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    "ocrText": "Final 5/3/00 9:30a.m.\nGlastris\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON TURNING AROUND FAILING\nSCHOOLS\nAUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL\nOWENSBORO, KENTUCKY\nMay 3, 2000\nAcknowledgments: Gov. Patton; Former Sen. Wendell\nFord (born in Owensboro community of Yellow Creek); Lt.\nGov. Steve Henry (mother Wanda a 25-year veteran of\nDaviess-pronounce Davis-- County school system)\nIt is a delight to be here today. I'm told that I am the\nfirst sitting President to visit Owensboro since Harry\nTruman. President Truman always did have good taste. I\nknow that a terrible tornado came through here in January.\nWe tried to do our part in Washington to help. But while\nthe physical scars are still evident, I can see that the spirit of\nthis community remains strong. Even your wonderful\nPanthers bounced back, and almost won the championship\nagain this year.\n1\nFlying in today from Ft. Campbell by helicopter, over\nthe farms and wooded hills of this beautiful state, I got a\nview of Kentucky that few Kentuckians have the privilege\nof seeing-and if you do get the chance I highly\nrecommend it. On the ground here in Owensboro, I've\nbeen given a view of school reform that few Americans\nhave ever seen. And so I am here today, on the first stop of\na two-day school reform tour, because I want the American\npeople to understand that there are places in this country\nthat have met one of our nation's most perplexing\nchallenges: how to bring educational excellence to public\nschools, even in the most economically disadvantaged\ncommunities. Now, it's time to bring the reforms we know\nwork to every low-performing school in America.\n2\nI'm here in Kentucky this morning to show how an\nentire state can identify and turn around its low-performing\nschools with high standards, accountability, and\ninvestments to help schools meet those standards. Later\ntoday, I'll be in Davenport, Iowa, to highlight the\nimportance of having modern school buildings for our\nchildren. Tomorrow, I'll visit the nation's first charter\nschool in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the public schools are\nthriving with more competition and accountability. I'll\nfinish up tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio, where the schools\nare doing everything right, including raising teacher\nquality--and getting good results in the classroom.\n3\nEver since Sec. Riley and I were young governors 20\nyears ago, we've been wresting with the challenge of how\nto improve education, especially in disadvantaged\ncommunities. It's a challenge governors are still working\non. Just today, Gov. Carper of Delaware is signing\nlandmark school accountability legislation in his state. It's a\nchallenge Gov. Patton has been working on it ever since he\nwas a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic\nExcellence in the 1980s. I remember talking to him about\nKentucky's education reform experiment in 1992 when he\nwas Lt. Governor and I was running for President. So I've\nbeen keenly aware of Kentucky's efforts, and for those who\nare less familiar, let me summarize them.\n4\nFirst, beginning in 1990, you set high standards for\nwhat all Kentucky school children should know. Second,\nyou identified the schools where year after year students\nfailed to learn enough to meet those standards. Third, you\nheld these schools accountable for turning themselves\naround, with real consequences for failure, from dismissing\nprincipals and teachers to allowing parents to transfer their\nchildren into higher-performing public schools. And\nfourth, you provided the investment necessary to help these\nschools turn around, from more teacher training to high-\nquality preschool, afterschool and summer school for\nstudents.\n5\nThe results have been nothing short of extraordinary.\nIn 1996, Kentucky identified 175 schools needing\nmajor improvement. Two years later, 159 of those schools\n- 91 percent - had improved beyond the goals you set for\nthem. Audubon Elementary is a particularly dramatic\nexample. You went from 12 percent of you students\nmeeting or exceeding the state standard on writing tests to\n57 percent meeting or exceeding the standard. From 5\npercent meeting or exceeding the state reading standard to\n70 percent; and from zero students meeting or exceeding\nthe state standards in science to 64 percent. Audubon is\nnow the 18th best-performing elementary school in the\nstate, despite the fact that two-thirds of your students\nqualify for free and reduced-price school lunch.\n6\nIn fact, throughout the state, 10 of the top 20 best-\nperforming elementary schools in science are schools where\nhalf the students are eligible for free and reduced-price\nschool lunch.\nYou've proven, beyond a doubt, that poverty need not\nbe destiny-that all our children are capable of learning at\nhigh standards in the public schools.\nI believe that turning around failing schools should be\none of our great national missions of the 21st Century. The\nmoment is right. America is at a point of unparalleled\nprosperity and national self-confidence.\n7\nWe have the largest, most diverse group of students in our\npublic schools in history. We have an economy in which\neducation has become the indispensable key to success in\nlife. And after 20 years of intense experimentation with\nschool reform--on the local, state, and national level-we\nnow have overwhelming evidence about what works to turn\naround low-performing schools. Setting high standards.\nDemanding accountability. And providing the extra help\nfor children to meet those high standards. In short,\ninvesting more in our schools, and demanding more of our\nschools.\nFor seven years, Vice President Gore and I have\nworked to give states like Kentucky the tools they need to\nfollow this strategy, while encouraging other states to do\nthe same.\n8\nWe've turned record deficits into record surplus, yet, at the\nsame time, we've nearly nearly doubling investment in\neducation and training. We've required states to set\nacademic standards for what their students should know,\nand also provided more resources to help states create and\nimplement higher standards.\nWe're reducing class sizes in the early grades with the\nhelp of 100,000 new, highly-trained teachers--and I'm\ndelighted that Audubon has used some of that money to hire\na new teacher, Crystal Davidson. I'm especially delighted\nthat you refer to her as the \"Clinton teacher.\"\n9\nWe've gone from one charter school in America to\nover 1,700 today, and we're well on our way to meeting our\ngoal of 3,000. With the help of Vice President Gore's E-rate\nprogram, we now have nearly three-quarters of all\nclassrooms in America connected to the Internet, up from\nonly 3 percent in 1993.\nOur strategy of investing more and demanding more is\nproducing real results. Math and reading scores are rising\nacross the country, with some of the greatest gains in some\nof the most disadvantaged communities. Today, 67 percent\nof all high school graduates now go on to college, up 10\npercent since 1993. We've made that possible with the\nlargest expansion of college opportunity since the GI bill,\nincluding the creation of our HOPE scholarship tax credits,\neducation IRAs, more-affordable student loans, and more\nPell Grants.\n10\nAnd scores on college entrance exams are rising, even as\nmore students from disadvantaged backgrounds are taking\nthe test.\nWe have proven that we know how to lift the\neducational attainment of our most disadvantaged students.\nYet there are still thousands of schools that fail to give\nchildren the education they need to enter the mainstream of\nAmerican prosperity. To turn those schools around, we\nneed what the Vice President has called a revolution in\neducation-a revolution governed by the strategy that has\nbrought us to this point-of investing more, and demanding\nmore.\n11\nThat is why I have sent Congress an Education\nAccountability Act, to fundamentally change the way the\nfederal government invests in our schools -- to support\nmore of what we know works, and to stop supporting what\nwe know does not work. It would require all states that\naccept federal money to do what Kentucky has done.\nIdentifying low-performing schools, and investing in\nturning them around. Ending social promotion, but\ninvesting in afterschool, summer school, and reading tutors\nfor children who need it. Putting reasonable discipline\ncodes in every school, and qualified teachers in every\nclassroom. Empowering parents with report cards on the\nperformance of every school.\n12\nI have also asked Congress to double the investment\nwe made last fall in my Education Accountability Fund, to\nturn around low-performing schools, or shut them down.\nSchool districts can use this money to make the kind of\nsweeping systematic changes that have been proven so\neffective here in Kentucky.\nBut if, for whatever reason, a school doesn't turn\naround, my Education Accountability Fund can be used to\nallow parents to transfer their students out of these failing\nschools and into better-performing public schools,\nincluding charter schools.\n13\nTo make this accountability strategy work\nnationwide, we must have the courage to do what\nKentucky has done. We must identify those schools that\nare failing their students. Only then can we help them\nturn around. And so today, I am pleased to announce\nthat I am directing Secretary Riley to provide me with\nan annual failing schools report. This report will tell us,\nfor the first time, how many of our nation's public\nschools are failing, in which states they are located, and\nwhat each state is doing to turn them around.\nSecond, even as we press Congress to strengthen\nour accountability laws, we must ensure that states\nfulfill their accountability obligations under existing\nlaw.\n14\nTherefore, I am directing the Secretary to send teams to\nstates to make sure that the states are meeting their\nresponsibilities to turn around low-performing schools.