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PTA Legislative Conference 3/5/90 [OA 4728]
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6
7
7
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 5, 1990
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATIONAL PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
The East Room
2:33 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Undersecretary Sanders and Roger Porter,
distinguished guests, and Ann, especially to you and the leaders of
the PTA, welcome to the East Room of the White House. Barbara and I
are delighted that you're here. It's been said that education is
what remains when we've forgotten all we've been taught. By this
reckoning, I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years.
(Laughter.)
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the lessons
of history. So our first concern is for those Americans who never
get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve
on the school boards and work with the PTA all across this country.
Since the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago --
later merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers. The men and women of the PTA have struggled to make this
nation fully educated. And you've for years been a strong voice in
support of standards of higher achievement.
Well, I'm here today to tell you that your governors and
your president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
education summit -- the first of its kind. And, at Charlottesville,
we forged a national compact on education reform. We resolved to put
progress ahead of partisanship, the future before the moment, and our
children before ourselves. And I am pleased to tell you that in our
meeting last week, judging from the enthusiasm of the governors and
education leaders like Ann Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is
growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time
for rhetoric is past. The time to seek results at hand.
We did not meet for yet another conference, more
speeches, more white papers. No. We met to establish the first
national education goals in American history. Our nation is
committed, as we have never been before, to a radical restructuring
of our schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
And as I speak just a week and a half after the
governors' meeting, I am pleased to announce that a United States
delegation headed by Governor -- former Governor Tom Kean is on its
way to a "World Conference on Education for All" way over in
Thailand. And I have charged them to share America's commitment to,
and enthusiasm for, education reform. Both Barbara and I look
forward to hearing from these delegates when they return. By the
way, two of the delegates -- Tom Kean and Jim Duffy from Project
Literacy U.S. have something in common with Ann -- with Ann Lynch --
MORE
- 4 -
MS. LYNCH: You only need to stand for one president, not
for me. (Laughter.) Mr. President, we wanted to take this occasion,
because it's not often that groups such as ours get to come to this
East Room, to correct a wrong that we think has caused some
difficulty in your family.
Several years ago, Mrs. Bush received a national honorary
membership from the National PTA. (Laughter.) And since we believe
strongly that it takes two to really provide good parenting, when
there are two in the family, we felt to put you on an even keel and
to express our appreciation for being truly the Education President
and for sharing the time and energy and enthusiasm in a world that
has so many other problems and excitement for you, that you have
taken this time for education, we would like to make you a member, an
honorary member, of the National PTA. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
END
2:48 P.M. EST
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 5, 1990
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATIONAL PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
The East Room
2:33 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Undersecretary Sanders and Roger Porter,
distinguished guests, and Ann, especially to you and the leaders of
the PTA, welcome to the East Room of the White House. Barbara and I
are delighted that you're here. It's been said that education is
what remains when we've forgotten all we've been taught. By this
reckoning, I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years.
(Laughter.)
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the lessons
of history. So our first concern is for those Americans who never
get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve
on the school boards and work with the PTA all across this country.
Since the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago --
later merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers. The men and women of the PTA have struggled to make this
nation fully educated. And you've for years been a strong voice in
support of standards of higher achievement.
Well, I'm here today to tell you that your governors and
your president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
education summit -- the first of its kind. And, at Charlottesville,
we forged a national compact on education reform. We resolved to put
progress ahead of partisanship, the future before the moment, and our
children before ourselves. And I am pleased to tell you that in our
meeting last week, judging from the enthusiasm of the governors and
education leaders like Ann Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is
growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time
for rhetoric is past. The time to seek results at hand.
We did not meet for yet another conference, more
speeches, more white papers. No. We met to establish the first
national education goals in American history. Our nation is
committed, as we have never been before, to a radical restructuring
of our schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
And as I speak just a week and a half after the
governors' meeting, I am pleased to announce that a United States
delegation headed by Governor -- former Governor Tom Kean is on its
way to a "World Conference on Education for All" way over in
Thailand. And I have charged them to share America's commitment to,
and enthusiasm for, education reform. Both Barbara and I look
forward to hearing from these delegates when they return. By the
way, two of the delegates -- Tom Kean and Jim Duffy from Project
Literacy U.S. have something in common with Ann -- with Ann Lynch --
MORE
- 2 -
they're all members of my Education Policy Advisory Committee. And
Ann, I do want to thank you for your hard work with this group. We
have a good one, this is a working group.
And so as the nations of the world gather this week to
discuss goals, we're getting to work right here at home to ensure a
bright future for our children and our country. We've got to meet
six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. And, of course, preparing children for school
is a historic responsibility of parents. But where parents are
absent or where they're unable to help, we need to provide the right
kind of assistance to help children, especially in those early years.
And that's why I proposed a record funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
I think we'd all agree they're still unacceptably low. And so we
will raise the graduation rate to at least 90 percent by making our
schools meaningful, challenging and relevant to the needs of the
students.
Third Goal: We will expect that every child can learn
and raise our expectations of what they can accomplish. When our
children leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve, --
it is not too much to expect that they will read at the fourth grade
level, and the eighth grade level, and then the twelfth grade level.
