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Lehigh Valley 2000 4/16/92 [OA 6100] [1]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Draft Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13616
Folder ID Number:
13616-006
Folder Title:
Lehigh Valley 2000 4/16/92 [OA 6100] [1]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
18
1
3
Christina
LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
MASTER
1:00 P.M.
Glad Hilda's not runing
THANK YOU HILDA -- OR I SHOULD SAY, MY FELLOW
*
PRESIDENT. // LET ME RECOGNIZE OUR ABLE SECRETARY OF
* bkids
EDUCATION, LAMAR ALEXANDER. HOMETOWN CONGRESSMAN DON
RITTER. MAYOR JOE DADDONA [DA-DOE-NA] OF ALLENTOWN.
shook off *
MAYOR KEN SMITH OF BETHLEHEM.
ED DONLEY -- DRIVING FORCE BEHIND LEHIGH VALLEY
2000 AND CO-CHAIR OF PENNSYLVANIA 2000, WHICH KICKED
OFF BACK IN OCTOBER. ANN SNYDER -- VALEDICTORIAN OF
THE CLASS OF '92. OUR GUESTS WHO DID SUCH A GREAT JOB
WITH THE GOALS. PRINCIPAL MIKE MEILINGER [MILE-INJER]
FOR CALLING THIS SPECIAL ASSEMBLY TODAY.
Getting out of class
MY THANKS TO THE PARENTS, THE TEACHERS AND THE
STAFF. THANKS ALSO TO ALL THE FOLKS HERE FROM
ALLENTOWN AND EASTON AND BETHLEHEM -- THE LEADING
LIGHTS OF LEHIGH VALLEY. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LET ME
SAY HELLO TO THE STUDENTS OF DIERUFF HIGH. //
BAND
XSIGNS
- 2 -
IT'S ASTONISHING TO BE HERE WITH THE CLASS OF '92
AS A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF '42. // I REALIZE THE
WORLD I THOUGHT OF AS NEW -- FOR YOU IS, WELL, HISTORY.
//
LOOK AT THE WORLD YOU'LL SOON CALL YOUR OWN -- AT
THE PACE OF CHANGE WE'VE COME TO EXPECT: EACH DAY, WE
SEE HISTORY PLAYED OUT IN THE HEADLINES. OLD EMPIRES
EXPIRE -- NEW WORLDS ARE BORN. IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS
ALONE, WE'VE SEEN THE BIRTH OF 18 NEW NATIONS. [ [WHO
KNOWS HOW MANY THERE'LL BE BY THE TIME YOU TAKE THAT
BIG stepped GEOGRAPHY FINAL.]] few wks from now
BUT THE CHALLENGES WE FACE -- THE SHEER COMPLEXITY
OF OUR WORLD - CAN'T OBSCURE THE BASIC VALUES THAT
GUIDE THIS NATION. TIMES CHANGE, BUT TRUTHS ENDURE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BIG ISSUES THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD -
- ABOUT THE VALUES CLOSE TO HOME. EVERYTHING I'VE DONE
-- I'VE DONE TO PRESERVE AND ADVANCE THREE PRECIOUS
LEGACIES: STRONG FAMILIES. GOOD JOBS. A WORLD AT
PEACE.
- 3 -
SECURING THOSE LEGACIES HAS BEEN MY MISSION AS
PRESIDENT -- AND IT WILL BE MY MISSION TODAY AND EVERY
DAY, NOW AND FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. //
AS LONG AS I AM PRESIDENT.
RIGHT NOW, HERE IN ALLENTOWN AND ACROSS AMERICA,
THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN IS THE ECONOMY -- AND TURNING
THIS ECONOMY AROUND, CREATING JOBS, IS THE MISSION THAT
MATTERS MOST. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE
ECONOMY. GET BENEATH THE COLD STATISTICS -- DOWN TO
THE REAL HEART OF THIS ISSUE. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THE JOB THEY'VE GOT -- AND
WHETHER THEY'RE ON TRACK FOR A BETTER ONE. FOR THEIR
KIDS -- FOR EACH ONE OF THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY --
PARENTS HAVE GOT GRANDER VISIONS: NOT JUST A JOB -- A
CAREER. WORK THAT MEANS MORE THAN SIMPLY MAKING ENDS
MEET: WORK THAT GIVES REAL MEANING TO YOUR LIFE. //
- 4 -
PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT IS GOVERNMENT'S
ROLE IN ALL OF THIS? / NO, WE CAN'T LEGISLATE THE
AMERICAN DREAM. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN SERVE AS A CATALYST
FOR CHANGE -- CLEARING AWAY THE OBSTACLES TO ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND THE UNNECESSARY COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS.
EXPANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGGRESSIVE BUSINESSES
AND ENTERPRISING INDIVIDUALS TO CREATE NEW JOBS.
TRAINING AND EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN -- GIVING YOU THE
TOOLS OF THOUGHT YOU'LL NEED TO COMPETE IN THE NEW
WORLD ECONOMY. //
- 5 -
THE FATE OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC FUTURE RESTS ON FIVE
KEY REFORMS: ON FREE AND FAIR TRADE -- OUR ABILITY TO
BREAK DOWN BARRIERS, OPEN NEW MARKETS TO AMERICAN
GOODS. OUR FUTURE RESTS ON LEGAL REFORM -- ON ENDING
THE EXPLOSION OF LITIGATION THAT STRAINS OUR PATIENCE
*
AND SAPS OUR ECONOMY. ON HEALTH CARE REFORM -- OPENING
helping suing not
UP ACCESS TO ALL AMERICANS, CONTROLLING THE RUN-AWAY
COST OF HEALTH CARE WITHOUT SACRIFICING CHOICE AND
QUALITY. ON GOVERNMENT REFORM -- BECAUSE ONLY IF WE
REVERSE A GENERATION OF CREEPING BUREAUCRACY, ONLY IF
WE RESTORE LIMITS TO GOVERNMENT, CAN WE RESTORE PUBLIC
TRUST.
FINALLY, THE REASON I'VE COME TO LEHIGH VALLEY
TODAY: OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON EDUCATION REFORM -- ON
OUR ABILITY TO REVOLUTIONIZE -- LITERALLY RE-INVENT OUR
SCHOOLS. TO TAKE THAT REVOLUTION BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS
OF THE CLASSROOM -- TRANSFORM OUR ATTITUDES AND IDEAS,
THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT EDUCATION. //
AD-UB AD -LIB
- 6 -
EDUCATION REPRESENTS A PERFECT COMMUNITY OF
INTEREST: BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY --
BETWEEN ONE GENERATION AND THE NEXT. BETWEEN THE PROUD
HISTORY WE MUST PASS ON -- AND THE PATH-BREAKING FUTURE
WE MUST CREATE. // AND IN TERMS OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC
FUTURE -- EDUCATION IS NOTHING LESS THAN A MATTER OF
ECONOMIC SURVIVAL. IT'S JUST THIS SIMPLE: BETTER
SCHOOLS MEAN BETTER JOBS. //
YOU'VE SEEN THE NEWS STORIES. YOU'VE HEARD THE
STATISTICS. ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT SLACK
PRODUCTIVITY OR A BAD BALANCE OF TRADE OUGHT TO BE
ALARMED ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S TEST SCORES. MILLIONS OF
STUDENTS WORK HARD, MILLIONS OF DEDICATED TEACHERS DO
THEIR BEST -- AND STILL, IN ONE TEST AFTER ANOTHER,
AMERICA'S CHILDREN SCORE AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM RANKS OF
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT. //
- 7 -
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER TEST TO TELL US SOMETHING IS
WRONG WITH THE STATE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. FOR THE
SAKE OF EVERY STUDENT HERE TODAY, WE'VE GOT TO SHAKE
OFF ANY SENSE OF COMPLACENCY -- AND SHAKE UP THE STATUS
QUO.
HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY, THAT'S A LESSON YOU LEARNED
YEARS AGO. YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR WORD FROM WASHINGTON.
YOU DIDN'T STAND BACK AND WATCH ANOTHER GENERATION OF
KIDS GET LESS EDUCATION THAN THEY DESERVED. THIS
COMMUNITY TOOK A DIRECT INTEREST IN WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS COMMUNITY TOOK ACTION. //
- 8 -
I TOOK OFFICE DETERMINED TO PUT THE POWER OF THE
PRESIDENCY BEHIND CHANGE. MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, WE
TOOK A STRONG FIRST STEP. WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE
NATION'S GOVERNORS, WE SET SIX AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR THE
YEAR 2000: EVERY AMERICAN CHILD MUST START SCHOOL
READY TO LEARN. WE MUST RAISE THE HIGH-SCHOOL
GRADUATION RATE TO 90%. WE MUST PUT IN PLACE A SYSTEM
OF WORLD CLASS STANDARDS -- AND TESTS TO MEASURE
STUDENTS' PROGRESS. WE MUST BE FIRST IN THE WORLD IN
MATH AND SCIENCE. BY THE YEAR 2000, EVERY AMERICAN
ADULT MUST BE LITERATE -- AND EVERY AMERICAN SCHOOL
MUST BE FREE OF DRUGS, FREE FROM THE VIOLENCE THAT
TODAY TOO OFTEN FOLLOWS OUR KIDS INTO THE CLASSROOM.
LET ME SUM UP THE SIX GOALS THIS WAY: TOGETHER, BY THE
YEAR 2000, WE MUST CREATE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
FOR OUR CHILDREN. 11
- 9 -
LET ME SHARE A STORY LAMAR TOLD ME ABOUT A LITTLE
GIRL, A 4TH GRADER NAMED ARIANE WILLIAMS. AT THE KICK-
OFF FOR NEW ORLEANS 2000, SHE STOOD UP -- AND HERE'S
WHAT SHE SAID: "THESE GOALS ARE NOT JUST THE
PRESIDENT'S GOALS. THEY'RE NOT JUST THE GOVERNORS'
GOALS. THEY ARE THE NATION'S GOALS." / THAT LITTLE
GIRL GOT THE MESSAGE -- AND so DO YOU.
Here
this
vallop
GOALS DEFINE THE MISSION. THEY TELL US WHERE WE
WANT TO GO -- NOT HOW TO GET THERE. THAT'S WHY, NEARLY
ONE YEAR AGO TO THE DAY, I MAPPED OUT A STRATEGY I CALL
AMERICA 2000: A PLAN TO REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICAN
EDUCATION. TO BREAK THE MOLD -- AND FOR THE SAKE OF
OUR CHILDREN, PUT AN END TO BUSINESS-AS-USUAL.
- 10 -
TWO DAYS FROM NOW, WE'LL MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY
OF AMERICA 2000. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU TODAY A KIND OF
"REPORT CARD" ON WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED. / IN ONE
YEAR'S TIME, WE'VE SEEN AMERICA 2000 CATCH FIRE ALL
ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. ALREADY, 43 STATES AND MORE THAN
1000 COMMUNITIES -- FROM GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO TO
LEWISTON, MAINE -- HAVE JOINED THE AMERICA 2000
CRUSADE. EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE WORKING TO
BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND THE
COMMUNITY -- TO SPARK A GRASS-ROOTS REVOLUTION TO RE-
INVENT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL.
BUT, YOU KNOW THAT STORY -- BECAUSE LEHIGH VALLEY
X
HAS LED THE WAY. //
stopped you it
I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU AN OLD AFRICAN PROVERB
THAT'S THE MOTTO OF MINNESOTA 2000: "IT TAKES AN
ENTIRE VILLAGE TO EDUCATE ONE CHILD."
Bayamil Familin Bysh Madd ad
11 -
**
AND THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES -- BECAUSE EDUCATION
DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN IN THE CLASSROOM. IT DOESN'T START
AT 8:20 EACH MORNING AND END AT 5 OF 3:00. ALL OF US
LEAD BUSY LIVES -- BUT WE MUST NEVER BE TOO BUSY TO
READ TO OUR KIDS. TO TEACH THEM RIGHT FROM WRONG. TO
TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE THINGS THEY WORRY ABOUT AND
WONDER AT -- TO LISTEN, REALLY LISTEN, TO WHAT THEY
SAY. WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN, AND TO OURSELVES, TO
SEE THAT WE LIVE IN COMMUNITIES THAT CARE ABOUT
EDUCATION -- COMMUNITIES WHERE LEARNING CAN HAPPEN.
YOU'VE GOT EVERY RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT CAN WASHINGTON
DO TO HELP? HERE'S ONE WAY WE CAN. TODAY, I WANT TO
ANNOUNCE A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE I CALL THE LIFETIME
EDUCATION AND TRAINING ACCOUNT -- A PACKAGE OF GRANTS
AND LINE OF CREDIT WORTH $25,000 DOLLARS TO EVERY
ELIGIBLE AMERICAN, TO FURTHER THEIR EDUCATION OR
ACQUIRE NEW JOB SKILLS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR
ABILITIES. 11 I'VE SAID BEFORE IF WE WANT TO COMPETE
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE'VE GOT TO BECOME A NATION OF
STUDENTS.
- 12 -
TO DO THAT, WE'VE GOT TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH TO THE
OLD NOTIONS OF "STUDENT AID." THINK OF THE WORKING
MOM, BALANCING HER RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER FAMILY AND
HER JOB AGAINST HER OWN HOPES FOR THE FUTURE. SHE'D
TAKE ONE COLLEGE COURSE AT A TIME -- BUT SHE DOESN'T
QUALIFY RIGHT NOW FOR THE GRANT OR LOAN THAT WOULD HELP
PAY TUITION. OUR LIFETIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ACCOUNT WOULD HELP HER GET BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM. /
HERE'S THE MESSAGE FOR THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY -- AND
FOR THEIR PARENTS, TOO: EDUCATION DOESN'T END WITH
GRADUATION. LEARNING HAS GOT TO BE A LIFE-LONG
PURSUIT. //
- 13 -
I CAME TO LEHIGH -- TO ONE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITIES
TO JOIN THE AMERICA 2000 CRUSADE -- TO SET THE AGENDA
FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF AMERICA 2000. OUR NEXT STEP
FORWARD DEPENDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN BUILDING A CONSENSUS
FOR CHANGE AROUND FOUR CORE IDEAS -- FOUR WAYS TO BUILD
ON WHAT WE'VE BEGUN: TO TRANSFORM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT INTO A CATALYST FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM.
FIRST, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT REACHING OUR GOALS,
WE MUST SET WORLD CLASS STANDARDS IN FIVE CORE SUBJECTS
-- AND ESTABLISH A SERIES OF VOLUNTARY AMERICAN
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS TO MEASURE OUR CHILDREN'S PROGRESS.
SECOND, WE'VE GOT TO GRANT STATES AND LOCAL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS RELIEF FROM FEDERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
THAT LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL
ACHIEVEMENT AND DO NOTHING TO HELP US MEET OUR NATIONAL
GOALS. OUR TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS DESERVE FLEXIBILITY
-- FREEDOM TO USE THEIR FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCE ON WHAT
WORKS BEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS TO MEET FEDERAL GOALS.
*
AD-UB
- 14 -
HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS HERE TODAY: HOW CAN
WE ASK YOU TO TEACH -- AND THEN TIE YOUR HANDS?
THIRD, WE'VE GOT TO LAUNCH A WIDE-OPEN EFFORT TO
CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS -+ STARTING
WITH AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
ACROSS THE COUNTRY. RIGHT HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY,
YOU'RE HARD AT WORK ON YOUR PLAN TO MAKE THIS COMMUNITY
HOME TO ITS OWN NEW AMERICAN SCHOOL.
THESE BREAK-THE-MOLD SCHOOLS WON'T CONFORM TO ANY
ONE BLUEPRINT. SOME MAY MAKE A QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD
INTO TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES. OTHERS MAY SEEK TO REACH
THE FUTURE BY RESTORING OLDER TRADITIONS, THE
DISCIPLINE -- AND DISCIPLINES -- OF AN EARLIER ERA. /
EACH ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS WOULD BE A LIVING EXAMPLE OF
HOW WE CAN RE-INVENT AMERICAN EDUCATION. ALL WE NEED
NOW FROM CONGRESS IS THE SEED MONEY TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE
YOU TRANSLATE IDEAS INTO ACTION.
- 15 -
FOURTH, WE MUST CREATE AN INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE
EDUCATION BY PROMOTING SCHOOL CHOICE. FOR FAR TOO
LONG, WE'VE SHIELDED OUR SCHOOLS FROM COMPETITION --
ALLOWED THE SYSTEM A DAMAGING MONOPOLY-POWER OVER
STUDENTS. WELL, JUST AS MONOPOLIES ARE BAD FOR THE
ECONOMY -- THEY'RE BAD FOR OUR KIDS. EVERY PARENT
SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE WHICH SCHOOL IS BEST
FOR HIS CHILD -- PUBLIC, PRIVATE OR RELIGIOUS. //
LOOK AT AMERICA'S COLLEGE STUDENTS. OUR UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM IS THE ENVY OF THE WORLD. EACH YEAR, WE MAKE
OVER $20 BILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS
DIRECTLY TO STUDENTS -- ONE OF EVERY TWO STUDENTS
ENROLLED IN COLLEGE RIGHT NOW -- TO USE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF THEIR CHOICE. NO ONE ASKS WHETHER THEY
ENROLL AT PENN OR PENN STATE -- AT VILLANOVA OR LEHIGH
OR LAFAYETTE. IT'S TIME WE MAKE THE SAME CHOICE
AVAILABLE TO ALL PARENTS FROM THE MOMENT THEIR CHILDREN
GO TO SCHOOL. WHETHER IT'S THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ON YOUR
STREET OR THE ONE ACROSS TOWN -- WHETHER IT'S PRIVATE
OR PAROCHIAL, YESHIVA OR BIBLE SCHOOL: LET PARENTS --
A
NOT THE GOVERNMENT mollincture DECIDE.
- 16 -
AND LET'S BE CLEAR: IF WE DENY PARENTS SCHOOL
CHOICE -- LET'S RECOGNIZE WHO'S HURT WORST BY THE
STATUS QUO. IT'S NOT THE WELL-TO-DO. IT'S NOT THE
UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. IT'S NOT ANY ONE OF US WHO EVER
WENT HOUSE-HUNTING WITH A MAP OF THE GOOD SCHOOL
DISTRICTS. DENY PEOPLE SCHOOL CHOICE, AND THE ONES YOU
HURT MOST ARE THE MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER -- AND
ESPECIALLY THE POOR.
THAT'S WHY CHOICE IS CATCHING ON IN SOME OF THE
HARDEST-HIT NEIGHBORHOODS IN THIS NATION. TALK TO
PARENTS SPEARHEADING THE SCHOOL CHOICE CRUSADE --
PEOPLE LIKE POLLY WILLIAMS IN MILWAUKEE. THEY'LL TELL
YOU HOW THE LACK OF CHOICE LEFT THEM POWERLESS TO FORCE
CHANGE -- HOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL BUREAUCRACY TURNED
STUDENTS INTO STATISTICS AND PARENTS INTO PAWNS. LOOK
AT MILWAUKEE TODAY -- PIONEERING SCHOOL CHOICE, GIVING
POOR PARENTS CONTROL, AND POOR CHILDREN PRIDE. LOOK AT
THE SCHOOLS IN EAST HARLEM -- WHERE TEACHERS PUT THEIR
NAMES ON WAITING LISTS TO GET A CHANCE TO TEACH IN A
CHOICE SCHOOL. THEY CAN'T WAIT TO STAND IN FRONT OF A
CLASSROOM OF CHILDREN WHO WANT TO BE THERE -- WHO WANT
TO LEARN.