\nThese teams will work with states to apply successful\nreform strategies and identify federal resources, such as\nafterschool grants, which they can use to turn these\nschools around.\nThe actions I am taking today will help us to spread the\nlesson we have learned during the last seven years to every\nstate and every school district in America: in education,\ninvestment without accountability is a waste of money;\naccountability without investment is a waste of effort.\nNeither will work without the other. If we want our\nstudents to learn more, we need both.\n15\nTen years ago, when things looked pretty grim for our\npublic schools, Al Shanker, the late, great head of the\nAmerican Federation of Teachers, said something wise to\nhis fellow teachers. He said that we have to be willing to\ntell the American people the bad news about our public\nschools, so that when the schools begin to turn around and\nwe have good news to report, they'll believe us. Well,\ntoday, here in Kentucky, and across America, there is good\nnews to report about our schools. I think the American\npeople will not only believe us, but they'll want us to keep\ngoing forward with what works, until we reach what ought\nto be our ultimate goal: a world-class education for every\nchild in America.\nThank You.\n16\nJoshua S. Gottheimer\n05/03/2000 12:37:41 AM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nSee the distribution list at the bottom of this message\nCC:\nSubject: Final--School Construction, lowa. Comments to Gottheimer via Signal.\nFinal 05/03/00 12:15am\nJosh Gottheimer\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION\nCENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL\nDAVENPORT, IOWA\nMay 3, 2000\nAck: Sen. Harkin [not present - but has been a major force behind our effort to\nmodernize schools across the nation - and right here in Iowa]; Ed Sullivan, President of the\nBuilding and Construction Trades; Barb Hess [has been teaching at Davenport for 38 years,\nand graduated from school in 1956]\nI'm so glad to be back in Davenport. I remember coming here during the final days of\nmy campaign for president back in 1992. And I remember talking with you about health care,\nthe economy, and, of course, the Riverbandits [local minor league baseball team]. When I\ncame back here in 1993, in the aftermath of the devastating floods, I recall how inspired I was\nby the strength of your community, and your eagerness to help one another through a\nparticularly trying time.\nToday, I am glad to report that the ground is dry, the sun is out, and the Mallards [\nlocal minor league hockey team] are on their way to winning another Colonial Cup. And one\nthing hasn't changed a bit: the strong will and enduring spirit of Davenport is as powerful as it\nhas ever been. The people are still willing to stand by one another always ready to face\nthe\nnext challenge.\nAs part of my school reform tour, I'm here today to speak with you about one of the\ngreatest challenges of the 21st Century: the importance of turning around low performing\nschools, so that all our children get the education they need and deserve.\nThis school district has taken up that challenge: you've set standards for what all your\nstudents should know and be able to do. You've put in place assessments to see if they're\nmeeting those standards. You're giving students help to meet them - from afterschool to\nsmaller classes. You've set a goal to help all students read at grade level. And to get there,\nthis summer, for the first time, second graders who don't pass reading tests, will go to\nsummer school to help them get back on track.\nThis strategy of investing more in our schools and demanding more from them works. I\nsaw it this morning in Kentucky, which has turned around many of the worst performing\nschools through the same strategy of higher standards, real accountability, and investment in\nwhat works. But I've come to this school to make a particular point: We cannot expect our\nstudents to achieve high standards in school buildings that are substandard. I have a plan that\ndemands more accountability, but at the same time invests more in the tools of learning. And\na safe, modern school building is an essential tool.\nThe time is right to take on this challenge. As President Kennedy once said, the best\ntime to fix the roof, is when the sun is shining. And today the sun is shining on Davenport,\nand on America. We are at a moment of unparalleled prosperity and national self-confidence,\nwith 21 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, and the lowest African\nAmerican and Hispanic unemployment rates on record. We have the largest, most diverse\ngroup of students in our public schools in history. We have an economy in which education\nhas become the indispensable key to success.\nWe've worked hard over the last seven years to provide schools with the tools they\nneed. In an era of fiscal discipline, we've nearly doubled investment in education and\ntraining, making key investments that help children meet high standards. We're reducing class\nsizes in the early grades with our program to hire 100,000 new, highly-trained teachers. And\nI'm delighted that the Davenport school district has received some of these resources to hire\nnine additional teachers in the first, second and third grades. We've provided an army of\nvolunteer tutors and mentors through our Gear Up and America Reads programs. We've\nexpanded Head Start and improved its quality. We've dramatically increased federal\ninvestment in afterschool and summer school, from $1 million a year in 1997 to nearly half a\nbillion dollars a year today -- and my new budget calls for us to double our funding and triple\nthe number of students with access to afterschool. Finally, with the help of Vice President\nGore's E-rate program, nearly three-quarters of all classrooms in America are now connected\nto the Internet, up from only 3 percent in 1993.\nThe fundamental lesson of the last seven years is clear: in education, investment\nwithout accountability is a waste of money; accountability without investment is a waste of\neffort. Neither will work without the other. If we want our students to learn more, we need\nboth.\nToday, the Department of Education, with the help of Vice President Gore, is\nreleasing a report, Schools as Centers of Communities, which suggests ways for educators,\nparents, and community members to help design and plan better schools. First, it\nhighlights the importance of modernizing classrooms to enhance student-teacher\ninteraction. Second, it stresses the importance of a healthy, safe and secure learning\nenvironment, with a focus on lighting and air quality. Lastly, it describes the substantial\nbenefits that we know come from the use of modern technology in the classroom.\nBut too many of our nation's schools are not only outdated and overcrowded - they're\nfalling apart.\nCentral High School is one of those schools. Dating back to 1907, when Theodore\nRoosevelt was President, Central was called, \"a high school for the future.\" And in 1907 it\nwas. Back then, the population of Davenport was around 39,000 - nearly a third of what it is\ntoday. And Central High School had half the number of students that it does now walking\nthese\nsame\nhalls\nfilling these same classrooms.\nSince then, your school has undergone several renovations. But much of its original\ninfrastructure remains the same. As I saw earlier this afternoon, many of the science labs have\nthe same furniture they did a century ago. Students still use the same wooden lockers that\nwere used when the school was built. And they still have to crack open the windows to\nventilate their classrooms. Today, Central's classrooms are cramped and crowded - with an\naverage of 24 students in classrooms that were built for 15. And the electrical system can't\nhandle the demands of the latest technology.\nLike most schools, Central High has always wanted to do better by its students. But\nwhen it comes to renovating the school, it simply hasn't had the resources to do so. A Life\nMagazine story from 1953, the same time Barb Hess was a student here, described the\ninfrastructure of Central as \"badly lighted, poorly ventilated, overcrowded, and always in need\nof repairs.\" That was nearly fifty years ago.\nBut that's all going to change this summer, when Central High gets the repairs that it\nhas long deserved. Your classrooms are being modernized and expanded to handle rising\nstudent enrollment, computers and other new equipment. The school's electrical system is\nbeing upgraded, so that more students, in more rooms, can have access to the Internet. And a\nnew ventilation system will not only keep the school more comfortable in both the winter and\nsummer months, but fresh air will help keep students in better health.\nDespite these improvements, there is still much more to be done. Even after this\nsummer's $7 million renovation, Central High School will still need an additional $7 million\nof work. That's a big bill, and you simply shouldn't be left to handle it all on your own. No\ncity should.\nThe children of the Baby Boomers are breaking enrollment records for the fourth year\nin a row. This academic year, 53.2 million students currently fill our elementary and\nsecondary schools. That's nearly half a million more than last year. And fully one-third of\nour schools - 25,000 of them - need to be rebuilt or extensively repaired. Four years ago,\nthe GAO estimated that it will cost $112 billion just to renovate America's schools. A\nnew study released today by the National Education Association estimates that the total\ncost of repairing old schools, building new ones, and wiring all schools for the latest\ntechnology, will cost $322 billion - nearly triple the GAO's earlier figure. That is a\nstaggering number. It requires national attention.