this.,': We1:;lave:',
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. ' .And we: qe~ta1Z'lly -~ we certal.nlyc~nnottake '
'advantaq~of the' OppoI:tunities, that· are" there ,for us' at 'the,' erid of
• the'cold'.war to create
whole',new, orde,r of peace, and' freedom and, :
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, prosperitywith6ut rnuchhigher'levels of und~rstanding.
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. Or let me put ,l.t l.n, another way ~~ the,AInerl.can Society
of. ~ewspaper' Editors 'wer'e here the ,other day, ~and o~e of·the editors~
from out! in t.he¢ou:pt~~:' ~tood up 'and I thought, you, know, .It mqoing . '.
", ,to'get:a que$tionon whatever' isg9ing on' i1') Washington~He ,said, I'
,., gQt a lO~year-old son,iri the5th:-grade,. and' he,:wants ,to know,what:
'. your advice 'i$ ,fo:t;him,for the future,.
(LaugJ:1.ter.L And it ,was the :"
, hardestquestion'I,got asked allday~ ,(Laughter.)
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. And I said, he should 'study hard.;,'he. should ~stay'out ,of,
" trouble ,and riot defile his body, with ,drugs or anything 'e'lse;vhe:: ','
", sho-q,ld seek out people whp were' of different racial'and" ~el;i.gious
, backgrounds 'a.nd"qetto.know 'them arid understand them; hesh,ould 'try,
to learn more about ,the 'rest?of the world' as. early as possible "7'~,.as
s~onas po'ssible; ~nd ·.h,e should begin, right now : takingsome.time. to :,
serye ~n his community to h.elp-people:who ,needed he.lp. ··Those. are> the'
"five things'I.;sai(l. ' Why? .~ecause '1: think that will give pim algood "
· educatio1'\ and.glv~, hint opportunity,' help us'to come together as one
, ,Ain~ri6a and 'appreciate. our; differeri,ces, and help u~, to' maintain o'!lr'
,leadership, in the, worl¢i ~ And you're doing, that "every, day.' The
,: "
rki·nderg,arteri ,teachers here, are doing that., .
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Now, "·that:, $ 'why I', r'ook"so :'f6rw'atd "1::0 'this e~ery yeaJ:::~':'
be9ause mostof'the .'tlme~ :frankly"we just sort of take' you,for'
..
· gra~teli" ' unless we qet, n,tad be'causewe :don" t J.,i~e the, way the, t~st" ,
I ' sc.ores come ··but Or, the compara·tive test $cores or y.rha1;:.ever else., And
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" I tl:link ,it is' very' important' that we not: lose 1:.;he, en'0+tU0us ,
signd:f:icance', of your collective impact~ And I t:nought' I,.Id"s:tand up· ,
, 'nere today and, try, --and Ididn,·t know, i.f,:t could ~o it; but, I:, " .'
, ' thought ,I.,cou:;Ld ,--just remembe~.'all my' ·te,achers, -just. to show you" '
the'persollal imp~ct:youhave. 'See, ,-I'll /bet.You a,. 10t.of,You could'
do ·the same. thing I j u'st did, and that,' s probably why you're doing ,
'what you':.:;e' doing tod~Y.' r'
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,:we ,do h~ve' some changes 't:.o'malCe,ral}d: we do hav'e': to" i
, recogni'ze that we' have' to keep moving: to,liftthe.stan,dards and w:e' :.. ',
'have ~9 realize' that. ~p.ere ,are sonte ~,sens~s:in which, we do,wha't '~e dq' ,
very· well,. and some· senses in which we have.·'challenges beca.u~e: 'we"
have ,so much diversity a:mong our chIldren"that others, don't have.
BU,t.we can't 'use .tha~ as .an· excuse; we have'to"j.u.stdeal, with' the, '
factsahdbelieve ev.ery child· can . learn. ,'{ '" .......' .'
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A~thls br~i.n,'co~~~rence yesterday ,tJ:?at' tlie' Vice' :~' " '
President mentl.o!led that the F'l.r$t. L~dy and. I. hosted, I. was· stunned ,
when·we',had· these .scientists' there talking.about l',trillion 'networks,
,-, being, developed, in .;the brain. , '.