And it's not too much to expect that they will have the appropriate
mastery of English, math, science, geography and history.
Forth: When it comes to math and science, America will
no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even third or second
place among the industrialized nations. When it comes to math and
science achievement, we will accept only one prime number -- Number
One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be literate and have
the skills needed to compete in a global economy. This country has
such a marvelous system of junior and vocational colleges ready to
teach new skills -- from learning Spanish, to car mechanics, to
computer literacy. And there's no reason that education should end
with the conferral of a diploma.
And of course, there are many adult Americans who have
yet to master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader of the
campaign for literacy for eight years now. And through her, I have
learned that a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need
not be a lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to
free every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come from
the same Latin root. You're looking at one who studied Latin for
four years -- don't remember a thing -- (laughter) -- except that it
is no coincidence that the words civil and civilization come from the
same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in our schools,
then our civilization itself really is in danger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school is
unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the federal
regulations that try to force every state, district and school into
exactly the same mold. The governors impressed on me the need for
flexibility.
Last year I met with many teachers to prepare for the
education summit. And I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face exactly the same challenge. And so, while we
work to develop appropriate measures and to monitor progress, you
must work, school by school, class by class, child by child. To
MORE
- 3 -
raise scores is important, but no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
And yet, when too many strings are attached to federal
funding and by the states, educators and students alike are treated
like puppets. And so I promise to continue to work with the
governors and Congress to cut you loose from excessive federal
regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek, of
course, accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
ourselves.
We must stop measuring our efforts by what goes into our
schools and start measuring our efforts by what comes out of them.
So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent, classrooms
filled, chairs occupied -- no more "A's for effort." We must have
the courage to be graded on our results -- just like our children.
In a very real sense, we will be graded along with our children.
Again, these are not just my goals or the Bush
administration goals, nor are they the handiwork of the governors
alone. These are the national goals, and it will take an act of
national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these
goals so that all who walk in -- parents, students, the teachers --
know where we're going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink school procedures and course requirements, even that
challenge the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed
academic traditions from the agrarian age -- traditions of discipline
that should be strengthened. But when hallowed tradition proves to
be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have fallen
into the habit of thinking of education as a service we can hand over
to the school boards, to you leaders, much in the same way we expect
our cities to provide electricity or water or some other service.
Education is not a utility. Education is a national mission. It
really must include the parents. And that's why we need the
leadership of this marvelous organization, the PTA.
After all, a school program can't kiss away the pain from
an injured knee. And a school program won't calm the fears of a
child about to get a first shot. And a school program alone can't
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the flame
of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
And you can best reach all the parents of America. You
can recruit them as educators, not just for their pre-school
children, but to help their children do their homework all the way
through school.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. And there is no organization in
America that can reach as many schools and as many parents as you can
-- not state governments, and really not even the federal government.
Success in education starts with you, from every parent and every
teacher who will settle for nothing less than a world-class education
for our kids.
And so what I wanted to do was to come over here today to
this lovely East Room -- Barbara at my side, because I think we would
all agree she's doing a great job out there in this literacy --
(applause) -- what we both wanted to do was to come over here and say
that for all that you do, and for all that you will do, you have our
most sincere thanks. God bless you and God bless the United States
of America. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
MORE
- 4 -
MS. LYNCH: You only need to stand for one president, not
for me. (Laughter.) Mr. President, we wanted to take this occasion,
because it's not often that groups such as ours get to come to this
East Room, to correct a wrong that we think has caused some
difficulty in your family.
Several years ago, Mrs. Bush received a national honorary
membership from the National PTA. (Laughter.) And since we believe
strongly that it takes two to really provide good parenting, when
there are two in the family, we felt to put you on an even keel and
to express our appreciation for being truly the Education President
and for sharing the time and energy and enthusiasm in a world that
has so many other problems and excitement for you, that you have
taken this time for education, we would like to make you a member, an
honorary member, of the National PTA. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
END
2:48 P.M. EST
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE N/C
SUNUNU
NEWMAN coming
SCOWCROFT
PORTER coming
DARMAN WCB
ROGICH WCB
BATES $ P.HED.
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
FIRESTONE
GRAY N/C
ANDERSON N/C
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
1990 FEB 29 PM 3.17
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
Under Sect. Sanchers Bates
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA)) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught.
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ) )\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
of AMERICA PARTMASAS
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
effort
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
to reach national goals.
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
Ave
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
foraed
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
PORTER
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
INSERT
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
hais
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
ensure A URight for
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
efter As week we the words ALE x 7 work nationals & A GOAL
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
parents are
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
To
or unable to help. we need to provide the
right kind of assistance to help children, especially
in the early years.
KRISIEW
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Wew,k expect that every chils CAn learn + RAise
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
standards. We will show our respect by giving them the high
OUR expectations of WhAt they CAN TOACHER mau Accomplish
AT GUOR H76 HER LEVELS.
standards of achievement they deserve USA when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
theywill
DEMONSTRATE THE
KRISTEN DO
WE LOSE THING
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the MUM hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
AND LITERATE HAVE THE SKILLS
NEEDED TO COMPETE INA
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate. GLOBAL
ECONOMY.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
q.
of
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is in endanger.