- 17 -
CHOICE WORKS -- AND HERE'S WHY. WHEN OUR STUDENTS
ARE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, OUR SCHOOLS HAVE NO INCENTIVE
TO IMPROVE. SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT REFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS: IF YOU'RE FOR CHANGE -- YOU'RE FOR SCHOOL
CHOICE. //
THESE FOUR IDEAS ARE GENERATING INTEREST AND
ENTHUSIASM AMONG GOVERNORS AND MAYORS -- DEMOCRATS AND
REPUBLICANS -- AMONG BUSINESS LEADERS FROM ED DONLEY
AND THE ALLENTOWN-LEHIGH COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, TO
THE FORTUNE 500. AMONG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND
PARENTS AND PRINCIPALS -- EVERYONE AT EVERY LEVEL WHO
UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
EVERYONE, THAT IS, EXCEPT THE LEADERS OF THE
U.S. CONGRESS. AT A MOMENT WHEN THE CONSENSUS FOR
CHANGE SEEMS TO BE REACHING CRITICAL MASS, ON CAPITOL
HILL YOU CAN WATCH THE LAST STAND OF THE STATUS QUO.
FORCES THERE ARE WAGING A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO PUT THE
BRAKES ON CHANGE -- TO PRESERVE THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
APPROACH THAT BROUGHT US THE PRESENT CRISIS IN
EDUCATION.
- 18 -
THE MIND-SET UP ON CAPITOL HILL REMINDS ME OF A
LETTER I GOT THE OTHER DAY FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
STUDENT -- A LITTLE GIRL NAMED HARUKA ABE: "I LIKE,"
SHE SAYS, "WHEN MY TEACHER READS MY CLASS SOME BOOKS -
A - BECAUSE Reminds EVERYBODY in GETS CH SLEEPY." I way they areching D.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE BILL NOW WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH
THE CONGRESS -- AT THE TIRED OLD IDEAS IT WANTS TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FOUR PATH-BREAKING IDEAS I MENTIONED
A MOMENT AGO.
1st
PP
AS PART OF AMERICA 2000, I ASKED CONGRESS FOR FUNDS
P19
FOR NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- NO TO
FUNDING EVEN 1 PERCENT -- 535 -- OF 50,000 NEW AMERICAN
SCHOOLS THIS NATION NEEDS. THEY WANT TO FUNNEL MORE
FEDERAL DOLLARS INTO EXISTING BUSINESS-AS-USUAL STATE
BUREAUCRACIES -- THE VERY SAME BUREAUCRACIES THAT PUT
US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
- 19 -
WE ASKED CONGRESS FOR AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP
WORLD CLASS STANDARDS AND AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -
- TOOLS THAT WOULD HELP US MEASURE OUR STUDENTS'
PROGRESS -- AND ASSESS THE RETURN WE'RE GETTING FOR OUR
EDUCATION DOLLARS. CONGRESS SAID NO TO TESTING AND
STANDARDS.
THE STATUS QUO CROWD
ON CAPITOL HILL
WE ASKED THE CONGRESS FOR FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS
AND PRINCIPALS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- LET'S STICK TO THE
STATUS QUO.
FINALLY, WE ASKED THE CONGRESS TO FUND PILOT
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE SCHOOL CHOICE -- PROGRAMS TO HELP
POOR FAMILIES IN SIX AMERICAN CITIES. CONGRESS SAID NO
TO SCHOOL CHOICE. 11
On
SO TODAY, LET ME SERVE NOTICE TO THE EDUCATION
LOBBY AND THEIR FRIENDS BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: ONE YEAR
AGO, I ASKED YOU TO JOIN WITH ME IN A REVOLUTION -- TO
BE A PART OF AMERICA 2000. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET
X
"ON BOARD" -- OR STAY BEHIND. NO MORE BUSINESS-AS-
USUAL. 11
- 20 -
CONGRESS CAN DRAG ITS FEET -- BUT IT CAN'T STOP
CHANGE. LEHIGH VALLEY IS LIVING PROOF OF THE WORDS OF
THE GREAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "REVOLUTIONS DO NOT GO
BACKWARD." THERE IS A TIME EARLY IN EVERY REVOLUTION
WHEN THE STATUS QUO LOOKS STEADY AND STRONG -- AND THE
FORCES THAT CHALLENGE IT WEAK AND WITHOUT EFFECT. AND
THERE IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE FORCES OF CHANGE CARRY THE
DAY -- THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE STATUS QUO STANDS
REVEALED, AND THE WHOLE, HOLLOW HOUSE OF CARDS
COLLAPSES.
THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN EDUCATION IS ALREADY
UNDERWAY. IN LEHIGH VALLEY AND IN COMMUNITIES ALL
ACROSS AMERICA, THE OLD WAYS ARE BEING ABANDONED, NEW
IDEAS ADVANCED. THIS REVOLUTION WILL TRIUMPH FOR THE
SIMPLEST AND THE STRONGEST OF REASONS: BECAUSE
AMERICAN PARENTS WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A SINGLE CHILD ANYWHERE IN AMERICA
X
WHO DOESN'T DESERVE THE BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE. //
- 21 -
FROM OUR SCHOOLS TO OUR COURTS, FROM OUR HOSPITALS
TO THE HALLS OF GOVERNMENT, FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS
OUTSIDE OUR DOOR TO THE REALITIES OF A NEW WORLD
ECONOMY - -- THE NEED FOR REFORM WON'T WAIT. THE ONLY
ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE IS THE AMERICAN RESPONSE. WE MUST
REKINDLE A REVOLUTION -- A REVOLUTION TO BRING CHANGE
X
TO THE COUNTRY THAT'S CHANGED THE WORLD. //
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE. THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT CHANGE. //
THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS WARM WELCOME -- AND MAY GOD
BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
Christina
LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
THANK YOU HILDA -- OR I SHOULD SAY, MY FELLOW
PRESIDENT. // LET ME RECOGNIZE OUR ABLE SECRETARY OF
EDUCATION, LAMAR ALEXANDER. HOMETOWN CONGRESSMAN DON
RITTER. MAYOR JOE DADDONA [DA-DOE-NA] OF ALLENTOWN.
MAYOR KEN SMITH OF BETHLEHEM.
ED DONLEY - -- DRIVING FORCE BEHIND LEHIGH VALLEY
2000 AND CO-CHAIR OF PENNSYLVANIA 2000, WHICH KICKED
OFF BACK IN OCTOBER. ANN SNYDER -- VALEDICTORIAN OF
THE CLASS OF '92. OUR GUESTS WHO DID SUCH A GREAT JOB
WITH THE GOALS. PRINCIPAL MIKE MEILINGER [MILE-INJER]
FOR CALLING THIS SPECIAL ASSEMBLY TODAY.
MY THANKS TO THE PARENTS, THE TEACHERS AND THE
STAFF. THANKS ALSO TO ALL THE FOLKS HERE FROM
ALLENTOWN AND EASTON AND BETHLEHEM - -- THE LEADING
LIGHTS OF LEHIGH VALLEY. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LET ME
SAY HELLO TO THE STUDENTS OF DIERUFF HIGH. //
- 2 -
IT'S ASTONISHING TO BE HERE WITH THE CLASS OF '92
AS A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF '42. // I REALIZE THE
WORLD I THOUGHT OF AS NEW -- FOR YOU IS, WELL, HISTORY.
//
LOOK AT THE WORLD YOU'LL SOON CALL YOUR OWN -- AT
THE PACE OF CHANGE WE'VE COME TO EXPECT: EACH DAY, WE
SEE HISTORY PLAYED OUT IN THE HEADLINES. OLD EMPIRES
EXPIRE - NEW WORLDS ARE BORN. IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS
ALONE, WE'VE SEEN THE BIRTH OF 18 NEW NATIONS.. [ [WHO
KNOWS HOW MANY THERE'LL BE BY THE TIME YOU TAKE THAT
BIG GEOGRAPHY FINAL.] ]]
BUT THE CHALLENGES WE FACE -- THE SHEER COMPLEXITY
OF OUR WORLD - -- CAN'T OBSCURE THE BASIC VALUES THAT
GUIDE THIS NATION. TIMES CHANGE, BUT TRUTHS ENDURE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BIG ISSUES THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD -
- ABOUT THE VALUES CLOSE TO HOME. EVERYTHING I'VE DONE
-- I'VE DONE TO PRESERVE AND ADVANCE THREE PRECIOUS
LEGACIES: STRONG FAMILIES. GOOD JOBS. A WORLD AT
PEACE.
- 3 -
SECURING THOSE LEGACIES HAS BEEN MY MISSION AS
PRESIDENT -- AND IT WILL BE MY MISSION TODAY AND EVERY
DAY, NOW AND FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. //
RIGHT NOW, HERE IN ALLENTOWN AND ACROSS AMERICA,
THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN IS THE ECONOMY -- AND TURNING
THIS ECONOMY AROUND, CREATING JOBS, IS THE MISSION THAT
MATTERS MOST. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE
ECONOMY. GET BENEATH THE COLD STATISTICS -- DOWN TO
THE REAL HEART OF THIS ISSUE. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THE JOB THEY'VE GOT -- AND
WHETHER THEY'RE ON TRACK FOR A BETTER ONE. FOR THEIR
KIDS -- FOR EACH ONE OF THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY --
PARENTS HAVE GOT GRANDER VISIONS: NOT JUST A JOB -- A
CAREER. WORK THAT MEANS MORE THAN SIMPLY MAKING ENDS
MEET: WORK THAT GIVES REAL MEANING TO YOUR LIFE. //
- 4 -
PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT IS GOVERNMENT'S
ROLE IN ALL OF THIS? / NO, WE CAN'T LEGISLATE THE
AMERICAN DREAM. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN SERVE AS A CATALYST
FOR CHANGE -- CLEARING AWAY THE OBSTACLES TO ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND THE UNNECESSARY COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS.
EXPANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGGRESSIVE BUSINESSES
AND ENTERPRISING INDIVIDUALS TO CREATE NEW JOBS.
TRAINING AND EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN -- GIVING YOU THE
TOOLS OF THOUGHT YOU'LL NEED TO COMPETE IN THE NEW
WORLD ECONOMY. //
- 5 -
THE FATE OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC FUTURE RESTS ON FIVE
KEY REFORMS: ON FREE AND FAIR TRADE -- OUR ABILITY TO
BREAK DOWN BARRIERS, OPEN NEW MARKETS TO AMERICAN
GOODS. OUR FUTURE RESTS ON LEGAL REFORM -- ON ENDING
THE EXPLOSION OF LITIGATION THAT STRAINS OUR PATIENCE
AND SAPS OUR ECONOMY. ON HEALTH CARE REFORM -- OPENING
UP ACCESS TO ALL AMERICANS, CONTROLLING THE RUN-AWAY
COST OF HEALTH CARE WITHOUT SACRIFICING CHOICE AND
QUALITY. ON GOVERNMENT REFORM -- BECAUSE ONLY IF WE
REVERSE A GENERATION OF CREEPING BUREAUCRACY, ONLY IF
WE RESTORE LIMITS TO GOVERNMENT, CAN WE RESTORE PUBLIC
TRUST.
FINALLY, THE REASON I'VE COME TO LEHIGH VALLEY
TODAY: OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON EDUCATION REFORM -- ON
OUR ABILITY TO REVOLUTIONIZE -- LITERALLY RE-INVENT OUR
SCHOOLS. TO TAKE THAT REVOLUTION BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS
OF THE CLASSROOM -- TRANSFORM OUR ATTITUDES AND IDEAS,
THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT EDUCATION. //
- 6 -
EDUCATION REPRESENTS A PERFECT COMMUNITY OF
INTEREST: BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY --
BETWEEN ONE GENERATION AND THE NEXT. BETWEEN THE PROUD
HISTORY WE MUST PASS ON -- AND THE PATH-BREAKING FUTURE
WE MUST CREATE. 11 AND IN TERMS OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC
FUTURE -- EDUCATION IS NOTHING LESS THAN A MATTER OF
ECONOMIC SURVIVAL. IT'S JUST THIS SIMPLE: BETTER
SCHOOLS MEAN BETTER JOBS. //
YOU'VE SEEN THE NEWS STORIES. YOU'VE HEARD THE
STATISTICS. ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT SLACK
PRODUCTIVITY OR A BAD BALANCE OF TRADE OUGHT TO BE
ALARMED ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S TEST SCORES. MILLIONS OF
STUDENTS WORK HARD, MILLIONS OF DEDICATED TEACHERS DO
THEIR BEST -- AND STILL, IN ONE TEST AFTER ANOTHER,
AMERICA'S CHILDREN SCORE AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM RANKS OF
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT. //
- 7 -
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER TEST TO TELL US SOMETHING IS
WRONG WITH THE STATE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. FOR THE
SAKE OF EVERY STUDENT HERE TODAY, WE'VE GOT TO SHAKE
OFF ANY SENSE OF COMPLACENCY -- AND SHAKE UP THE STATUS
QUO.
HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY, THAT'S A LESSON YOU LEARNED
YEARS AGO. YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR WORD FROM WASHINGTON.
YOU DIDN'T STAND BACK AND WATCH ANOTHER GENERATION OF
KIDS GET LESS EDUCATION THAN THEY DESERVED. THIS
COMMUNITY TOOK A DIRECT INTEREST IN WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS COMMUNITY TOOK ACTION. //
- 8 -
I TOOK OFFICE DETERMINED TO PUT THE POWER OF THE
PRESIDENCY BEHIND CHANGE. MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, WE
TOOK A STRONG FIRST STEP. WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE
NATION'S GOVERNORS, WE SET SIX AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR THE
YEAR 2000: EVERY AMERICAN CHILD MUST START SCHOOL
READY TO LEARN. WE MUST RAISE THE HIGH-SCHOOL
GRADUATION RATE TO 90%. WE MUST PUT IN PLACE A SYSTEM
OF WORLD CLASS STANDARDS -- AND TESTS TO MEASURE
STUDENTS' PROGRESS. WE MUST BE FIRST IN THE WORLD IN
MATH AND SCIENCE. BY THE YEAR 2000, EVERY AMERICAN
ADULT MUST BE LITERATE -- AND EVERY AMERICAN SCHOOL
MUST BE FREE OF DRUGS, FREE FROM THE VIOLENCE THAT
TODAY TOO OFTEN FOLLOWS OUR KIDS INTO THE CLASSROOM.
LET ME SUM UP THE SIX GOALS THIS WAY: TOGETHER, BY THE
YEAR 2000, WE MUST CREATE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
FOR OUR CHILDREN. //
- 9 -
LET ME SHARE A STORY LAMAR TOLD ME ABOUT A LITTLE
GIRL, A 4TH GRADER NAMED ARIANE WILLIAMS. AT THE KICK-
OFF FOR NEW ORLEANS 2000, SHE STOOD UP -- AND HERE'S
WHAT SHE SAID: "THESE GOALS ARE NOT JUST THE
PRESIDENT'S GOALS. THEY'RE NOT JUST THE GOVERNORS'
GOALS. THEY ARE THE NATION'S GOALS." / THAT LITTLE
GIRL GOT THE MESSAGE -- AND so DO YOU.
GOALS DEFINE THE MISSION. THEY TELL US WHERE WE
WANT TO GO -- NOT HOW TO GET THERE. THAT'S WHY, NEARLY
ONE YEAR AGO TO THE DAY, I MAPPED OUT A STRATEGY I CALL
AMERICA 2000: A PLAN TO REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICAN
EDUCATION. TO BREAK THE MOLD -- AND FOR THE SAKE OF
OUR CHILDREN, PUT AN END TO BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
- 10 -
TWO DAYS FROM NOW, WE'LL MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY
OF AMERICA 2000. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU TODAY A KIND OF
"REPORT CARD" ON WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED. / IN ONE
YEAR'S TIME, WE'VE SEEN AMERICA 2000 CATCH FIRE ALL
ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. ALREADY, 43 STATES AND MORE THAN
1000 COMMUNITIES -- FROM GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO TO
LEWISTON, MAINE -- HAVE JOINED THE AMERICA 2000
CRUSADE. EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE WORKING TO
BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND THE
COMMUNITY -- TO SPARK A GRASS-ROOTS REVOLUTION TO RE-
INVENT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL.
BUT, YOU KNOW THAT STORY -- BECAUSE LEHIGH VALLEY
HAS LED THE WAY. //
I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU AN OLD AFRICAN PROVERB
THAT'S THE MOTTO OF MINNESOTA 2000: "IT TAKES AN
ENTIRE VILLAGE TO EDUCATE ONE CHILD."
- 11 -
AND THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES -- BECAUSE EDUCATION
DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN IN THE CLASSROOM. IT DOESN'T START
AT 8:20 EACH MORNING AND END AT 5 OF 3:00. ALL OF US
LEAD BUSY LIVES -- BUT WE MUST NEVER BE TOO BUSY TO
READ TO OUR KIDS. TO TEACH THEM RIGHT FROM WRONG. TO
TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE THINGS THEY WORRY ABOUT AND
WONDER AT -- TO LISTEN, REALLY LISTEN, TO WHAT THEY
SAY. WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN, AND TO OURSELVES, TO
SEE THAT WE LIVE IN COMMUNITIES THAT CARE ABOUT
EDUCATION -- COMMUNITIES WHERE LEARNING CAN HAPPEN.
YOU'VE GOT EVERY RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT CAN WASHINGTON
DO TO HELP? HERE'S ONE WAY WE CAN. TODAY, I WANT TO
ANNOUNCE A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE I CALL THE LIFETIME
EDUCATION AND TRAINING ACCOUNT -- A PACKAGE OF GRANTS
AND LINE OF CREDIT WORTH $25,000 DOLLARS TO EVERY
ELIGIBLE AMERICAN, TO FURTHER THEIR EDUCATION OR
ACQUIRE NEW JOB SKILLS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR
ABILITIES. // I'VE SAID BEFORE IF WE WANT TO COMPETE
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE'VE GOT TO BECOME A NATION OF
STUDENTS.
- 12 -
TO DO THAT, WE'VE GOT TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH TO THE
OLD NOTIONS OF "STUDENT AID." THINK OF THE WORKING
MOM, BALANCING HER RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER FAMILY AND
HER JOB AGAINST HER OWN HOPES FOR THE FUTURE. SHE'D
TAKE ONE COLLEGE COURSE AT A TIME -- BUT SHE DOESN'T
QUALIFY RIGHT NOW FOR THE GRANT OR LOAN THAT WOULD HELP
PAY TUITION. OUR LIFETIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ACCOUNT WOULD HELP HER GET BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM. /
HERE'S THE MESSAGE FOR THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY -- AND
FOR THEIR PARENTS, TOO: EDUCATION DOESN'T END WITH
GRADUATION. LEARNING HAS GOT TO BE A LIFE-LONG
PURSUIT. //
- 13 -
I CAME TO LEHIGH -- TO ONE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITIES
TO JOIN THE AMERICA 2000 CRUSADE -- TO SET THE AGENDA
FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF AMERICA 2000. OUR NEXT STEP
FORWARD DEPENDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN BUILDING A CONSENSUS
FOR CHANGE AROUND FOUR CORE IDEAS -- FOUR WAYS TO BUILD
ON WHAT WE'VE BEGUN: TO TRANSFORM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT INTO A CATALYST FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM.
FIRST, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT REACHING OUR GOALS,
WE MUST SET WORLD CLASS STANDARDS IN FIVE CORE SUBJECTS
-- AND ESTABLISH A SERIES OF VOLUNTARY AMERICAN
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS TO MEASURE OUR CHILDREN'S PROGRESS.
SECOND, WE'VE GOT TO GRANT STATES AND LOCAL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS RELIEF FROM FEDERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
THAT LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL
ACHIEVEMENT AND DO NOTHING TO HELP US MEET OUR NATIONAL
GOALS. OUR TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS DESERVE FLEXIBILITY
-- FREEDOM TO USE THEIR FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCE ON WHAT
WORKS BEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS TO MEET FEDERAL GOALS.