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, We've knowri' fo~.' a IOI1g~fm,e "-~ ,I 'was t~ughtinsc:hool :'
, .' 'that weaonly, use a small part of.ciu,r' brain,'s 'capacitYi'butI nev~r
"'
. understood the extent t~ which, the ~brain keeps deve'loping a'll during
'" :childhood and how we interrelate to, it/ But·what.,it, convinced 'me of
, was what I a,lready believed by' co:nvict·ion,' ·;which· ~$ tha1: 'ne'ar,ly,
everybody is' fully capable of learning wha~ever they need to l~arn t9'
get where they 'need to .go .. ' . ' ;
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, '. 'And th~t' s tOnle"what;th'iS"whole standards b'u,sines's' is'
about~nd'whatthe enc'ouragemEmt ofa!',l the states 't6 develc;:>p' . ,', ' "
/ " ': _ 'standards' that., are nationally and, ,.internati,onally 'sound,', challenging
',all'th.e:.stateS'to·join ·in. the 4thgra~e reading and the 8.thgrade .
math tests in. 1999,' is','all' about~ . It',s not about 'another test.' , It's
.. : about :saying, we believe. all our cpildren orcin le?:trn,' and we. believe,
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chilqren learnaccording,t6',theexp~ctationsPlaced;on them~, and our
expectations ,are going tOl:le, high~; ,.'
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':,.:will .support' that because I' thin~ . it. is, terribly' important.'.
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in' only a couple', of . months" 'the ,educational,
,lead~rship ,of ,California has joined f'fa:t;'Yl.and, Michigarl,North
Caro:Lina i and thesch66ls of the ,DefEm'se' Department systein,,,in,~
-...: ,.in saying they' will particip?lte ini::his st,andards"
movement.' , A:nd, I, hope every, stat.~ in'the count,r:y will; s~y yes, before
the _time comes.
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Because"we ha.vea recordn~mber,'
studEmt~ :in,cou~ ,
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scllo'ols 'andth~y' re~' growingr~pidly 'and' now 'we 'vegot' for the firs.'~
time ~- ,it's rather humbling for me ,and the, Vice Presiderit~- we",
,finally have ,mor$ ki,ds,in school than ,we"haq. during the Baby Boom., '
'(Laughter:') , We're going, to ,have ,to ,find in the nextte'n years, 2
,million new teachers. And that 's, going to :be' :qui te a ch:allenge. And,:'
j;le' baveto train: them ~6r, i::he challenges that they I 11 face tqday and
"the, worldI' their,' cihildren 'will ,face tomor.~ow.:
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, ( , ,""', So ,,~, want 'to, thank you for your "willingne~~',to',':think " ' '
" about that' and for helping to encourag,eteachers, to achieve 'new
levels', of excellence. ,,'I know many of you are' participating, ,in, ;,
Secretary Rile'y"s national forum" which g'ives you, a ,chance to share
ideas with educato~s all 'acrosf;'th~ country,ab9ut'the"best way;::o',' ,
"trainteach'ers,. ,~Thisis an ,issue that is very hard -- it 'will'never
'make -,the front' page on ,any day;~herewill always· be something ,morel
i~ediate..
But, there' are' very few; things ;::hat qre more important '
, than, ,hoW-we, 'train, our: teachers, ,and hoW' we ,contfnueto ,learn ,as ,'/
teachers ,in the' classroom, 'and in ' the ,schools', and' how ,'we 'canal'I,
I'eCjlrn{ from EiCjlch :oth~r'-, That i sone of . the reasons I 'encourage'
,
,teacqersall over the country to seek 'boa~d ~erti~ication ,from t,he
National "~oard' for PrQfessional Teaching, ~t.anda,rds'.
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, And\!w~no\.t,have 500'. of these tea,chers,.nat:ioriwide'~
Governor 'Huntf,rom North Garolina,",who, is well-known:,t6, many of you, ,
h,a~ :peen working on·th~sas. an ',obsel?s'ion for years.
But
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balanced' budget 'plari we've got '$105 million that would put 100,000, .