IN DANGER
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
we WORK TO DELLE DEVELOP on TASTS APPROPRIATE
policymakers measure progress with national tests you must
MEASORES Ano TO
TOR PROGRES.
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
IMPORTANT
SATV scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
a
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
CARD THE
1by
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So
I
STATES
promise to continue to work with/Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation. III
the Governors and
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
MUST
ourselves.
It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
START inio
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
(BOCD)
effort. We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink MAY school procedures and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
tRADITIONS OF DISCIPLINE THAT SHOULD BE STRENGTHED
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
BUT
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents AND that is why we need the leADeRSHip OF the PTAD
MARN
you CAN BEST REACH ALL THE PARENTS OF AMERICA -
AND RECRUIT THEM AS EDUCATORS - NOT JUST FOR THEIR PRE -SCHOOL
CHILDREN, BUT TO HELP THEiR CHILDREN Do TAEIR HOMEWORK
ALL THE WAY THROUOH HIGH SCHOOL.
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
mouse
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
P5
here
to
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 2, 1990
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
Deputy Assistant to the President for
Communications
FROM:
BRENT O. HATCH Bot
Associate Counsel to the President
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks -- PTA Legislative Conference
This is to confirm our telephone call to your office this
afternoon that the Counsel's office has reviewed the above-
referenced Presidential remarks. We have no legal objections.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this matter.
CC: James W. Cicconi
9 E : 11v Z 833 06
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
FIRESTONE
GRAY
ANDERSON
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
1990 FEB 29 PII 3. it
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA) ) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught.
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ) )
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
to reach national goals.
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America. III
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand. 11
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
standards. We will show our respect by giving them the high
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
policymakers measure progress with national tests -- you must
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So I
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
SO that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink every school procedure and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents.
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do; you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
I have changed them to sliane Anencas commuting and
March 2, 1990
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
SUBJECT:
PTA Legislative Conference
The focus on national education goals in the draft PTA
remarks will be contribute to including parents and teachers in
enthinsiam for, education reform.
the national dialogue. There is one timely insert and several
suggested word changes which may add to the message.
Possible Insert
On March 5, the World Education Conference on Education for All
begins in Thailand and Governor Tom Kean is heading the U.S.
delegation. A possible reference to this event might be
appropriate (suggested insert on page 2, following para. 4):
CASISPEAK)JUST
"And today, one week after the Governors meeting and as we speak,
I am pleased to announce that an United States delegation headed
by Governor Tom Kean is on its way to a World Conference on
Education for All in Thailand. Their charge is to share NAVE CHARGED with
them
to
the 160 countries which will be represented there America's
commitment to this new era in education reform. Both Barbara and
I look forward to hearing from the delegates when they return.
[By the way, two of the delegates -- Tom Kean and Jim Duffy from
Project Literacy U.S. have something in common with Ann Lynch
they are all members of my Education Policy Advisory Committee.
AnD Ann, I thank you for your fine work on this group. ]"
(especially want to
hand
WITH
education
"As the nations of the world gather this week to discuss goals,
we are getting to work at home. To redeem the future
=
Page 2, last para.
We suggest substituting the following language beginning in the
second to last sentence:
"But where parents are absent or unable to help, we need to
the KINDRIGHT KinDof
provide appropriate assistance to help our children, especially
in the early years."
01 : Ed 0E 833 06
-2-
Page 3, para. 2
We suggest clarifying the goal statement, possibly as follows:
"We will have high expectations of what our children can learn
and accomplish. So when our children leave the 'transition
grades' of four, eight, and twelve, they will demonstrate the
appropriate mastery of
"
Page 3, para 3
We suggested substituting the word "science" for "the hard
sciences."
Page 4, para. 3
We suggest the following language in lines four through six as
there are open questions regarding the measurement process:
"And so, while we work to develop appropriate measures and to
monitor progress
To raise scores is important.'
Page 4, para. 4
We suggest inserting "the Governors" following "continue to work
with."
Page 5, para. 2
We suggest the following changes for line 4:
"to rethink school procedures and course requirements. "
Please let me know if you have any questions on these
comments or if I can help in any way.
MARK
EDITS
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
Date: March 2, 1990
Draft: Three
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
( (Under-Secretary Sanders, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of
the PTA) ) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught.