- 14 -
HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS HERE TODAY: HOW CAN
WE ASK YOU TO TEACH -- AND THEN TIE YOUR HANDS?
THIRD, WE'VE GOT TO LAUNCH A WIDE-OPEN EFFORT TO
CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS -- STARTING
WITH AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
ACROSS THE COUNTRY. RIGHT HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY,
YOU'RE HARD AT WORK ON YOUR PLAN TO MAKE THIS COMMUNITY
HOME TO ITS OWN NEW AMERICAN SCHOOL.
THESE BREAK-THE-MOLD SCHOOLS WON'T CONFORM TO ANY
ONE BLUEPRINT. SOME MAY MAKE A QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD
INTO TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES. OTHERS MAY SEEK TO REACH
THE FUTURE BY RESTORING OLDER TRADITIONS, THE
DISCIPLINE -- AND DISCIPLINES -- OF AN EARLIER ERA. /
EACH ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS WOULD BE A LIVING EXAMPLE OF
HOW WE CAN RE-INVENT AMERICAN EDUCATION. ALL WE NEED
NOW FROM CONGRESS IS THE SEED MONEY TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE
YOU TRANSLATE IDEAS INTO ACTION.
- 15 -
FOURTH, WE MUST CREATE AN INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE
EDUCATION BY PROMOTING SCHOOL CHOICE. FOR FAR TOO
LONG, WE'VE SHIELDED OUR SCHOOLS FROM COMPETITION --
ALLOWED THE SYSTEM A DAMAGING MONOPOLY-POWER OVER
STUDENTS. WELL, JUST AS MONOPOLIES ARE BAD FOR THE
ECONOMY -- THEY'RE BAD FOR OUR KIDS. EVERY PARENT
SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE WHICH SCHOOL IS BEST
FOR HIS CHILD -- PUBLIC, PRIVATE OR RELIGIOUS. //
LOOK AT AMERICA'S COLLEGE STUDENTS. OUR UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM IS THE ENVY OF THE WORLD. EACH YEAR, WE MAKE
OVER $20 BILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS
DIRECTLY TO STUDENTS -- ONE OF EVERY TWO STUDENTS
ENROLLED IN COLLEGE RIGHT NOW -- TO USE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF THEIR CHOICE. NO ONE ASKS WHETHER THEY
ENROLL AT PENN OR PENN STATE -- AT VILLANOVA OR LEHIGH
OR LAFAYETTE. IT'S TIME WE MAKE THE SAME CHOICE
AVAILABLE TO ALL PARENTS FROM THE MOMENT THEIR CHILDREN
GO TO SCHOOL. WHETHER IT'S THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ON YOUR
STREET OR THE ONE ACROSS TOWN -- WHETHER IT'S PRIVATE
OR PAROCHIAL, YESHIVA OR BIBLE SCHOOL: LET PARENTS --
NOT THE GOVERNMENT -- DECIDE. //
- 16 -
AND LET'S BE CLEAR: IF WE DENY PARENTS SCHOOL
CHOICE -- LET'S RECOGNIZE WHO'S HURT WORST BY THE
STATUS QUO. IT'S NOT THE WELL-TO-DO. IT'S NOT THE
UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. IT'S NOT ANY ONE OF US WHO EVER
WENT HOUSE-HUNTING WITH A MAP OF THE GOOD SCHOOL
DISTRICTS. DENY PEOPLE SCHOOL CHOICE, AND THE ONES YOU
HURT MOST ARE THE MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER -- AND
ESPECIALLY THE POOR.
THAT'S WHY CHOICE IS CATCHING ON IN SOME OF THE
HARDEST-HIT NEIGHBORHOODS IN THIS NATION. TALK TO
PARENTS SPEARHEADING THE SCHOOL CHOICE CRUSADE --
PEOPLE LIKE POLLY WILLIAMS IN MILWAUKEE. THEY'LL TELL
YOU HOW THE LACK OF CHOICE LEFT THEM POWERLESS TO FORCE
CHANGE -- HOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL BUREAUCRACY TURNED
STUDENTS INTO STATISTICS AND PARENTS INTO PAWNS. LOOK
AT MILWAUKEE TODAY -- PIONEERING SCHOOL CHOICE, GIVING
POOR PARENTS CONTROL, AND POOR CHILDREN PRIDE. LOOK AT
THE SCHOOLS IN EAST HARLEM -- WHERE TEACHERS PUT THEIR
NAMES ON WAITING LISTS TO GET A CHANCE TO TEACH IN A
CHOICE SCHOOL. THEY CAN'T WAIT TO STAND IN FRONT OF A
CLASSROOM OF CHILDREN WHO WANT TO BE THERE -- WHO WANT
TO LEARN.
- 17 -
CHOICE WORKS -- AND HERE'S WHY. WHEN OUR STUDENTS
ARE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, OUR SCHOOLS HAVE NO INCENTIVE
TO IMPROVE. SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT REFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS: IF YOU'RE FOR CHANGE -- YOU'RE FOR SCHOOL
CHOICE. //
THESE FOUR IDEAS ARE GENERATING INTEREST AND
ENTHUSIASM AMONG GOVERNORS AND MAYORS -- DEMOCRATS AND
REPUBLICANS -- AMONG BUSINESS LEADERS FROM ED DONLEY
AND THE ALLENTOWN-LEHIGH COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, TO
THE FORTUNE 500. AMONG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND
PARENTS AND PRINCIPALS -- EVERYONE AT EVERY LEVEL WHO
UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
EVERYONE, THAT IS, EXCEPT THE LEADERS OF THE
U.S. CONGRESS. AT A MOMENT WHEN THE CONSENSUS FOR
CHANGE SEEMS TO BE REACHING CRITICAL MASS, ON CAPITOL
HILL YOU CAN WATCH THE LAST STAND OF THE STATUS QUO.
FORCES THERE ARE WAGING A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO PUT THE
BRAKES ON CHANGE -- TO PRESERVE THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
APPROACH THAT BROUGHT US THE PRESENT CRISIS IN
EDUCATION.
- 18 -
THE MIND-SET UP ON CAPITOL HILL REMINDS ME OF A
LETTER I GOT THE OTHER DAY FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
STUDENT -- A LITTLE GIRL NAMED HARUKA ABE: "I LIKE,"
SHE SAYS, "WHEN MY TEACHER READS MY CLASS SOME BOOKS -
- BECAUSE EVERYBODY GETS SLEEPY."
TAKE A LOOK AT THE BILL NOW WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH
THE CONGRESS -- AT THE TIRED OLD IDEAS IT WANTS TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FOUR PATH-BREAKING IDEAS I MENTIONED
A MOMENT AGO.
AS PART OF AMERICA 2000, I ASKED CONGRESS FOR FUNDS
FOR NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- NO TO
FUNDING EVEN 1 PERCENT -- 535 -- OF 50,000 NEW AMERICAN
SCHOOLS THIS NATION NEEDS. THEY WANT TO FUNNEL MORE
FEDERAL DOLLARS INTO EXISTING BUSINESS-AS-USUAL STATE
BUREAUCRACIES -- THE VERY SAME BUREAUCRACIES THAT PUT
US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
- 19 -
WE ASKED CONGRESS FOR AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP
WORLD CLASS STANDARDS AND AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -
- TOOLS THAT WOULD HELP US MEASURE OUR STUDENTS'
PROGRESS -- AND ASSESS THE RETURN WE'RE GETTING FOR OUR
EDUCATION DOLLARS. CONGRESS SAID NO TO TESTING AND
STANDARDS.
WE ASKED THE CONGRESS FOR FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS
AND PRINCIPALS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- LET'S STICK TO THE
STATUS QUO.
FINALLY, WE ASKED THE CONGRESS TO FUND PILOT
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE SCHOOL CHOICE -- PROGRAMS TO HELP
POOR FAMILIES IN SIX AMERICAN CITIES. CONGRESS SAID NO
TO SCHOOL CHOICE. //
so TODAY, LET ME SERVE NOTICE TO THE EDUCATION
LOBBY AND THEIR FRIENDS BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: ONE YEAR
AGO, I ASKED YOU TO JOIN WITH ME IN A REVOLUTION -- TO
BE A PART OF AMERICA 2000. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET
"ON BOARD" -- OR STAY BEHIND. NO MORE BUSINESS-AS-
USUAL. 11
- 20 -
CONGRESS CAN DRAG ITS FEET -- BUT IT CAN'T STOP
CHANGE. LEHIGH VALLEY IS LIVING PROOF OF THE WORDS OF
THE GREAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "REVOLUTIONS DO NOT GO
BACKWARD." THERE IS A TIME EARLY IN EVERY REVOLUTION
WHEN THE STATUS QUO LOOKS STEADY AND STRONG -- AND THE
FORCES THAT CHALLENGE IT WEAK AND WITHOUT EFFECT. AND
THERE IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE FORCES OF CHANGE CARRY THE
DAY -- THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE STATUS QUO STANDS
REVEALED, AND THE WHOLE, HOLLOW HOUSE OF CARDS
COLLAPSES.
THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN EDUCATION IS ALREADY
UNDERWAY. IN LEHIGH VALLEY AND IN COMMUNITIES ALL
ACROSS AMERICA, THE OLD WAYS ARE BEING ABANDONED, NEW
IDEAS ADVANCED. THIS REVOLUTION WILL TRIUMPH FOR THE
SIMPLEST AND THE STRONGEST OF REASONS: BECAUSE
AMERICAN PARENTS WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A SINGLE CHILD ANYWHERE IN AMERICA
WHO DOESN'T DESERVE THE BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE. //
- 21 - -
FROM OUR SCHOOLS TO OUR COURTS, FROM OUR HOSPITALS
TO THE HALLS OF GOVERNMENT, FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS
OUTSIDE OUR DOOR TO THE REALITIES OF A NEW WORLD
ECONOMY - -- THE NEED FOR REFORM WON'T WAIT. THE ONLY
ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE IS THE AMERICAN RESPONSE. WE MUST
REKINDLE A REVOLUTION - -- A REVOLUTION TO BRING CHANGE
TO THE COUNTRY THAT'S CHANGED THE WORLD. //
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE. THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT CHANGE. //
THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS WARM WELCOME -- AND MAY GOD
BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
OLD
LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
THANK YOU HILDA -- OR I SHOULD SAY, MY FELLOW
PRESIDENT. // LET ME RECOGNIZE OUR ABLE SECRETARY OF
EDUCATION, LAMAR ALEXANDER. HOMETOWN CONGRESSMAN DON
RITTER. MAYOR JOE DADDONA [DA-DOE-NA] OF ALLENTOWN.
MAYOR KEN SMITH OF BETHLEHEM.
ED DONLEY -- DRIVING FORCE BEHIND LEHIGH VALLEY
2000 AND CO-CHAIR OF PENNSYLVANIA 2000, WHICH KICKED
OFF BACK IN OCTOBER. ANN SNYDER -- VALEDICTORIAN OF
THE CLASS OF '92. OUR GUESTS WHO DID SUCH A GREAT JOB
WITH THE GOALS. PRINCIPAL MIKE MEILINGER [MILE-INJER]
FOR CALLING THIS SPECIAL ASSEMBLY TODAY.
MY THANKS TO THE PARENTS, THE TEACHERS AND THE
STAFF. THANKS ALSO TO ALL THE FOLKS HERE FROM
ALLENTOWN AND EASTON AND BETHLEHEM -- THE LEADING
LIGHTS OF LEHIGH VALLEY. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LET ME
SAY HELLO TO THE STUDENTS OF DIERUFF HIGH. //
- 2 -
IT'S ASTONISHING TO BE HERE WITH THE CLASS OF '92
AS A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF '42. // I REALIZE THE
WORLD I THOUGHT OF AS NEW -- FOR YOU IS, WELL, HISTORY.
11
LOOK AT THE WORLD YOU'LL SOON CALL YOUR OWN -- AT
THE PACE OF CHANGE WE'VE COME TO EXPECT: EACH DAY, WE
SEE HISTORY PLAYED OUT IN THE HEADLINES. OLD EMPIRES
EXPIRE -- NEW WORLDS ARE BORN. IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS
ALONE, WE'VE SEEN THE BIRTH OF 18 NEW NATIONS.. [ [WHO
KNOWS HOW MANY THERE'LL BE BY THE TIME YOU TAKE THAT
BIG GEOGRAPHY FINAL.]]
BUT THE CHALLENGES WE FACE -- THE SHEER COMPLEXITY
OF OUR WORLD -- CAN'T OBSCURE THE BASIC VALUES THAT
GUIDE THIS NATION. TIMES CHANGE, BUT TRUTHS ENDURE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BIG ISSUES THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD -
- ABOUT THE VALUES CLOSE TO HOME. EVERYTHING I'VE DONE
-- I'VE DONE TO PRESERVE AND ADVANCE THREE PRECIOUS
LEGACIES: STRONG FAMILIES. GOOD JOBS. A WORLD AT
PEACE.
- 3 -
SECURING THOSE LEGACIES HAS BEEN MY MISSION AS
PRESIDENT -- AND IT WILL BE MY MISSION TODAY AND EVERY
DAY, NOW AND FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. //
RIGHT NOW, HERE IN ALLENTOWN AND ACROSS AMERICA,
THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN IS THE ECONOMY -- AND TURNING
THIS ECONOMY AROUND, CREATING JOBS, IS THE MISSION THAT
MATTERS MOST. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE
ECONOMY. GET BENEATH THE COLD STATISTICS -- DOWN TO
THE REAL HEART OF THIS ISSUE. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THE JOB THEY'VE GOT -- AND
WHETHER THEY'RE ON TRACK FOR A BETTER ONE. FOR THEIR
KIDS -- FOR EACH ONE OF THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY --
PARENTS HAVE GOT GRANDER VISIONS: NOT JUST A JOB -- A
CAREER. WORK THAT MEANS MORE THAN SIMPLY MAKING ENDS
MEET: WORK THAT GIVES REAL MEANING TO YOUR LIFE. //
- 4 -
PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT IS GOVERNMENT'S
ROLE IN ALL OF THIS? / NO, WE CAN'T LEGISLATE THE
AMERICAN DREAM. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN SERVE AS A CATALYST
FOR CHANGE -- CLEARING AWAY THE OBSTACLES TO ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND THE UNNECESSARY COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS.
EXPANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGGRESSIVE BUSINESSES
AND ENTERPRISING INDIVIDUALS TO CREATE NEW JOBS.
TRAINING AND EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN -- GIVING YOU THE
TOOLS OF THOUGHT YOU'LL NEED TO COMPETE IN THE NEW
WORLD ECONOMY. //
- 5 -
THE FATE OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC FUTURE RESTS ON FIVE
KEY REFORMS: ON FREE AND FAIR TRADE -- OUR ABILITY TO
BREAK DOWN BARRIERS, OPEN NEW MARKETS TO AMERICAN
GOODS. OUR FUTURE RESTS ON LEGAL REFORM -- ON ENDING
THE EXPLOSION OF LITIGATION THAT STRAINS OUR PATIENCE
AND SAPS OUR ECONOMY. ON HEALTH CARE REFORM -- OPENING
UP ACCESS TO ALL AMERICANS, CONTROLLING THE RUN-AWAY
COST OF HEALTH CARE WITHOUT SACRIFICING CHOICE AND
QUALITY. ON GOVERNMENT REFORM -- BECAUSE ONLY IF WE
REVERSE A GENERATION OF CREEPING BUREAUCRACY, ONLY IF
WE RESTORE LIMITS TO GOVERNMENT, CAN WE RESTORE PUBLIC
TRUST.
FINALLY, THE REASON I'VE COME TO LEHIGH VALLEY
TODAY: OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON EDUCATION REFORM -- ON
OUR ABILITY TO REVOLUTIONIZE -- LITERALLY RE-INVENT OUR
SCHOOLS. TO TAKE THAT REVOLUTION BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS
OF THE CLASSROOM -- TRANSFORM OUR ATTITUDES AND IDEAS,
THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT EDUCATION. //
- 6 -
EDUCATION REPRESENTS A PERFECT COMMUNITY OF
INTEREST: BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY --
BETWEEN ONE GENERATION AND THE NEXT. BETWEEN THE PROUD
HISTORY WE MUST PASS ON -- AND THE PATH-BREAKING FUTURE
WE MUST CREATE. // AND IN TERMS OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC
FUTURE -- EDUCATION IS NOTHING LESS THAN A MATTER OF
ECONOMIC SURVIVAL. IT'S JUST THIS SIMPLE: BETTER
SCHOOLS MEAN BETTER JOBS. //
YOU'VE SEEN THE NEWS STORIES. YOU'VE HEARD THE
STATISTICS. ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT SLACK
PRODUCTIVITY OR A BAD BALANCE OF TRADE OUGHT TO BE
ALARMED ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S TEST SCORES. MILLIONS OF
STUDENTS WORK HARD, MILLIONS OF DEDICATED TEACHERS DO
THEIR BEST -- AND STILL, IN ONE TEST AFTER ANOTHER,
AMERICA'S CHILDREN SCORE AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM RANKS OF
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT. //
- 7 -
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER TEST TO TELL US SOMETHING IS
WRONG WITH THE STATE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. FOR THE
SAKE OF EVERY STUDENT HERE TODAY, WE'VE GOT TO SHAKE
OFF ANY SENSE OF COMPLACENCY -- AND SHAKE UP THE STATUS
QUO.
HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY, THAT'S A LESSON YOU LEARNED
YEARS AGO. YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR WORD FROM WASHINGTON.
YOU DIDN'T STAND BACK AND WATCH ANOTHER GENERATION OF
KIDS GET LESS EDUCATION THAN THEY DESERVED. THIS
COMMUNITY TOOK A DIRECT INTEREST IN WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS COMMUNITY TOOK ACTION. //
- 8 -
I TOOK OFFICE DETERMINED TO PUT THE POWER OF THE
PRESIDENCY BEHIND CHANGE. MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, WE
TOOK A STRONG FIRST STEP. WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE
NATION'S GOVERNORS, WE SET SIX AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR THE
YEAR 2000: EVERY AMERICAN CHILD MUST START SCHOOL
READY TO LEARN. WE MUST RAISE THE HIGH-SCHOOL
GRADUATION RATE TO 90%. WE MUST PUT IN PLACE A SYSTEM
OF WORLD CLASS STANDARDS -- AND TESTS TO MEASURE
STUDENTS' PROGRESS. WE MUST BE FIRST IN THE WORLD IN
MATH AND SCIENCE. BY THE YEAR 2000, EVERY AMERICAN
ADULT MUST BE LITERATE -- AND EVERY AMERICAN SCHOOL
MUST BE FREE OF DRUGS, FREE FROM THE VIOLENCE THAT
TODAY TOO OFTEN FOLLOWS OUR KIDS INTO THE CLASSROOM.
LET ME SUM UP THE SIX GOALS THIS WAY: TOGETHER, BY THE
YEAR 2000, WE MUST CREATE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
FOR OUR CHILDREN. //
- 9 -
LET ME SHARE A STORY LAMAR TOLD ME ABOUT A LITTLE
GIRL, A 4TH GRADER NAMED ARIANE WILLIAMS. AT THE KICK-
OFF FOR NEW ORLEANS 2000, SHE STOOD UP -- AND HERE'S
WHAT SHE SAID: "THESE GOALS ARE NOT JUST THE
PRESIDENT'S GOALS. THEY'RE NOT JUST THE GOVERNORS'
GOALS. THEY ARE THE NATION'S GOALS." / THAT LITTLE
GIRL GOT THE MESSAGE -- AND so DO YOU.