\nI've proposed a major School Construction Initiative to help communities build or\nmodernize 6,000 schools all over America. I've also put forward a plan to give 5,000 schools\nthe grants and loans for emergency repairs they so desperately need. For three years now,\nRepublicans in Congress have stood in the way of progress, and stood in the way of better\nschools. It's time they put the education of our children first, and pass this pressing initiative\nwithout further delay. Americans should not tolerate outdated schools any longer.\nIn 1948, Harry Truman came through Davenport on Whistle Stop Tour, and berated\nCongress for not doing enough to move the country forward. He later said, \"The nation\ncannot afford to waste human potential, as we are now, by failing to provide adequate\nelementary and secondary education for millions of children.\" Today, Truman's message still\nrings loud and clear: Everyone counts. Everyone deserves a chance. Everyone has a role to\nplay. And we all do better when we help each other. That's why we must invest more and\ndemand more in our schools. That's what we owe to our children. That's what we owe to\nAmerica's future. Thank you.\nMessage Sent To:\nBethany Little\n05/02/2000 09:25:18 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nPaul D. Glastris/WHO/EOP@EOP\nCC:\nAndy Rotherham/OPD/EOP@EOP Kendra L. Brooks/OPD/EOP@EOP, John B. Buxton/OPD/EOP@EOP\nbcc:\nSubject: Re: resend--draft of St. Paul remarks\nDitto from before. Thanks!!\nPaul D. Glastris\nPaul D. Glastris\n05/01/2000 03:36:21 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nSee the distribution list at the bottom of this message\nCC:\nSubject: resend--draft of St. Paul remarks\nDraft 5/1/00 3:30 p.m.\nGlastris\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON CHARTER SCHOOLS\nCITY ACADEMY\nST. PAUL, MINNESOTA\nAcknowledgments: City Academy Principal Milo Cutter;\nListening to Milo Cutter recount the struggles she has faced to get this school off the\nground and make it a success, it occurred to me that everybody in this audience who has\nworked in or run a charter school probably has similar stories to tell. I know I have a few\nstories myself, after 20 years of being involved in this endeavor to reform our schools. But all\nyou have to do is hear a young person like tk recount her story, to realize that the struggle has\nbeen worth it.\nYour native son Garrison Keiller likes to say that in his mythic Minnesota town, all the\nchildren are above average. Well, having just seen the latest rise in test results for Minnesota\nschool children, I'd say your whole state is heading that way.\nI've come here today, as part of my education reform tour, to talk about how charter\nschools can help fulfill what I believe must be one of the great national missions of the 21st\nCentury: to turn around our worst-performing schools, so that all of our children receive the\neducation they need to make the most of their lives.\nThe time is right to take on this challenge. We are at a moment of unparalleled\nprosperity and national self-confidence. We have the largest, most diverse group of students\nin our public schools in history. We have an economy in which education has become the\nindispensable key to their success in life. And after 20 years of intense experimentation with\nschool reform--on the local, state, and national level-we now have overwhelming evidence\nabout what works to turn around low-performing schools. Setting high standards. Demanding\naccountability, including more choice and competition in public schools. And providing the\nextra help for children to meet those high standards. In short, investing more in our schools,\nand demanding more of our schools.\nThis is the strategy Vice President Gore and I have followed for seven years.\nIn 1993, we passed a new economic plan that cut hundreds of programs in order to\nreduce the deficit and improve the economy, but that also boosted education spending. In fact,\nover the last seven years, we've nearly doubled investment in education and training, even as\nwe turned record deficits into record surpluses.\nIn 1994, we overhauled the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, requiring states\nto set academic standards for what their students should know. And we passed the Goals 2000\nlegislation, which provided states with more resources to create and implement higher\nstandards. Since then, we've gone from only a handful of states with standards to nearly every\nstate having them, and 48 states now have assessments in place to measure student progress in\nmeeting those standards.\nWe've made key investments in education that help children meet high standards.\nReducing class sizes in the early grades with the help of 100,000 new, highly-trained teachers.\nProviding an army of volunteer tutors and mentors through our Gear Up and America Reads\nprograms. Expanding Head Start and Improving its FOCUS ON EARLY LITERACY\nSKILLS. Dramatically increasing federal investment in afterschool and summer school, from\n$1 million a year in 1997 to half a billion dollars a year today--and my new budget calls for\ndoubling that amount.\nFinally, with the help of Vice President Gore's E-rate program, we now have nearly\nthree-quarters of all classrooms in America connected to the Internet, up from only 3 percent\nin 1993. We'll probably reach 100 percent by the end of the year, with one major exception:\nthose schools that are literally too old and dilapidated to be wired for the Internet. And\nyesterday in Davenport, Iowa I talked about the need to modernize our school building.\nThis strategy-investing more in our schools, and demanding more accountability from\nour schools-has also guided our policy on charter schools. When I became President, there\nwas one charter school in the whole nation: City Academy. I wanted to see thousands more\ncreated, but that wasn't going to happen without substantial investment from the federal\ngovernment, because STARTING A NEW SCHOOL IS AN EXPENSIVE UNDERTAKING.\nSo in 1994 we passed tk, and have since invested nearly half-a-billion dollars in new charter\nschools. As a result, today there are over 1700 charter schools, and we are well on our way\nto meeting our goal of 3000.\nAt the same time, we've taken the concept behind charter schools and applied it to our\ndealings with all 50 states through our Ed-Flex law, offering states more flexibility in how\nthey spend federal dollars in exchange for greater accountability for results.\nThe strategy of more investment, and more accountability, is producing real,\nmeasurable results. Math and reading scores are rising across the country, with some of the\ngreatest gains in some of the most disadvantaged communities. Sixty-seven percent of high\nschool graduates now go on to college, up 10 percent since 1993. We've made that possible\nwith the largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI bill, including the creation of\nout HOPE scholarship tax credits, education IRAs, more-affordable student loans, and more\nPell Grants. And it's worth noting that scores on college entrance exams are rising even as\nmore students from disadvantaged backgrounds are taking the test.\nWe have proven that we know how to lift the educational attainment of our most\ndisadvantaged students. Yet there are still thousands of schools that fail to give children the\neducation they need to enter the mainstream of American prosperity. To turn those schools\naround, we need what the Vice President has called a revolution in education-a revolution\ngoverned by the strategy that has brought us to this point.\nCharter schools have a crucial role to play in that revolution. Schools like City\nAcademy provide alternative paths to success for students who have fallen through the cracks.\nAt the same time, they often provide the kind of competitive energy that leads school districts\nto strengthen accountability and improve learning in traditional schools. That's particularly\nevident here in the St. Paul, under the inspired leadership of Superintendent Pat Harvey.\nStudies show that charter schools are at least as racially and economically diverse as public\nschools-in fact here in Minnesota they are even more diverse than average. And surveys\nshow the vast majority of parents with kids in charter schools think their children are doing\nbetter academically in their charter schools than they were in their previous schools. It's no\nwonder there are long waiting lists to get into most charter schools.\nNot all charter schools are doing a good job. But unlike traditional public schools, or\neven most private schools, charter schools can be held accountable if they fail to provide\nquality education. DO WE REALLY WANT TO SAY THAT REGULAR PUBLIC\nSCHOOLS CAN\"T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE SINCE WE CLAIM TO DO THAT IN\nESEA? So far, tk charter schools nationwide, and tk here in Minnesota, have been shut down\nfor failing to live up to the terms of their charters. Every state should have charter school\nlaws that encourage this kind of accountability. Currently, the charter laws in some states are\nso restrictive that it's almost impossible to open a charter school, while in others the laws are\nso loose that incompetent schools are allowed to remain open. Minnesota's charter law strikes\nthe right balance-encouraging the growth of charter schools but holding those schools\nresponsible for results.\nWe must built that level of accountability into the entire public school system. That is\nwhy I have sent Congress an Education Accountability Act, to fundamentally change the way\nthe federal government invests in our schools -- to support more of what we know works, and\nto stop supporting what we know does not work. States and school districts that accept federal\nmoney would have to identify and turn around their lowest-performing schools; put quality\nteachers in all classrooms; have fair and reasonable discipline codes; end social promotion but\nalso provide children with extra help to meet higher standards; and send every parent a report\ncard on the quality of their childrens' schools.