"master teachers 'in our nation 's classrooms,. ,And the' idea ',is not ,,'
reall.y. -- , it IS' j ~st iike, y6'\i;, you're the, Teacher, of ,th~' Year i ,:but' 'you,
" ktlbW, you ire really':stand,ing ,in t.he~shoesofevery other good te'acher
',in yourstate~ . But. if yo'ucan put tpis ,training in the hands of one
',' teapherin every school buil~ing in America, whichwe:o'light 'to, be '
.able to do with this" it 'will upgrade, the performance of, ,alL the'.
teachers in the school,s" and it ,will change 'the culture 'of the ,:, "
schools~ , So" I'hopeyo:u,wili support that )lS ,well.
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Th~re ,:are a lot of ot.herthings ~n 'ou;." education":'
program, but I .wantedto'focuson those: two things, plus our eff6rts~
to wire the, schools, --:' to, focus' just, on the, public scho,ol~ today'~ , '
'We Ire 'also trying"to, help the 'schools.,that are terribly overcrowded'
'. get'some', financial' help' /so, 'it, willreduc~, ,the cost 6f new
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construction, and ,repair ,work, when the local a.istricts are willing to
'\ ,'¢to. their part, , . . , I hope that . initiative viill,pa:;s.',,,, ' " " , '"
'and,
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, B u t .themaiI(:t:hinglwantt6:teily~u.is •.'what yoUd9':'
really ·matters _.It matters' to th~ pountry as.a' w~o~e, , it matter,s' ~o
individual 'kids, and' ff, any ""!,~ if at all possible, ,l.tmatters ev~n
more "nbl:r', to our society' at "la~geth:an ,it' ~id 'when "I, had. alL those,
teachers 'whose ' names and "faces' ahd voices' and manners an<i :stern "
,.-rebukes' I stilIreniembe~~ ',(Laught.e~.),
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, ':,Today',w~ honQr espe~:i.aiiy,SharonDraper:· She"happens' to'
be'one ~of our nat:ion~s first master teachers, and
member· of the,
Natio'nal'Board for Professional Teaching standards -- and I'm
especiall.Y' pleased about that,.
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, , ' . "For, 27 :ye~rs . !jJhe -\~iasirispir~d stude!lts~ith : her 'pal?sioI),
f.orliterature and'life.:, The standards towhi"ch ,she holds her:.'
students ,at; the Walnut lU)ls: High 'S'choo,I" ill Cincinnati, are ··legendary.
-:"~ 'somu¢h $0 ' that· the. seniors wear tee,,:,shirts t;hat/ proclaim/,nI .... ,
'. !SurVived the Draper,'paper" ~~, (laughter)·,~":· when 'they. fin~'sh their
.senior,··the'sis~.:<I, wasintrigiied, when' I read' ~hat .,and I .'asked ,her for
one'otthose tee-shirts,'. ?lnd I, wasqenied beca~s,e I. have!} I t yet·.
surviveq it,. '·(~aughter~) <. " . ....., ' '\. "., . .' '. ",
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...... " ';.,,', He~ g,ifted t~acliing~has .'not gon~ unr~~o~Itiz~'cL ';~he',
received"both the Na.tional Council. of Negro Women Excellence in ....
Teaching 'Award, and' the :OhioG,overn.orsE¢lu6ational'''Lead~rship.' ~wal:d •...
She' ~s.( an accomplished ~uthor inher~"owri. right. '. She wa:s .honored :wi;th.;
;tlie American L~brary A~sociation' IS' Coretta, Scott, King", s: Genesi~. '
Award, and it 's' annual Best :Books for .-young. People."Award,.. ,She· has
'/ dev,ot.ed, h~r qareer; ·no.t .only to'tElaching 'a1}d to ,.writing., , but· to' :
helpingother.te.acliers .improve their',. ski.lls ,as well.
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.... ' ., , ", . " .. 'Sha':ro~" Dr,ape; 'is 'more ,than a, c;:redit 'toh~rp~~f~ssion"
,she' is ,a true blessing to tp,~chil:qren she has taugpt.' And,:it'gives'
"', :'me great pleasure now to. present her' \\dth: the.N.ational: '';['ea:Cher of the
, . ",. Y~ar ,Award and .ask her,to' come <forward ,and say whatever ,she:' d 1 ike', ,to',
"; say ~ ,~con'gratulat~ons:. (Applause'.).' '
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,. .. ' :M~. '~RiPE~:'~Th~nk;YOu.:.. , Than,k you; M,r~ ,President" ~r'~,
V1ce Pres1dent"Mr. Secretary, honored guests and my parents -- . ,
Victor and Katherine 'Mill's,.,
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'students' .that I. have 'had . ~:'"' ·st,udent,s, whose' paths'hav~ cro.ssed, mine,.