GOALS DEFINE THE MISSION. THEY TELL US WHERE WE
WANT TO GO -- NOT HOW TO GET THERE. THAT'S WHY, NEARLY
ONE YEAR AGO TO THE DAY, I MAPPED OUT A STRATEGY I CALL
AMERICA 2000: A PLAN TO REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICAN
EDUCATION. TO BREAK THE MOLD -- AND FOR THE SAKE OF
OUR CHILDREN, PUT AN END TO BUSINESS-AS-USUAL.
- 10 -
TWO DAYS FROM NOW, WE'LL MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY
OF AMERICA 2000. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU TODAY A KIND OF
"REPORT CARD" ON WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED. / IN ONE
YEAR'S TIME, WE'VE SEEN AMERICA 2000 CATCH FIRE ALL
ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. ALREADY, 43 STATES AND MORE THAN
1000 COMMUNITIES -- FROM GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO TO
LEWISTON, MAINE -- HAVE JOINED THE AMERICA 2000
CRUSADE. EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE WORKING TO
BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND THE
COMMUNITY -- TO SPARK A GRASS-ROOTS REVOLUTION TO RE-
INVENT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL.
BUT, YOU KNOW THAT STORY -- BECAUSE LEHIGH VALLEY
HAS LED THE WAY. //
I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU AN OLD AFRICAN PROVERB
THAT'S THE MOTTO OF MINNESOTA 2000: "IT TAKES AN
ENTIRE VILLAGE TO EDUCATE ONE CHILD."
- 11 -
AND THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES -- BECAUSE EDUCATION
DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN IN THE CLASSROOM. IT DOESN'T START
AT 8:20 EACH MORNING AND END AT 5 OF 3:00. ALL OF US
LEAD BUSY LIVES -- BUT WE MUST NEVER BE TOO BUSY TO
READ TO OUR KIDS. TO TEACH THEM RIGHT FROM WRONG. TO
TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE THINGS THEY WORRY ABOUT AND
WONDER AT -- TO LISTEN, REALLY LISTEN, TO WHAT THEY
SAY. WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN, AND TO OURSELVES, TO
SEE THAT WE LIVE IN COMMUNITIES THAT CARE ABOUT
EDUCATION -- COMMUNITIES WHERE LEARNING CAN HAPPEN.
YOU'VE GOT EVERY RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT CAN WASHINGTON
DO TO HELP? HERE'S ONE WAY WE CAN. TODAY, I WANT TO
ANNOUNCE A NEW LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE: A LIFETIME
EDUCATION AND TRAINING ACCOUNT -- A PACKAGE OF GRANTS
AND LINE OF CREDIT WORTH AT LEAST $25,000 DOLLARS TO
EVERY ELIGIBLE AMERICAN, TO FURTHER THEIR EDUCATION OR
ACQUIRE NEW JOB SKILLS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR
ABILITIES. // I'VE SAID BEFORE IF WE WANT TO COMPETE
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE'VE GOT TO BECOME A NATION OF
STUDENTS.
- 12 -
TO DO THAT, WE'VE GOT TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH TO THE
OLD NOTIONS OF "STUDENT AID." THINK OF THE WORKING
MOM, BALANCING HER RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER FAMILY AND
HER JOB AGAINST HER OWN HOPES FOR THE FUTURE. SHE'D
TAKE ONE COLLEGE COURSE AT A TIME -- BUT SHE DOESN'T
QUALIFY RIGHT NOW FOR THE GRANT OR LOAN THAT WOULD HELP
PAY TUITION. OUR LIFETIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ACCOUNT WOULD HELP HER GET BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM. /
HERE'S THE MESSAGE FOR THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY -- AND
FOR THEIR PARENTS, TOO: EDUCATION DOESN'T END WITH
GRADUATION. LEARNING HAS GOT TO BE A LIFE-LONG
PURSUIT. 11
- 13 -
I CAME TO LEHIGH -- TO ONE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITIES
TO JOIN THE AMERICA 2000 CRUSADE -- TO SET THE AGENDA
FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF AMERICA 2000. OUR NEXT STEP
FORWARD DEPENDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN BUILDING A CONSENSUS
FOR CHANGE AROUND FOUR CORE IDEAS -- FOUR WAYS TO BUILD
ON WHAT WE'VE BEGUN: TO TRANSFORM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT INTO A CATALYST FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM.
FIRST, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT REACHING OUR GOALS,
WE MUST SET WORLD CLASS STANDARDS IN FIVE CORE SUBJECTS
-- AND ESTABLISH A SERIES OF VOLUNTARY AMERICAN
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS TO MEASURE OUR CHILDREN'S PROGRESS.
SECOND, WE'VE GOT TO GRANT STATES AND LOCAL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS RELIEF FROM FEDERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
THAT LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL
ACHIEVEMENT AND DO NOTHING TO HELP US MEET OUR NATIONAL
GOALS. OUR TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS DESERVE FLEXIBILITY
-- FREEDOM TO USE THEIR FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCE ON WHAT
WORKS BEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS TO MEET FEDERAL GOALS.
- 14 -
HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS HERE TODAY: HOW CAN
WE ASK YOU TO TEACH -- AND THEN TIE YOUR HANDS?
THIRD, WE'VE GOT TO LAUNCH A WIDE-OPEN EFFORT TO
CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS -- STARTING
WITH AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
ACROSS THE COUNTRY. RIGHT HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY,
YOU'RE HARD AT WORK ON YOUR PLAN TO MAKE THIS COMMUNITY
HOME TO ITS OWN NEW AMERICAN SCHOOL.
THESE BREAK-THE-MOLD SCHOOLS WON'T CONFORM TO ANY
ONE BLUEPRINT. SOME MAY MAKE A QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD
INTO TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES. OTHERS MAY SEEK TO REACH
THE FUTURE BY RESTORING OLDER TRADITIONS, THE
DISCIPLINE -- AND DISCIPLINES -- OF AN EARLIER ERA. /
EACH ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS WOULD BE A LIVING EXAMPLE OF
HOW WE CAN RE-INVENT AMERICAN EDUCATION. ALL WE NEED
NOW FROM CONGRESS IS THE SEED MONEY TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE
YOU TRANSLATE IDEAS INTO ACTION.
- 15 -
FOURTH, WE MUST CREATE AN INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE
EDUCATION BY PROMOTING SCHOOL CHOICE. FOR FAR TOO
LONG, WE'VE SHIELDED OUR SCHOOLS FROM COMPETITION --
ALLOWED THE SYSTEM A DAMAGING MONOPOLY-POWER OVER
STUDENTS. WELL, JUST AS MONOPOLIES ARE BAD FOR THE
ECONOMY -- THEY'RE BAD FOR OUR KIDS. EVERY PARENT
SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE WHICH SCHOOL IS BEST
FOR HIS CHILD -- PUBLIC, PRIVATE OR RELIGIOUS. //
LOOK AT AMERICA'S COLLEGE STUDENTS. OUR UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM IS THE ENVY OF THE WORLD. EACH YEAR, WE MAKE
OVER $20 BILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS
DIRECTLY TO STUDENTS -- ONE OF EVERY TWO STUDENTS
ENROLLED IN COLLEGE RIGHT NOW -- TO USE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF THEIR CHOICE. NO ONE ASKS WHETHER THEY
ENROLL AT PENN OR PENN STATE -- AT VILLANOVA OR LEHIGH
OR LAFAYETTE. IT'S TIME WE MAKE THE SAME CHOICE
AVAILABLE TO ALL PARENTS FROM THE MOMENT THEIR CHILDREN
GO TO SCHOOL. WHETHER IT'S THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ON YOUR
STREET OR THE ONE ACROSS TOWN -- WHETHER IT'S PRIVATE
OR PAROCHIAL, YESHIVA OR BIBLE SCHOOL: LET PARENTS --
NOT THE GOVERNMENT -- DECIDE. //
- 16 -
AND LET'S BE CLEAR: IF WE DENY PARENTS SCHOOL
CHOICE -- LET'S RECOGNIZE WHO'S HURT WORST BY THE
STATUS QUO. IT'S NOT THE WELL-TO-DO. IT'S NOT THE
UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. IT'S NOT ANY ONE OF US WHO EVER
WENT HOUSE-HUNTING WITH A MAP OF THE GOOD SCHOOL
DISTRICTS. DENY PEOPLE SCHOOL CHOICE, AND THE ONES YOU
HURT MOST ARE THE MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER -- AND
ESPECIALLY THE POOR.
THAT'S WHY CHOICE IS CATCHING ON IN SOME OF THE
HARDEST-HIT NEIGHBORHOODS IN THIS NATION. TALK TO
PARENTS SPEARHEADING THE SCHOOL CHOICE CRUSADE --
PEOPLE LIKE POLLY WILLIAMS IN MILWAUKEE. THEY'LL TELL
YOU HOW THE LACK OF CHOICE LEFT THEM POWERLESS TO FORCE
CHANGE -- HOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL BUREAUCRACY TURNED
STUDENTS INTO STATISTICS AND PARENTS INTO PAWNS. LOOK
AT MILWAUKEE TODAY -- PIONEERING SCHOOL CHOICE, GIVING
POOR PARENTS CONTROL, AND POOR CHILDREN PRIDE. LOOK AT
THE SCHOOLS IN EAST HARLEM -- WHERE TEACHERS PUT THEIR
NAMES ON WAITING LISTS TO GET A CHANCE TO TEACH IN A
CHOICE SCHOOL. THEY CAN'T WAIT TO STAND IN FRONT OF A
CLASSROOM OF CHILDREN WHO WANT TO BE THERE -- WHO WANT
TO LEARN.
- 17 -
CHOICE WORKS -- AND HERE'S WHY. WHEN OUR STUDENTS
ARE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, OUR SCHOOLS HAVE NO INCENTIVE
TO IMPROVE. SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT REFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS: IF YOU'RE FOR CHANGE -- YOU'RE FOR SCHOOL
CHOICE. //
THESE FOUR IDEAS ARE GENERATING INTEREST AND
ENTHUSIASM AMONG GOVERNORS AND MAYORS -- DEMOCRATS AND
REPUBLICANS -- AMONG BUSINESS LEADERS FROM ED DONLEY
AND THE ALLENTOWN-LEHIGH COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, TO
THE FORTUNE 500. AMONG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND
PARENTS AND PRINCIPALS -- EVERYONE AT EVERY LEVEL WHO
UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
EVERYONE, THAT IS, EXCEPT THE LEADERS OF THE
U.S. CONGRESS. AT A MOMENT WHEN THE CONSENSUS FOR
CHANGE SEEMS TO BE REACHING CRITICAL MASS, ON CAPITOL
HILL YOU CAN WATCH THE LAST STAND OF THE STATUS QUO.
FORCES THERE ARE WAGING A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO PUT THE
BRAKES ON CHANGE -- TO PRESERVE THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
APPROACH THAT BROUGHT US THE PRESENT CRISIS IN
EDUCATION.
- 18 -
THE MIND-SET UP ON CAPITOL HILL REMINDS ME OF A
LETTER I GOT THE OTHER DAY FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
STUDENT -- A LITTLE GIRL NAMED HARUKA ABE: "I LIKE,"
SHE SAYS, "WHEN MY TEACHER READS MY CLASS SOME BOOKS -
- BECAUSE EVERYBODY GETS SLEEPY."
TAKE A LOOK AT THE BILL NOW WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH
THE CONGRESS -- AT THE TIRED OLD IDEAS IT WANTS TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FOUR PATH-BREAKING IDEAS I MENTIONED
A MOMENT AGO.
AS PART OF AMERICA 2000, I ASKED CONGRESS FOR FUNDS
FOR NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- NO TO
FUNDING EVEN 1 PERCENT -- 535 -- OF 50,000 NEW AMERICAN
SCHOOLS THIS NATION NEEDS. THEY WANT TO FUNNEL MORE
FEDERAL DOLLARS INTO EXISTING BUSINESS-AS-USUAL STATE
BUREAUCRACIES -- THE VERY SAME BUREAUCRACIES THAT PUT
US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
- 19 -
WE ASKED CONGRESS FOR AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP
WORLD CLASS STANDARDS AND AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -
- TOOLS THAT WOULD HELP US MEASURE OUR STUDENTS'
PROGRESS -- AND ASSESS THE RETURN WE'RE GETTING FOR OUR
EDUCATION DOLLARS. CONGRESS SAID NO TO TESTING AND
STANDARDS.
WE ASKED THE CONGRESS FOR FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS
AND PRINCIPALS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- LET'S STICK TO THE
STATUS QUO.
FINALLY, WE ASKED THE CONGRESS TO FUND PILOT
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE SCHOOL CHOICE -- PROGRAMS TO HELP
POOR FAMILIES IN SIX AMERICAN CITIES. CONGRESS SAID NO
TO SCHOOL CHOICE. //
so TODAY, LET ME SERVE NOTICE TO EDUCATION LOBBY
AND THEIR FRIENDS BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: ONE YEAR AGO,
I ASKED YOU TO JOIN WITH ME IN A REVOLUTION -- TO BE A
PART OF AMERICA 2000. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET "ON
BOARD" -- OR STAY BEHIND. NO MORE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL.
//
- 20 -
CONGRESS CAN DRAG ITS FEET -- BUT IT CAN'T STOP
CHANGE. LEHIGH VALLEY IS LIVING PROOF OF THE WORDS OF
THE GREAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "REVOLUTIONS DO NOT GO
BACKWARD." THERE IS A TIME EARLY IN EVERY REVOLUTION
WHEN THE STATUS QUO LOOKS STEADY AND STRONG -- AND THE
FORCES THAT CHALLENGE IT WEAK AND WITHOUT EFFECT. AND
THERE IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE FORCES OF CHANGE CARRY THE
DAY -- THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE STATUS QUO STANDS
REVEALED, AND THE WHOLE, HOLLOW HOUSE OF CARDS
COLLAPSES.
THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN EDUCATION IS ALREADY
UNDERWAY. IN LEHIGH VALLEY AND IN COMMUNITIES ALL
ACROSS AMERICA, THE OLD WAYS ARE BEING ABANDONED, NEW
IDEAS ADVANCED. THIS REVOLUTION WILL TRIUMPH FOR THE
SIMPLEST AND THE STRONGEST OF REASONS: BECAUSE
AMERICAN PARENTS WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A SINGLE CHILD ANYWHERE IN AMERICA
WHO DOESN'T DESERVE THE BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE. //
- 21 - -
FROM OUR SCHOOLS TO OUR COURTS, FROM OUR HOSPITALS
TO THE HALLS OF GOVERNMENT, FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS
OUTSIDE OUR DOOR TO THE REALITIES OF A NEW WORLD
ECONOMY - -- THE NEED FOR REFORM WON'T WAIT. THE ONLY
ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE IS THE AMERICAN RESPONSE. WE MUST
REKINDLE A REVOLUTION - -- A REVOLUTION TO BRING CHANGE
TO THE COUNTRY THAT'S CHANGED THE WORLD. //
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE. THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT CHANGE. 11
THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS WARM WELCOME -- AND MAY GOD
BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
p19
LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
THANK YOU HILDA -- OR I SHOULD SAY, MY FELLOW
PRESIDENT. 11 LET ME RECOGNIZE OUR ABLE SECRETARY OF
EDUCATION, LAMAR ALEXANDER. HOMETOWN CONGRESSMAN DON
RITTER. MAYOR JOE DADDONA [DA-DOE-NA] OF ALLENTOWN.
MAYOR KEN SMITH OF BETHLEHEM.
ED DONLEY -- DRIVING FORCE BEHIND LEHIGH VALLEY
2000 AND CO-CHAIR OF PENNSYLVANIA 2000, WHICH KICKED
OFF BACK IN OCTOBER. ANN SNYDER -- VALEDICTORIAN OF
THE CLASS OF '92. OUR GUESTS WHO DID SUCH A GREAT JOB
WITH THE GOALS. PRINCIPAL MIKE MEILINGER [MILE-INJER]
FOR CALLING THIS SPECIAL ASSEMBLY TODAY.
MY THANKS TO THE PARENTS, THE TEACHERS AND THE
STAFF. THANKS ALSO TO ALL THE FOLKS HERE FROM
ALLENTOWN AND EASTON AND BETHLEHEM -- THE LEADING
LIGHTS OF LEHIGH VALLEY. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LET ME
SAY HELLO TO THE STUDENTS OF DIERUFF HIGH. //
- 2 -
IT'S ASTONISHING TO BE HERE WITH THE CLASS OF '92
AS A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF '42. // I REALIZE THE
WORLD I THOUGHT OF AS NEW -- FOR YOU IS, WELL, HISTORY.
//
LOOK AT THE WORLD YOU'LL SOON CALL YOUR OWN -- AT
THE PACE OF CHANGE WE'VE COME TO EXPECT: EACH DAY, WE
SEE HISTORY PLAYED OUT IN THE HEADLINES. OLD EMPIRES
EXPIRE -- NEW WORLDS ARE BORN. IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS
ALONE, WE'VE SEEN THE BIRTH OF 18 NEW NATIONS. [[WHO
KNOWS HOW MANY THERE'LL BE BY THE TIME YOU TAKE THAT
BIG GEOGRAPHY FINAL. ]]
BUT THE CHALLENGES WE FACE -- THE SHEER COMPLEXITY
OF OUR WORLD -- CAN'T OBSCURE THE BASIC VALUES THAT
GUIDE THIS NATION. TIMES CHANGE, BUT TRUTHS ENDURE.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BIG ISSUES THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD -
- ABOUT THE VALUES CLOSE TO HOME. EVERYTHING I'VE DONE
-- I'VE DONE TO PRESERVE AND ADVANCE THREE PRECIOUS
LEGACIES: STRONG FAMILIES. GOOD JOBS. A WORLD AT
PEACE.
- 3 -
SECURING THOSE LEGACIES HAS BEEN MY MISSION AS
PRESIDENT - AND IT WILL BE MY MISSION TODAY AND EVERY
DAY, NOW AND FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. //
+ Every
RIGHT NOW, HERE IN ALLENTOWN AND ACROSS AMERICA,
THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN IS THE ECONOMY - - AND TURNING
THIS ECONOMY AROUND, CREATING JOBS, IS THE MISSION THAT
MATTERS MOST. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE
ECONOMY. GET BENEATH THE COLD STATISTICS -- DOWN TO
THE REAL HEART OF THIS ISSUE. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THE JOB THEY'VE GOT -- AND
WHETHER THEY'RE ON TRACK FOR A BETTER ONE. FOR THEIR
KIDS -- FOR EACH ONE OF THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY --
PARENTS HAVE GOT GRANDER VISIONS: NOT JUST A JOB -- A
CAREER. WORK THAT MEANS MORE THAN SIMPLY MAKING ENDS
MEET: WORK THAT GIVES REAL MEANING TO YOUR LIFE. //
- 4 -
PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT IS GOVERNMENT'S
ROLE IN ALL OF THIS? / NO, WE CAN'T LEGISLATE THE
AMERICAN DREAM. BUT GOVERNMENT CAN SERVE AS A CATALYST
FOR CHANGE -- CLEARING AWAY THE OBSTACLES TO ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND THE UNNECESSARY COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS.
EXPANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGGRESSIVE BUSINESSES
AND ENTERPRISING INDIVIDUALS TO CREATE NEW JOBS.
TRAINING AND EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN -- GIVING YOU THE
TOOLS OF THOUGHT YOU'LL NEED TO COMPETE IN THE NEW
WORLD ECONOMY. //
- 5 -
THE FATE OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC FUTURE RESTS ON FIVE
KEY REFORMS: ON FREE AND FAIR TRADE -- OUR ABILITY TO
BREAK DOWN BARRIERS, OPEN NEW MARKETS TO AMERICAN
GOODS. OUR FUTURE RESTS ON LEGAL REFORM -- ON ENDING
THE EXPLOSION OF LITIGATION THAT STRAINS OUR PATIENCE
AND SAPS OUR ECONOMY. ON HEALTH CARE REFORM -- OPENING
UP ACCESS TO ALL AMERICANS, CONTROLLING THE RUN-AWAY
COST OF HEALTH CARE WITHOUT SACRIFICING CHOICE AND
QUALITY. ON GOVERNMENT REFORM -- BECAUSE ONLY IF WE
REVERSE A GENERATION OF CREEPING BUREAUCRACY, ONLY IF
WE RESTORE LIMITS TO GOVERNMENT, CAN WE RESTORE PUBLIC
TRUST.