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ) )\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards of America. Since the founding of the PTA, in
this very city 92 years ago -- later merged with the heroic
National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers -- the men and
women of the PTA have struggled to make this nation fully
educated. And you have said for years that to make a difference
in education, it will take a national effort to reach national
goals. 11
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
2
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we forged a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
And as I speak just one week after the Governors meeting, I
am pleased to announce that an United States delegation headed by
Governor Kean is on its way to a World Conference on Education
for All in Thailand. I have charged them to share America's
commitment to and enthusiasum for, education reform. Bith
Barbara and I look forward to hearing from the delegates when
they return. By the way, two of the delegates -- Tom Kean and
Jim Duffy from Project Literacy U.S. have something in common
with Ann Lynch they are all members of my Education Policy
3 esp. want to
Advisory Committee. And Ann, I thank you for your hard work with
this group
so As the nations of the world gather this week to discuss
goals, we are getting to work at home. To ensure a bright future
for our children and our country, we must meet six new goals by
the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where parents are
absent or unable to help, we need to provide the right kind of
assistance to help children, especially in the early years. And
that is why I proposed record funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Third: We will expect that every child can learn and raise
our expectations of what they can accomplish. When our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and
Fourth: When it comes to math and America will
no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even third or
second place among the industrialized nations. When it comes to
4
math and science achievement, we will accept only one prime
number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be literate and have the
skills needed to compete in a global economy. This country has
such a marvelous system of junior and vocational colleges ready
to teach new skills -- from learning Spanish, to car mechanics,
to computer literacy. There is no reason education should end
with the conferral of a diploma.
of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader of the
campaign for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've
learned that a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it
need not be a lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is in danger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
5
we work to develop appropriate measures and to monitor progress,
policy makers measure progress -- you must work school by school,
class by class, child by child. To raise scores is important.
But no statistic can match the thrill of watching the brightening
face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding
and by the states, educators and students alike are treated like
puppets. So I promise to continue to work with the Governors and
Congress to cut you loose from excessive regulation. III
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
ourselves.
We must stop measuring our efforts by what goes into our
Bold
schools, and start measuring our efforts by what comes from them.
So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent, classrooms
filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for effort. We
must have the courage to be graded on our results -- just like
our children. (In a very real sense, we will be graded along
with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink school procedures and course requirements, even the
6
academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age -- traditions of discipline that
when
should be strengthened. But where hallowed tradition proves to
be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to shatter
tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents. And thats why we need the leadership of the PTA.
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
You can best reach all the parents of America - and recruit
them as educators - not just for their pre-school children, but
to help their children do their homework all the way through high
school.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000
local units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia,
and in Defense Department schools abroad. There is no
organization in America that can reach as many schools and as
many parents as you can -- not state governments, not even the
7
federal government. Success in education starts with you, from
every parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less
than a world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Tell DR no one
is onswering at
Andy Cards
office?
A
buy any bruel- -
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2024562397-
20245662181# 1
THE WHITE HOUSE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
DATE:
3-2-90
TO:
Kristen Gear
FROM:
Marcy Anderson
15:20
PHONE:
COMMENTS: Educations comments on
PTA Remarks
NUMBER OF PAGES, EXCLUDING COVER SHEET
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2024562397-
2024566218:# 2
6218
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
STATE
March 2, 1990
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Marcy Anderson
Office of Cabinet Affairs
FROM:
Chino chapaCC.
Chief of Staff
SUBJECT: Presidential Remarks
1. Secretary Cavazos will not be attending the PTA Legislative
Conference. He will be on travel.
2. On the first page, the second paragraph is confusing. I
understand the point that is trying to be made, but I disagree
with the statement. An alternative would be, "It has been said
that education is the most precious gift that a parent can give
to a child. I have tried to pass this gift on to my own children
X
as you have to yours. But there are many children today who have
not received this most precious gift. So our first concern is
for those Americans who never get the chance to learn."
3. with the announcement of the national goals, there have been
the usual calls for more federal money in order to reach these
goals. The National PTA has urged greater federal spending even
before the announcement of the goals. There needs to be a
Ex
reiteration of the President's position: "While we announce
these national goals, one of the lessons of history we must be
reminded of is that we cannot buy these goals with more money.
We have tried that already. We must reassess our present
(PORTER)")
spending habits and decide what programs are enhancing or
retarding our efforts to attain these goals."
FEB 30 P2: 50
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2024566218:# 3
Page 2 - Memorandum to Marcy Anderson
Other comments:
-Page 2. Second paragraph, first sentence should be changed
QE
to "As you know, Secretary Cavagos and I met with the
governors. #
-Page 2. In the second paragraph, second sentence, the word
"reached" should be changed to "forged."
-Page 3. In the very last sentence on that page beginning
with "Barbara has been. , ." the word "of" needs to be inserted
after the word "leader."
-Page 6. In the second paragraph, second sentence the word
"is" needs to be delated after the word "that."
To: mark
From: sandD
CONTACT: Arnold Fege
202-822-7878
Tari Marshall
312-787-0977
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATIONAL PTA APPLAUDS EDUCATION GOALS:
CALLS FOR ACTION
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 1990 -- The nation's largest
parent-teacher group today hailed the development of
national education goals as a strong start toward improving
education in the United States.
The 6.6 million-member National Parent-Teacher
Association (PTA) reviewed the six national education goals
adopted by the National Governors' Association on February
27 and applauded the majority of the document, saying it is
compatible with many of the PTA's goals for children and
youth. However, the PTA also believes that the goals don't
go far enough and virtually ignore parental involvement.