'studen'ts whose lives. have 'changed mine.'; And to:all Of,'tho'se
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,"students, wherever you ar~,! I 'want·to . say, thank you'; . and I want .,tb
",, s.ay',I;love yoti. ' .
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t ~~nt you'to imagirie!i' Chilcr-;"any,qhii~ ";-~vei:y, '
chil:d' -:-- . who 'si ts in la, classroom today, hopeful" .curious , .
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. ': erithus,iastic,." In 'tpat:' childsJ-ts the ~ hope of the' future. " Andi tt s
"'-'the touch-of a teacher' that '·will make,a:differencEi.
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.THE:WHITE'HOUSE
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Of,:E.ice','of, the J;>re.ss Secretary'
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For' .Immediate Rele,ase
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April,' 19
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April' 18,,;1997 . '
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MEMORANDuM FOR,THE HEADS'OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS ,AND AGENCTES
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,:; E;xpanding ,Access to Inte'rnet-based Educat,{onal
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'Resources for Children /' Teachers',' and. Parents'
: SUBJECT:
ty'
'My number 'one priori
~,or ';the .. next 4' years is, t;:omake. sure
that all Americans have the best educaticm' i"n .the world..
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One 'of. ,the goals ,of mY,Ca)l.to Action for ,American Education
is to bring, thepbwerqf,the, Lnforrqation~'Age ,int,o 'Cill' '0,f, oui
schools.~\ ,'This' willr.equire connecting' eve'ry ~ classroom and
library ,to' .bhe' ,Internet 'py the year ,2000;' making, sur~ ,tha,t,
every qhild,:has, 'a~cesstomodern/ 'mult'imediac:omputers; giving,,,
teachers the training' they rteed to be as comfortable with the
computer as 'they. are with. the chalkbo'aid;, ',anct'inc:rea'sing' the,' "
, availability of',high-quali;tyeducational' content.. , . Whem' America'
me'ets,thec:halleng~ of making every chil~:ltechriologically,
lit~fate/ qhilc,!relJ.· in :rural· 'towns/the' suburbs I pnd inner, city ,:,
schools willhave the, same access to the same universe of
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I 'believ:e that Federai' agerici~s 'can make a·signi:Eica.nt·~
contribtit'ion t6 expcmding this universe of knowledge:.' ,'Some
agencie's haVe already launched' a 'number ofexci tingproj ect,s'
in this,: area., . The Whit:e HO],lse has a 'special ' "White HO,use,
, ,for' Kic;l.s II " h0!TIepagewith infbrmatiqn on thehistory,of.,the ; ,.,
White House,.' NASAl sK:"12 initiative allows students to :inter::
act with : astronauts, 'and to share in the 'excitement· 6f . sci~n:tific <'"
pU'r~uits ,sJlch as th~' E;!xploration of Mars and Jupiter-and w.}th" ' "
. 'exp~'r\iments conducted ',on the Spac~Shuttl~. 'The,A,skERIC service
, (Educatiqn. ,Res6urcE?s Ihfor,mation Cent~rL" supported -by the, ." ,
,". nepar,tmentof;Education / ' ,has'· a vi:ri'tu!iillibrary, of' more. than ':" "
, '900. lesson plClns 'for K-12 teachers I, and ,prbvJdes answers t o ' ,
",' ci:u~stions from,edu'c,%~ors .within 4~, hours '~- using a nation~ide
, ' network of experts ,and ,datab9-se~s'pf. the. 'latest research..
,,',
, " 'Sttiqe'nt;s par.ticipJltipg :in the Vice President I s GLOBE'. proj:ec-t .