FINALLY, THE REASON I'VE COME TO LEHIGH VALLEY
TODAY: OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON EDUCATION REFORM -- ON
OUR ABILITY TO REVOLUTIONIZE -- LITERALLY RE-INVENT OUR
SCHOOLS. TO TAKE THAT REVOLUTION BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS
OF THE CLASSROOM -- TRANSFORM OUR ATTITUDES AND IDEAS,
THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT EDUCATION. 11
- 6 -
EDUCATION REPRESENTS A PERFECT COMMUNITY OF
INTEREST: BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY --
BETWEEN ONE GENERATION AND THE NEXT. BETWEEN THE PROUD
HISTORY WE MUST PASS ON -- AND THE PATH-BREAKING FUTURE
WE MUST CREATE. 11 AND IN TERMS OF AMERICA'S ECONOMIC
FUTURE -- EDUCATION IS NOTHING LESS THAN A MATTER OF
ECONOMIC SURVIVAL. IT'S JUST THIS SIMPLE: BETTER
SCHOOLS MEAN BETTER JOBS. //
YOU'VE SEEN THE NEWS STORIES. YOU'VE HEARD THE
STATISTICS. ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT SLACK
PRODUCTIVITY OR A BAD BALANCE OF TRADE OUGHT TO BE
ALARMED ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S TEST SCORES. MILLIONS OF
STUDENTS WORK HARD, MILLIONS OF DEDICATED TEACHERS DO
THEIR BEST -- AND STILL, IN ONE TEST AFTER ANOTHER,
AMERICA'S CHILDREN SCORE AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM RANKS OF
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT. //
- 7 -
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER TEST TO TELL US SOMETHING IS
WRONG WITH THE STATE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. FOR THE
SAKE OF EVERY STUDENT HERE TODAY, WE'VE GOT TO SHAKE
OFF ANY SENSE OF COMPLACENCY -- AND SHAKE UP THE STATUS
QUO.
HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY, THAT'S A LESSON YOU LEARNED
YEARS AGO. YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR WORD FROM WASHINGTON.
YOU DIDN'T STAND BACK AND WATCH ANOTHER GENERATION OF
KIDS GET LESS EDUCATION THAN THEY DESERVED. THIS
COMMUNITY TOOK A DIRECT INTEREST IN WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS COMMUNITY TOOK ACTION. //
- 8 -
I TOOK OFFICE DETERMINED TO PUT THE POWER OF THE
PRESIDENCY BEHIND CHANGE. MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, WE
TOOK A STRONG FIRST STEP. WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE
NATION'S GOVERNORS, WE SET SIX AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR THE
YEAR 2000: EVERY AMERICAN CHILD MUST START SCHOOL
READY TO LEARN. WE MUST RAISE THE HIGH-SCHOOL
GRADUATION RATE TO 90%. WE MUST PUT IN PLACE A SYSTEM
OF WORLD CLASS STANDARDS -- AND TESTS TO MEASURE
STUDENTS' PROGRESS. WE MUST BE FIRST IN THE WORLD IN
MATH AND SCIENCE. BY THE YEAR 2000, EVERY AMERICAN
ADULT MUST BE LITERATE -- AND EVERY AMERICAN SCHOOL
MUST BE FREE OF DRUGS, FREE FROM THE VIOLENCE THAT
TODAY TOO OFTEN FOLLOWS OUR KIDS INTO THE CLASSROOM.
LET ME SUM UP THE SIX GOALS THIS WAY: TOGETHER, BY THE
YEAR 2000, WE MUST CREATE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
FOR OUR CHILDREN. //
- 9 -
LET ME SHARE A STORY LAMAR TOLD ME ABOUT A LITTLE
GIRL, A 4TH GRADER NAMED ARIANE WILLIAMS. AT THE KICK-
OFF FOR NEW ORLEANS 2000, SHE STOOD UP -- AND HERE'S
WHAT SHE SAID: "THESE GOALS ARE NOT JUST THE
PRESIDENT'S GOALS. THEY'RE NOT JUST THE GOVERNORS'
GOALS. THEY ARE THE NATION'S GOALS." / THAT LITTLE
GIRL GOT THE MESSAGE -- AND SO DO YOU.
GOALS DEFINE THE MISSION. THEY TELL US WHERE WE
WANT TO GO -- NOT HOW TO GET THERE. THAT'S WHY, NEARLY
ONE YEAR AGO TO THE DAY, I MAPPED OUT A STRATEGY I CALL
AMERICA 2000: A PLAN TO REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICAN
EDUCATION. TO BREAK THE MOLD -- AND FOR THE SAKE OF
OUR CHILDREN, PUT AN END TO BUSINESS-AS-USUAL.
- 10 -
TWO DAYS FROM NOW, WE'LL MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY
OF AMERICA 2000. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU TODAY A KIND OF
"REPORT CARD" ON WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED. / IN ONE
YEAR'S TIME, WE'VE SEEN AMERICA 2000 CATCH FIRE ALL
ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. ALREADY, 43 STATES AND MORE THAN
1000 COMMUNITIES -- FROM GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO TO
LEWISTON, MAINE -- HAVE JOINED THE AMERICA 2000
CRUSADE. EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE WORKING TO
BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND THE
COMMUNITY -- TO SPARK A GRASS-ROOTS REVOLUTION TO RE-
INVENT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL.
BUT, YOU KNOW THAT STORY -- BECAUSE LEHIGH VALLEY
HAS LED THE WAY. //
I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU AN OLD AFRICAN PROVERB
THAT'S THE MOTTO OF MINNESOTA 2000: "IT TAKES AN
ENTIRE VILLAGE TO EDUCATE ONE CHILD."
- 11 -
AND THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES -- BECAUSE EDUCATION
DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN IN THE CLASSROOM. IT DOESN'T START
AT 8:20 EACH MORNING AND END AT 5 OF 3:00. ALL OF US
LEAD BUSY LIVES -- BUT WE MUST NEVER BE TOO BUSY TO
READ TO OUR KIDS. TO TEACH THEM RIGHT FROM WRONG. TO
TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE THINGS THEY WORRY ABOUT AND
WONDER AT -- TO LISTEN, REALLY LISTEN, TO WHAT THEY
SAY. WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN, AND TO OURSELVES, TO
SEE THAT WE LIVE IN COMMUNITIES THAT CARE ABOUT
EDUCATION -- COMMUNITIES WHERE LEARNING CAN HAPPEN.
YOU'VE GOT EVERY RIGHT TO ASK: WHAT CAN WASHINGTON
DO TO HELP? HERE'S ONE WAY WE CAN. TODAY, I WANT TO
ANNOUNCE A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE I CALL THE LIFETIME
EDUCATION AND TRAINING ACCOUNT -- A PACKAGE OF GRANTS
AND LINE OF CREDIT WORTH $25,000 DOLLARS TO EVERY
ELIGIBLE AMERICAN, TO FURTHER THEIR EDUCATION OR
ACQUIRE NEW JOB SKILLS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR
ABILITIES. // I'VE SAID BEFORE IF WE WANT TO COMPETE
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE'VE GOT TO BECOME A NATION OF
STUDENTS.
- 12 -
TO DO THAT, WE'VE GOT TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH TO THE
OLD NOTIONS OF "STUDENT AID." THINK OF THE WORKING
MOM, BALANCING HER RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER FAMILY AND
HER JOB AGAINST HER OWN HOPES FOR THE FUTURE. SHE'D
TAKE ONE COLLEGE COURSE AT A TIME -- BUT SHE DOESN'T
QUALIFY RIGHT NOW FOR THE GRANT OR LOAN THAT WOULD HELP
PAY TUITION. OUR LIFETIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ACCOUNT WOULD HELP HER GET BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM. /
HERE'S THE MESSAGE FOR THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY -- AND
FOR THEIR PARENTS, TOO: EDUCATION DOESN'T END WITH
GRADUATION. LEARNING HAS GOT TO BE A LIFE-LONG
PURSUIT. //
- 13 -
I CAME TO LEHIGH -- TO ONE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITIES
TO JOIN THE AMERICA 2000 CRUSADE -- TO SET THE AGENDA
FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF AMERICA 2000. OUR NEXT STEP
FORWARD DEPENDS ON OUR SUCCESS IN BUILDING A CONSENSUS
FOR CHANGE AROUND FOUR CORE IDEAS -- FOUR WAYS TO BUILD
ON WHAT WE'VE BEGUN: TO TRANSFORM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT INTO A CATALYST FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM.
FIRST, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT REACHING OUR GOALS,
WE MUST SET WORLD CLASS STANDARDS IN FIVE CORE SUBJECTS
-- AND ESTABLISH A SERIES OF VOLUNTARY AMERICAN
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS TO MEASURE OUR CHILDREN'S PROGRESS.
SECOND, WE'VE GOT TO GRANT STATES AND LOCAL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS RELIEF FROM FEDERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
THAT LIMIT THEIR ABILITY TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL
ACHIEVEMENT AND DO NOTHING TO HELP US MEET OUR NATIONAL
GOALS. OUR TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS DESERVE FLEXIBILITY
-- FREEDOM TO USE THEIR FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCE ON WHAT
WORKS BEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS TO MEET FEDERAL GOALS.
- 14 -
HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS HERE TODAY: HOW CAN
WE ASK YOU TO TEACH -- AND THEN TIE YOUR HANDS?
THIRD, WE'VE GOT TO LAUNCH A WIDE-OPEN EFFORT TO
CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS -- STARTING
WITH AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
ACROSS THE COUNTRY. RIGHT HERE IN LEHIGH VALLEY,
YOU'RE HARD AT WORK ON YOUR PLAN TO MAKE THIS COMMUNITY
HOME TO ITS OWN NEW AMERICAN SCHOOL.
THESE BREAK-THE-MOLD SCHOOLS WON'T CONFORM TO ANY
ONE BLUEPRINT. SOME MAY MAKE A QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD
INTO TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES. OTHERS MAY SEEK TO REACH
THE FUTURE BY RESTORING OLDER TRADITIONS, THE
DISCIPLINE -- AND DISCIPLINES -- OF AN EARLIER ERA. /
EACH ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS WOULD BE A LIVING EXAMPLE OF
HOW WE CAN RE-INVENT AMERICAN EDUCATION. ALL WE NEED
NOW FROM CONGRESS IS THE SEED MONEY TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE
YOU TRANSLATE IDEAS INTO ACTION.
- 15 -
FOURTH, WE MUST CREATE AN INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE
EDUCATION BY PROMOTING SCHOOL CHOICE. FOR FAR TOO
LONG, WE'VE SHIELDED OUR SCHOOLS FROM COMPETITION --
ALLOWED THE SYSTEM A DAMAGING MONOPOLY-POWER OVER
STUDENTS. WELL, JUST AS MONOPOLIES ARE BAD FOR THE
ECONOMY -- THEY'RE BAD FOR OUR KIDS. EVERY PARENT
SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE WHICH SCHOOL IS BEST
FOR HIS CHILD -- PUBLIC, PRIVATE OR RELIGIOUS. //
LOOK AT AMERICA'S COLLEGE STUDENTS. OUR UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM IS THE ENVY OF THE WORLD. EACH YEAR, WE MAKE
OVER $20 BILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS
DIRECTLY TO STUDENTS -- ONE OF EVERY TWO STUDENTS
ENROLLED IN COLLEGE RIGHT NOW -- TO USE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF THEIR CHOICE. NO ONE ASKS WHETHER THEY
ENROLL AT PENN OR PENN STATE -- AT VILLANOVA OR LEHIGH
OR LAFAYETTE. IT'S TIME WE MAKE THE SAME CHOICE
AVAILABLE TO ALL PARENTS FROM THE MOMENT THEIR CHILDREN
GO TO SCHOOL. WHETHER IT'S THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ON YOUR
STREET OR THE ONE ACROSS TOWN -- WHETHER IT'S PRIVATE
OR PAROCHIAL, YESHIVA OR BIBLE SCHOOL: LET PARENTS --
NOT THE GOVERNMENT -- DECIDE. //
- 16 -
AND LET'S BE CLEAR: IF WE DENY PARENTS SCHOOL
CHOICE -- LET'S RECOGNIZE WHO'S HURT WORST BY THE
STATUS QUO. IT'S NOT THE WELL-TO-DO. IT'S NOT THE
UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. IT'S NOT ANY ONE OF US WHO EVER
WENT HOUSE-HUNTING WITH A MAP OF THE GOOD SCHOOL
DISTRICTS. DENY PEOPLE SCHOOL CHOICE, AND THE ONES YOU
HURT MOST ARE THE MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER -- AND
ESPECIALLY THE POOR.
THAT'S WHY CHOICE IS CATCHING ON IN SOME OF THE
HARDEST-HIT NEIGHBORHOODS IN THIS NATION. TALK TO
PARENTS SPEARHEADING THE SCHOOL CHOICE CRUSADE --
PEOPLE LIKE POLLY WILLIAMS IN MILWAUKEE. THEY'LL TELL
YOU HOW THE LACK OF CHOICE LEFT THEM POWERLESS TO FORCE
CHANGE -- HOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL BUREAUCRACY TURNED
STUDENTS INTO STATISTICS AND PARENTS INTO PAWNS. LOOK
AT MILWAUKEE TODAY -- PIONEERING SCHOOL CHOICE, GIVING
POOR PARENTS CONTROL, AND POOR CHILDREN PRIDE. LOOK AT
THE SCHOOLS IN EAST HARLEM -- WHERE TEACHERS PUT THEIR
NAMES ON WAITING LISTS TO GET A CHANCE TO TEACH IN A
CHOICE SCHOOL. THEY CAN'T WAIT TO STAND IN FRONT OF A
CLASSROOM OF CHILDREN WHO WANT TO BE THERE -- WHO WANT
TO LEARN.
- 17 -
CHOICE WORKS -- AND HERE'S WHY. WHEN OUR STUDENTS
ARE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, OUR SCHOOLS HAVE NO INCENTIVE
TO IMPROVE. SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT REFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS: IF YOU'RE FOR CHANGE -- YOU'RE FOR SCHOOL
CHOICE. //
THESE FOUR IDEAS ARE GENERATING INTEREST AND
ENTHUSIASM AMONG GOVERNORS AND MAYORS -- DEMOCRATS AND
REPUBLICANS -- AMONG BUSINESS LEADERS FROM ED DONLEY
AND THE ALLENTOWN-LEHIGH COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, TO
THE FORTUNE 500. AMONG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AND
PARENTS AND PRINCIPALS -- EVERYONE AT EVERY LEVEL WHO
UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
EVERYONE, THAT IS, EXCEPT THE LEADERS OF THE
U.S. CONGRESS. AT A MOMENT WHEN THE CONSENSUS FOR
CHANGE SEEMS TO BE REACHING CRITICAL MASS, ON CAPITOL
HILL YOU CAN WATCH THE LAST STAND OF THE STATUS QUO.
FORCES THERE ARE WAGING A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO PUT THE
BRAKES ON CHANGE -- TO PRESERVE THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL
APPROACH THAT BROUGHT US THE PRESENT CRISIS IN
EDUCATION.
- 18 -
THE MIND-SET UP ON CAPITOL HILL REMINDS ME OF A
LETTER I GOT THE OTHER DAY FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
STUDENT -- A LITTLE GIRL NAMED HARUKA ABE: "I LIKE,"
SHE SAYS, "WHEN MY TEACHER READS MY CLASS SOME BOOKS -
- BECAUSE EVERYBODY GETS SLEEPY."
TAKE A LOOK AT THE BILL NOW WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH
THE CONGRESS -- AT THE TIRED OLD IDEAS IT WANTS TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FOUR PATH-BREAKING IDEAS I MENTIONED
A MOMENT AGO.
AS PART OF AMERICA 2000, I ASKED CONGRESS FOR FUNDS
FOR NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- NO TO
FUNDING EVEN 1 PERCENT -- 535 -- OF 50,000 NEW AMERICAN
SCHOOLS THIS NATION NEEDS. THEY WANT TO FUNNEL MORE
FEDERAL DOLLARS INTO EXISTING BUSINESS-AS-USUAL STATE
BUREAUCRACIES -- THE VERY SAME BUREAUCRACIES THAT PUT
US WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
- 19 -
WE ASKED CONGRESS FOR AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP
WORLD CLASS STANDARDS AND AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -
- TOOLS THAT WOULD HELP US MEASURE OUR STUDENTS'
PROGRESS AND ASSESS THE RETURN WE'RE GETTING FOR OUR
oux, AME sut
EDUCATION DOLLARS. CONGRESS SAID NO TO TESTING AND
00
sow
STANDARDS.
BUSINESS AS usum CROUD
smare Go SLOW -
WE ASKED THE CONGRESS FOR FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS
AND PRINCIPALS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- LET'S STICK TO THE
STATUS QUO.
FINALLY, WE ASKED THE CONGRESS TO FUND PILOT
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE SCHOOL CHOICE -- PROGRAMS TO HELP
POOR FAMILIES IN SIX AMERICAN CITIES. CONGRESS SAID NO
TO SCHOOL CHOICE. //
SO TODAY, LET ME SERVE NOTICE TO THE EDUCATION
LOBBY AND THEIR FRIENDS BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: ONE YEAR
AGO, I ASKED YOU TO JOIN WITH ME IN A REVOLUTION -- TO
BE A PART OF AMERICA 2000. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET
"ON BOARD" -- OR STAY BEHIND. NO MORE BUSINESS-AS-
USUAL. //
- 20 -
CONGRESS CAN DRAG ITS FEET -- BUT IT CAN'T STOP
CHANGE. LEHIGH VALLEY IS LIVING PROOF OF THE WORDS OF
THE GREAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "REVOLUTIONS DO NOT GO
BACKWARD." THERE IS A TIME EARLY IN EVERY REVOLUTION
WHEN THE STATUS QUO LOOKS STEADY AND STRONG -- AND THE
FORCES THAT CHALLENGE IT WEAK AND WITHOUT EFFECT. AND
THERE IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE FORCES OF CHANGE CARRY THE
DAY -- THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE STATUS QUO STANDS
REVEALED, AND THE WHOLE, HOLLOW HOUSE OF CARDS
COLLAPSES.
THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN EDUCATION IS ALREADY
UNDERWAY. IN LEHIGH VALLEY AND IN COMMUNITIES ALL
ACROSS AMERICA, THE OLD WAYS ARE BEING ABANDONED, NEW
IDEAS ADVANCED. THIS REVOLUTION WILL TRIUMPH FOR THE
SIMPLEST AND THE STRONGEST OF REASONS: BECAUSE
AMERICAN PARENTS WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A SINGLE CHILD ANYWHERE IN AMERICA
WHO DOESN'T DESERVE THE BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE. //
- 21 -
FROM OUR SCHOOLS TO OUR COURTS, FROM OUR HOSPITALS
TO THE HALLS OF GOVERNMENT, FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS
OUTSIDE OUR DOOR TO THE REALITIES OF A NEW WORLD
ECONOMY - -- THE NEED FOR REFORM WON'T WAIT. THE ONLY
ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE IS THE AMERICAN RESPONSE. WE MUST
REKINDLE A REVOLUTION -- A REVOLUTION TO BRING CHANGE
TO THE COUNTRY THAT'S CHANGED THE WORLD. //
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE. THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT CHANGE. //
THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS WARM WELCOME -- AND MAY GOD
BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
- 3 -
SECURING THOSE LEGACIES HAS BEEN MY MISSION AS
PRESIDENT -- AND IT WILL BE MY MISSION TODAY AND EVERY
DAY AS LONG AS I AM PRESIDENT.