"The goals are a landmark event placing public
education and children where they belong -- at the top of
the national agenda," said National PTA President Ann Lynch.
"Now it's time to take action," she added.
PTA Vice-President for Legislative Activity Arlene
Zielke of Chicago, Ill., said the organization is
particularly pleased with the inclusion of access to high
quality and developmentally appropriate programs for
disadvantaged and disabled preschool children as well as
mention of parents' roles in helping preschoolers learn.
-more-
Z 2045662181
: : 2-90 -E :4104 Telecoder XEROX : AS INES
I'll
MAR-01-'90 THU 10:05 ID:NATIONAL PTA
TEL NO:312 787 8342
#810 P05
Page 2 -- PTA Responds to Education Goals
"This is a rare opportunity for children, because the
President and our nation's governors are with us," said Zielke.
"NOW we will be relying on them to lead the nation in achieving
these goals."
Zielke also suggested that the goals should lead to more
funding for science and math, special needs populations such as
those served by Headstart and Chapter One programs, and college
assistance programs.
However, the PTA says one of the most critical needs in
aducation today was virtually ignored -- parent involvement.
Parents were only mentioned in relation to the early childhood
years, according to zielke, who noted that the PTA enocurages
parents to stay actively involved in education throughout their
children's school years.
"There has been a lot of discussion and rhetoric about
parental involvement, but it is obvious there is little interest
in making commitments or policy regarding the parents' role,"
said Zielke. She added that PTAs would be pushing for parents to
have a greater role in public education as the goals are further
developed at the state level.
"We are entering a crucial phase. If steps toward progress
are not taken, the '90m will be a sad decade for the children of
our country," said PTA President Lynch.
###
E 2045662181
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The National PTA
PTA
700 North Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois 60811-2571
312.787.0977
CITIES AND STATES REPRESENTED BY ATTENDEES TO
NATIONAL PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, MARCH 4-7, 1990
ALABAMA
DISTRICT OF
KENTUCKY
Auburn
COLUMBIA
Ashland
Birmingham
Crescent Springs
Montgomery
EUROPE
Louisville
Tuscaloosa
Prospect
FLORIDA
ALASKA
Largo
LOUISIANA
Anchorage
Miami
Baton Rouge
Fairbanks
Orlando
Haughton
Shreveport
ARIZONA
GEORGIA
Glendale
Atlanta
MAINE
Phoenix
Decatur
North Whitefield
Scottsdale
Griffin
Palermo
Marietta
ARKANSAS
MARYLAND
Ft. Smith
HAWAII
Baltimore
Little Rock
Hilo
Chevy Chase
Newport
Ellicott City
IDAHO
Georgetown
CALIFORNIA
Boise
Aurora
Lewiston
MASSACHUSETTS
Beverly Hills
Lynn
Granada Hills
ILLINOIS
Reading
Lafayette
Belleville
Lakewood
Chicago
MICHIGAN
Long Beach
Elmhurst
Battle Creek
Los Altos
Oak Brook
Grand Rapids
North Hollywood
Livonia
San Diego
INDIANA
Rochester Hills
Stockton
Evansville
Troy
Fort Wayne
COLORADO
Hammond
MINNESOTA
Colorado Springs
Indianapolis
Duluth
Denver
Lafayette
Minneapolis
Lakewood
Mishawaka
Shoreview
Wheat Ridge
IOWA
MISSISSIPPI
CONNECTICUT
Des Moines
Hattiesburg
Fairfield
La Porte City
Jackson
Hartford
Newton
Starkville
Sandy Hook
Westport
KANSAS
MISSOURI
Dodge city
Kansas city
DELAWARE
Overland Park
Springfield
Newark
Salina
Seaford
Shawnee Mission
MONTANA
Wilmington
Kalispell
Missoula
V 2045662181
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NEBRASKA
OKLAHOMA
VERMONT
Grand Island
Lawton
Washington
Lincoln
Midwest city
Ponca city
VIRGINIA
NEVADA
Tulsa
Arlington
Las Vegas
Chester
OREGON
Fairfax
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Clackamas
Mechanicsville
Amherst
Hillsboro
Richmond
Freedom
Portland
Springfield
virginia Beach
NEW JERSEY
PENNSYLVANIA
Asbury
Allentown
WASHINGTON
Cherry Hill
North Huntingdon
Everett
Collingswood
Plymouth
Kent
Flemington
Taylor
Mercer Island
Jackson
Olympia
Pennsauken
RHODE ISLAND
Puyallup
Piscataway
E. Providence
Tacoma
Scotch Plains
Riverside
Stanhope
Rumford
WEST VIRGINIA
Summit
Warwick
Barboursville
Woonsocket
Huntington
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque
SOUTH CAROLINA
WISCONSIN
Las Cruces
Charleston
Cedarburg
Inman
Wauwatosa
NEW YORK
Altamont
SOUTH DAKOTA
WYOMING
Elwood
Brookings
Cheyenne
Freeport
Sioux Falls
Jackson
Holbrook
Merrick
TENNESSEE
Oceanside
Chattanooga
Webster
Hendersonville
White Plains
Knoxville
Nashville
NORTH CAROLINA
Cary
TEXAS
Charlotte
Austin
Garner
El Paso
Raleigh
Houston
Winston-Salem
Panhandle
Pasadena
NORTH DAKOTA
Plainview
Fargo
Richardson
Jamestown
UTAH
OHIO
Midvale
Cincinnati
Salt Lake city
Cuyahoga Falls
Sandy
Glendale
West Jordan
Mentor
Seven Hills
2024566218:# 5
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They reflact the mood
& mental state of The official
indicated, at The moment --
nothing more.