\nI have also asked Congress to double the investment we made last fall in my Education\nAccountability Fund, to turn around low-performing schools, or shut them down. School\ndistricts can use this money to make the kind of sweeping systematic changes that have been\nproven effective in turning around low-performing schools in states like Kentucky, which I\ntalked about in my visit there yesterday.\nBut if, for whatever reason, a school doesn't turn around, my Education Accountability\nFund can be used to allow parents to transfer their students out of these failing schools and\ninto better-performing public schools, including charter schools.\nNow, there are those who say we should use vouchers to help students in failing\nschools go to private schols. But I think the growth of charter schools renders the whole\ndebate over vouchers into something of a sideshow. Charter schools provide the choice and\ncompetition that proponents of vouchers say they want. And charter schools, unlike private\nschools, are OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS AND accountable to the public for results. I\nbelieve we should be working to make all public schools more accountable, not diverting\nenergy and money away from public schools into unaccountable private schools.\nFor charter schools to fully play this crucial role, we must create more of them.\nToday, I am taking action to do just that. I am directing the Secretary of Education to\ndevelop guidelines for how faith-based and business institutions can be actively involved\nin starting and supporting charter schools, in ways that are not commercially exploitative\nand that respect the separation of church and state. Currently, the vast majority of\ncharter schools are sponsored by school districts, universities, and community groups.\nBut I believe there are thousands of business and faith-based organizations that would be\neager to get similarly involved in supporting charter schools, if they had reliable\ninformation on how to do so IN AN APPROPRIATE way.\nOne school that is doing so is the Marvin Wynans Performing Arts Academy in\nDetroit. It's a non-sectarian public charter school, open to all children, and run by an 11\nyear veteran of the Detroit public schools. But it was started by Pastor Marvin Wynan's\nchurch, operated out of leased space in the church's basement, with church members\nproviding afterschool tutoring. Another example is the Skills for Tomorrow school in\nRockford, Minnesota, sponsored jointly by the Teamsters Union and the Business\nAlliance. Union and corporate leaders not only helped develop the school, but provide\nstudents with internships and take part in judging whether students have met their\nacademic graduation requirements-the better to ensure that they have the skills they\nneed to succeed.\nI hope the guidelines I am calling for today will encourage more faith-based and\nbusiness groups to follow their lead.\nWe must also continue to make the investments in the capital that new charter\nschools need to the get up and running--from purchasing buildings and books to\nrecruiting quality teachers. Today, I am pleased to announce over $145 million grants to\nhelp support tk new charter schools in tk states\nThe fundamental lesson of the last seven years is clear: in education, investment\nwithout accountability is a waste of money; accountability without investment is a waste of\neffort. Neither will work without the other. If we want our students to learn more, we need\nboth.\nConclusion tk\nMessage Sent To:\nAndy Rotherham/OPD/EOP@EOP\nKendra L. Brooks/OPD/EOP@EOP\nJoshua S. Gottheimer/WHO/EOP@EOP\[email protected] @ inet\nJohn B. Buxton/OPD/EOP@EOP\nAnna Richter/OPD/EOP@EOP\nEric P. Liu/OPD/EOP@EOP\nCathy R. Mays/OPD/EOP@EOP\nBruce N. Reed/OPD/EOP@EOP\nBethany Little/OPD/EOP@EOP\nKarin Kullman\n05/02/2000 10:59:16 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nSee the distribution list at the bottom of this message\nCC:\nSubject: new city academy student\nI would like to amend my previous recommendation for the student to introduce the President at City\nAcademy. Here is my new recommendation\nTomas (Tom) Gonzalez, 24, graduated from City Academy in 1994. He was born in Mexico City and\nmoved to South Minneapolis when he was 13 years old. During his early high school years his family\nmoved 3 times, and he attended 3 different, very large high schools. At each of those schools he felt as\nthough he had no one to turn to and no encouragement to push himself to work hard. He found out about\nCity Academy, and immediately went to talk to Milo Cutter, the principal, to find out if he could attend the\nschool. He attended the school for 2 years, and during that time was able to take college courses through\nConcordia University. He feels that the biggest benefit to him was the personal attention he received\nthere and the encouragement/push to utilize his skills to reach his full potential. City Academy was able\nto show him things he had never before seen, and pushed him to accomplish things he never would have\naccomplished in the larger high schools he had attended previously. Since graduation, he has stayed\nclose to the school, and visits and volunteers there when he can. Tomas currently works for US Bank as\na project manager for the Fraud Prevention Unit. He has worked there for 5 years, and has been\npromoted several times. He plans to begin college courses again in September to finish his degree, and\nUS Bank is paying for his schooling.\nMessage Sent To:\nDraft 5/3/00 12:30 a.m.\nGlastris\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON TURNING AROUND FAILING SCHOOLS\nAUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL\nOWENSBORO, KENTUCKY\nMay 3, 2000\nAcknowledgments: Gov. Patton; Former Sen. Wendell Ford (born in Owensboro community\nof Yellow Creek); Lt. Gov. Steve Henry (mother Wanda a 25-year veteran of Daviess-\npronounce Davis-- County school system)\nIt is a delight to be here today. I'm told that I am the first sitting President to visit\nOwensboro since Harry Truman. President Truman always did have good taste. I know you that\na terrible tornado came through here in January. We tried to do our part in Washington to help.\nBut while the physical scars are still evident, I can see that the spirit of this community remains\nstrong. Even your wonderful Panthers bounced back, and almost won the championship again\nthis year.\nFlying in today from Louisville by helicopter, over the farms and wooded hills of this\nbeautiful state, I got a view of Kentucky that few Kentuckians have the privilege of seeing-and\nif you do get the chance I highly recommend it. On the ground here in Owensboro, I've been\ngiven a view of school reform that few Americans have ever seen. And so I am here today, on\nthe first stop of a two-day school reform tour, because I want the American people to understand\nthat there are places in this country that have met one of our nation's most perplexing challenges:\nhow to bring educational excellence to public schools, even in the most economically\ndisadvantaged communities. Now, it's time to bring the reforms we know work to every low-\nperforming school in America.\nI'm here in Kentucky this morning to show how an entire state can identify and turn\naround its low-performing schools with high standards, accountability, and investments to help\nschools meet those standards. Later today, I'll be in Davenport, Iowa, to highlight the\nimportance of having modern school buildings for our children. Tomorrow, I'll visit the nation's\nfirst charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the public schools are thriving with more\ncompetition and accountability. I'll finish up tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio, where the schools\nare doing everything right, including raising teacher quality--and getting good results in the\nclassroom.\nEver since Sec. Riley and I were young governors 20 years ago, we've been wresting\nwith the challenge of how to improve education, especially in disadvantaged communities. It's a\nchallenge governors are still working on. Just today, Gov. Carper of Delaware is signing\nlandmark school accountability legislation in his state. It's a challenge Gov. Patton has been\nworking on it ever since he was a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence\n1\nin the 1980s. I remember talking to him about Kentucky's education reform experiment in 1992\nwhen he was Lt. Governor and I was running for President. So I've been keenly aware of\nKentucky's efforts, and for those who are less familiar, let me summarize them.\nFirst, beginning in 1990, you set high standards for what all Kentucky school children\nshould know. Second, you identified the schools where year after year students failed to learn\nenough to meet those standards. Third, you held these schools accountable for turning\nthemselves around, with real consequences for failure, from dismissing principals and teachers to\nallowing parents to transfer their children into higher-performing public schools. And fourth,\nyou provided the investment necessary to help these schools turn around, from more teacher\ntraining to high-quality preschool, afterschool and summer school for students.\nThe results have been nothing short of extraordinary. The vast majority of the dozens of\nschools identified by the state as low-performing have improved-and some, like Audubon, have\nimproved dramatically. You went from 12 percent of you students meeting or exceeding the\nstate standard on writing tests 57 percent meeting or exceeding the standard. From 5 percent\nmeeting or exceeding the state reading standard to 70 percent; and from zero students meeting or\nexceeding the state standards in science to 64 percent. Audubon is now the 18th best-performing\nelementary school in the state, despite the fact that two-thirds of your students qualify for free\nand reduced-price school lunch. In fact, throughout the state, 10 of the top 20 best-performing\nelementary schools in science are schools where half the students are eligible for free and\nreduced-price school lunch. You've proven, beyond a doubt, that poverty need not be destiny-\nthat all our children are capable of learning at high standards in the public schools.