" " (Global' Learning' and'Observ.ation. f6,l:' aBetter, Env,ironment) , ",
collect; a:ctual. atmospheric I aquatic I. and 'j:>iological 'da,ta' and',
~se, the 'Internet to .share, analyze / ' a:riddiscussthe'~ata,w±th
','sc.i,entists and' stUdents'al1 over·'t,heworl,d.· With' support from
the ·Nat.i'ona:l Sciemce ,Foundation; ,the Department Of' EIt.ergy',: ','
and the Department 6f Deferise IS CAET,I program (Co'rnt)Uter':'Ai~ed' < "
Edu,cat'ion aIld, Training Init,ia:tive)' the Law)rence Berkeley "
Labprato'ry h-as'developed a' ,program that a'llow$ nigh"school '/.
stude'ntsto,req],le'stand ,download their o\O?nobservations ,of "
the- uniyerse ,from professional telescopes : ' "
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-We' ca~and should do more however. "Over'the next 3 months',
you' should:¢I,etermine' what reso\lrces" you. can make, available; 'that
.would;enrich the' IlJ.te;rnet, 'ast a ,toolfor'~each~ng and learn~ng
and produc:e:and make available a;new, or-expartded'version of your
service 'within 6·,months. " , .
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" • .: consider a hroad: ran'geofedtic¥itional rescni~ces" '. ,;
. ,,;'irtcludiIlgmultimed'ia publi,cation$, '. archives.of prima'ry
documents,., rietworked scientific. instruments such as .
· " t'elescopesjand' supercom~)l:1ters.,.and 'employees. willing-:····
, . ,·to serve c;lS .tel1i!-memtorsL or, answer student and. teacher·
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questions,..
.' "
Expand:aCde~sr :not' only" to 'the informat,ion and. other
re'sources gene'rated internally ,'but .bythe·, broader "
qommunity of'people and 'inst,itutioristhat, your agency
· ' works with 'and supports: . For example, science agencies
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snould pursue partIlership$':' w1th profess~onalsocietie$,
universities, . and' res,?archers "tc;> expand K;.;~2 access to
· ,scieritificresources.· . ! .
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. Update and impx:ove. Y9ur service's: in .response to: ~OmmE!D.ts. '
fromt~acher:s and stuq.ents, ana., encourage: educa tqrs .to ":. .
• submit pu~ricula: and le~spn plans tnat they have developed
using agency material." . " .
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withdisabil.it~es,
Earlier'. this' month"I ,announced my .. \
~upportfor 'the Web Accessibility. Init.i~tive,,· .·a public- / " . c'
pti~ate.partnership that will 'ma~e it easiei~f6rpeople ~
w~th disabilitiestd use the IWorlq. Wide Web','"
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, .'. ,'E'ocuson tl1,e identification .a11d devedopment· of ,high-quality
'educational,resource's"t.hatprornote high standards of " . : '
:tefaching and:Tearning in· core subj ects . Of .particu+.ar,
, importanc,e ,are resources· ·that.willhelp stude~ts· read. well
. and independently by 4th' grade', 'and master' challenging. . .
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iamalso direc,ting' 'the ,"D~par;tme~t,of-Ed'llcation'to ,develop
a nP~rentsGuide·to,theInternet," that will-explain the.
educational benefits of this' exc'iting re.s·ource"as well as
steps .th~t parent's can take to minimize the. risks' a~f?ociated
with thelnternet~ ,such 'as, access to material that is"
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inappropri,ate "for, child;ren.;,
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The Departmept. of, ,Educationwil'l also be' respohsible f;r
chairing an interagencyworking~' group' to,c;:oordinate',.this
initiative to. en$urethat the·agency-'cre.ated mater'ial is of
,hi:gh quality, is easily accessible, ',and' prQmotes ,awareness,
. of Internet":based educational'resources among 'teachers,
. parents, and st:uderit~ "; '
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bruce Reed - Education Series
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36312" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Description
An account of the resource
Bruce Reed's Education Series include material pertaining to national standards and testing; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the 1999 efforts to reauthorize the Act; 100,000 teachers and class size; charter schools and vouchers; education events and forums; social promotion; Goals 2000; HOPE Scholarships; Pell Grants; the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (Ed-flex); education funding and budgets; and various school and teacher issues. The files contain correspondence, reports and articles, memos, polls, handwritten notes, hard copies of emails, schedules, printed material, and memos to the President.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
133 folders in 9 boxes
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
POTUS Speeches
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 93
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Reed-Education-finding-aid.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
3/7/2011
Source
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647429-potus-speeches
647429