11
RIGHT NOW, HERE IN ALLENTOWN AND ACROSS AMERICA,
THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN IS THE ECONOMY -- AND TURNING
THIS ECONOMY AROUND, CREATING JOBS, IS THE MISSION THAT
MATTERS MOST. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE
ECONOMY. GET BENEATH THE COLD STATISTICS -- DOWN TO
THE REAL HEART OF THIS ISSUE. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THE JOB THEY'VE GOT -- AND
WHETHER THEY'RE ON TRACK FOR A BETTER ONE. FOR THEIR
KIDS -- FOR EACH ONE OF THE STUDENTS HERE TODAY --
PARENTS HAVE GOT GRANDER VISIONS: NOT JUST A JOB -- - A
CAREER. WORK THAT MEANS MORE THAN SIMPLY MAKING ENDS
MEET: WORK THAT GIVES REAL MEANING TO YOUR LIFE. //
Prec.Rupt
- 18 -
THE MIND-SET UP ON CAPITOL HILL REMINDS ME OF A
LETTER I GOT THE OTHER DAY FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
STUDENT -- A LITTLE GIRL NAMED HARUKA ABE: "I LIKE,"
SHE SAYS, "WHEN MY TEACHER READS MY CLASS SOME BOOKS -
- BECAUSE EVERYBODY GETS SLEEPY."
TAKE A LOOK AT THE BILL NOW WINDING ITS WAY THROUGH
THE CONGRESS -- AT THE TIRED OLD IDEAS IT WANTS TO
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FOUR PATH-BREAKING IDEAS I MENTIONED
A MOMENT AGO.
AS PART OF AMERICA 2000, WE ASKED CONGRESS FOR
AUTHORITY TO HELP DEVELOP WORLD CLASS STANDARDS AND
AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS -- TOOLS THAT WOULD HELP US
MEASURE OUR STUDENTS' PROGRESS -- AND ASSESS THE RETURN
WE'RE GETTING FOR OUR EDUCATION DOLLARS
THE STATUS
QUO CROWD ON CAPITOL HILL SAID NO. TO TESTING AND
STANDARDS.
SLOW DOWN
MOVED
P
- 19 -
I ASKED CONGRESS FOR FUNDS FOR NEW AMERICAN
SCHOOLS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- NO TO FUNDING EVEN 1
PERCENT -- 535 -- OF 50,000 NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS THIS
NATION NEEDS. THEY WANT TO FUNNEL MORE FEDERAL DOLLARS
INTO EXISTING BUSINESS-AS-USUAL STATE BUREAUCRACIES --
THE VERY SAME BUREAUCRACIES THAT PUT US WHERE WE ARE
TODAY.
MOVED FROM PG 18.
WE ASKED THE CONGRESS FOR FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS
AND PRINCIPALS. CONGRESS SAID NO -- LET'S STICK TO THE
STATUS QUO.
FINALLY, WE ASKED THE CONGRESS TO FUND PILOT
PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE SCHOOL CHOICE -- PROGRAMS TO HELP
POOR FAMILIES IN SIX AMERICAN CITIES. CONGRESS SAID NO
TO SCHOOL CHOICE. //
SO TODAY, LET ME SERVE NOTICE TO THE EDUCATION
LOBBY AND THEIR FRIENDS BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: ONE YEAR
AGO, I ASKED YOU TO JOIN WITH ME IN A REVOLUTION -- TO
BE A PART OF AMERICA 2000. THE TIME HAS COME TO GET
"ON BOARD" -- OR STAY BEHIND. NO MORE BUSINESS-AS-
USUAL. //
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
April 14, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID F. DEMAREST
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS FOR LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
I.
SUMMARY
On Thursday, April 16 at 1:00 p.m. you will deliver remarks
to 2,000 members of the Lehigh Valley community, in the Dieruff
High School gymnasium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley
was one of the first communities to accept the America 2000
challenge.
The audience includes over 1,300 Dieruff ninth through
twelfth graders, 400 Lehigh Valley 2000 task force members,
business leaders, parents, teachers and elected officials.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks, (approximately 20 minutes / teleprompter)
focus on the fifth reform -- education. Please note that you
speak two days before the first anniversary of America 2000.
You announce a new initiative, Lifetime Earning Credits, on
page 6.
McGroarty/Bunton
April 14, 1992
6:00 pm
[LEHIGH]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
My thanks to the parents, the teachers and the staff.
Thanks also to all the folks here from Allentown and Easton and
Bethlehem -- the leading lights of Lehigh Valley. Last but not
least, let me say hello to the students of Dieruff High. //
It's astonishing to be here with the Class of '92 as a
graduate of the Class of '42. // I realize the world I thought
of as new -- for you is, well, history. //
Look at the world you'll soon call your own -- at the pace
of change we've come to expect: each day, we see history played
out in the headlines. Old empires expire -- new worlds are born.
In the past six months alone, we've seen the birth of 18 new
nations. [[Who knows how many there'll be by the time you take
that big geography final. ]]
But the challenges we face -- the sheer complexity of our
world -- can't obscure the basic values that guide this Nation.
Times change, but truths endure. I'm talking about the big
issues that shape our world -- about the values close to home.
Everything I've done -- I've done to preserve and advance three
precious legacies: strong families. Good jobs. A world at
peace.
2
Securing those legacies has been my mission as President --
and it will be my mission today and every day, now and for the
next four years. //
Right now, here in Allentown and across America, the number
one concern is the economy -- and turning this economy around,
creating jobs, is the mission that matters most. Listen to what
people say about the economy. Get beneath the cold statistics -
- down to the real heart of this issue. People want to know
whether they can keep the job they've got -- and whether they're
on track for a better one. For their kids -- for each one of the
students here today -- parents have got grander visions: not
just a job -- a career. Work that means more than simply making
ends meet: Work that gives real meaning to your life. //
People have a right to ask: what is government's role in
all of this? / No, we can't legislate the American Dream. But
government can serve as a catalyst for change -- clearing away
the obstacles to economic growth and the unnecessary costs of
doing business. Expanding the opportunities for aggressive
businesses and enterprising individuals to create new jobs.
Training and educating our children -- giving you the tools of
thought you'll need to compete in the new world economy. //
The fate of America's economic future rests on five key
reforms: On free and fair trade -- our ability to break down
barriers, open new markets to American goods. Our future rests
on legal reform -- on ending the explosion of litigation that
strains our patience and saps our economy. On health care reform
3
-- opening up access to all Americans, controlling the run-away
cost of health care without sacrificing choice and quality. On
government reform -- because only if we reverse a generation of
creeping bureaucracy, only if we restore limits to government,
can we restore public trust.
Finally, the reason I've come to Lehigh Valley today: our
future depends on education reform -- our ability to
revolutionize -- literally re-invent our schools. //
Education represents a perfect community of interest:
between the individual and society -- between one generation and
the next. Between the proud history we must pass on -- and the
path-breaking future we must create. // And in terms of
America's economic future -- education is nothing less than a
matter of economic survival. //
You've seen the news stories. You've heard the statistics.
Anyone who worries about slack productivity or a bad balance of
trade ought to be alarmed about our children's test scores.
Millions of students work hard, millions of dedicated teachers do
their best -- and still, in one test after another, America's
children score at or near the bottom ranks of international
achievement. //
We don't need another test to tell us something is wrong
with our schools. For the sake of every student here today,
we've got to shake off any sense of complacency -- and shake up
the status quo.
4
Here in Lehigh Valley, that's a lesson you learned years
ago. You didn't wait for word from Washington. You didn't stand
back and watch another generation of kids get less education than
they deserved. This community took a direct interest in what was
going on in the classroom. This community took action. //
I took office determined to put the power of the Presidency
behind change. More than two years ago, we took a strong first
step. Working together with the nation's Governors, we set six
ambitious goals for the year 2000: We agreed we must raise the
high-school graduation rate to 90%. We must be first in the
world in math and science. We must put in place a system of
World Class Standards -- and tests to measure students' progress.
By the year 2000, every American adult must be literate. Every
American child must start school ready to learn -- and every
American school must be free of drugs, free from the violence
that today too often follows our kids into the classroom. Let
me sum up the six goals this way: Together, by the year 2000, we
must create the best schools in the world for our children. //
Let me share a story Lamar told me about a little girl, a
4th Grader named Ariane Williams. At the kick-off for New
Orleans 2000, she stood up -- and here's what she said: "These
goals are not just my goals. They're not just the Governors'
goals. They are the nation's goals.' " / That little girl got
the message -- and so do you.
Goals define the mission. They tell us where we want to go
-- not how to get there. That's why, nearly one year ago to the
5
day, I mapped out a strategy I call America 2000: a plan to
revolutionize American education. To put an end to business as
usual: to break the mold -- build a new generation of American
schools.
Two days from now, we'll mark the first anniversary of
America 2000. Let me share with you today a kind of "report
card" on what we've accomplished. / In one year's time, we've
seen America 2000 catch fire all across this country. Already,
43 states and more than 1000 communities -- from Grand Junction,
Colorado to Lewiston, Maine -- have joined the America 2000
crusade. Everywhere, people like you are working to break down
the barriers between the classroom and the community -- to spark
a grass-roots revolution to re-invent the American school.
But, you know that story -- because Lehigh Valley has led
the way. //
I want to share with you an old African proverb that's the
motto of Minnesota 2000: "It takes an entire village to educate
one child."
And that is what it takes -- because education doesn't just
happen in the classroom. It doesn't start at 8:20 each morning
and end at 5 to 3:00. All of us lead busy lives -- but we must
never be too busy to read to our kids. To teach them right from
wrong. To take an interest in the things they worry about and
wonder at -- to listen, really listen, to what they say. We owe
it to our children, and to ourselves, to see that we live in
6
communities that care about education -- communities where
learning can happen.
You've got every right to ask: What can Washington do to
help? Here's one way we can. Today, I want to announce a new
legislative initiative: a Lifetime Education and Training
Account -- a line of credit, a package of grants and loans worth
$25,000 dollars to every eligible American, to use to further
their education or acquire new job skills to make the most of
their abilities. // I've said before if we want to compete in
the 21st Century, we've got to become a nation of students.
To do that, we've got to take a new approach to the old
notions of "student aid." Think of the working Mom, balancing
her responsibility for her family and her job against her own
hopes for the future. She'd take one college course at a time -
- but she doesn't qualify right now for the grant or loan that
would help pay tuition. Our Lifetime Education and Training
Account would help her get back into the classroom. / Here's
the message for the students here today -- and for their parents,
too: Education doesn't end with graduation. Learning has got to
be a life-long pursuit. //
I came to Lehigh -- to one of the first communities to join
the America 2000 crusade -- to set the agenda for the second year
of America 2000. Our next step forward depends on our success in
building a consensus for change around four core ideas -- four
ways to build on what we've begun: to transform the federal
government into a catalyst for real education reform.
7
First, if we're serious about reaching our goals, we must set
World Class Standards in five core subjects -- and establish a
series of voluntary American Achievement Tests to measure our
children's progress.
Second, we've got to grant states and local school districts
relief from Federal rules and regulations that limit their
ability to improve educational achievement and do nothing to help
us meet our national goals. Our teachers and principals deserve
flexibility -- freedom to use their front-line experience on what
works best in their schools to meet federal goals.
Right now, federal rules force schools to stick with
outdated tests -- rather than go with new ones and risk the loss
of millions of dollars in federal funds. In other cases, federal
restrictions result in sprinkling remedial instruction in equal
but ineffective amounts across large numbers of children --
instead of focusing enough time and energy to make a real
difference for kids who need it most.
Has anyone asked the teachers here today: does that make
sense? How can we ask you to teach -- and then tie your hands?
Third, we've got to launch a wide-open effort to create New
American Schools -- at least one in every Congressional District
across the country. Lehigh Valley is hard at work on its plan to
make this community home to its own New American School.
These break-the-mold schools won't conform to any one
blueprint. Some may make a quantum leap forward into tomorrow's
technologies. Others may seek to reach the future by restoring
8
older traditions, the discipline -- and disciplines -- of an
earlier era. Each one of these schools would be a laboratory of
learning -- a living example of how we can re-invent American
education. All we need now from Congress is the seed money to
help people like you translate ideas into action.
Fourth, we must create an incentive to improve education by
promoting school choice. For far too long, we've shielded our
schools from competition -- allowed the system a damaging
monopoly-power over students. Well, just as monopolies are bad
for the economy -- they're bad for our kids. Every parent should
have the power to choose which school is best for his child --
public, private or religious. //
Look at America's college students. Our university system
is the envy of the world. Each year, we make over $20 billion
dollars in federal grants and loans directly to students -- to
use at the university of their choice. No one asks whether they
enroll at Penn or Penn State -- at Villanova or Lehigh or
Lafayette. It's time we make the same choice available to all
parents from the moment their children go to school. Whether
it's public or parochial school, yeshiva or bible school -- let
parents, not the government, decide. //
And let's be clear: if we deny parents school choice --
let's recognize who's hurt worst by the status quo. It's not the
well-to-do. It's not the upper middle class. It's not any one
of us who ever went house-hunting with a map of the good school
9
districts. / Deny people school choice, and the ones you hurt
most are the Middle Class and lower -- and especially the poor.
That's why choice is catching on in some of the hardest-hit
neighborhoods in this nation. Talk to parents spearheading the
school choice crusade -- people like Polly Williams in Milwaukee.
They'll tell you how the lack of choice left them powerless to
force change -- how a public school bureaucracy turned students
into statistics and parents into pawns. Look at Milwaukee today
-- pioneering school choice, giving poor parents control, and
poor children pride. Look at the schools in East Harlem -- where
teachers put their names on waiting lists to get a chance to
teach in a choice school. They can't wait to stand in front of a
classroom of children who want to be there -- who want to learn.
Choice works -- and here's why. When our students are a
captive audience, our schools have no incentive to improve. What
competition brings to the economy -- choice can bring to
education. Say what you want about reforming our schools: If
you're for change -- you're for school choice.
These four ideas are generating interest and enthusiasm
among Governors and mayors -- Democrats and Republicans -- among
business leaders from Ed Donley and the Allentown-Lehigh County
Chamber of Commerce, to the Fortune 500. Among teachers and
students and parents and principals -- everyone at every level
who understands the need for change.
Everyone, that is, except the leaders of the U.S. Congress.
At a moment when the consensus for change seems to be
10
reaching critical mass, on Capitol Hill you can watch the last
stand of the status quo. Forces there are waging a last-ditch
effort to put the brakes on change -- to preserve the business-
as-usual approach that brought us the present crisis in
education.
Take a look at the bill now winding its way through the
Congress -- and what it does to the four path-breaking ideas I
mentioned a moment ago.
As part of America 2000, I asked Congress for funds for New
American Schools -- $545 million from now until 1994. Last year,
Congress set aside $100 million dollars for 1992 -- and set a
deadline of April 1 to decide how the money would be used. This
month, that self-imposed deadline came and went -- wiping out any
chance for Congress to make a start on New American Schools this
year. For 1993, the House plans more of the same: the bill
under consideration right now would funnel more than $800 million
into existing business-as-usual state bureaucracies -- and not a
penny for the new experimental schools we need and the American
people want.
We asked Congress for authority to help develop World Class
Standards and American Achievement Tests -- tools that would help
us measure our students' progress -- and assess the return we're
getting for our education dollars. / The House of
Representatives is threatening an amendment to deny the Education
Department the right to fund even a study of standards or tests.
11
Finally, we asked the Congress to fund pílot programs to
promote school choice -- programs to help poor families in six
American cities. Under heavy pressure from the education lobby,
House and Senate leaders have stripped any mention of school
choice out of their bills. //
Instead of supporting America 2000, the bill Congress claims
will help our schools is an exercise in cynicism -- call it the
Status Quo Schools Act of 1992. So today, let me serve notice to
education lobby and their friends back on Capitol Hill: I will
not let Congress spend a billion dollars on a business-as-usual
bill -- and call it education reform. [[ If Congress wants to
side with status quo schools -- Congress can count on a veto. ]]
Congress can drag its feet -- but it can't stop change.
Lehigh Valley is living proof of the words of the great Abraham
Lincoln: "Revolutions do not go backward." There is a time
early in every revolution when the status quo looks steady and
strong -- and the forces that challenge it weak and without
effect. And there is the moment when the forces of change carry
the day -- the bankruptcy of the status quo stands revealed, and
the whole, hollow house of cards collapses.
The revolution in American education is already underway.
In Lehigh Valley and in communities all across America, the old
ways are being abandoned, new ideas advanced. This revolution
will triumph for the simplest and the strongest of reasons:
because American parents want the best for their children.
12
Because there isn't a single child anywhere in America who
doesn't deserve the best education possible. 11
From our schools to our courts, from our hospitals to the
halls of government, from the neighborhoods outside our door to
the realities of a new world economy -- the need for reform won't
wait. The only acceptable response is the American response. We
must rekindle a revolution -- a revolution to bring change to the
country that's changed the world. //
The American people have made their choice. The American
people want change. //
Thank you all for this warm welcome -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
321639SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
4/15/92
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
SUBJECT:
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
FINDLAY
GRAY
KAUFMAN
HOLIDAY
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
See comments on p.6,7,10,11. 11.
PK
Thanks.
Paul Hostonta
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
04/15
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
02 APR 14 P6: 12
April 14, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID F. DEMAREST
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS FOR LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
I. SUMMARY
On Thursday, April 16 at 1:00 p.m. you will deliver remarks
to 2,000 members of the Lehigh Valley community, in the Dieruff
High School gymnasium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley
was one of the first communities to accept the America 2000
challenge.
The audience includes over 1,300 Dieruff ninth through
twelfth graders, 400 Lehigh Valley 2000 task force members,
business leaders, parents, teachers and elected officials.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks, (approximately 20 minutes / teleprompter)
focus on the fifth reform -- education. Please note that you
speak two days before the first anniversary of America 2000.
You announce a new initiative, Lifetime Earning Credits, on
page 6.
McGroarty/Bunton
April 14, 1992
6:00 pm
[LEHIGH]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
My thanks to the parents, the teachers and the staff.
Thanks also to all the folks here from Allentown and Easton and
Bethlehem -- the leading lights of Lehigh Valley. Last but not
least, let me say hello to the students of Dieruff High. //
It's astonishing to be here with the Class of '92 as a
graduate of the Class of '42. // I realize the world I thought
of as new -- for you is, well, history. //
Look at the world you'll soon call your own -- at the pace
of change we've come to expect: each day, we see history played
out in the headlines. Old empires expire -- new worlds are born.
In the past six months alone, we've seen the birth of 18 new
nations. [[Who knows how many there'll be by the time you take
that big geography final. ]]
But the challenges we face -- the sheer complexity of our
world -- can't obscure the basic values that guide this Nation.
Times change, but truths endure. I'm talking about the big
issues that shape our world -- about the values close to home.
Everything I've done -- I've done to preserve and advance three
precious legacies: strong families. Good jobs. A world at
peace.
2
Securing those legacies has been my mission as President --
and it will be my mission today and every day, now and for the
next four years. / /
Right now, here in Allentown and across America, the number
one concern is the economy -- and turning this economy around,
creating jobs, is the mission that matters most. Listen to what
people say about the economy. Get beneath the cold statistics -
- down to the real heart of this issue. People want to know
whether they can keep the job they've got -- and whether they're
on track for a better one. For their kids -- for each one of the
students here today -- parents have got grander visions: not
just a job -- a career. Work that means more than simply making
ends meet: Work that gives real meaning to your life. //
People have a right to ask: what is government's role in
all of this? / No, we can't legislate the American Dream. But
government can serve as a catalyst for change -- clearing away
the obstacles to economic growth and the unnecessary costs of
doing business. Expanding the opportunities for aggressive
businesses and enterprising individuals to create new jobs.