\nI believe that turning around failing schools should be one of our great national missions\nof the 21st Century. The moment is right. America is at a point unparalleled prosperity and\nnational self-confidence. We have the largest, most diverse group of students in our public\nschools in history. We have an economy in which education has become the indispensable key\nto success in life. And after 20 years of intense experimentation with school reform--on the\nlocal, state, and national level-we now have overwhelming evidence about what works to turn\naround low-performing schools. Setting high standards. Demanding accountability. And\nproviding the extra help for children to meet those high standards. In short, investing more in\nour schools, and demanding more of our schools.\nThis is the strategy Vice President Gore and I have followed for seven years.\nSince 1993, we've cut hundreds of federal programs in order to reduce the deficit and\nimprove the economy. Yet we've also nearly doubled investment in education and training.\nWe've required states to set academic standards for what their students should know, and also\nprovided more resources to help states create and implement higher standards. We're reducing\nclass sizes in the early grades with the help of 100,000 new, highly-trained teachers--and I'm\ndelighted that Audubon has used some of that money to hire a new teacher, Crystal Davidson.\nI'm especially delighted that you refer to her as the \"Clinton teacher.\"\nWhen I became President, there was only one independent public charter school in the\nwhole nation: City Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, which I'll be visiting tomorrow. Today,\n2\nwith the help of federal investment, there are over 1700 charter schools, and we are well on our\nway to meeting our goal of 3000.\nWith the help of Vice President Gore's E-rate program, we now have nearly three-\nquarters of all classrooms in America connected to the Internet, up from only 3 percent in 1993.\nWe'll probably reach 100 percent by the end of the year, with one major exception: those schools\nthat are literally too old and dilapidated to be wired for the Internet. Later today in Davenport,\nIowa I'll be talking about the need to modernize our school building.\nOur strategy of investing more and demanding more is producing real results. Math and\nreading scores are rising across the country, with some of the greatest gains in some of the most\ndisadvantaged communities. Last year, for the first time in history, the high school graduation\nrate for African American students was the same as the graduation rate for white students.\nToday, 67 percent of all high school graduates now go on to college, up 10 percent since 1993.\nWe've made that possible with the largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI bill,\nincluding the creation of out HOPE scholarship tax credits, education IRAs, more-affordable\nstudent loans, and more Pell Grants. And it's worth noting that scores on college entrance exams\nare rising even as more students from disadvantaged backgrounds are taking the test.\nWe have proven that we know how to lift the educational attainment of our most\ndisadvantaged students. Yet there are still thousands of schools that fail to give children the\neducation they need to enter the mainstream of American prosperity. To turn those schools\naround, we need what the Vice President has called a revolution in education-a revolution\ngoverned by the strategy that has brought us to this point-of investing more, and demanding\nmore.\nThat is why I have sent Congress an Education Accountability Act, to fundamentally\nchange the way the federal government invests in our schools -- to support more of what we\nknow works, and to stop supporting what we know does not work. It would require all states that\naccept federal money to do what Kentucky has done. Identifying low-performing schools, and\ninvesting in turning them around. Ending social promotion, but investesting in afterschool,\nsummer school, and reading tutors for children who need it. Putting reasonable discipline codes\nin every school, and a qualified teachers in every classroom. Empowering parents with report\ncards on the performance of every school.\nI have also asked Congress to double the investment we made last fall in my Education\nAccountability Fund, to turn around low-performing schools, or shut them down. School districts\ncan use this money to make the kind of sweeping systematic changes that have been proven so\neffective here in Kentucky.\nBut if, for whatever reason, a school doesn't turn around, my Education Accountability\nFund can be used to allow parents to transfer their students out of these failing schools and into\nbetter-performing public schools, including charter schools.\nTo make this accountability strategy work nationwide, we must have the courage to\ndo what Kentucky has done. We must identify those schools that are failing their students.\n3\nOnly then can we help them turn around. And SO today, I am pleased to announce that I\nam directing Secretary Riley to provide me with an annual failing schools report. This\nreport will tell us, for the first time, how many of our nation's public schools are failing, in\nwhich states they are located, and what each state is doing to turn them around.\nSecond, even as we press Congress to strengthen our accountability laws, we must\nensure that states fulfill their accountability obligations under existing law. Therefore, I\nam directing the Secretary to send teams to states to make sure that the states are meeting\ntheir responsibilities to turn around low-performing schools. These teams will work with\nstates to apply successful reform strategies and identify federal resources, such as\nafterschool grants, which they can use to turn these schools around.\nThe actions I am taking today will help us to spread the lesson we have learned during\nthe last seven years to every state and every school district in America: in education, investment\nwithout accountability is a waste of money; accountability without investment is a waste of\neffort. Neither will work without the other. If we want our students to learn more, we need both.\nTen years ago, when things looked pretty grim for our public schools, Al Shanker, the\nlate, great head of the American Federation of Teachers, said something wise to his fellow\nteachers. He said that we have to be willing to tell the American people the bad news about our\npublic schools, so that when the schools begin to turn around and we have good news to report,\nthey'll believe us. Well, today, here in Kentucky, and across America, there is good news to\nreport about our schools. I think the American people will not only believe us, but they'l Il want\nus to keep going forward with what works, until we reach what ought to be our ultimate goal: a\nworld-class education for every child in America.\nThank You.\n4\nDraft 5/3/00 12:30 a.m.\nGlastris\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON CHARTER SCHOOLS\nCITY ACADEMY\nST. PAUL, MINNESOTA\nMay 3, 2000\nAcknowledgments: Gov. Ventura; Rep. Bruce Vento; Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles\nBelton; City Academy Principal Milo Cutter; State Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge (reich-got\nyoung) and former State Rep. Becky Kelso (original co-sponsors of charter legislation); Charter\nFriends National Network Director Jon Schroeder (drafted original federal charter law); Center\nfor School Change Director Joe Nathan (leading charter advocate); Progressive Policy Institute\nPresident Will Marshall; City Academy graduate Tomas (Tom) Gonzalez\nListening to Milo Cutter recount the struggles she has faced to get this school off the\nground and make it a success, it occurred to me that everybody in this audience who has worked\nin or run a charter school probably has similar stories to tell. I know I have a few stories myself,\nafter 20 years of being involved in school reform. But all you have to do is hear a young person\nlike Tom Gonzalez recount his story, to realize that the struggle has been worth it.\nOne of America's greatest storytellers likes to say that in his mythic Minnesota town,\nLake Woebegone, all the children are above average. Well, having just seen the latest rise in test\nresults for Minnesota school children, I'd say your whole state is heading that way. The schools\nhere in St. Paul are especially impressive. Under superintendent Pat Harvey, you've put in place\nvirtually all of the accountability measures I'd like to see in all of our nation's schools--from\nending social promotion to providing afterschool to embracing public school choice.\nI've come here today, as part of my school reform tour, to talk about how charter schools\ncan help fulfill what I believe must be one of the great national missions of the 21st Century: to\nturn around our worst-performing schools, so that all of our children receive the education they\nneed to make the most of their lives.\nThe time is right to take on this challenge. We are at a moment of unparalleled prosperity\nand national self-confidence. We have the largest, most diverse group of students in our public\nschools in history. We have an economy in which education has become the indispensable key\nto their success in life. And after 20 years of intense experimentation with school reform--on the\nlocal, state, and national level-we now have overwhelming evidence about what works to turn\naround low-performing schools. Setting high standards. Demanding accountability, including\nmore choice and competition in public schools. And providing the extra help for children to\nmeet those high standards. In short, investing more in our schools, and demanding more of our\nschools.\nThis is the strategy Vice President Gore and I have followed for seven years.\nBeginning in 1993, we cut hundreds of federal programs in order to reduce the deficit and\nimprove the economy. Yet we also nearly doubled investment in education and training. We\nrequired states to set academic standards for what their students should know, and also provided\nmore resources to help states create and implement higher standards. We're reducing class sizes\nin the early grades with the help of 100,000 new, highly-trained teachers--and I'm delighted that\nthe St. Paul district has used these resources to hire 23 new teachers, bringing the average class\nsize in your early grades to 18. We've dramatically increased federal investment in afterschool\nand summer school. And with the help of Vice President Gore's E-rate program, we now have\nnearly three-quarters of all classrooms in America connected to the Internet, up from only 3\npercent in 1993. We'll probably reach 100 percent by the end of the year, with one major\nexception: those schools that are literally too old and dilapidated to be wired for the Internet.\nAnd yesterday in Davenport, Iowa I talked about the need to modernize our school building.\nThis strategy-investing more in our schools, and demanding more accountability from\nour schools-has also guided our policy on charter schools. When I became President, this\nschool, City Academy, was the only charter school in the country. I wanted to see thousands\nmore created, but that wasn't going to happen without substantial investment from the federal\ngovernment, because charter schools require significant start-up costs. So we have invested\nnearly half-a-billion dollars since 1994 in new charter schools. As a result, today there are over\n1700 charter schools, and we are well on our way to meeting our goal of 3000. Everyone here\ntoday ought to be proud of that. And I'm proud to be with you on national charter schools week.\nThe strategy of more investment, and more accountability, is producing real results. Math\nand reading scores are rising across the country, with some of the greatest gains in some of the\nmost disadvantaged communities. Last year, for the first time in history, the high school\ngraduation rate for African American students was the same as the graduation rate for white\nstudents. Today, 67 percent of all high school graduates now go on to college, up 10 percent\nsince 1993. We've made that possible with the largest expansion of college opportunity since\nthe GI bill, including the creation of out HOPE scholarship tax credits, education IRAs, more-\naffordable student loans, and more Pell Grants. And it's worth noting that scores on college\nentrance exams are rising even as more students from disadvantaged backgrounds are taking the\ntest.\nWe have proven that we know how to lift the educational attainment of our most\ndisadvantaged students. Yet there are still thousands of schools that fail to give children the\neducation they need to enter the mainstream of American prosperity. To turn those schools\naround, we need what the Vice President has called a revolution in education-a revolution\ngoverned by the strategy that has brought us to this point.\nCharter schools have a crucial role to play in that revolution. Schools like City Academy\nprovide alternative paths to success for students who have fallen through the cracks. At the same\ntime, they often provide the kind of competitive energy that leads school districts to strengthen\naccountability and improve learning in traditional schools. Studies show that charter schools are\nat least as racially and economically diverse as public schools-in fact here in Minnesota they\nare even more diverse than average. And surveys show the vast majority of parents with kids in\ncharter schools think their children are doing better academically in their charter schools than\nthey were in their previous schools. It's no wonder there are long waiting lists to get into most\ncharter schools.\nNot all charter schools are doing a good job. But unlike traditional public schools, or\neven most private schools, charter schools can be held accountable if they fail to provide quality\neducation. Every state should have charter school laws that encourage this kind of\naccountability. Unfortunately, some states have laws that are so loose that failing charter schools\nare allowed to remain open. Others have laws that are so restrictive that it's almost impossible to\nopen a charter school. Minnesota's charter law strikes the right balance-encouraging the\ngrowth of charter schools but holding those schools responsible for results.\nWe must built that level of accountability into the entire public school system. That is\nwhy I have sent Congress an Education Accountability Act, to fundamentally change the way the\nfederal government invests in our schools -- to support more of what we know works, and to stop\nsupporting what we know does not work. I have also asked Congress to double the investment\nwe made last fall in my Education Accountability Fund, to turn around low-performing schools,\nor shut them down. School districts can use this money to make the kind of sweeping systematic\nchanges that have been proven effective in turning around low-performing schools in states like\nKentucky, which I talked about in my visit there yesterday.\nBut if, for whatever reason, a school doesn't turn around, my Education Accountability\nFund can be used to allow parents to transfer their students out of these failing schools and into\nbetter-performing public schools, including charter schools.\nNow, there are those who say we should use vouchers to help students in failing schools\ngo to private schools. But charter schools provide the choice and competition that proponents of\nvouchers say they want. And charter schools, unlike private schools, are accountable to the\npublic for results. I believe we should be working to make all public schools more accountable,\nnot diverting energy and money away from public schools into unaccountable private schools.\nAnd for those who say charter schools drain money from public schools, I say: charter\nschools are public schools. And charter schools can help save public schools.\nFor charter schools to fulfill that role, we must create more of them. Today, I am\ntaking action to do just that. First, I am pleased to announce over $137 million in grants to\nhelp support new and existing charter schools in 31 states, plus the District of Columbia\nand Puerto Rico.\nSecond, I am directing the Secretary of Education to develop guidelines for how\nemployers and faith-based groups can be actively involved in starting and supporting\ncharter schools. While charter schools must be nonsectarian in their admissions and\npractices, faith-based groups can play a positive role. And employers can provide much-\nneeded space and other resources to help charter schools get started.\nIn nearby Rockford, Minnesota, for instance, there is the Skills for Tomorrow\nschool, sponsored jointly by the Teamsters Union and the Business Alliance. Union and\ncorporate leaders not only helped develop the school, but provide students with internships\nand take part in judging whether students have met their academic graduation\nrequirements-the better to ensure that they have the skills they need to succeed.\nI hope the guidelines I am calling for today will encourage more faith-based and\nbusiness groups to get involved.\nThe actions I am taking today are guided by the fundamental lesson we have learned\nduring the last seven years: in education, investment without accountability is a waste of money;\naccountability without investment is a waste of effort. Neither will work without the other. If\nwe want our students to learn more, we need both.\nTen years ago, when things looked pretty grim for our public schools, Al Shanker, the\nlate, great head of the American Federation of Teachers, said something wise to his fellow\nteachers. He said that we have to be willing to tell the American people the bad news about our\npublic schools, so that when the schools begin to turn around and we have good news to report,\nthey'll believe us. Well, today, here in St. Paul, and across America, there is good news to report\nabout our schools. I think the American people will not only believe us, but they'll want us to\nkeep going forward with what works, until we reach what ought to be our ultimate goal: a world-\nclass education for every child in America.\nThank you.\nJoshua S. Gottheimer\n05/02/2000 11:27:21 PM\nRecord Type:\nRecord\nTo:\nPaul D. Glastris/WHO/EOP@EOP, Andy Rotherham/OPD/EOP@EOP, Bruce N. Reed/OPD/EOP@EOP\nCC:\nSubject: revised draft\nDraft 05/02/00 11:30pm\nJosh Gottheimer\nPRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON\nREMARKS ON SCHOOL REFORM\nEASTGATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL\nCOLUMBUS, OHIO\nMay 4, 2000\nAck: TK\nFor the past two days, I have been touring the country, highlighting once failing\nschools that have begun to turn themselves around. These schools are prime examples of what\nwe can accomplish when we invest more in our schools and demand more from them in\nreturn.\nYesterday morning I was in Owensboro, Kentucky, where we visited a public high\nschool that has turned things around in one our most economically disadvantaged communities.\nWe then flew to Davenport, Iowa where a school building that's nearly a century old is finally\nget the repairs it has long needed. This morning, I toured City Academy in St. Paul,\nMinnesota, the first charter school in America, which opened in 1992. There, I held a \"\nWebside Chat,\" and talked live on the Internet with students about the challenges they are\nfacing.\nIt is fitting that I wrap up my School Reform Tour here at Eastgate Elementary,\nbecause not far from here the city of Columbus opened the nation's first junior high school\nback in 1909. As you know, the journey since then hasn't always been easy. But today you'\nre back on track, returning to that early innovative spirit and a strong sense of community.\nYou've set tough academic standards for what all your students should know. You've\nput in place assessments to see if they're meeting those standards. And you've given students\nhelp to meet them - from afterschool programs to smaller classes. Your strategy of investing\nmore and demanding more is working.