Any revemblouse of these
Comments to The Mais, known
or unhnown, of the Director
of OMB me purely coincident.
MANNET AND STRUTIVE BUDGET OFFICE UNITED OFFICE OF THER THE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
NOTICE:
Enclosed are comments from staff members of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). Such comments do not necessarily
represent the official position of the Director of OMB or of the
Office of Management and Budget. If you wish to have the
Director's personal comments, please let me know -- and contact
me if you have any questions.
David J. Haun
Executive Assistant
to the Director
05 :2d 0€ 833 06
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
>
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
&
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
FIRESTONE
GRAY
ANDERSON
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE: See comments
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
1990 FEB 29 PH 3.
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA)) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught.
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ))\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
to reach national goals.
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
HRVL
ensure bright for
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
45178
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start. III
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
(Potal) Loge
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
teachieve
atla
standards. We will show our respect by giving pushing them the high
ever higher levels.
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
1991.
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
this accurate do
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
demonstrated competency in
move terment
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
trul 45178
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literatean have
the skills needed to compete
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
ina
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
global
economy
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
(Pait)
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
onachievement
Note:
policymakers measure progress with national tests -- you must
has admin not
the
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
indorsed national
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
tests,
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So
I
Note:
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
the
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
regulation state gueation federal is excessis well use
HRVL
5178
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled. and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink every school procedure and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents.
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do; you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
see Appended
WASHINGTON
March 2, 1990
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
RBP
SUBJECT:
PTA Legislative Conference
The focus on national education goals in the draft PTA
remarks will contribute to including parents and teachers in
the national dialogue. There is one timely insert and several
suggested word changes which may add to the message.
Possible Insert
On March 5, the World Education Conference on Education for All
begins in Thailand and Governor Tom Kean is heading the U.S.
delegation. A possible reference to this event might be
appropriate (suggested insert on page 2, following para. 4):
"And today, one week after the Governors meeting and as we speak,
I am pleased to announce that an United States delegation headed
by Governor Tom Kean is on its way to a World Conference on
Education for All in Thailand. Their charge is to share with
the 160 countries which will be represented there America's
commitment to this new era in education reform. Both Barbara and
I look forward to hearing from the delegates when they return.
[By the way, two of the delegates -- Tom Kean and Jim Duffy from
Project Literacy U.S. have something in common with Ann Lynch
. they are all members of my Education Policy Advisory Committee.
Ann, I thank you for your fine work on this group. ]"
"As the nations of the world gather this week to discuss goals,
we are getting to work at home. To redeem the future
"
Page 2, last para.
We suggest substituting the following language beginning in the
second to last sentence:
"But where parents are absent or unable to help, we need to
provide appropriate assistance to help our children, especially
in the early years."
90 FEB 30 P5: 11
-2-
Page 3, para. 2
We suggest clarifying the goal statement, possibly as follows:
"We will have high expectations of what our children can learn
and accomplish. So when our children leave the 'transition
grades' of four, eight, and twelve, they will demonstrate the
appropriate mastery of
"
Page 3, para 3
We suggested substituting the word "science" for "the hard
sciences."
Page 4, para. 3
We suggest the following language in lines four through six as
there are open questions regarding the measurement process:
"And so, while we work to develop appropriate measures and to
monitor progress
To raise scores is important."
Page 4, para. 4
We suggest inserting "the Governors" following "continue to work
with.
"
Page 5, para. 2
We suggest the following changes for line 4:
"to rethink school procedures and course requirements."
Please let me know if you have any questions on these
comments or if I can help in any way.
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
FIRESTONE
GRAY
ANDERSON
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
please droft response pa memo from
RBP to Chriss Winston ASAP
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
1990 FEB 29 PII 3.
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
y
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA) ) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught. ... ( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ))
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
?
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign EFFORT
to reach national goals.
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obl gation to step in, and to
But where parents are absent OF unable
to help, we rshould provide appropriate
assistance to help our children, especially
in the early years
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
We will expect that every child can learn and
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
raise our expectations -of what they can accomplish
standards We will show our respect by giving them the high
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it-is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
volemonstrate
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
we work to develop appropriate measures and to monitor prograss MAY
poli cymakers measure progress with ational tests' you must
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
important
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So I
the Governors and
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink <every school procedure and course requirement even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents.
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 2, 1990
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
JIM PINKERTON:
: 00 P2: =
SUBJECT:
PTA Legislative Conference
The President has already succeeded in shifting the
public debate in education from inputs to outputs, and
this draft successfully reinforces that point starting at
pg. 2, para. 3, line 2: "The time to seek results is at
hand. " This is followed up at 5,1 where the paragraph
fleshes out the "results" theme (but see comments on this
graf below). All in all, a terrific speech.
2,2,8
"
the Spirit of Charlottesville."
A good phrase -- worthy of repetition.
2,6,1 This kind of relentless repetition of the
President's six goals is what will imprint George Bush as
the Education President in the minds of the American
people.
5,1,1 "It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by
what goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by
what comes from them. So we will no longer grade ourselves
by dollars spent, classrooms filled and chairs occupied -
- no more 'A's for effort.' We must have the courage to
be graded by our results -- just like our children."
This graf is probably the most important of the draft
and it deserves to be better set off and underscored,
complete with "///'s," so that the lines will not be
swallowed. Instead of starting the essence of the passage
with "It begins," for example, a new graf could begin
thus: "We must stop measuring our efforts by what goes
into our schools and start measuring our efforts by what
comes from them. And just to amplify the message, we
suggest underlining the second and third sentences
starting with " we will no longer grade
"
5,3,7
" we must not hesitate to shatter tradition."
This line (as we have mentioned before), is unfortunate
(more)
2
in part because the qualifying "where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention" will be forgotten. It
will be misconstrued as meaning that President wishes to
start, Rousseau-like, completely afresh, whereas in fact
V(see)
he seeks to restructure our educational system so as to
recapture what experience (a.k.a. tradition) has shown to
work.
###
SHRAH-
THIS is THE STAFFED
want document in
VERSION OF THE PTA
REMARKS CLOSE HOLD.
Davis/Martin
WE ARE INTERESTED
1 their
Title: PTA2
IN YOUR REMARKS!
THANKS CHRISTINA
strengthis purental
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
inwement
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
Pls. help w/Acknowkedgements!
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA) ) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught. \\
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ))\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
590ure teachers
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America.
Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
Meysent
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
clessions
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
most
to reach national goals.
5
Insupporting To efforts 1 the Classm
w in partnership my classion
parents shed be equal partners process Med
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
with governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
standards. We will show our respect by giving them the high
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
and final youl is the most basic of all -- to free
every in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
policymakers measure progress with national tests -- you must
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So I
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink every school procedure and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition. III
Thista is alitter strus,
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents.
we need to bulance this statement wyrecognation
the critical are thepta isple its are smillian
tosel more emphasis
of members most whom are parents -
placed on parental the educational process -not justincarly childhodedicaton
playing in their oon communites.
6.
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. Бил parents can spark the
f⁷ of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
FIRESTONE
GRAY
ANDERSON
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
N/C
3.2.90
Lp Sd 06
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
= MARKDAVIS
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
(lator)
also mem of Pres Pot Educ +
Policy Advisory Comm.
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
SR
PTA) ) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught. 11
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ))\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
to reach national goals.
15:15
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
standards. We will show our respect by giving them the high
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
policymakers measure progress with national tests -- you must
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So I
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink every school procedure and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
MARK DANIS
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
"
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents. AND that is why we need the leADERSHiP of
the PTA, MORE than sixmillion Strong. 11
you CAn best REACH are All the PARENTS of for America 7
AND RECRUIT THEM AS EDUCATORS - not just
THEIR
their pre -SCHOOL CHILDREN; BUT
TO HELP THEIR CHILDREN
ALL THE way THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL. 11
STET
ALL
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
PERSOADE A YOUNG MANOR women
TO TURA AWAY FROM TELEVISION, AND Po THEIR Homework
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
f¹ of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is I can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 118657
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
03/01/90
90 FEB 30 P3: 40
2:00 p.m. Friday 03/02
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
SUBJECT:
(02/26 draft two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
d
ROGERS
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
>
FIRESTONE
GRAY
ANDERSON
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE: PLEASE MENTION ANN LYNCH'S ROLE ON
THE PRESiDENT'S EDUCATION Policy
ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
Bruce 3am for
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Six Roseen
Davis/Martin
Title: PTA2
1990 FEB 29 PH 3. /
Date: Feb. 26, 1990
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: PTA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, EAST ROOM
2:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, 1990
( (Secretaries Cavazos, Ann Lynch and all the leaders of the
PTA)) Welcome to the East Room of the White House.
It has been said that education is what remains when we've
forgotten all we've been taught.
( (So by this reckoning,
I guess I've become quite a scholar over the years. ))\\\
But the truth is -- we may have forgotten our algebra
lessons, but we haven't forgotten logic. We may have forgotten a
history lesson from high school, but we haven't forgotten the
lessons of history. So our first concern is for those Americans
who never get the chance to learn.
No one feels this concern more than you -- you who serve on
the school boards and work in the classrooms of America. Since
the founding of the PTA, in this very city 92 years ago -- later
merged with the heroic National Congress of Colored Parents and
Teachers -- the men and women of the PTA have struggled to make
this nation fully educated. And you have said for years that to
make a difference in education, it will take a national campaign
to reach national goals.
2
I am here today to tell you that your governors and your
president have listened; and that the vision of the PTA is now
the vision of America.
As you know, I met with the governors last fall at an
Education Summit -- the first of its kind. And, at
Charlottesville, we reached a national compact in education
reform. We resolved to put progress before partisanship, the
future before the moment and our children before ourselves. I am
pleased to tell you that in our meeting last week, judging from
the enthusiasm of the governors and education leaders like Ann
Lynch -- the Spirit of Charlottesville is growing ever stronger.
Our resolve is strong because we are agreed: The time for
rhetoric is past. The time to seek results is at hand.
So we did not meet for yet another conference, more speeches
and white papers. No. We met to establish the first national
education goals in American history. Our nation is committed, as
we have never been before, to a radical restructuring of our
schools. And we are committed to this national effort because
nothing less than our national future is at stake.
To redeem the future of our children and our country, we
must meet six new goals by the end of the century.
First: American children must be ready to learn from the
first day of school. Of course, preparing children for school is
the historic responsibility of parents. But where support for
children is absent, society has an obligation to step in, and to
3
step in as early as possible. And that is why I proposed record
funding for Head Start.
Second: High school graduation rates have improved, but
they are still unacceptably low. So we will raise the graduation
rate to at least 90 percent by making our schools meaningful,
challenging and relevant to the needs of our students.
Third: We will not belittle our children with lax
standards. We will show our respect by giving them the high
standards of achievement they deserve. So when our children
leave the "transition grades" of four, eight and twelve -- it is
not too much to expect they will read at the fourth grade level,
the eighth grade level, and the twelfth grade level. It is not
too much to expect that they will have the appropriate mastery of
English, math, science, geography and history.
Fourth: When it comes to math and the hard sciences,
America will no longer settle for the bottom of the list, or even
third or second place among the industrialized nations. When it
comes to math and science achievement, we will accept only one
prime number -- Number One in the world.
Fifth: Every American adult must be skilled and literate.
This country has such a marvelous system of junior and
vocational colleges ready to teach new skills -- from learning
Spanish, to car mechanics, to computer literacy. There is no
reason education should end with the conferral of a diploma.
Of course, there are many adult Americans who have yet to
master the very basics. Barbara has been a leader the campaign
4
for literacy for eight years now. Through her, I've learned that
a simple lack of letters is a silent sorrow; but it need not be a
lifelong tragedy.
Our sixth and final goal is the most basic of all -- to free
every school in America from drugs and violence. It is no
coincidence that the words "civility" and "civilization" come
from the same Latin root. For if rudimentary civility is lost in
our schools, then our civilization itself is endanger.
Every time I meet with teachers and administrators, I am
told the same thing: every state, every district, every school,
is unique. So to make our goals work, we will need to relax the
federal regulations that try to force every state, district and
school into the same mold.
Last year, I met with many teachers to prepare for the
Education Summit. I was told no two students are exactly alike,
and no two schools face the exact same challenge. And so, while
policymakers measure progress with national tests -- you must
work school by school, class by class, child by child. To raise
SAT scores is critical. But no statistic can match the thrill of
watching the brightening face of a learning child.
Yet, when too many strings are attached to federal funding,
educators and students alike are treated like puppets. So I
promise to continue to work with Congress to cut you loose from
excessive regulation.
In return for greater flexibility, we will seek
accountability. Accountability begins when we quit kidding
5
ourselves. It begins when we stop measuring our efforts by what
goes into our schools, and measure our efforts by what comes from
them. So we will no longer grade ourselves by dollars spent,
classrooms filled and chairs occupied -- no more "A's for
effort." We must have the courage to be graded by our results -
- just like our children. (In a very real sense, we will be
graded along with our children.)
Again, these are not just my goals. Nor are they the
handiwork of the governors alone. These are national goals, and
it will take an act of national will to make them stick.
So let's start inside every school, by posting these goals
so that all who walk in -- parents, students, teachers -- know
where we are going. And to make these goals work, I'm asking you
to rethink every school procedure and course requirement, even
the academic schedule itself. We've inherited hallowed academic
traditions from the agrarian age. And where hallowed tradition
proves to be hollow convention, then we must not hesitate to
shatter tradition.
Parents, perhaps, have the greatest task ahead of them.
True, Head Start can work wonders. But too many parents have
fallen into the habit of thinking of education as a service we
can hand over to the school boards, much in the same way we
expect our cities to provide electricity or water. Education is
not a utility. Education is a national mission that must include
parents.
6
After all, a school program won't kiss away the pain from an
injured knee. A school program won't calm the fears of a child
about to get a first shot. And a school program alone cannot
instill a lifelong love of learning. But parents can spark the
flame of curiosity by reading to their children, every night.
The PTA has more than 6.6 million members in 27,000 local
units -- in every state, here in the District of Columbia, and in
Defense Department schools abroad. There is no organization in
America that is can reach as many schools and as many parents as
you can -- not state governments, not even the federal
government. Success in education starts with you, from every
parent and every teacher who will settle for nothing less than a
world-class education for our kids.
For all that you do, for all that you will do, you have my
sincerest thanks. May God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#