Training and educating our children -- giving you the tools of
thought you'll need to compete in the new world economy. //
The fate of America's economic future rests on five key
reforms: On free and fair trade -- our ability to break down
barriers, open new markets to American goods. Our future rests
on legal reform -- on ending the explosion of litigation that
strains our patience and saps our economy. On health care reform
3
-- opening up access to all Americans, controlling the run-away
cost of health care without sacrificing choice and quality. On
government reform -- because only if we reverse a generation of
creeping bureaucracy, only if we restore limits to government,
can we restore public trust.
Finally, the reason I've come to Lehigh Valley today: our
future depends on education reform -- our ability to
revolutionize -- literally re-invent our schools. //
Education represents a perfect community of interest:
between the individual and society -- between one generation and
the next. Between the proud history we must pass on -- and the
path-breaking future we must create. // And in terms of
America's economic future -- education is nothing less than a
matter of economic survival. //
You've seen the news stories. You've heard the statistics.
Anyone who worries about slack productivity or a bad balance of
trade ought to be alarmed about our children's test scores.
Millions of students work hard, millions of dedicated teachers do
their best -- and still, in one test after another, America's
children score at or near the bottom ranks of international
achievement. //
We don't need another test to tell us something is wrong
with our schools. For the sake of every student here today,
we've got to shake off any sense of complacency -- and shake up
the status quo.
4
Here in Lehigh Valley, that's a lesson you learned years
ago. You didn't wait for word from Washington. You didn't stand
back and watch another generation of kids get less education than
they deserved. This community took a direct interest in what was
going on in the classroom. This community took action. //
I took office determined to put the power of the Presidency
behind change. More than two years ago, we took a strong first
step. Working together with the nation's Governors, we set six
ambitious goals for the year 2000: We agreed we must raise the
high-school graduation rate to 90%. We must be first in the
world in math and science. We must put in place a system of
World Class Standards -- and tests to measure students' progress.
By the year 2000, every American adult must be literate. Every
American child must start school ready to learn -- and every
American school must be free of drugs, free from the violence
that today too often follows our kids into the classroom. Let
me sum up the six goals this way: Together, by the year 2000, we
must create the best schools in the world for our children. //
Let me share a story Lamar told me about a little girl, a
4th Grader named Ariane Williams. At the kick-off for New
Orleans 2000, she stood up -- and here's what she said: "These
goals are not just my goals. They're not just the Governors'
goals. They are the nation's goals." / That little girl got
the message -- and so do you.
Goals define the mission. They tell us where we want to go
-- not how to get there. That's why, nearly one year ago to the
5
day, I mapped out a strategy I call America 2000: a plan to
revolutionize American education. To put an end to business as
usual: to break the mold -- build a new generation of American
schools.
Two days from now, we'll mark the first anniversary of
America 2000. Let me share with you today a kind of "report
card" on what we've accomplished. / In one year's time, we've
seen America 2000 catch fire all across this country. Already,
43 states and more than 1000 communities -- from Grand Junction,
Colorado to Lewiston, Maine -- have joined the America 2000
crusade. Everywhere, people like you are working to break down
the barriers between the classroom and the community -- to spark
a grass-roots revolution to re-invent the American school.
But, you know that story -- because Lehigh Valley has led
the way. //
I want to share with you an old African proverb that's the
motto of Minnesota 2000: "It takes an entire village to educate
one child."
And that is what it takes -- because education doesn't just
happen in the classroom. It doesn't start at 8:20 each morning
and end at 5 to 3:00. All of us lead busy lives -- but we must
never be too busy to read to ur kids. To teach them right from
wrong. To take an interest in the things they worry about and
wonder at -- to listen, really listen, to what they say. We owe
it to our children, and to ourselves, to see that we live in
6
communities that care about education -- communities where
learning can happen.
You've got every right to ask: What can Washington do to
help? Here's one way we can. Today, I want to announce a new
legislative initiative: a new Lifetime Education and Training
(Ed.)
Account -- a line of credit, a package of grants and loans worth
to allow
No
$25,000 dollars to every eligible American, to use to further
existing grant
their education or acquire new job skills to make the most of and loans to
be available
seeder/
their abilities. // I've said before if we want to compete in
to American
the 21st Century, we've got to become a nation of students.
menand
women taking
Rallion
To do that, we've got to take a new approach to the old
as little
notions of "student aid." Think of the working Mom, balancing as courseat one
her responsibility for her family and her job against her own
at time
hopes for the future. She'd take one college course at a time -
- but she doesn't qualify right now for the grant or loan that
would help pay tuition. Our Lifetime Education and Training
Account would help her get back into the classroom. / Here's
the message for the students here today -- and for their parents,
too: Education doesn't end with graduation. Learning has got to
be a life-long pursuit. //
I came to Lehigh -- to one of the first communities to join
the America 2000 crusade -- to set the agenda for the second year
of America 2000. Our next step forward depends on our success in
building a consensus for change around four core ideas -- four
ways to build on what we've begun: to transform the federal
government into a catalyst for real education reform.
7
First, if we're serious about reaching our goals, we must set
World Class Standards in five core subjects -- and establish a
series of voluntary American Achievement Tests to measure our
children's progress.
Second, we've got to grant states and local school districts
relief from Federal rules and regulations that limit their
ability to improve educational achievement and do nothing to help
us meet our national goals. Our teachers and principals deserve
flexibility -- freedom to use their front-line experience on what
works best in their schools to meet federal goals.
Right now, federal rules force schools to stick with
outdated tests -- rather than go with new ones and risk the loss
Inaccusity spoke ducation
of millions of dollars in federal funds. In other cases, federal
restrictions result in sprinkling remedial instruction in equal
but ineffective amounts across large numbers of children --
Research.
instead of focusing enough time and energy to make a real
difference for kids who need it most.
Has anyone asked the teachers here today: does that make
sense? How can we ask you to teach -- and then tie your hands?
Third, we've got to launch a wide-open effort to create New
American Schools -- at least one in every Congressional District
across the country. Lehigh Valley is hard at work on its plan to
make this community home to its own New American School.
These break-the-mold schools won't conform to any one
blueprint. Some may make a quantum leap forward into tomorrow's
technologies. Others may seek to reach the future by restoring
8
older traditions, the discipline -- and disciplines -- of an
earlier era. Each one of these schools would be a laboratory of
learning -- a living example of how we can re-invent American
education. All we need now from Congress is the seed money to
help people like you translate ideas into action.
Fourth, we must create an incentive to improve education by
promoting school choice. For far too long, we've shielded our
schools from competition -- allowed the system a damaging
monopoly-power over students. Well, just as monopolies are bad
for the economy -- they're bad for our kids. Every parent should
have the power to choose which school is best for his child --
public, private or religious. //
Look at America's college students. Our university system
is the envy of the world. Each year, we make over $20 billion
dollars in federal grants and loans directly to students -- to
use at the university of their choice. No one asks whether they
enroll at Penn or Penn State -- at Villanova or Lehigh or
Lafayette. It's time we make the same choice available to all
parents from the moment their children go to school. Whether
it's public or parochial school, yeshiva or bible school -- let
parents, not the government, decide. //
And let's be clear: if we deny parents school choice --
let's recognize who's hurt worst by the status quo. It's not the
well-to-do. It's not the upper middle class. It's not any one
of us who ever went house-hunting with a map of the good school
9
districts. / Deny people school choice, and the ones you hurt
most are the Middle Class and lower -- and especially the poor.
That's why choice is catching on in some of the hardest-hit
neighborhoods in this nation. Talk to parents spearheading the
school choice crusade -- people like Polly Williams in Milwaukee.
They'll tell you how the lack of choice left them powerless to
force change -- how a public school bureaucracy turned students
into statistics and parents into pawns. Look at Milwaukee today
-- pioneering school choice, giving poor parents control, and
poor children pride. Look at the schools in East Harlem -- where
teachers put their names on waiting lists to get a chance to
teach in a choice school. They can't wait to stand in front of a
classroom of children who want to be there -- who want to learn.
Choice works -- and here's why. When our students are a
captive audience, our schools have no incentive to improve. What
competition brings to the economy -- choice can bring to
education. Say what you want about reforming our schools: If
you're for change -- you're for school choice.
These four ideas are generating interest and enthusiasm
among Governors and mayors -- Democrats and Republicans -- among
business leaders from Ed Donley and the Allentown-Lehigh County
Chamber of Commerce, to the Fortune 500. Among teachers and
students and parents and principals -- everyone at every level
who understands the need for change.
Everyone, that is, except the leaders of the U.S. Congress.
At a moment when the consensus for change seems to be
10
reaching critical mass, on Capitol Hill you can watch the last
stand of the status quo. Forces there are waging a last-ditch
effort to put the brakes on change -- to preserve the business-
as-usual approach that brought us the present crisis in
education.
Take a look at the bill now winding its way through the
Congress -- and what it does to the four path-breaking ideas I
mentioned a moment ago.
As part of America 2000, I asked Congress for funds for New (Ed.)
American Schools -- $545 million from now until 1994. Last year,
for America 2000 activities
Congress set aside $100 million dollars for 1992 and set a
deadline of April 1 to decide how the money would be used. This
month, that self-imposed deadline came and went -- wiping out any
chance for Congress to make a start on New American Schools this
year. For 1993, the House plans more of the same: the bill
(Ed)
under consideration right now would funnel more than $800 million
???
into existing business-as-usual state bureaucracies -- and not a
because of bills the
penny for the new experimental schools we need and the American
design,
people want.
We asked Congress for authority to help develop World Class
Standards and American Achievement Tests -- tools that would help
us measure our students' progress -- and assess the return we're
getting for our education dollars. / The House of
Representatives is threatening an amendment to deny the Education
Department the right to fund even a study of standards or tests.
11
Finally, we asked the Congress to fund pilot programs to
promote school choice -- programs to help poor families in six
American cities. Under heavy pressure from the education lobby,
House and Senate leaders have stripped any mention of school
(Ed.)
for allschools
X 20
choice out of their bills. //
L.Affair
Instead of supporting America 2000, the bill Congress claims
will help our schools is an exercise in cynicism -- call it the
Status Quo Schools Act of 1992. So today, let me serve notice to
education lobby and their friends back on Capitol Hill: I will
not let Congress spend a billion dollars on a business-as-usual
bill -- and call it education reform. [ [ If Congress wants to
side with status quo schools -- Congress can count on a veto. ]]
Congress can drag its feet -- but it can't stop change.
Lehigh Valley is living proof of the words of the great Abraham
Lincoln: "Revolutions do not go backward." There is a time
early in every revolution when the status quo looks steady and
strong -- and the forces that challenge it weak and without
effect. And there is the moment when the forces of change carry
the day -- the bankruptcy of the status quo stands revealed, and
the whole, hollow house of cards collapses.
The revolution in American education is already underway.
In Lehigh Valley and in communities all across America, the old
ways are being abandoned, new ideas advanced. This revolution
will triumph for the simplest and the strongest of reasons:
because American parents want the best for their children.
12
Because there isn't a single child anywhere in America who
doesn't deserve the best education possible. 11
From our schools to our courts, from our hospitals to the
halls of government, from the neighborhoods outside our door to
the realities of a new world economy -- the need for reform won't
wait. The only acceptable response is the American response. We
must rekindle a revolution -- a revolution to bring change to the
country that's changed the world. //
The American people have made their choice. The American
people want change. //
Thank you all for this warm welcome -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-15-92 ; 14:19 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 2
LEGISLA RUE AFFS.
10
reaching critical mass, on Capitol Hill you can watch the last
stand of the status quo. Forces there are waging a last-ditch
effort to put the brakes on change -- to preserve the business-
as-usual approach that brought us the present crisis in
education.
Take a look at the bill now winding its way through the
Congress -- and what it does to the four path-breaking ideas I
mentioned a moment ago.
As part of America 2000, I asked Congress for funds for New
American Schools -- $545 million from now until 1994. Last year,
Congress set aside $100 million dollars for 1992 -- and set a
deadline of April 1 to decide how the money would be used. This
month, that self-imposed deadline came and went -- wiping out any
chance for Congress to make a start on New American Schools this
year. For 1993, the House plans more of the same: the bill
under consideration right now would funnel more than $800 million
into existing business-as-usual state bureaucracies -- and not a
penny for the new experimental schools we need and the American
people want
We asked Congress for authority to help develop World Class
Standards and American Achievement Tests -- tools that would help
us measure our students' progress -- and assess the return we're
getting for our education dollars. / The House
of
9
Representatives is threatening an amendment to deny the Education
Department the right to fund even a study of standards or tests.
delows
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-15-92 ; 14:20 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 3.
11
Finally, we asked the Congress to fund pilot programs to
promote school choice -- programs to help poor families in six
American cities. Under heavy pressure from the education lobby,
selved to accept
House and Senate leaders str ipped any mention of school
choice out of their bills. 11
(inaccurate)
Instead of supporting America 2000, the bill Congress claims
will help our schools is an exercise in cynicism - call it the
Status Quo Schools Act of 1992. So today, let me serve notice to
education lobby and their friends back on Capitol Hill: I will
not let Congress spend a billion dollars on a business-as-usual
bill -- and call it education reform. [[ If Congress wants to
side with status quo schools -- Congress can count on a veto.
]]
Congress can drag its feet -- but it can't stop change.
This
language
Lehigh Valley is living proof of the words of the great Abraham depends on
POTUS decision
Lincoln: "Revolutions do not go backward." There is a time
memo.
early in every revolution when the status quo looks steady and
strong - and the forces that challenge it weak and without
effect. And there is the moment when the forces of change carry
the day - the bankruptcy of the status quo stands revealed, and
the whole, hollow house of cards collapses.
The revolution in American education is already underway.
In Lehigh Valley and in communities all across America, the old
ways are being abandoned, new ideas advanced. This revolution
will triumph for the simplest and the strongest of reasons:
because American parents want the best for their children.
SENT BY: The TICKET CENTER
;
4-15-92 ; 14:20 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 4
12
Because there isn't a single child anywhere in America who
doesn't deserve the best education possible. 11
From our schools to our courts, from our hospitals to the
halls of government, from the neighborhoods outside our door to
the realities of a new world economy -- the need for reform won't
wait. The only acceptable response is the American response. We
must rekindle a revolution -- a revolution to bring change to the
country that's changed the world. 11
The American people have made their
choice. The American
people want change. 11
Thank you all for this warm welcome
-- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:22 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 1
Document No. 321639ss
92 APR 14 P2: 3³ WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
4/13/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: TUESDAY, 4/14/92 3:00
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
SUBJECT:
ALLENTOWN, PA - 4/16/92
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CAEM
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
X 6218
Please forward your comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 3:00 p.m., TUESDAY, APRIL 14, with a copy to this office.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
See comments PP 7-10. Please let us know
if changes on pp 9-10 will not be incorporated
Botten 4/14 2:15 pm. PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
OLA
and Staff Secretary
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:23 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 2
McGroarty/Bunton
32 APR 13 P5: 21
April 13, 1992
5:00 pm
[LEHIGH]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
My thanks to the parents, the teachers and the staff.
Thanks also to all the folks here from Allentown and Easton and
Bethlehem -- the leading lights of Lehigh Valley. Last but not
least, let me say hello to the students of Disruff High. 11
It's astonishing to be here with the Class of '92 as a
graduate of the Class of '42. 11 I realize the world I thought
of as new -- for you is, well, history. 11
Look at the world you'll soon call your own. Each day we
see new evidence: History played out in the headlines. old
empires expire -- new worlds are born. In the past six months
alone, we've seen the birth of 18 new nations. [[Who knows how
many there'll be by the time you take that big geography final. ]]
But the challenges we face -- the sheer complexity of our
world - can't obscure the basic values that guide this Nation.
Times change, but truths endure. I'm talking about the big
issues that shape our world -- about the values close to home.
Everything I've done -- I've done to preserve and advance three
precious legacies: strong families. Good jobs. A world at
peace.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
;
4-14-92
;
13:23
;
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 3
2
Securing those legacies has been my mission as President --
and it will be my mission today and every day, now and for the
next four years. 11
Right now, here in Allentown and across America, the number
one concern is the economy -- and turning this economy around,
creating tobs. is the mission that matters most. Listen to what
people say about the economy. Get beneath the cold statistics -
- down to the real heart of this issue. People want to know
whether they can keep the job they've
got -- and whether they're
on track for a batter one. For their kids -- for each one of the
students here today -- they've got grander visions: not just a
job - a career. Work that means more than simply making ends
meet: Work that gives real meaning to your life. 11
People have a right to ask: what
is government's role in
all of this? / No, we can't legislate the American Dream. But
government can serve as a catalyst for change -- clearing away
the obstacles to economic growth and the unnecessary costs of
doing business. Expanding the opportunities for aggressive
businesses and enterprising individuals to create new jobs.
Training and educating our children -- giving you the tools of
thought you'll need to compete in the new world economy. 11
The fate of America's economic future rests on five pillars:
On free and fair trade -- our ability to break down barriers,
open new markets to American goods. Our future rests on legal
reform -- on ending the explosion of litigation that strains our
patience and saps our economy. On health care reform -- opening
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:24 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 4
3
up access to all Americans, controlling the run-away cost of
health care without sacrificing choice and quality. On
government reform -- because only if we reverse a generation of
creeping bureaucracy, only if we restore limits to government,
can we restore public trust.
Finally, the reason I've come to Lehigh Valley today: our
future depends on education reform -- our ability to
revolutionize -- literally re-invent our schools: to prepare a
new generation for the challanges of the next century.
Education represents a perfect community of interest:
between the individual and society -- between one generation and
the next. Between the proud history we must pass on -- and the
path-breaking future we must create. 11 And in terms of
America's economic future - education
is nothing less than a
matter of economic survival. 11
You've seen the news stories. You've heard the bleak
statistics. Anyone who worries about alack productivity or a bad
balance of trade ought to be alarmed about our children's test
scores. Millions of students work hard, millions of dedicated
teachers do their best -- and still, in one test after another,
America's children score at or near the bottom ranks of
international achievement. 11
We don't need another test to tell us something is wrong
with our schools. For the sake of every student here today,
we've got to shake off any sense of complacency -- and shake up
the status quo.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:24 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218;# 5
4
Here in Lehigh Valley, that's a lesson you learned years
ago. You didn't wait for word from Washington. You didn't stand
back and watch another generation of kids get less education than
they deserved. This community took a direct interest in what was
going on in the classroom. This community took action. 11
I took office determined to put the power of the Presidency
behind change. More than two years ago, we took a strong first
step. Working together with the nation's Governors, we set six
ambitious goals for the year 2000: We agreed we must raise the
high-school graduation rate to 90%. We must be first in the
world in math and science. We must put in place a system of
World Class Standards -- and tests to measure students' progress.
By the year 2000, every American adult must be literate. Every
American child must start school ready to learn -- and every
American school must be free of drugs, free from the violence
that today too often follows our kids into the classroom.
Let me make this clear: These goals are not just my goals.
They're not just the Governor's goals. They are the nation's
goals - and more than that, they are the hope of the next
generation.
Goals define the mission. They tell us where we want to go
-- not how to get there. That's why, nearly one year ago to the
day, I mapped out a strategy I call America 2000: a plan to
revolutionize American education. To put an end to business as
usual: to break the mold -- build a new generation of American
schools.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:25 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 6
5
Two days from now, we'll mark the first anniversary of
America 2000. Let me share with you today a kind of "report
card" on what we've accomplished. / In one year's time, we've
seen America 2000 catch fire all across this country. Already,
43 states and more than 1000 communities -- from Grand Junction,
Colorado to Lewiston, Maine - have joined the America 2000
crusade. Everywhere, people like you are working to break down
the barriers between the classroom and the community -- to spark
a grass-roots revolution to re-invent the American school.