\nIn the last three years, your test scores have skyrocketed in subjects across the board.\nThe math, reading and science proficiency scores of fourth graders are all up more than 200%.\nAnd this year alone, the reading and math proficiency scores of your kindergartners have more\nthan doubled.\nNot only are your students improving, so are your teachers. More than a third of them\nhave their master's degree and over ten years in the classroom. Your Peer Assistance and\nReview program has both veteran and new teachers becoming better educators by learning\nfrom each other's experience. And it's working: Before the program began, Columbus\nschools lost nearly 25 percent of their first year teachers. Today, you've reduced that number\nto 15 percent.\nYou've proven, beyond a doubt, that with the right tools, all our children are capable\nof learning at high standards in public schools. You are a model for other schools to follow.\nAnd your success is an example of what my Administration has been working to foster across\nthis country more than seven years now.\nSince 1993, we've nearly doubled investment in education and training. We've\nrequired states to set academic standards for what their students should know, and also\nprovided more resources to help states create and implement higher standards. We've reduced\nclass size in the early grades with the help of 100,000 new, highly trained teachers - 55 of\nwhom are in Columbus 2 right here at Eastgate.\nWe've also dramatically increased federal investment in afterschool and summer school\nprograms, from $1 million a year in 1997 to half a billion dollars a year today. And I'm\ndelighted to hear that 30 fourth graders from Eastgate participate in these programs. We've\nalso expanded Head Start and improved its quality - and we're working to build and\nmodernize 6,000 schools. With the help of Vice President Gore's E-rate program, we now\nhave nearly three-quarters of all classrooms in America connected to the Internet, up from\nonly 3 percent in 1993.\nOur strategy of investing more and demanding more is reaping results. Math and\nreading scores are rising across the country, with some of the greatest gains in some of the\nmost disadvantaged communities. Last year, for the first time in history, the high school\ngraduation rate for African American students was the same as the graduation rate for white\nstudents. We have proven that we know how to lift the educational attainment of our most\ndisadvantaged students.\nYet there are still thousands of schools that fail to give children the education they need\nto graduate ready to succeed in this dynamic new economy. That is why I have sent Congress\nan Education Accountability Act, to fundamentally change the way the federal government\ninvests in our schools - to support more of what we know works, and to stop what we know\ndoes not. Identifying low-performing schools, and investing in turning them around. Ending\nsocial promotion, but investing in afterschool, summer school, and reading tutors for children\nwho need it.\nPresident Kennedy once said, \"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our\nprogress in education.' From Eastgate Elementary\nto Central High School\nto City\nAcademy, we are making the right kind of progress, by investing more and demanding more,\nso that all our children get the education they need and deserve. And, with strongest economy\nin history, there's no better time than now.\nI'm really here today to learn more about what you're doing here at Eastgate.\n[open to questions]\nMay 2, 2000\nEDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY EVENT\nDATE:\nMay 3, 2000\nLOCATION:\nAudubon Elementary School\nOwensboro, KY\nEVENT TIME:\n11:00am - 12:40pm\nFROM:\nBruce Reed\nI.\nPURPOSE\nTo kick off your School Reform Tour and highlight Audubon Elementary School to\nillustrate how an agenda of high standards, real accountability, and proven investments\ncan raise student achievement and turn around failing schools across the country. You\nwill also call on Congress to enact your Educational Accountability Fund, which requires\nstates to help turn around failing schools or shut them down.\nII.\nBACKGROUND\nAudubon Elementary School is an award-winning school in the Daviess County School\nDistrict. Although two-thirds of its students are in poverty, Audubon ranks 18th in the\nstate in student achievement. In a speech to Kentucky students, educators, and\npolicymakers, you will remind Americans that demographics need not be destiny when it\ncomes to meaningful school reform. You will highlight:\nAN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO TURN AROUND FAILING SCHOOLS. You will\nannounce that you are signing an executive memorandum that directs the Department of\nEducation to compile and publish key data on low-performing schools across the country,\nand to help states fix those schools. The directive asks Secretary of Education Richard\nRiley to: 1) help states and districts turn around low-performing schools, by providing\ntechnical assistance and disseminating research; 2) make federal education programs\nmore responsive to low-performing schools; 3) submit an annual education accountability\nreport that identifies trends in low-performing schools, the resources they are receiving to\nturn themselves around, and what strategies are most effective; and 4) send teams of\nmonitors into up to 15 states each year to make sure states are complying with\naccountability requirements and help them get results.\nKENTUCKY'S ACCOUNTABILITY STRATEGY AND REFORM RESULTS.\nSpeaking ten years after Kentucky's landmark education reform legislation was passed,\nyou will praise the state for its leadership in standards-based reform and accountability.\nKentucky has successfully intervened to improve many of its low-performing schools, by\nproviding critical resources to offer extended learning, teacher training, expanded\ntechnology and literacy initiatives. After having been identified as performing below\nexpectations on state assessments, Audubon Elementary today ranks 18th statewide in\nstudent performance among elementary schools. Since 1994, even with two-thirds of its\nstudents in poverty, Audubon has boosted the percentage of students scoring at a level of\n\"proficient\" and \"distinguished\" on state assessments from 12 percent to 57 percent in\nwriting (second in the state); 5 percent to 70 percent in reading; and 0 percent to 64\npercent in science. All across Kentucky, some of the highest performing schools are\nformer low-performing and high-poverty schools.\nSTANDARDS, ACCOUNTABILITY AND INVESTMENT. Since taking office, you\nand the Vice President have made accountability and investment in proven strategies the\nheart of your education reform agenda. You made standards a core part of federal\neducation policy, through Goals 2000 and the ESEA. Since 1992, the federal investment\nin elementary and secondary education has nearly doubled. Last year, you also proposed\nand Congress enacted a $134 million Accountability Fund, which provides funds to states\nand school districts to turn around failing schools and gives students in a failing school\nthe right to choose a higher-performing public school. Today, you will call on Congress\nto send you a true reform bill that includes the education accountability measures you\nhave proposed - require states and school districts to turn around failing schools or shut\nthem down, make sure teachers know the subject they're teaching, end social promotion\nby giving students the help they need to meet high standards, adopt sound, fair discipline\ncodes, and give parents school report cards. You will also call on Congress to pass an\neducation budget that invests in reducing class size, strengthening teacher quality,\nexpanding after school and summer school, repairing and modernizing schools and other\nkey priorities. Only by investing more and demanding more, you will point out, can we\nmake school reform work for all our students.\nIII.\nPARTICIPANTS\nClassroom Visit Participants:\nYOU\nCrystal Davidson, Teacher, Audubon Elementary School\nCrystal Davidson teaches a multi-grade class of 3rd and 4th grade students. Ms.\nDavidson was hired with federal class size reduction funds, and her class is known\nlocally as the \"Clinton Classroom\".\nTwenty-one 3rd and 4th grade students\nProgram Participants:\nYOU\nSecretary Richard Riley\nGovernor Paul Patton\nDiane Embry, Principal, Audubon Elementary School\nKaren Cecil, Parent, Audubon Elementary School\nKaren Cecil is the mother of three daughters, all of whom attended Audubon\nElementary School. Her youngest daughter, Emily, is currently a fourth grade\nstudent at Audubon. Ms. Cecil is actively involved in the school as a member of\nthe school site council, and can speak to the changes and improvements at\nAudubon Elementary School.\nIV.\nPRESS PLAN\nClassroom Visit -- Pool Press.\nRemarks -- Open Press.\nV.\nSEQUENCE OF EVENTS\n-\nYOU will be greeted by local elected officials upon arrival via Marine One to\nAudubon Elementary School.\n-\nYOU will proceed to Ms. Davidson's classroom, and will participate in a reading\nlesson with the students.\n-\nYOU will proceed to the gymnasium.\n-\nYOU will be announced onto the stage, accompanied by Secretary Richard Riley,\nGovernor Paul Patton, Diane Embry, and Karen Cecil.\n-\nDiane Embry, Principal, Audubon Elementary School, will make brief remarks and\nintroduce Governor Paul Patton.\n-\nGovernor Paul Patton will make brief remarks and introduce Secretary Richard Riley.\n-\nSecretary Richard Riley will make brief remarks and introduce Karen Cecil, Parent,\nAudubon Elementary School.\n-\nKaren Cecil, Parent, will make brief remarks and introduce YOU.\n-\nYOU will make remarks, work a ropeline, and depart the gymnasium.\n-\nYOU will proceed outside and greet the students of Audubon Elementary School.\n-\nYOU will depart Audubon Elementary School.\nVI.\nREMARKS\nTo be provided by Speechwriting.\nMay 2, 2000\nSCHOOL CONSTRUCTION EVENT\nDATE:\nMay 3, 2000\nLOCATION:\nCentral High School\nDavenport, IA\nEVENT TIME:\n5:30pm - 7:05pm\nFROM:\nBruce Reed\nI.\nPURPOSE\nTo highlight your commitment to help states and localities build and modernize 6,000\nschools nationwide and conduct emergency repairs on 5,000 schools annually, and to\nrelease a new Education Department guide for communities facing school construction\nchallenges.\nII.\nBACKGROUND\nBuilt in 1907, Central High is one of several schools that the Davenport School District plans\nto renovate to accommodate new technology, upgrade facilities, and ensure a good learning\nenvironment for students. You will point out that the tough accountability measures you\nhave called for cannot have force unless we also invest in our students and schools to help\nthem reach high standards. You will call on Congress to pass a budget that includes your\nschool construction proposals and helps communities like Davenport address the\ninfrastructure crisis created by rising enrollment and aging buildings. You will highlight:\nA NEW COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDE ON SCHOOL DESIGN. You will release\na new report from the U.S. Department of Education, \"Schools as Centers of Community: A\nCitizen's Guide For Planning and Design.\" The report serves as a resource for educators,\nplanners and community members to meet the challenge of providing effective educational\nfacilities. It highlights methods of providing safe, up-to-date learning environments. The\nreport includes a planning guide for local communities and examples of innovative school\ndesigns around the country. You will also note that replacing, repairing and updating school\nfacilities is an ongoing need that requires commitment from government at all levels.\nTHE NEED FOR SCHOOL RENOVATION AND CONSTRUCTION IS A\nNATIONAL PRIORITY. A report last year by the National Center for Education Statistics\npointed out that school buildings begin rapid deterioration after 40 years - and that the\naverage public school in America is 42 years old. Moreover, rising student enrollment means\nthat communities around the country have to build an additional 2,400 schools by 2003. A\n1996 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated the cost of bringing\nAmerica's schools into overall good condition to be at least $112 billion. Today, the\nNational Education Association will release a report that puts that cost at $322 billion, more\nthan double the GAO figure from just four years ago. Clearly, you will note, school\nmodernization is a national priority that demands a national response.\nAMERICA MUST HONOR ITS COMMITMENT TO OUR SCHOOLS. You sent\na plan to Congress to that would provide $24.8 billion in tax credits to states and local\ndistricts to build and modernize 6,000 schools nationwide. And your budget includes an\nemergency school construction initiative that would provide $1.3 billion to states and\nschool districts for emergency repairs on 5,000 schools a year. Today, you will call again\non Congress to enact this plan and give America's schoolchildren the resources and\nfacilities they need to meet high standards.\nIII.\nPARTICIPANTS\nGreeters:\nJim Blanche, Superintendent, Davenport School District\nHenry Caudle, Principal, Central High School\nRicky Harris, Senior Class President\nKelly Witt, Student Body President\nWalking Tour Participants:\nYOU\nHenry Caudle, Principal, Central High School\nBarb Hess, Social Studies Teacher, Central High School\nRicky Harris, Senior Class President (will lead tour)\nProgram Participants:\nYOU\nGovernor Tom Vilsack (D-IA)\nHenry Caudle, Principal, Central High School\nBarb Hess, Social Studies Teacher, Central High School\nBarb Hess has taught at Central High School for 38 years, and is currently the\nSocial Studies department head. She also was a student at Central High School,\nand graduated from the school in 1956. Ms. Hess can speak to the need for\nrenovation of the science class rooms (which have not been renovated since she\nwas a student there), expansion of the classroom size, updating of the ventilation\nsystem, and other modernizations necessary at the school.\nIV.\nPRESS PLAN\nWalking Tour - Pre-positioned Pool Press.\nRemarks - Open Press.\n2\nV.\nSEQUENCE OF EVENTS\n-\nYOU will be greeted by Jim Blanche, Henry Caudle, and student TBD upon arrival at\nCentral High School.\n-\nYOU will take a walking tour of Central High School.\n-\nYOU will proceed to the auditorium.\n-\nYOU will be announced onto the stage, accompanied by Governor Tom Vilsack,\nHenry Caudle, and Barb Hess.\n-\nHenry Caudle, Principal, will make welcoming remarks and introduce Governor Tom\nVilsack.\n-\nGovernor Tom Vilsack will make brief remarks and introduce Barb Hess, teacher.\n-\nBarb Hess, teacher, will make brief remarks and introduce YOU.\n-\nYOU will make remarks, work a ropeline, and depart.\n-\nYOU will greet AmeriCorps volunteers prior to departure.\nVI.\nREMARKS\nTo be provided by Speechwriting.\n3\nMay 2, 2000\nREMARKS TO CITY ACADEMY AND CHANNEL ONE\nNETWORK \"WEBSIDE\" CHAT\nDATE:\nMay 4, 2000\nLOCATION:\nCity Academy\nSt. Paul, MN\nEVENT TIME:\n8:50am - 10:30am\nFROM:\nBruce Reed\nI.\nPURPOSE\nTo highlight the success of the charter school movement, announce further steps to help\npublic charter schools, and challenge communities around the country to create more high\nquality public charter schools to increase choice and competition in public education.\nII.\nBACKGROUND\nThis week is National Charter Schools Week and City Academy is the nation's first\ncharter school. This charter school was also the only one in operation when you were\nelected in 1992. Today you will meet with students from City Academy, release an\nExecutive Memorandum asking the Secretary of Education to develop guidelines to help\nfaith-based organizations understand how they can play a role in the public charter school\nmovement, announce new grants for charter schools, and participate in an online chat\nwith students from around the country.\nBUSINESS AND FAITH-BASED GROUPS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS. The\nExecutive Memorandum that you will release today asks the Secretary of Education to\ndevelop and release guidelines explaining how faith-based organizations and businesses\ncan more effectively be involved with charter schools. These guidelines would augment\nthe existing guidelines for public charter schools and the guidelines for religious\nexpression in public schools that you released in December. The private sector can play a\npositive role with regard to charter schools and you will emphasize the ways that local\nbusinesses can be involved in the charter school movement.\nGROWTH OF CHARTER SCHOOLS. When you were first elected, there was only\none public charter school open in the United States. Now, there are 1,700, more than half\nway to your goal of 3000 charter schools. And thirty-six states, Puerto Rico and the\nDistrict of Columbia now have laws on the books that enable the creation of charter\nschools. Your national leadership and assistance have played a key role in this rapid\ngrowth by supporting the development of individual charter schools and helping to\ndisseminate effective practices and strategies among schools. Your budget includes a $30\nmillion increase in funding for the program, bringing total funding to $175 million\nannually. Today, you will announce the release of $16 million in new grants to charter\nschools and $121 million in continuation grants.\nONLINE CHAT WITH STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY. While at\nCity Academy, you will participate in a live Webside Chat,\" hosted by\nChannelOne.com with middle school and high school students from across the country.\nFollowing on the tradition of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fireside Chats,\" you\nwill utilize the latest technology to communicate directly with the American people. You\nwill hear directly from students about their concerns and views on education and answer\nquestions on topics, including: creating good learning environments; making schools an\nimportant part of communities; expanding college opportunity; promoting the role of\ntechnology in the classroom and improving America's schools.\nIII.\nPARTICIPANTS\nGreeters:\nRepresentative Bruce Vento\nGovernor Jesse Ventura (T)\nMayor Norm Coleman (T)\nMilo Cutter, Principal, City Academy\nProgram Participants:\nYOU\nRepresentative Bruce Vento\nGovernor Jesse Ventura (Tentative)\nMilo Cutter, Director, City Academy\nStudent TBD\nWebside Chat Participants:\nYOU\nTracy Smith, Senior Correspondent/Anchor, Channel One Network\nIV.\nPRESS PLAN\nRemarks - Open Press.\nWebside Chat - Open Press.\nV.\nSEQUENCE OF EVENTS\n-\nYOU will be greeted by Representative Bruce Vento, Governor Jesse Ventura (T),\nMayor Norm Coleman (T), and Milo Cutter upon arrival to City Academy.\n-\nYOU will be announced onto the stage, accompanied by Representative Bruce Vento,\nGovernor Jesse Ventura (T), Milo Cutter, and City Academy student.\n-\nMilo Cutter, Principal, will make brief welcoming remarks and introduce\nRepresentative Bruce Vento.\n-\nRepresentative Bruce Vento will make brief remarks and introduce Governor Jesse\nVentura (T).\n-\nGovernor Jesse Ventura (T) will make brief remarks and introduce student.\n-\nStudent will make brief remarks and introduce YOU.\n-\nYOU will make remarks.\n-\nYOU will proceed to a stool to begin the \"webside\" chat.\n-\nTracy Smith will make opening remarks and introduce YOU.\n-\nYOU will make opening remarks.\n-\nTracy Smith will begin the \"webside\" chat, and you will participate in a question and\nanswer session.\n-\nUpon conclusion of the question and answer session, YOU will make brief\nconcluding remarks.\n-\nTracy Smith will conclude the \"webside\" chat.\n-\nYOU will exit the stage, work a ropeline, and depart.\nVI.\nREMARKS\nTo be provided by Speechwriting."
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