But, you know that story - because Lehigh Valley has led
the way.
I want to share with you an old African proverb that's the
motto of Minnesota 2000: "It takes an entire village to educate
one child."
And that is what it takes - because education doesn't just
happen in the classroom. It doesn't start at 9 a.m. and end at
3. We owe it to our children and to ourselves to see that we
live in communities that care about education -- communities
where learning can happen.
Today, I came to Lehigh - to one of the first communities
to join the America 2000 crusade -- to say the time has come to
carry the revolution to the national level. Taking that step
depends on our success in building a consensus for change around
four core ideas -- four ways to transform the federal government
into a catalyst for real education reform.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
;
4-14-92
;
13:25
;
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218;# 7
6
First, if we're serious about reaching our goals, we must
set World Class Standards in five core subjects - and establish
a series of voluntary American Achievement Tests to measure our
children's progress.
Second, we've got to grant states and local school districts
relief from the rigid formula-grant approach that forces a one-
size-fits-all solution on our schools:
allowing teachers and
principals flexibility - freedom to apply federal resources to
fit local circumstances.
Right now, federal rules force schools to stick with
outdated tests -- rather than go with new ones and risk the loss
of millions of dollars in federal funds. In other cases, federal
restrictions result in sprinkling remedial instruction in equal
but ineffective amounts across large numbers of children --
instead of focusing enough time and energy to make a real
difference for kids who need it most.
Has anyone asked the teachers here today: does that make
sense? How can we ask you to teach -- and then tie your hands?
Third, we've got to launch a wide-open experiment to create
New American Schools -- at least one in every Congressional
District across the country. Lehigh Valley is hard at work on
its plan to make this community home to its own New American
School.
These break-the-mold schools won't conform to any one
blueprint. Some may make a quantum leap forward into tomorrow's
technologies. Others may seek to reach the future by restoring
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:26 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218;# 8
7
older traditions, the discipline -- and disciplines -- of an
earlier era. Each one of these schools would be a laboratory of
learning -- an experimental attempt to re-invent American
education. All we need now is the seed money to translate ideas
into action.
Fourth, we must create an incentive to improve education by
promoting school choice. For far too long, we've shielded our
schools from competition -- allowed the system a damaging
monopoly-power over students. Well, just as monopolies are bad
for the economy -- they're bad for our kids. Every parent should
have the power to choose which school is best for his child --
public. private or religious. 11
Look at America's college students. Our university system
is the envy of the world. Each year, we make over $15 billion
dollars in federal grants and loans directly to students -- to
use at the university of their choice.
No one asks whether they
enroll at Penn State or USC -- at SMU or Notre Dame. It's time
we make the same choice available to all parents from the moment
public or
their children go to school. Whether it's parochial school or
yeshiva or bible school -- let parents, not the government,
decide. 11
And let's be clear: if we deny parents school choice --
let's recognize who's hurt worst by the status quo. It's not the
well-to-do. It's not the upper middle class. It's not any one
of us who ever went house-hunting with a map of the good school
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:26 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 9
+
suggested insert
Give poor kids the Same
somewhere
choice of schools as the
8
well-to-do have.
districts. / Deny people school choice, and the ones you hurt
most are the Middle Class and lower -- and especially the poor.
That's why choice is catching on in some of the hardest-hit
neighborhoods in this nation. Talk to parents spearheading the
school choice crusade -- people like Polly Williams in Milwaukee.
They'll tell you how the lack of choice left them powerless to
force change -- how a public school bureaucracy turned students
into statistics and parents into pawns. Look at Milwaukee today
-- pioneering school choice, giving poor parents control, and
poor children pride. 11 Look at the schools in East Harlem --
where teachers put their names on waiting list to get a chance to
teach in a choice school. They can't wait to stand in front of a
classroom of children who want to be there -- who want to learn.
Choice works -- and here's why. When our students are a
captive audience, our schools have no incentive to improve. What
competition brings to the economy -- choice can bring to
education. Say what you want about reforming our schools: If
you're for change -- you're for school choice.
These four ideas are generating interest and enthusiasm
among Governors and mayors -- Democrats and Republicans -- among
business leaders from Ed Donley and the Allentown-Lehigh County
Chamber of Commerce, to the Fortune 500. Among teachers and
students and parents and principals -- everyone at every level
who understands the need for change.
Everyone, that is, except the leaders of the U.S. Congress.
At a moment when the consensus for change seems to be
2024566218:#10
; 4-14-92 ; 13:27 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
9
reaching critical mass, on Capitol Hill you can watch the last
stand of the status quo. Forces there are waging a last-ditch
effort to put the brakes on change -- to preserve the business-
as-usual approach that brought us the present crisis in
education.
Take a look at the bill now winding its way through the
Congress -- and what it does to the four path-breaking ideas I
mentioned a moment ago.
As part of America 2000, I asked Congress for funds for New
American Schools -- $545 million from now until 1994. Last year,
Congress set aside $100 million dollars for New American Schools
in 1992 -- and set a deadline of April 1 to decide how the money
would be used. This month, that self-imposed deadline came and
went -- wiping out any chance to make a start on New American
Schools this year. Next year, the House bill would funnel more
than $800 million into existing business-as-usual state
bureaucracies -- and not a penny for the new experimental schools
we need.
We asked Congress for funds to develop World Class Standards
and American Achievement Tests -- tools that would help us
measure our students' progress -- and assess the return we're
getting for our education dollars. When it comes to making our
schools more accountable, the U.S. Senate has stonewaried and
the House is threatening an amendment to deny the Education
Department the right to fund even a study of standards OF tests
will not accept our
proposals
scalls
for higher standards and voluntes tool.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 4-14-92 ; 13:27 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:#11
of
Wording will have to await Presidential decision on
strategy Possible alternative:
that will be unacciptable."
10
BRACKETS
Finally, we asked the Congress to fund pilot programs to
promote school choice. Under heavy pressure from the education
refuse to include
lobby, House and in Senate leaders have stripped any mention of No-
school choice out of their bills. 11
Seu all
Instead of supporting America 2000, the bill Congress claims
will help our schools is an exercise in cynicism -- call it the
Status Quo Schools Act of 1992. So today, let me serve notice to
the education lobby and their friends back on Capitol Hill: I will
not let Congress spend a billion dollars on a business-as-usual
bill -- and call it education reform. If Congress wants to side
with status quo schools Congress can count on a veto
//
Congress can drag its feet -- but it can't stop change.
Lehigh Valley is living proof of the words of the great Abraham
Lincoln: "Revolutions do not go backward." There is a time
early in every revolution when the status quo looks steady and
strong -- and the forces that challenge it weak and without
effect. And there is the moment when the forces of change carry
the day -- the bankruptcy of the status quo stands revealed, and
the whole, hollow house of cards collapses.
The revolution in American education is already underway.
In Lehigh Valley and in communities all across America, the old
ways are being abandoned, new ideas advanced. This revolution
will prevail for the simplest and the strongest of reasons:
because American parents want the best for their children.
Because there isn't a single child anywhere in America who
doesn't deserve the best education possible. //
- SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
:
4-14-92 ; 13:28 ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:#12
11
From our schools to our courts, from our hospitals to the
halls of government, from the neighborhoods outside our door to
the realities of a new world economy -- the need for reform won't
wait. The only acceptable response is the American response. We
must rekindle a revolution -- a revolution to bring change to the
country that's changed the world. 11
The American people have made their choice. The American
people want change. 11
Thank you all for this warm welcome -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
Document No. 321639ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
92 APR 14 A10: 32
DATE:
4/13/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: TUESDAY, 4/14/92 3:00p
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
SUBJECT:
ALLENTOWN, PA - 4/16/92
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
ROGICH
CALIO
ROLLINS
DEMAREST
SMITH
FITZWATER
YEUTTER
GRAY
FINDLAY
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 3:00 p.m., TUESDAY, APRIL 14, with a copy to this office.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
To
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
S2 APR 13 P5: 21
April 13, 1992
5:00 pm
[LEHIGH]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LEHIGH VALLEY 2000
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
APRIL 16, 1992
1:00 P.M.
My thanks to the parents, the teachers and the staff.
Thanks also to all the folks here from Allentown and Easton and
Bethlehem -- the leading lights of Lehigh Valley. Last but not
least, let me say hello to the students of Dieruff High. //
It's astonishing to be here with the Class of '92 as a
graduate of the Class of '42. // I realize the world I thought
of as new -- for you is, well, history. //
Look at the world you'll soon call your own. Each day we
see new evidence: History played out in the headlines. Old
empires expire -- new worlds are born. In the past six months
alone, we've seen the birth of 18 new nations. [[Who knows how
many there'll be by the time you take that big geography final. ]]
But the challenges we face -- the sheer complexity of our
world -- can't obscure the basic values that guide this Nation.
Times change, but truths endure. I'm talking about the big
issues that shape our world -- about the values close to home.
Everything I've done -- I've done to preserve and advance three
precious legacies: strong families. Good jobs. A world at
peace.
2
Securing those legacies has been my mission as President --
and it will be my mission today and every day, now and for the
next four years. //
Right now, here in Allentown and across America, the number
one concern is the economy -- and turning this economy around,
creating jobs, is the mission that matters most. Listen to what
people say about the economy. Get beneath the cold statistics -
- down to the real heart of this issue. People want to know
whether they can keep the job they've got -- and whether they're
on track for a better one. For their kids -- for each one of the
students here today -- they've got grander visions: not just a
job -- a career. Work that means more than simply making ends
meet: Work that gives real meaning to your life. //
People have a right to ask: what is government's role in
all of this? / No, we can't legislate the American Dream. But
government can serve as a catalyst for change -- clearing away
the obstacles to economic growth and the unnecessary costs of
doing business. Expanding the opportunities for aggressive
businesses and enterprising individuals to create new jobs.
Training and educating our children -- giving you the tools of
thought you'll need to compete in the new world economy. //
The fate of America's economic future rests on five pillars:
On free and fair trade -- our ability to break down barriers,
open new markets to American goods. Our future rests on legal
reform -- on ending the explosion of litigation that strains our
patience and saps our economy. On health care reform -- opening
3
up access to all Americans, controlling the run-away cost of
health care without sacrificing choice and quality. On
government reform -- because only if we reverse a generation of
creeping bureaucracy, only if we restore limits to government,
can we restore public trust.
Finally, the reason I've come to Lehigh Valley today: our
future depends on education reform -- our ability to
revolutionize -- literally re-invent our schools: to prepare a
new generation for the challenges of the next century.
Education represents a perfect community of interest:
between the individual and society -- between one generation and
the next. Between the proud history we must pass on -- and the
path-breaking future we must create. // And in terms of
America's economic future -- education is nothing less than a
matter of economic survival. //
You've seen the news stories. You've heard the bleak
of
statistics. Anyone who worries about slack productivity or a bad
balance of trade ought to be alarmed about our children's test
scores. Millions of students work hard, millions of dedicated
teachers do their best Brot and still, in one test after another,
America's children score at or near the bottom ranks of
do
not
international achievement. //
STORE
We don't need another test to tell us something is wrong
rank
with our schools. For the sake of every student here today,
internal high in
we've got to shake off any sense of complacency -- and shake up
companisous the status quo.
4
Here in Lehigh Valley, that's a lesson you learned years
ago. You didn't wait for word from Washington. You didn't stand
back and watch another generation of kids get less education than
they deserved. This community took a direct interest in what was
going on in the classroom. This community took action. //
I took office determined to put the power of the Presidency
behind change. More than two years ago, we took a strong first
step. Working together with the nation's Governors, we set six
ambitious goals for the year 2000: We agreed we must raise the
high-school graduation rate to 90%. We must be first in the
world in math and science. We must put in place a system of
World Class Standards -- and tests to measure students' progress.
By the year 2000, every American adult must be literate. Every
American child must start school ready to learn -- and every
American school must be free of drugs, free from the violence
that today too often follows our kids into the classroom.
Let me make this clear: These goals are not just my goals.
They're not just the Governor's goals. They are the nation's
goals -- and more than that, they are the hope of the next
generation.
Goals define the mission. They tell us where we want to go
-- not how to get there. That's why, nearly one year ago to the
day, I mapped out a strategy I call America 2000: a plan to
revolutionize American education. To put an end to business as
usual: to break the mold -- build a new generation of American
schools.
5
Two days from now, we'll mark the first anniversary of
America 2000. Let me share with you today a kind of "report
card" on what we've accomplished. / In one year's time, we've
seen America 2000 catch fire all across this country. Already,
43 states and more than 1000 communities -- from Grand Junction,
Colorado to Lewiston, Maine -- have joined the America 2000
crusade. Everywhere, people like you are working to break down
the barriers between the classroom and the community -- to spark
a grass-roots revolution to re-invent the American school.
But, you know that story -- because Lehigh Valley has led
the way.
I want to share with you an old African proverb that's the
motto of Minnesota 2000: "It takes an entire village to educate
one child."
And that is what it takes -- because education doesn't just
happen in the classroom. It doesn't start at 9 a.m. and end at
3. We owe it to our children and to ourselves to see that we
live in communities that care about education -- communities
where learning can happen.
Today, I came to Lehigh --- to one of the first communities
to join the America 2000 crusade -- to say the time has come to
carry the revolution to the national level. Taking that step
depends on our success in building a consensus for change around
four core ideas -- four ways to transform the federal government
into a catalyst for real education reform.
6
First, if we're serious about reaching our goals, we must
set World Class Standards in five core subjects -- and establish
a series of voluntary American Achievement Tests to measure our
children's progress.
Second, we've got to grant states and local school districts
relief from the rigid formula-grant approach that forces a one-
size-fits-all solution on our schools: allowing teachers and
principals flexibility -- freedom to apply federal resources to
fit local circumstances.
Right now, federal rules force schools to stick with
outdated tests -- rather than go with new ones and risk the loss
of millions of dollars in federal funds. In other cases, federal
restrictions result in sprinkling remedial instruction in equal
but ineffective amounts across large numbers of children --
instead of focusing enough time and energy to make a real
difference for kids who need it most.
Has anyone asked the teachers here today: does that make
sense? How can we ask you to teach -- and then tie your hands?
Third, we've got to launch a wide-open experiment to create
New American Schools -- at least one in every Congressional
District across the country. Lehigh Valley is hard at work on
its plan to make this community home to its own New American
School.
These break-the-mold schools won't conform to any one
blueprint. Some may make a quantum leap forward into tomorrow's
technologies. Others may seek to reach the future by restoring
7
older traditions, the discipline -- and disciplines -- of an
earlier era. Each one of these schools would be a laboratory of
learning -- an experimental attempt to re-invent American
education. All we need now is the seed money to translate ideas
into action.
Fourth, we must create an incentive to improve education by
promoting school choice. For far too long, we've shielded our
schools from competition -- allowed the system a damaging
monopoly-power over students. Well, just as monopolies are bad
for the economy -- they're bad for our kids. Every parent should
have the power to choose which school is best for his child --
public, private or religious. //
Look at America's college students. Our university system
is the envy of the world. Each year, we make over $15 billion
dollars in federal grants and loans directly to students -- to
use at the university of their choice. No one asks whether they
NB:
enroll at Penn State or USC -- at SMU or Notre Dame. It's time
revising
USC
we make the same choice available to all parents from the moment
schools
is
their children go to school. Whether it's parochial school or
named
a
private school
yeshiva or bible school -- let parents, not the government,
decide. //
DAA was
And let's be clear: if we deny parents school choice --
it
in
tended let's recognize who's hurt worst by the status quo. It's not the
that well-to-do. It's not the upper middle class. It's not any one
way? of us who ever went house-hunting with a map of the good school
8
districts. / Deny people school choice, and the ones you hurt
most are the Middle Class and lower -- and especially the poor.
That's why choice is catching on in some of the hardest-hit
neighborhoods in this nation. Talk to parents spearheading the
school choice crusade -- people like Polly Williams in Milwaukee.
They'll tell you how the lack of choice left them powerless to
force change -- how a public school bureaucracy turned students
into statistics and parents into pawns. Look at Milwaukee today
-- pioneering school choice, giving poor parents control, and
poor children pride. // Look at the schools in East Harlem --
where teachers put their names on waiting list₅ to get a chance to
Rostoj
teach in a choice school. They can't wait to stand in front of a
classroom of children who want to be there -- who want to learn.
Choice works -- and here's why. When our students are a
captive audience, our schools have no incentive to improve. What
competition brings to the economy -- choice can bring to
education. Say what you want about reforming our schools: If
you're for change -- you're for school choice.
These four ideas are generating interest and enthusiasm
among Governors and mayors -- Democrats and Republicans -- among
business leaders from Ed Donley and the Allentown-Lehigh County
Chamber of Commerce, to the Fortune 500. Among teachers and
students and parents and principals -- everyone at every level
who understands the need for change.
Everyone, that is, except the leaders of the U.S. Congress.
At a moment when the consensus for change seems to be
9
reaching critical mass, on Capitol Hill you can watch the last
stand of the status quo. Forces there are waging a last-ditch
effort to put the brakes on change -- to preserve the business-
as-usual approach that brought us the present crisis in
education.
Take a look at the bill now winding its way through the
Congress -- and what it does to the four path-breaking ideas I
mentioned a moment ago.
As part of America 2000, I asked Congress for funds for New
American Schools -- $545 million from now until 1994. Last year,
Congress set aside $100 million dollars for New American Schools
in 1992 -- and set a deadline of April 1 to decide how the money
would be used. This month, that self-imposed deadline came and
went -- wiping out any chance to make a start on New American
Schools this year. Next year, the House bill would funnel more
than $800 million into existing business-as-usual state
bureaucracies -- and not a penny for the new experimental schools
we need.
We asked Congress for funds to develop World Class Standards
and American Achievement Tests -- tools that would help us
measure our students' progress -- and assess the return we're
getting for our education dollars. When it comes to making our
schools more accountable, the U.S. Senate has stonewalled -- and
the House is threatening an amendment to deny the Education
Department the right to fund even a study of standards or tests.
10
Finally, we asked the Congress to fund pilot programs to
promote school choice. Under heavy pressure from the education
lobby, House and Senate leaders have stripped any mention of
school choice out of their bills. //
Instead of supporting America 2000, the bill Congress claims
will help our schools is an exercise in cynicism -- call it the
Status Quo Schools Act of 1992. So today, let me serve notice to
education lobby and their friends back on Capitol Hill: I will
not let Congress spend a billion dollars on a business-as-usual
bill -- and call it education reform. If Congress wants to side
with status quo schools -- Congress can count on a veto. //
Congress can drag its feet -- but it can't stop change.
Lehigh Valley is living proof of the words of the great Abraham
Lincoln: "Revolutions do not go backward." There is a time
early in every revolution when the status quo looks steady and
strong -- and the forces that challenge it weak and without
effect. And there is the moment when the forces of change carry
the day -- the bankruptcy of the status quo stands revealed, and
the whole, hollow house of cards collapses.
The revolution in American education is already underway.
In Lehigh Valley and in communities all across America, the old
ways are being abandoned, new ideas advanced. This revolution
will prevail for the simplest and the strongest of reasons:
because American parents want the best for their children.
Because there isn't a single child anywhere in America who
doesn't deserve the best education possible. //
11
From our schools to our courts, from our hospitals to the
halls of government, from the neighborhoods outside our door to
the realities of a new world economy -- the need for reform won't
wait. The only acceptable response is the American response. We
must rekindle a revolution -- a revolution to bring change to the
country that's changed the world. //
The American people have made their choice. The American
people want change. //
Thank you all for this warm welcome -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #