Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323154665
label
Education Summit 9/89 [OA 4423]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323154665
contentType
document
title
Education Summit 9/89 [OA 4423]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13880-002
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Mary Kate Grant Subject Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323154665
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
5d66717386df0f73
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
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:
Grant, Mary Kate, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1988-1991
OA/ID Number:
13880
Folder ID Number:
13880-002
Folder Title:
Education Summit, 9/89
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
19
2
7
5
Republican
enfo
National
Committee
Lee Atwater
Chairman
October 11, 1989
Dear Republican Leader:
To further his goal of fostering excellence in
education, President Bush recently convened a historic
Education Summit with our nation's governors in
Charlottesville, Virginia.
The President and governors worked together to find
ways to strengthen our schools, to enlarge opportunities and
to improve America's educational performance. This was only
the third time in history that a President called the
governors together -- a mark of President's Bush's leadership
on education.
To assist in heightening awareness of the importance
of education and in spreading the word about the Bush
Administration's leadership on this issue, the Republican
National Committee has prepared an editorial piece and talking
points for use by you and your colleagues.
I encourage you to place the editorial piece in your
local newspaper and use the talking points for newsletter
articles or in talking with your local press. Please contact
us if we can be of additional assistance.
Sincerely,
fee Lee Atwater
Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Center 310 First Street Southeast Washington, D.C. 20003 (202) 863-8700
Telex: 701144
FAX: 863-8820
REFORMING AND RESTRUCTURING AMERICAN EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
0
Awash in misspent money and misguided ideas, American schools
sank into decay during the 1960s and 1970s.
o
Republican Administrations have fought that decay. They have
met some success. But it is not enough to halt our educational
decline. We must rise to educational excellence. That is
President Bush's goal.
o
Progress depends more on new thinking than new spending.
o
As part of his commitment to reform American education,
President Bush convened the nation's governors in an "education
summit" -- only the third gubernatorial summit in history.
Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas said of the
summit: "This is the first time in the history of this country
that we have ever thought enough of education to commit
ourselves to national performance goals. It has never happened
in almost 200 years. "
o
At the summit, President Bush said: "Education is our most
enduring legacy, vital to everything we are and can become.
And come the next century just 10 years away -- what will
we be? Will we be children of the Enlightenment or its
orphans?"
PROGRESS UNDER REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
O
Average SAT scores are now higher than in 1980:
1980
1988
Verbal
424
427
Math
466
476
0
In 1988, only 4.4 percent of students in grades 10 through 12
dropped out of high school, compared with 6.6 percent in 1978.
o
According to polls sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa, only 35
percent of Americans gave their local public schools a grade of
A or B in 1980. By 1989, that figure had risen to 43 percent.
AMERICAN EDUCATION STILL NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
0
The American people will spend a record $353 billion on schools
and colleges this year.
0
The average salary today for a public school teacher is
$31,200 -- a real (inflation-adjusted) increase of 23 percent
since 1981.
Spending per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools
is at a record high of $5,246 --- $308 more than last year.
The problem isn't money. but motivation. With an attentive
class, a good teacher can move the world with a piece of chalk.
Despite progress under GOP leadership, we have not fully
recovered from the mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s. Between
1963 and 1980, the average verbal SAT score dropped from 478 to
424, while the average math score dropped from 498 to 466.
Such a trend disproves the myth that spending alone can solve
our problems. While SATs were plunging, real federal spending
for elementary and secondary education was soaring -- an
inflation-adjusted 328 percent increase between 1963 and 1980.
Americans believe that we are falling behind other nations.
The executive director of the National Association of Secondary
School Principals examined learning conditions in the United
States and compared them with those in South Korea and West
Germany. He gave South Korea an A-minus, West Germany a B-plus
and the United States a C-plus.
Again, comparative statistics show that money is not the
problem. The United States spends a greater percentage of its
gross national product on education than Japan, West Germany or
South Korea.
US
6.7
Japan
5.1
W. Germany
4.6
S. Korea
4.5
Education Secretary Lauro Cavazos has said that there is
"overwhelming support" for "a major restructuring of our
education system, with school choice as the cornerstone."
Factories for failure. Some high schools have become factories
for failure: noisy, dangerous places where the switchblade has
replaced the pencil as the implement of choice.
In bad school systems, hard-working students see little
immediate reward. In fact, other students confront them with
criticism, isolation and even physical assault.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S PRINCIPLES FOR REFORM
0
President Bush has proposed adding more than $400 million to
the previous request of $21.9 billion in budget authority
for education programs. His ideas for reforming American
education rest on these principles:
*
Recognition of excellence - Rewarding good performance will
Co-chairs of the
Branked
/ vand ner
summit
campbell
clinton
Card Campbell
& Clinton
were CO -chair
of ed, tash force:
Other for on that:
M'Keenon Mabes
Schaffn Comittee ashcroft
Perpige
Hunt
andres
REFORMING AND RESTRUCTURING AMERICAN EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
Awash in misspent money and misguided ideas, American schools
sank into decay during the 1960s and 1970s.
Republican Administrations have fought that decay. They have
met some success. But it is not enough to halt our educational
decline. We must rise to educational excellence. That is
President Bush's goal.
Progress depends more on new thinking than new spending.
As part of his commitment to reform American education,
President Bush convened the nation's governors in an "education
summit" -- only the third gubernatorial summit in history.
Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas said of the
summit: "This is the first time in the history of this country
that we have ever thought enough of education to commit
ourselves to national performance goals. It has never happened
in almost 200 years.'
At the summit, President Bush said: "Education is our most
enduring legacy, vital to everything we are and can become.
And come the next century -- just 10 years away -- what will
we be? Will we be children of the Enlightenment or its.
orphans?"
PROGRESS UNDER REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
Average SAT scores are now higher than in 1980:
1980
1988
Verbal
424
427
Math
466
476
In 1988, only 4.4 percent of students in grades 10 through 12
dropped out of high school, compared with 6.6 percent in 1978.
o
According to polls sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa, only 35
percent of Americans gave their local public schools a grade of
A or B in 1980. By 1989, that figure had risen to 43 percent.
AMERICAN EDUCATION STILL NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
The American people will spend a record $353 billion on schools
and colleges this year.
The average salary today for a public school teacher is
$31,200 -- a real (inflation-adjusted) increase of 23 percent
since 1981.
Spending per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools
is at a record high of $5,246 -- $308 more than last year.
The problem isn't money, but motivation. With an attentive
class, a good teacher can move the world with a piece of chalk.
Despite progress under GOP leadership, we have not fully
recovered from the mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s. Between
1963 and 1980, the average verbal SAT score dropped from 478 to
424, while the average math score dropped from 498 to 466.
Such a trend disproves the myth that spending alone can solve
our problems. While SATs were plunging, real federal spending
for elementary and secondary education was soaring -- an
inflation-adjusted 328 percent increase between 1963 and 1980.
o
Americans believe that we are falling behind other nations.
The executive director of the National Association of Secondary
School Principals examined learning conditions in the United
States and compared them with those in South Korea and West
Germany. He gave South Korea an A-minus, West Germany a B-plus
and the United States a C-plus.
Again, comparative statistics show that money is not the
problem. The United States spends a greater percentage of its
gross national product on education than Japan, West Germany or
South Korea.
US
6.7
Japan
5.1
W. Germany
4.6
S. Korea
4.5
o
Education Secretary Lauro Cavazos has said that there is
"overwhelming support" for "a major restructuring of our
education system, with school choice as the cornerstone."
o
Factories for failure. Some high schools have become factories
for failure: noisy, dangerous places where the switchblade has
replaced the pencil as the implement of choice.
o
In bad school systems, hard-working students see little
immediate reward. In fact, other students confront them with
criticism, isolation and even physical assault.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S PRINCIPLES FOR REFORM
President Bush has proposed adding more than $400 million to
the previous request of $21.9 billion in budget authority
for education programs. His ideas for reforming American
education rest on these principles:
Recognition of excellence - Rewarding good performance will
encourage schools, teachers and students to do better.
Public recognition and financial rewards will provide new
spurs to achievement.
Addressing need -- Federal funds should target those most in
need -- where support can make a difference.
Flexibility and choice -- All parents, not only the
affluent, should have greater choice in what, where and how
their children learn. And local school systems must have
greater flexibility in choosing teachers and principals.
Accountability -- The Administration backs objective
measurement and reward of progress toward good education.
Federal, state and local authorities must assure that
the funds they spend and the programs they run accomplish
their goals -- as measured by student learning and
achievement.
REWARDING SUCCESS: PRESIDENT BUSH'S REFORM PROPOSALS
o
While proposing to increase federal support for education,
President Bush knows that the measure of leadership is
inspiration, not appropriation. His program, the
Educational Excellence Act of 1988, has a. simple
premise: if we reward success, we will get more of it.
Presidential merit schools. This program would provide cash
awards to public and private elementary and secondary
schools that have made strides in improving student
achievement, creating a safe and drug-free setting, and
cutting the dropout rate.
Magnet Schools of Excellence. The Education Department now
makes Magnet Schools Assistance grants to school systems
undergoing desegregation. President Bush would help create
and support magnet schools not only in currently-
participating systems, but in others as well.
Alternative Certification of Teachers and Principals. The
President would help states that want to expand the pool of
talent from which to draw teachers and principals.
President's Awards for Excellence in Education. This plan
would reward excellent public and private school teachers.
Each award would amount to $5,000.
National Science Scholars. President Bush would encourage
achievement in the sciences by providing scholarships to
graduating high school students who have excelled in
science, math and engineering.
Drug-Free Schools Urban Emergency Grants. The bill would
authorize special, competitive grants to urban districts
that have the worst drug problems, so that these districts
can carry out comprehensive solutions.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. These
institutions, which have given many black Americans their
only key to the college door, now enroll about 220,000
students. President Bush would provide an additional $40
million in aid over the next three fiscal years.
GOALS SET AT THE SUMMIT
0
The education summit agreed on a process for setting national
goals in seven areas:
Ensure the readiness of all children to start school.
Improve student performance on international achievement
tests, especially in math and science.
Cut the dropout rate and raise academic performance.
Advance the functional literacy of adults.
Foster the level of training necessary to guarantee a
competitive work force.
Increase the supply of qualified teachers and up-to-date
technology.
Restore safe, disciplined and drug-free schools.
The President and the governors also agreed to work for greater
flexibility and accountability and for a major restructuring
effort in each state.
Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of
Teachers, said that President Bush "defined a vision of
education that was not public relations" and that the
summit results "will drive what happens in the schools."
The President concluded the summit by saying: "From this day
forward, let us be an America of tougher standards, an America
of higher goals, and a land of bigger dreams."
###
Bush and Governors Set Education Goals
NYT924-89 A10
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
added that the Federal Government
money spent on education, Mr. Bush
Special to The New York Times
was committed to "more Federal sup-
squarely left the details and the burden
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 28
port" for preschool programs like
of substantial education changes in
- President Bush and the nation's
Head Start for poor children.
their hands.
Governors agreed today on the need to
Overall, said the beaming Mr. Bush,
Mr. Bush had called the rare meeting
overhaul the nation's education system
"This has been historic."
with the governors largely because of
by creating a set of goals that will focus
Test of Financing
the consensus with the Government
on eliminating illiteracy, reshaping
and the education establishment that
curriculums and holding teachers ac-
But some Democratic governors, in-
American schools were in turmoil and
countable for their performance.
cluding Michael S. Dukakis of Massa-
that the education system was int reas-
We believe that the time has come,
chusetts. said it was too early to fore-
angly lagging behind those of other in-
for the first time in U.S. history, to es-
cast the agreement's scope and effec-
dustrial democracies.
tablish clear, national performance
liveness.
goals, goals that will make us interna-
"There's good news in the sense that
More Than Three R's
tionally competetive," said the joint
50 governors and the Administration
In his speech at midday, Mr. Bush
statement issued here at the end of a
seem to be committed to improving the
said his Administration envisioned
two-day meeting called by Mr. Bush to
quality of our schools," said Mr. Duka-
"tradition-shattering reform in five
discuss education. The statement was
kis. the President's opponent in the
areas."
written by the White House staff, Ad-
1988 campaign. "But the test for all of
"First. I see the day when every stu-
ministration officials and a bipartisan
us will be over the next couple of
dent is literate," he said. "But literacy
group of governors.
months. It means not only deciding who
should mean more than the three R's.
Earlier today, in a speech to the gov-
does what, but who pays for it." But
We must be a reading nation. We must
ernors, Mr. Bush said: "The American
most of the Democratic governors
grapple with the hard sciences.'
people are ready for radical reforms.
Mr. Bush also said students mu do
We must not disappoint them.
more than identify names on a multi-
"Education is our most enduring
ple-choice question. They must under-
legacy, vital to everything we are and
'Will we be
stand the generosity of Andrew Carne-
can become," Mr. Bush said. "And
gie, the genius of Alexander Graham
come the next century - just 10 years
children of the
Bell and the heroism of Rosa Parks."
away - what will we be? Will we be
Mr. Bush's second proposal centered
children of the Enlightenment or its or-
Enlightenment or
on "diversity" in classroom curricu-
phans?"
lums and standards. Current lessons
'The First Step'
and procedures are often too rigid to
its orphans?'
meet the needs of the diverse ethnic
Specific goals and details will be
groups of students around the nation,
shaped by the White House and gover-
White House officials said.
nors to be ready for a meeting of the
"Of course all schools in a state will
National Governors' Association in
spoke positively, even warmly, about
share a core curriculum and minimum
Washington in February.
the agreement.
Mr. Bush won praise from several
standards of achievement," Mr. Bush
"This agreement represents the first
union leaders.
said. "But the means by which that
step in a long-term commitment to
reorient the education system and to
Albert Shanker, president of the
curriculum is taught, and those goals
American Federation of Teachers, said
met, should be as diverse and varied as
marshal widespread support for the
America."
needed reforms," the statement said.
Mr. Bush's speech "defined a vision of
These were the President's other
Mr. Bush and the governors said that
education that was not public rela-
the caliber of the education system and
tions."
proposals:
the nation's economic future were inex-
Mr. Shanker said he was surprised
IGiving parents more choice in se-
tricably intertwined. Developing a na-
that Mr. Bush had offered some "radi-
lecting the schools they want their chil-
dren to attend. "Children differ in their
tional strategy that includes new direc-
cally different proposals" that de-
parted from the ideas of conservative
interests, learning styles and capabil-
tions for education, Mr. Bush said, is
educators, notably in emphasizing the
ities," said Mr. Bush. "I see the day
pivotal to the nation's well-being.
The overall proposals carried few
notion of diverse, nonrigid curriculums
when choice among schools will be the
surprises, but they were hailed as the
to meet the needs of students of differ-
norm rather than the exception."
first time any President had outlined a
ing ethnic and geographic back-
IDeveloping more accountability,
framework for the Federal Govern-
grounds.
where teachers, principals and admin-
istrators must clearly answer for poor
ment and states to work together to re-
Hailed as a First
performances "We must now evaluate
form the nation's ailing schools.
The joint agreement was announced
ourselves on a tougher grading curve,
Triumph for Bush
hours after Mr. Bush addressed the
one that includes that other major in-
For Mr. Bush, who pledged in his
governors, Cabinet officers, education
dustrial nations," Mr. Bush said.
campaign to serve as the "education
officials and students and faculty
4Exploiting the potential of every
President," the agreement repre-
members at the university.
student, not only those who are gifted,
sented a triumph and clearly achieved
The agreement was also the first
but also the "average students" and
one immediate goal, focusing attention
time that the nation's governors,
the disadvantaged.
on education, not just for the two days
Democrats and Republicans, had
"Some of our reforms and experi-
of meetings here but with the many
agreed to forge a national education
ments are sure to come up short," said
special reports on education appearing
strategy.
Mr. Bush. "But for too many of our
all week.
"This IS the first time in the history
schools, experimentation is preferable
"This is a major step forward in
of this country that we have ever
to the status quo, because the status
education," said Mr. Bush, standing
thought enough of education and ever
quo could scarcely be worse."
near the sun-drenched steps of the Γo-
understood its significance to our eco-
"After two centuries of progress,"
tunda on the University of Virginia
nomic future enough to commit our-
Mr. Bush told the governors, "we are
campus. "We've reached agreement
selves to national performance goals,"
stagnant."
on the need for national performance
said Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, a
goals, on the need for more flexibility
Democrat who helped draw up the
and accountability, the need for re-
agreement. "It has never happened in
structuring and choice."
over 200 years."
Obviously bowing to pressure from
With state and local governments
the Democratic governors, Mr. Bush
providing more than 90 percent of the
Teachers Praise Bush's Effort
NYT
to Set a New Education Agenda
By DEIRDRE CARMODY
School superintendents, union lead-
that we thought it was a good speech,
said he thought it was a good that the
ers and teachers were virtually unani-
said Albert Shanker, president of the
conference did not have more prepared
mous yesterday in praising the efforts
American Federation of Teachers.
guidelines to follow. "It gave them an
of President Bush and the nation's gov-
"For the first time we have a President
opportunity to see if they could come
ernors in setting a national agenda for
who is using the word 'national' when
up with an agenda," he said.
education.
he is talking about education, instead of
passing the buck to the states."
Moving on 'Hard Issues'
"What a breathtaking beginning of a
new affirmation of the work for
Dr. Scott Thomson, executive direc-
Frank Newman, president of the
schools," Ernest L. Boyer, president of
tor of the National Association of Sec-
Education Commission of the States,
the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad-
ondary School Principals, which repre-
which coordinates state efforts, said
vancement of Teaching, said of the
sents 41,000 principals and assistant
that after six years of educational re-
education meeting at the University of
principals, issued his own report card
form, the point was being made at last
Virginia on Wednesday and Thursday.
of the President's performance.
that it was a "complicated business"
"This is a historic shift in the way
"I would have given President Bush
and that the restructuring of schools
this nation is willing to talk about the
a 'C' up to now as the education Presi-
was difficult to accomplish. "We'
school agenda," Dr. Boyer said.
dent," he said. "But with this summit
now moving to the hard issues," he
At their meeting in Charlottesville,
I'd move him up to a 'B,' and whether
said.
the President and the governors
It is solutions to issues like student
agreed on national goals aimed at
eliminating illiteracy, improving early
he makes an 'A' or not in my grade-
dropouts and absenteeism and teacher
book depends on how he engages him-
burn out, especially in inner-city
childhood programs and holding teach-
self with the specific plan in the next
schools, that have proven tough for
ers accountable for performance.
three or four months and whether he is
education innovators to push through
Specifics will be worked out by the
White House and the governors in time
going to support specific programs
school boards and legistures.
for a meeting of the National Gover-
with some money."
Gary Marx, associate executive J1-
nors' Association in Washington in
Motivation and Inspiration
rector of the American Association of
February.
School Administrators, which repre-
Dr. Thomson said that "thè success-
A few educators said today that they
ful summit is worth literally hundreds
sents 19,000 superintendents and other
would reserve judgment until they saw
of millions of dollars because it pro-
central school officials, expressed
the specifics, and some expressed con-
vides inspiration and motivation for
some misgivings about Mr. Bush's
cern that the issue of more money was
stress on giving parents more choice of
teachers and generates a lot of activity
not pressed. But over all there seemed
which schools their children attend.
on the part of the business communi-
to be little criticism.
ty."
"Choice is not a panacea," he said.
While teachers generally supported
"You can offer alternatives for stu-
Not Passing Buck to States
the goals that emerged from the meet-
dents within a school. There can be
Educators generally agreed that the
magnet schools, even open enrollment
President's priorities were on target
and particularly praised his recogni-
ing, some like Ginay Marks, the drug
in some situations, provided it doesn't
upset the integration apple cart."
tion that preschool education and the
education supervisor in District 15 in
South Brooklyn, said there was not
early school years were crucial. They
Mr. Marx said the most motivated
also spoke of the effort at the meeting
enough stress on giving teachers more
students might move to a better school,
say in managing their schools.
to balance national purpose and crea-
leaving their own school in even worse
tivity at the local level.
"If teachers have an investment in
condition.
It is still unclear how the efforts will
the choice of textbooks, in the curricu-
be financed. But several education offi-
lum, they'll take pride in their pro-
"Every school ought to offer an ex-
grams," she said.
cellent program," he said.
cials suggested that it would be churl-
ish to grumble about lack of new spend-
She said she was disappointed that
ing before more is known about the
teachers were not represented at the
specifics.
meeting. Still, she was glad that "they
"I think essentially the message is
recongized education as something im-
portant, especially since our system is
so bad compared to other countries."
Robert Spillane, superintendent of
the Fairfax County schools in Virginia,
SAMPLE OP-ED ON EDUCATION
Schools are the self-portrait of a nation. In the past few
decades, the United States painted itself an unflattering
likeness. Every day the newspapers seemed to publish another
story of students who cannot solve an algebra problem, find
France on a map, or name which country started World War II.
In short, we caricatured ourselves as slow and
undisciplined.
Not all the news about American education is bad. In
significant ways, there is good news. First, recognizing a
problem is a big step toward solving it -- and the people know
about education's troubles. When asked by pollsters how they
would grade public schools nationally, nearly half gave them a
passing "C"; 19 percent gave them a "D" or a "Fail. And when
asked which country has the best educational system, every age
group named Japan, not America.
Second, recent Secretaries of Education have fought hard to
makes things better. They have looked at the big picture, seen
the big failures, and voiced the need for reform. The alarm
began with the Education Department's report, "A Nation At Risk,"
which said: "Our nation is at risk The educational
foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising
tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future
"
Last year, the Department concluded that we are doing better
-- but not well enough.
Third, the American who won the highest office has stressed
his commitment to educational reform. President Bush recently
convened the nation's governors in an education summit -- only
the third gubernatorial summit in history -- to seek ways to
nurture excellence in our schools.
The President and the governors agreed on a process for
setting national goals in seven areas: children's readiness to
start school; student performance on international achievement
tests; reduction of the dropout rate; adult literacy; the level
of training necessary for a competitive workforce; the supply of
qualified teachers and up-to-date technology; the establishment
of safe, disciplined and drug-free schools.
And the President had already sent sent Congress
far-reaching education proposals, including: a National Science
Scholars program, Presidential Merit Schools, Magnet Schools of
Excellence, and Drug-Free Schools Emergency Grants.
[MORE]
10. 16. 89 12:10 PM *PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERV. P01
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202-
V UNITED 5
October 16, 1989
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Holly Williamson
The White House
FROM:
John Bertak
Acting Deputy Director of Public Affairs
SUBJECT:
Quotes from Education Summit Coverage
As per our conversation on Friday, I have selected some quotes
from the coverage of the Education Summit. If they do not meet
your needs, please advise and I will continue researching.
The quotes follow:
"In two days at Charlottesville we've put education back at the
top of the national agenda."
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad
Chairman, National Governors Association
(Associated Press, 9/29)
The Summit "has the potential for bringing about a historical
turnaround in public education."
Albert Shanker
President, American Federation of Teachers
(Associated Press, 9/29)
"I get the sense the president is committed, and spotlighting
education can serve an important purpose...."
Timothy J. Sullivan
Dean, Law School
College of William & Mary
Member, VA State Board of Education
(Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/29)
"What a breathtaking beginning of a new affirmation of the work
for schools; this is a historic shift in the way this nation is
willing to talk about the school agenda."
Ernest Boyer
President, Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching
(New York Times, 9/29)
10. 16. 89 12:10 PM *PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERV. P O 2
- 2 -
"The successful summit is worth literally hundreds of millions
of dollars because it provides inspiration and motivation for
teachers and generates a lot of activity on the part of the
business community."
Scott Thompson
President, National Association of Secondary
School Principals
(New York Times, 9/29)
"The education summit has reminded us that, despite our
differences, we are all behind children."
Keith Geiger
Education association
President, National Assocation of Teachers
(Education Daily, 9/29)
"They not only agreed to set nationwide goals, but they also
included seven areas in which to set those goals. I'm very
pleased by the results."
Gordon Ambach
President, Council of Chief State School
Officers
(Education Daily, 9/29)
POTUS met up Business Folks - gollowup on his call to
sept 26
the Bus. community June 5.
Pres Ed Policy aderson committee - maybe news there when
THE PRESIDENT'S EDUCATION SUMMIT WITH GOVERNORS announce =
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
soon, me people
Bransttand 18th
are all syned 078
ml sunun & Porter Septem)
also choice mtg2 Jo
the
going on now not
all major nat / educ
The President and the natic
educated citizenry is the k
prosperity of the United St
and should remain, a state
associatis organizations
which works best when there
in the schools. And, as a
in elem see, post-
workforce, second to none,
competitive world economy.
sec public W. private
Education has always been
because the stakes have ch
are also working to educate
educ.
improve, they make the fut
the time has come, for the
establish clear, national
Parents, teachers,
us internationally competi
The President and the nati
principals, AFT + NEA
summit to:
--
establish a process f
school She sup adminis trators
-- seek greater flexibil
use of Federal resour
regulatory and legisl
local Y state boards of ed.
undertake a major sta
VOC ed, punior E' comm colls.
education system; and
report annually on pr
Business Rond Ed Task Force
This agreement represents
commitment to reorient the
widespread support for the
NATION
The first step in restruct
a broad-based consensus al
ash
education goals. The Nat
on Education will work wi
National Education Ween
fach to Grethen in Nat. Service about anythy thes're dry.
actioncommitte
recommend goals to the President and the Nation's Governors.
The
process to develop the goals will involve teachers, parents
local school administrators, school board members, elected
officials, business and labor communities, and the public at
large. The overriding objective is to develop an ambitious,
realistic, set of performance goals that reflect the views of
those with a stake in the performance of our education system.
To succeed we need a common understanding and a common mission.
National goals will allow us to plan effectively, to set
priorities, and to establish clear lines of accountability and
authority. These goals will lead to the development of detailed
strategies that will allow us to meet these objectives.
The process for establishing these goals should be completed and
the goals announced in early 1990.
By performance we mean goals that will, if achieved, guarantee
that we are internationally competitive, such as goals related
to:
--
the readiness of children to start school;
the performance of students on international achievement
onerpar oney
tests, especially in math and science;
the reduction of the dropout rate and improvement of
academic performance, especially among at-risk students;
the functional literacy of adult Americans;
the level of training necessary to guarantee a competitive
workforce;
--
the supply of qualified teachers and up-to-date technology;
and
--
the establishment of safe, disciplined, and drug-free
schools.
THE FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP
Flexibility and Accountability
The President and the Governors are committed to achieving the
maximum return possible from our investment in the Nation's
education system. We define maximum return as the following:
significant and sustained educational improvement for all
children. Nothing less will meet the Nation's needs for a
strong, competitive workforce; nothing less will meet our
children's needs for successful citizenship and economic
opportunity.
Federal funds, which represent only a small part of total
education spending, are directed particularly toward services for
young people most at risk. Federal laws and regulations control
where and for whom states and localities spend this money. State
and local laws and regulations control what is taught, and how,
for all students.
At present, neither Federal nor State and local laws and
regulations focus sufficiently on results, or on real educational
improvement for all children. Federal and State executives need
authority to waive statutory and regulatory provisions in return
for greater accountability for results.
The President and the Governors have agreed:
--
to examine Federal regulations under current law and to move
in the direction of greater flexibility;
-- to take parallel steps in each state with respect to State
laws and administrative rules.
--
to submit legislation to Congress early next year that would
provide State and local recipients greater flexibility in
the use of Federal funds, in return for firm commitments to
improved levels of education and skill training.
The President and the Governors have agreed to establish a
working group of Governors and the President's designees to begin
work immediately to accomplish these tasks.
We know that other voices need to be heard in this discussion --
voices of educators, parents, and those whose primary interest is
the protection of the disadvantaged, minorities, and the
handicapped. We need to work with the Congress. The processes
we will set up immediately following this conference will involve
all parties.
The urgent need for flexibility in using Federal funds can best
be illustrated by a few examples.
First, the Federal Vocational Education Act, which mandates
specific set-asides that often result in individual awards that
are too small to be meaningful and that prohibit the money from
being spent to achieve its purpose. One state reported being
required to divide $300,000 in aid among far too many categories
and set-asides.
Second, similarly, the Chapter 1 program requires that equipment
purchased to provide remedial education services cannot be used
for non-Chapter 1 institutions in areas such as adult education.
Several States report that large numbers of computers purchased
by Federal funds are idle at night, while adult education classes
that need them either do without or use scarce tax dollars to buy
other equipment.
Third, the requirements that children who benefit from Federal
funds for compensatory and special education be taught separately
often undermines their achievement. Waivers that permit these
students to return to regular classes and receive extra help have
produced large increases in their test scores. This option
should be available for all school districts.
These commitments are historic steps toward ensuring that young
people with the greatest needs receive the best our schools and
training programs can give them, and that all children reach
their highest educational potential.
In a phrase, we want to swap red tape for results.
The Federal Government's Financial Role
State and local Governments provide more than 90 percent of
education funding. They should continue to bear that lion's
share of the load. The Federal financial role is limited and has
even declined, but it is still important. That role is:
--
to promote National education equity by helping our poor
children get off to a good start in school, giving
disadvantaged and handicapped children extra help to assist
them in their school years, ensuring accessibility to a
college education, and preparing the workforce for jobs;
and second, to provide research and development for programs
that work, good information on the real performance of
students, schools, and states, and assistance in replicating
successful state and local initiatives all across the United
States;
We understand the limits imposed on new spending by the Federal
deficit and the budget process. However, we urge that priority
for any further funding increases be given to prepare young
children to succeed in school. This is consistent with the
President's recommendation for an increase in the number of
children served by Head Start in this year's budget. If we are
ever to develop a system that ensures that our children are
healthy and succeed in school, the Federal Government will have
to play a leading role.
Further, we urge that the Congress not impose new Federal
mandates that are unrelated to children, but that require States
to spend state tax money that could otherwise go to education.
COMMITMENT TO RESTRUCTURING
Virtually every State has substantially increased its investment
in education, increased standards, and improved learning. Real
gains have occurred. However, we still have a long way to go.
We must make dramatic improvements in our education system. This
cannot be done without a genuine, National, Bipartisan commitment
to excellence and without a willingness to dramatically alter our
10..13.89
11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEFT EDUC. PO1
B
C STATE EDU CATON
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
*
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
# THE STATES OR D
Suite 4181
Washington, DC 20202
Telephone: (202) 732-3000
Fax Number: (202) 732-2896
FAX COVER SHEET
MESSAGE
TO: HallyWilliamson
FAX NUMBER: 456-6218
Choice meetingo
FROM: Melinda Kitchell
advisory
previous press
wease
Sheet #1 of 11
10., 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. PO2
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NEWS
**ADVISORY**
**ADVISORY**
**ADVISORY**
WHO:
Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos
WHAT:
First Regional Strategy Meeting
on Choice In Education
WHERE:
Public School 117
240 E. 109th St.
East Harlem, New York
WHEN:
Monday, October 16, 7 - 9 p.m.
Tuesday, October 17, 9 a.m.- 4:45 p.m.
Cavazos has called choice permitting parents to select which
school their child will attend -- "the cornerstone to
restructuring elementary and secondary education in this
country."
The meeting is the first of five regional meetings the
Secretary will convene. The others are in Minneapolis-St.
Paul, Minn. (10/23-24), Charlotte, N.C. (11/13-14), Denver,
Colo. (11/16-17), and Richmond, Calif. (11/28-29).
The meetings will bring together parents, teachers, students,
business leaders, legislators, school board members, and state
and local education officials. The first regional meeting is
intended to include participants from Maine, Vermont, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia,
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The meeting will begin with an evening session to give parents
an opportunity to talk directly with Cavazos. The second day
will feature plenary panels and concurrent workshops on
"Programs of School Choice" and "Choice: Problems,
Opportunities, Obstacles, and Solutions."
Cavazos and Gov. Thomas Kean (R-N.J.) will address the
meeting. New York State Commissioner of Education Thomas
Sobol, New York City Board of Education President Robert
Wagner, Jr., and Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Steve
Bartlett (R-Texas) are among those expected to participate.
New York Community School District 4 will provide tours of
selected schools of choice from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Monday.
Reporters wishing to join the tour should call Mary Coleman at
the District 4 office, (212) 860-5967. Press kits will be
issued from 5 - 7 p.m. Monday and all day Tuesday at the school.
Contact: Tom Lyon (202) 732-4320
(212) 581-1000 after 3 p.m. Sunday
10., 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P03
UNITED STATES
THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
#
NEWS
FOR RELEASE
Contact: Tom Lyon
August 24, 1989
202-732-4302
CAVAZOS TO CONVENE MEETINGS ON CHOICE
Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos today announced the
dates and locations for five regional strategy meetings this
fall where policymakers, parents and educators will discuss the
role of choice in improving the quality of education.
"Parental choice is the cornerstone to restructuring
elementary and secondary education," Cavazos said. "These
regional strategy meetings will bring this valuable reform to
the attention of families in every part of the nation."
President Bush has made parental choice an essential
element of his education initiatives and has called on
educators and government officials to implement programs that
give parents the opportunity to select which public school
their child will attend.
The regional meetings will be held:
October 16-17
East Harlem, New York City, N.Y.
October 23-24
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
November 13-14
Charlotte, N.C.
November 16-17
Denver, Colo.
November 28-29
Richmond, Calif.
Governors, legislators, parents, school board members,
state and local education officials, business leaders,
teachers, students and others will be invited to the sessions.
-MORE-
10. 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P04
-2-
Each regional meeting will feature an address by the
Secretary, presentations by other national and regional
leaders, panel discussions, and an evening for parents to
express their views on choice directly to the Secretary.
In a May 19 speech at the National Press Club, Cavazos
announced that the meetings would be scheduled and said,
"Children have different needs and learning modes. Teachers
have different approaches. Parents have different
philosophies. Choice allows schools to draw strength from
diversity by developing different programs. It allows each
school to excel."
###
10.13.89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P05
10/13/89
9:00 AM AM
EAST HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
DRAFT
Monday, October 16
REGISTRATION
Fublic School 117
9:00a.m.-3:00p.m.
SITE VISITS
Optional site visits to selected schools of
9:00a.m.-3:00p.m.
choice
REGISTRATION/
Public School 117 -- Reception hosted by
RECEPTION
Lauro F. Cavasos, U.S. Secretary of Education
6:00p.m.-7:00p.m.
and District 4
PARENTS' NIGHT
PARENTS SPEAK OUT ON CHOICE IN EDUCATION
7:00p.m.-9:00p.m.
Moderator: Secretary Cavasos
o President Bush welcome
o Patriotic opening (10 minutes) :
6th graders; pledge of allegiance;
lift every voice: music selection
Panel of leaders to listen to parental
concerns and wishes
Congressman Charles B. Rangel (N.Y. - District 16)
Congressman Steve Bartlett (Texas - District 3),
Ranking Member, Select Education Subcommittee
Barbara Dandridge, Administrative Assistant,
Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. Congress
Ted Sanders, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of
Education
Thomas Sobol, Commissioner of Education, New York
State Department of Education
Robert F. Wagner, Jr., President, New York city
Board of Education
Shirley Walker, Acting Interim ,Superintendent,
District 4
Reverend Gregory McCants, former President,
District 4 School Board
Carolyn Maloney, city Council Member
Angelo Del Toro, State Assemblyman of New York
olga Mendes, New York State Senate
Bernard Diamond, Principal, P.S. 117
10. 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P06
Tuesday, October 17
REGISTRATION
Public School 117
s:00a.m.-9:00a.n.
ONINOOTEM
New York Boys Choir, Reverend Gregory McCants
REMARKS
Ted sanders, Under Secretary (Master of Ceremony)
Congressman Charles B. Rangel
Thomas Sobol, Commissioner of Education, New York
State Department of Education
Robert F. Wagner Jr., President, New York city
Board of Education
shirley Walker, Acting Interim Superintendent,
District 4
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
"Choice: Corneratone for Restructuring Education"
9:30n.m.-9:45a.m.
Secretary Lauro F. Cavasos
PLENARY PANEL I
"What Choice Means to Me"
9:45a.m.-10:15a.m.
MacNeil-Lehrer video presentation
Moderator: John Nerrow, The MacNeil-Lehrer Report
Althea Hall, District 1 Parent/Teacher
Joyce Duncan, Director, Career Academy, District 4
Andre Lawrence, Student
PLENARY PANEL II
"Putting Choice into Place to Restructure Schools"
10:15a.m.-11:00a.m. ABC News video presentation
Moderator: Congressman Steve Bartlett (Texas)
Ruth Randall, Superintendent, State of Minnesota
sy Fliegel, Former Deputy Superintendent,
District 4
Walter Marks, Superintendent, Richmond, California
Ed Rodrigues, Principal, JHS 99
Questions and comments from audience
Introduction to Workshops by Ted Sanders
10. 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P07
CONCURRENT
"Programs of School Choice"
WORKSHOP I
11:15a.m.-12:30p.m.
MINNESOTA
Room
Moderator: Ruth Randall, state superintendent,
Commissioner of Education
Bob Wedl, Deputy Commissioner of Education
David Bennett, superintendent, St. Paul
Peggy Hunter, Enrollment Options Specialist
Steve Allen, Director, Area Learning Center
Barry Brown, Student
EAST HARLEN (DISTRICT 4)
Room
Moderator: John Falco, Assistant Superintendent
New York city, District 4
By Fliegel, former Deputy Superintendent
Joyce Duncan, Director, Career Academy
Tom Webber, School Board Member
Lucy Education Matos, Director, Central Park East open
Juan Munos, Parent
RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA
Room
Moderator: walter Marks, Superintendent
Richmond, California
Sylvester Greenwood, Deputy superintendent
Deborah Curriculum Pearce, Associate Superintendent for
Frank Calton, Board Member
Rosemary Moses
Susan Yourd, Parent
LoVenya DeJean, Principal
Bobbie Breitkervits, Student
MASSACHUSETTS (City Plans)
Room
Moderator: George Teapatsaris, Parent Information
Center
Francis X. Foley, Director, Elementary Education,
Cambridge, MA
Dorothy Jones, former Desegregation Director
James Wallace, Equal Educational Opportunity
Planner/Desegregation Coordinator, Fall River
Roland Charpentier, Magnet School Planning
Coordinator, Wordester
Richard Hoffman, Desegregation Coordinator
10.13.89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P08
Peter Colleary, school Assignment officer,
Cambridge, KA
Leonard Golo, Alternative school Principal,
Cambridge, KA
Linda Peterson, Boston
Manual Gonclaves, Student Assignment Officer,
Fall River
LUNCH
Box lunches provided by
12:30p.m.-1:30p.m. Auditorium: Choir
CONCURRENT
"Choice: Problems and Opportunities,
WORKSHOP II
and Obstacles and Solutions"
1:45p.m.-3:00p.m.
PARENT INFORMATION AND INVOLVEMENT
Room
Moderator: John Falco, Assistant Superintendent,
New York city, District 4
Jerry Colonna, Hugene Oregon
shirley stroud, President, Community School
Board, District 4
Maria Bonet, Northview Tech, District 4
Peter Colleary, School Assignment Officer,
Cambridge, MA
George Teapatsaris, Lowell
Linda Peterson, Boston
Susan Yourd, Parent, Richmond, California
District 4 Parents: Ray Rivera, John Moscow
CREATING DISTINCTIVE SCHOOLS
Room
Moderator: By Fliegel, Former Deputy
Superintendent, District 4
Elaine Schwarts, Director of the Center School,
District 3
Roland Charpentier, Magnet School Planning
Coordinator, Worcester
Mary Romer-Coleman, Assistant Director, Alternative
Schools, District 4
Linda Hill, Director, College and Human Services,
District 4
Rosemary Moses, Teacher, Richmond, California
LoVonya DeJean, Principal, Richmond, California
Bobbie Breitkervits, Student
District 4 Parents: Pearly Lusan, Minerva Warwin
10. 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P09
DISADVANTAGED, AT-RISK. AND
Room
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Moderator: Denis Doyle
Phyllis McClure, NAACP
Steve Allen, Minnesota Area Learning Center
Director
Steve Kahn, Director of Special Education,
District 4
Leonard Solo, Alternative School Principal,
Cambridge, MA
Frances Foley, Cambridge
Iris Novak, Director, Key School, District 4
Barry Brown, Student
District 4 Parents: Maritsa Villega,
Laverne Michelson
IMPLEMENTING A SYSTEM OF CHOICE
Room
Moderator: Anthony Alvarado, superintendent,
New York city, District 2
Nancy Rhodes, Rhode Island
John McClaughry, State Senator, Vermont
Dorothy Jones, Cambridge
James Wallace, Equal Educational Opportunity
Planner/Desegregation Coordinator, Fall River
Althea Hall, Teacher, New York City, District 1
Coleman Genn, Superintendent, New York city,
District 27
Ester Rosenfeld, Director Central Park East 1
Lucilla School Rodrigues, Director, HOSTOS Bilingual
District 4 Parents: Olivia MeCrossin,
Robert DeLeon
MINORITY FAMILIES AND CHOICE
Room
Moderator: Sylvester Greenwood, Deputy
Superintendent, Richmond
Dr. Samuel Banks, Baltimore
Migdalia Maldonade, Principal PS 108, District 4
Evelyn Pacheco, School Board Member, District 4
Wilda Astendoa, Bilingual Program Director,
District 4
Carl Grecia, School Board Member, District 4
Pearla Holder, Director, Gifted and Talented,
District 4
Richard Hoffman, Lawrence
Manual Genclaves, Student Assignment officer,
Fall River
District 4 Parents: Urania Pacheco, Rosa Farfan
10. 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P10
RESEARCH ON CHOICE
ROOM
Moderator: Chester E. Finn, Jr., Director,
Educational Excellence Network
Raymond Domanice, Director, Center for
Educational Innovation
Peggy Hunter, Enrollment Options Specialist,
Minnesota Department of Education
Evelyn Castro, Director of Funded Programs,
District 4
Bruce Cooper, Fordham University
Marilyn Callo, Director, Schemberg School,
District 4
District 4 Parent: Maryann Rogers-Wright
ROLE OF LOCAL OFFICIALS
Room
Moderator: Walter Marks, Superintendent, Richmond,
California
Antonio Rodrigues, Bilingual Education Director,
District 4
Frank Calton, School Board Member, Richmond,
California
Jeremiah Regan, President, New Jersey School Boards
Association
Philip Fenster, President, Connecticut Association
of Boards of Education
Juana Dainis, Deputy superintendent, District 4
Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan City Council
District 4 Parent: Mrs. Vasques
CHOICE AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Room
Moderator: Gregory McCants, former President,
District 4 School Board
Joan Davis Ratteray, President, Institute for
Independent Education
Brian Spears, Director, New York Prep
Peter Flanagan, Managing Director, Dillon Read and
Company
Mariam Alehandro, Director, Bilingual School,
District 4
Agudeth Israel Representative
District 4 Parent: Mrs. Morales
10.- 13. 89 11:29 AM *SECRETARY/DEPT EDUC. P11
LINKING CHOICE WITH OTHER
Room
IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES
Moderator: Bob Wedl, Deputy superintendent,
State of Minnesota
Frank Esposito, New Jersey
Deborah Pearce, Associate Superintendent for
Curriculum, Richmond, California
Mae Gamble, Hunter College, District 4
Robert Gyles, Director of Math and Science,
District 4
Camile Aramondo, Director of Communication Arts,
District 4
Dorothy Petrilik, Assistant Director for Bilingual
Programs, District 4
District 4 Parent: Kimberly Kinsler
SPECIAL ADDRESS
Governor Thomas Kean, State of New Jersey
3:15p.m.-3:40p.m.
(Introduced by Peter Flanagan, Managing Director,
Dillon Read and Company)
PLENARY PANEL III
"Exploration of Policy Options"
3:40p.m.-4:40p.m.
Moderator: Lawrence C. Patrick, Jr., President,
Detroit Board of Education
Pete dupont, former Governor, State of Deleware,
Chairman, Ideas for America's Future
Barbara Dandridge, Administrative Assistant,
Education and Labor Committee, U.S. House of
Representatives
Judith Rats, President, New York State School
Boards Association
Anthony Alvarado, superintendent, District 2,
New York city
Questions and comments from audience
CLOSING REMARKS
"Challenge to participants to develop innovations
Adjourn 4:45p.m.
to promote Choice"
Secretary Lauro F. Cavases
Informal discussions with State, district and other leaders
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY OCTOBER 8. 1989
WHERE WE STAND
By Albert Shanker, President
American Federation of Teachers
The President's Speech from the Summit
A Generous Vision
P
resident Bush deserves many more cheers for his summit speech on
education than he's gotten. A lot of people who heard the speech
believed he didn't say much because the only thing they were listening
for was a promise of more money. But President Bush did define his
vision of American education. And in doing so, he took some tough
stands and probably made some enemies.
The president could have joined his predecessor and many others
who favor moving away from public schools toward government sup-
port for private education. Those who wanted this were bitterly disap-
pointed. President Bush not only failed to mention private schools, but
he opened his remarks with a ringing tribute to Thomas Jefferson, "our
first education president, [who] was a relentless advocate for universal
public education."
Our schools and our country are obsessed with "objective" meas-
urements and standardized test scores. President Bush could have joined
the chorus in deploring the low scores of our students. Instead, he cited
the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress that
show how few of our about-to-graduate high schoolers can write a sim-
ple letter, manage fractions and decimals or know within which half-
century the Civil War took place. Instead of inviting us to look at SAT
scores and percentiles on standardized tests, the president asked us to
zero in on the fundamental issues of what our kids know and what they
are able to do.
Many are proud. of what the education reform movement has done
so far. They claim that things are already better, or that they soon will
be. President Bush doesn't share that view. He doesn't credit the reform
movement with succeeding or being about to succeed; he says only that
it has "done well in articulating its criticism." The first six years of
reform have brought us lots of new laws, rules, regulations, require-
ments. If you read his lips and listened to his words, George Bush was
saying we need to empower people by getting rid of these onerous rules
and bureaucratic regulations. Instead of more rules, he called for us to
"give our schools the freedom that they need" to experiment and try
new things.
George Bush could have gained applause by saying that the signs are
pretty good; we only need to do a little better. He didn't. He called on
us to "restructure" our schools. He could have agreed with those who
want to go back to the good old days-with former Education Secretary
William Bennett and his "James Madison High School." Far from it.
George Bush is moving in the opposite direction: "I do not counsel a
naive nostalgia, some tame adherence to the past. Business as usual is
not getting us where we need to go. So when hallowed tradition proves
to be hollow convention, then we must shatter tradition. The polls show
what every PTA board member already knows - the American people
are ready for radical reforms. We must not disappoint them."
The president could have joined those who want to go back to the
basics. Instead, he took them on: "I see the day when every student is
literate. But literacy should mean more than the 'three Rs.' We must be
a reading nation. We must grapple with the hard sciences. And because
education is as spiritual as it is practical, our children must know why
Americans died at Bunker Hill, at Gettysburg and at Monte Cassino.
And they must do more than identify names on a multiple choice ques-
tion. They must understand the generosity of Andrew Carnegie and the
genius of Alexander Graham Bell and the heroism of Rosa Parks."
He could have joined others who want to abandon the system we
have and put another in its place, but instead he counseled persistence
and patience in remaking the public education system, because "some
of our reforms-and experiments are sure to come up short." And, far
wiser than reformers who expect one quick fix to solve problems that
have been building for decades, the president warned us that what he
envisions is "the work of years."
The president did call for accountability: "Weak performance in the
classroom or the principal's office will no longer be tolerated. But nei-
ther will indifference towards good educators. Society has no greater
benefactors than outstanding teachers and principals." In President
Bush's generous vision, accountability means the possibility of "praise
and solid rewards" as well as blame.
The president's vision of American education was generous in an-
other way. He spoke about the economic importance of educated work-
ers. But he went beyond seeing education in merely economic terms:
"We" discussed the need for educational reform in terms of our na-
tional competitiveness
But
there is more to learning than just our
trade balance or the graying of our work force: it is broader than the
important. but narrow, compass of economics and government." And
he looked for the day "when every young American can know the life
of the mind.
Of course. there was more to the summit than the president's speech.
The governors' role was and will be vital, and I'll talk about that in
another column.
And of course, fine words-even from the president-aren't enough.
It's possible to have great ideas and not follow through on them. But
having a vision of where you want to go is the first step in getting
anywhere. President Bush has taken a terrific first step.
the
United
F
ISCAL 1990 BEGINS today. The auld lang
resort to the automatic military and domestic
syne party occurred in the House last
spending cuts called for by Gramm-Rudman. The
week. They toasted the deficit with a few
tax dispute has helped to hold up the reconcilia-
quarts of Old Trickle Down and passed a capital
tion bill, but the measure is burdened with other
gains tax cut that will transfer billions of dollars
controversies as well. More than 1,900 pages
from the Treasury, mainly to the very rich. Now
long, the House version includes a multibillion-
will come the New Year's resolutions. To accom-
dollar increase in aid to the working poor, a
modate the continuing deficit, the debt ceiling
broadening of Medicaid, a new child care pro-
must be raised again this month. The game will
be to attach to this confession of past failure an
gram and a cost-cutting proposal that would take
expression of renewed resolve in the form of a
away from doctors the right to set their own fees
under Medicare. In a sign of continuing weakness
tightening of the Gramm-Rudman deficit targets.
No matter that none of these goals has yet been
in both the political and legislative systems,
met; the new proposal will set even more laud-
Congress continues to legislate protectively by
able goals-but not until the next election.
megabill.
President Bush and congressional leaders
Mr. Darman intimated last spring that it might
reached a 1990 budget agreement last spring. It
be possible to have a 1991 budget agreement by
called for only a modest amount of deficit reduc-
the end of this year-before election-year pres-
tion, and much of that was fake. Still, budget
sures intervened. Now the adversaries will be
director Richard Darman and others defended it
lucky if they finish the 1990 budget by then.
as a first step toward restoring trust between the
There is plenty of blame to go around, but at the
branches and the parties and reaching an agree-
center remains the lack of funds. Everyone wants
ment that really would reduce the deficit in 1991.
to reduce the deficit. But the president will
No more of the policy stalemates of the Reagan
neither accept a tax increase nor spell out and
years.
support the necessary spending cuts; he prefers
Now, however, partly because such policy
to talk about the areas in which he wants to
disputes continue, only one of the 13 regular
increase spending. The Democrats do want a tax
appropriations bills for the year just begun has
increase but lack the votes, in part because they
been passed. For the rest of government, Con-
have not been able to persuade people that they
gress has been forced to pass another month-long
would use the money well; and, in any event, it is
continuing resolution. In item after item in these
bills-the space program, aid to Poland, the
a politically disastrous position to keep taking in
defense budget, the war on drugs, health care-
the face of Republican assertions that such an
the mismatch between the government's limited
increase is not required. That is where the
resources and the lofty goals of the president and
country was in the Reagan years, when the
Congress is evident.
national debt nearly tripled, and the nation be-
The reconciliation bill, which makes deficit
came dependent on high interest rates and for-
reductions in the broad expanses of government
eign loans. And for all the differences in tone,
not subject to the appropriations process, also is
that is where the country still is. Happy New
bogged down; the result is likely to be a brief
Year.
10-1-89
D6
The 'What' of Education
N THE WEEKS before his Charlottesville
available for education should go to early-child-
I
education meeting with the governors, Presi-
hood programs like Head Start.
dent Bush took some pains to establish that
This closer scrutiny of education money's uses
he was not interested in dealing with the nation's
is an echo, on a national scale, of a dynamic that
education emergency through the budget. His
has already become obvious in several states and
repeated assertions that this country already
cities. Over and over in recent years-Detroit is
spends more per capita on education than most of
a notable example-taxpayers asked to approve
its international competitors, including Japan,
yet another tax for the noble purpose of improv-
have drawn some sniping from educators who
ing the schools have demanded that they first see
insisted that, first, such comparisons are iffy to
an accounting of how the current money is being
make-depending on the vagaries of differing
spent-and, once a credible reform initiative was
access and shifting exchange rates-and, second,
offered, have proved more willing to fund it.
that the refusal to consider a spending increase
Thus challenged, some school boards have
proved the president's interest in education was
proved unable even to provide coherent financial
superficial. But the critics have been playing
records-sure sign that budgeting could be tight-
some games with the numbers and
er. None of this goes to the question of whether
on the whole the president's assertions about
more money needed in the long run, or
whether the United States spends enough, too
American
spending hold up: it's consid-
little or too much on its schools. The Charlottes-
erable, it's higher than that of most Western
ville move is, rather, a step toward making both
nations', and the way it's spent is not demonstra-
sides of the debate sound more credible.
bly efficient.
Setting goals, as the governors promise, will
The administration emphasis on the "what" of
require considerable care. So will another initia-
spending appears to have borne fruit in the
tive stressed by all the participants: a loosening
statements that concluded the Charlottesville
of restraints on how federal and state monies are
meeting. The governors and the president de-
spent. Some current restrictions are trivial; oth-
clared jointly that the schools need specific goals,
ers, especially at the federal level, go to crucial
and that schools and teachers need more freedom
matters like racial balance and access for the
in how they pursue those goals and more strict
disabled. A balance needs to be struck between
scrutiny on whether they are meeting them. The
judicious streamlining and wholesale educational
president, for his part, seems to have learned
deregulation. But the scrutiny such choices will
something from the governors in closed session:
entail can only help a system that is desperately
he agreed that whatever new dollars do become
in need of some discinlined
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
7
DUCATION SUMMIT
Competition' Is Meeting's Byword
Governors, on the front lines, see urgent need for better schools in a global labor market
STAFF
ness against the world, not
By Marshall Ingwerson
against other states. National
standards can help the whole
Sc
ence
THE
PRESIDENT'S
Monitor
country remain competitive.
CHARLOTTESVILLE. VA.
"Mississippi kids have got to
compete in the same world Con-
EDU
W
HEN Mississippi Gov.
necticut kids do." he savs.
Ray Mabus arrived here
Besides. savs Republican New
for the education sum-
Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean. "it
nit last week. he was already car-
doesn't do any good for New Jer-
ving a set of goals for Mississippi
sev to be in the lead if the people
chools much like those sum-
around us aren't with us. Forty
niteers had promised to produce
percent of the people of New Jer-
-arly next year.
sey went to school in other
Governors have reflected
places."
nore keenly than any other
Just how American schools
group of political leaders the eco-
stack up to their foreign counter-
tomic urgency of better schools
parts is not well measured in most
n a global labor market.
areas. Where solid comparisons
When businesses look at
have been made, American sec-
will
investing in Mississippi, "they ask
ondary school students rank very
ibout teachers before they ask
poorly - both by overall age
about taxes," savs Mr. Mabus.
group and by comparing only the
They ask about students before
best performers.
hev ask about roads."
As recently as the 1960s,
SUMMIT: Bush with lowa's Terry Branstad (left) and Lauro Cavazos.
Since the largest share of edu-
American students were out-
ation budgets comes from state
shone in math tests by their coun-
those from Thailand, Hong
do with the total commitment to
government about 50 percent
terparts in other industrialized
Kong, and Singapore.
school," he says, describing the
in average - governors are get-
countries. But American schools
A 1982 test calculating the top
seriousness with which the
ng a clear message from busi-
then were more universal - a
1
percent of math students in
Japanese take their schooling.
:SS about the critical state of ed-
larger share of US youth went to
each of 17 countries found the
Ironically, he notes, the Japa-
ation. The message is that
high school, while other countries
top US students at the bottom of
nese are emulating some aspects
ther the level of learning of
were testing only a select group.
the ranking, below those of Hun-
of the freedom to explore found
nerican workers improves radi-
That is no longer true, accord-
gary, New Zealand, Britain, Fin-
in the American system "because
Ilv or the national economy will
ing to Larry Suter, a statistician at
land, or Canada. Only Israel's
they admire it and they think
into decline, savs Marc Tucker,
the National Center for Educa-
elite ranked close to Americans.
we're more creative."
resident of the National Center
tion Statistics. Japan now has an
Educators point out that few
A sweeping study of reading
n Education and the Economy.
89 percent high school participa-
countries educate as diverse a
literacy in 40 countries is under-
"Why should employers any-
tion rate, compared with about 75
group of students, ethnically and
way now. Meanwhile, some Amer-
here in the world pay American
percent for the United States, us-
culturally, as the United States.
ican businesses are teaching their
orkers 10 times as much to work
ing the same criteria.
But researchers are just begin-
employees to read, as well as how
alf as hard when we know less
In recent math and science
ning to probe rigorously why
to use automated equipment.
an [other workers] do and can
tests by the Educational Testing
Americans do so poorly. Accord-
State governors, says Mr.
0 less?" Mr. Tucker asks.
Service, American students
ing to Mr. Suter, the number of
Tucker, "were the people who saw
For Governor Mabus, the sum-
scored decisively lower than stu-
days per year spent in school
how economics came together
it offered two benefits:
dents in other industrialized
shows no relation to test scores,
with education."
One. it lends force to his battle
countries by age 14. In the sci-
the amount of homework shows
Says Ray Mabus: "The biggest
ith state legislators to pass his
ences, Americans were outscored
only a little relation, and the
problem we have now is for peo-
ducation proposals.
by students from Italy and Korea,
hours per year spent studying
ple to understand the urgency,
Two, Mabus, a democrat, now
among many others, and were
math show only a little relation.
that states aren't competing with
es his state competing for busi-
clumped near the bottom with
"It's got to have something to
each other any more.
Across Town, Teachers See Students Who 'Are not Whole'
VA.
working long hours after school, about two
"The old things just don't work any-
dozen for whom the school administrators
more," says Spanish teacher Marcia Hutch-
A
S President Bush and the governors of
here cannot even find permanent home ad-
inson, agreeing with the politicians across
49 states decided here to demand Γe-
dresses these are students with scant inter-
town that schools are not seeing
nation's schools, across town at
est in school and little support from parents.
sults, that they need to change. "I think
Charlottesville High School, Shirley Mar-
Although the idea was mentioned only in
all willing to change things, we just
shall drew back one corner of her mouth in
passing at the summit, several teachers en-
need some direction," she says.
1 skeptical smirk.
dorsed a suggestion by New Mexico Gov.
The good students today have changed
After more than 30 years of teaching En-
Garrey Carruthers (R) that the school day
little from decades past, faculty members
glish, she sums up what many of the other
be extended for social workers to help with
here say. The difference is the emergence of
eachers here say about their students:
personal and family problems while teach-
another, more-troubled group of students.
"These are not whole people coming to
ers concentrate on academic learning.
"It's not that they don't want to learn,"
S today."
"Let the teachers teach," says Ms. Mar-
notes principal Wilbert Lewis. "They're rais-
While Mr. Bush says schools have not
shall, "and not be expected to cure all of so-
ing themselves, trying to run an apartment,
chieved much with increasing amounts of
ciety's ills in 50 minutes a day."
working. We're not seeing the parental part-
oney in the past decade, teachers here
Charlottesville High is a racially mixed
nership we need." Teacher K. Diane Price
ave watched the student population
school. The unprecedented education sum-
notes that while parents used to flock to
hange markedly.
mit inspired some hope, but no great faith
back-to-school nights, they now often don't
Students from single-parent homes,
among the faculty here that change would
even share meals with their children.
me using or living around drugs, many
reach the classroom.
ML
Teachers Praise Bush's Effort to
Set a New Education Agenda
By DEIRDRE CARMODY
ing, some like Ginay Marks, the drug
School superintendents, union lead-
education supervisor in District 15 in
ers and teachers were virtually unani-
South Brooklyn, said there was not
mous yesterday in praising the efforts
enough stress on giving teachers more
of President Bush and the nation's gov.
say in managing their schools.
education. ernors in setting a national agenda for
"If teachers have an investment in
the choice of textbooks, in the curricu-
"What a breathtaking beginning of a
lum. they'll take pride in their pro-
new affirmation of the work for
grams,' she said.
schools,' Ernest L. Boyer, president of
She said she was disappointed that
the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad-
teachers were not represented at the
vancement of Teaching, said of the
meeting. Still, she was glad that "they
education meeting at the University of
recongized education as something im-
Virginia on Wednesday and Thursday.
portant, especially since our system is
'This is a historic shift in the way
so bad compared to other countries."
this nation is willing to talk about the
Robert Spillane, superintendent of
school agenda," Dr. Boyer said.
the Fairfax County schools in Virginia.
At their meeting in Charlottesville,
the President and the governors
agreed on national goals aimed at
eliminating illiteracy, improving early
said he thought it was a good that the
childhood programs and holding teach-
conference did not have more prepared
ers accountable for performance.
guidelines to follow. "It gave them an
Specifics will be worked out by the
opportunity to see if they could come
White House and the governors in time
up with an agenda," he said.
for a meeting of the National Gover-
nors' February. Association in Washington in
Moving on 'Hard Issues'
Frank Newman, president of
A few educators said today that they
Education Commission of the State
would reserve judgment until they saw
which coordinates state efforts, said
the specifics, and some expressed con-
that after six years of educational
cern that the issue of more money was
form, the point was being made at bit
not pressed. But over all there seemed
that it was a "complicated busines
to be little criticism.
and that the restructuring of schools
Not Passing Buck to States
was difficult to accomplish. 'We're
now moving to the hard issues," he
Educators generally agreed that the
said.
President's priorities were on target
and particularly praised his recogni-
It is solutions to issues like student
tion that preschool education and the
dropouts and absenteeism and teacher
early school years were crucial. They
burn out, especially in inner-city
also spoke of the effort at the meeting
schools, that have proven tough for
to balance national purpose and crea-
education innovators to push through
tivity at the local level.
school boards and legistures.
It is still unclear how the efforts will
Gary Marx, associate executive di.
be financed. But several education offi-
rector of the American Association- of
cials suggested that it would be churt-
School Administrators, which repre-
ish to grumble about lack of new spend-
sents 19,000 superintendents and other
ing before more is known about the
central school officials, expressed
specifics.
some misgivings about Mr. Bush's
"I think essentially the message is
stress on giving parents more choice of
which schools their children attend.
that we thought it was a good speech,"
"Choice is not a panacea," he said.
said Albert Shanker, president of the
'You can offer alternatives for stu-
American Federation of Teachers.
dents within a school. There can be
"For the first time we have a President
magnet schools, even open enrollment
who is using the word 'national' when
in some situations, provided it doesn't
he is talking about education, instead of
upset the integration apple cart."
-
passing the buck to the states."
Dr. Scott Thomson, executive direc-
Mr. Marx said the most motivated
tor of the National Association of Sec-
students might move to a better school,
ondary School Principals, which repre-
leaving their own school in even worse
sents 41,000 principals and assistant
condition.
principals, issued his own report card
"Every school ought to offer an ex-
of the President's performance.
cellent program," he said.
"I would have given President Bush
a 'C' up to now as the education Presi-
dent," he said. "But with this summit
I'd move him up to a 'B,' and whether
234-
<s
he makes an 'A' or not in my grade-
book he engages him-
self with the specific plan in the next
three or four months and whether he is
going to support specific programs
with some money."
Motivation and Inspiration
Dr. Thomson said that "the success-
ful summit is worth literally hundreds
of millions of dollars because it pro-
vides inspiration and motivation for
teachers and generates a lot of activity
on the part of the business communi-
ty.
While teachers generally supported
the goals that emerged from the meet-
Remedial
The 'summit'
was meant to
gauge the
Work
political climate.
cy, teacher quality, drugs and the
physical readiness of kindergartners
to learn. The governors and the
White House hope to have a list
ready for the National Governo
Paying Attention
Association's meeting in February
Listing goals IS easy enough M..
mure important. the agreement
for "annual report cards nu
on students and schools but
To the Schools
the actions of states and the Federal
overnment. Mr. Bush and the gov-
ernors have thus not only made
Is a National
some promises but propose to give
critics a tool for judging whether
they keep them.
Other new directions take the form
of what Mr. Bush and the governors
Mission Now
called the need to "restructure
education." Such changes. many of
which are already in place in some
school districts, include:
NYT 10-1-89 El
Decentralized management of
two-day meeting was an agreement
schools. Local school boards in
By EDWARD B. FISKE
between the President and the state
Miami and other cities have given in-
leaders to work together to improve
dividual schools more control over
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.
schools. "This is the first time in the
budgets, staffing and other deci-
ANY educators and state
history of this country that we have
sions. Chicago is now carrying out a
M
officials feared that
ever thought enough of education to
plan that will transfer power from
President Bush's "edu-
commit ourselves to national per-
the central education board to par-
cation summit" last
formance goals," said Gov. Bill Clin-
ent-led councils.
week at the University of Virginia
ton, the Arkansas Democrat who
Parental choice. Some school
would be little more than an ex-
was an architect of the agreement.
systems like District 4 in East Har-
tended photo opportunity for the
American education has always
lem let parents select the school
man who has vowed to be "the
been viewed as a state responsibility
their child will attend. Political con-
education President." But after-
and a local enterprise. Talk of a "na-
servatives like the idea because it in-
ward, there was growing agreement
tional curriculum" has been tanta-
troduces competition into the educa-
among the experts that something
mount to embracing Communism.
tion, but many liberals and educa-
more substantive had occurred.
Soaring Concern
tors argue that it could lead to in-
"It was a historic event," said Er-
creased racial imbalance in some
nest L. Boyer, president of the
But in the face of competitive pres-
urban school systems.
Carnegie Foundation for the Ad-
sures of the global economy and of a
vancement of Teaching. "The Presi-
national prosperity becoming in-
New routes into teaching. New
dent and the governors acknowl-
creasingly dependent on the man-
Jersey pioneered a program to pro-
edged the national interest in educa-
agement of information, the concern
vide teacher certification to college
over how well states and local school
graduates who do not have education
tion in a dramatic fashion. What they
boards perform has soared.
degrees, and other states have fol-
said and did will shape public school-
ing in America for years to come."
Alarms have been sounded before,
lowed its lead. The idea has drawn
each broader than the last. Thirty
fire from some teachers' unions, but
Not everyone was as sanguine as
Mr. Boyer. But there was remark-
years ago, the Soviet Union's sur-
many politicians and educators see
prise launching of the first satellite
it as a way to bring new blood into
ably little demand from the gover-
the classroom.
nors for a significant increase in
frightened Washington into increas-
Federal spending on education.
ing support for math and science
Accountability. Teachers and
(Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York
education. And six years ago, the Na-
school administrators are currently
was a notable exception.) And praise
tional Commission on Excellence in
judged not on how much students
came from education experts, a
Education issued a report called "A
learn but on the extent to which they
group that had initially been critical,
Nation at Risk." It deplored the "ris-
comply with legislative and school
largely because of Mr. Bush's deci-
ing tide of mediocrity" in the schools
board regulations. A movement is
sion to exclude educators from the
and called for tougher high school
under way to base such evaluations
conference. The meeting was, after
graduation requirements, more core
on academic results, as in a plan now
all, less to shape school reform than
academic courses, higher teacher
being developed in Vermont.
to gauge the political climate for
salaries and other measures.
One of the first results of the gov-
such change.
Now the President and the gover-
ernors' meeting is expected to be a
The bipartisan goodwill did con-
nors say that something more, and
plan to make existing Federal
ceal a disagreement over whether
different, is needed. "We share the
education programs more flexible
the Federal Government should as-
view that simply more of the same
by giving local officials a measure of
sume more responsibility for nutri-
will not achieve the results we need,"
discretion in carrying them out. Cur-
tional and other programs that are
their agreement declared. "We must
rently, the conference agreement
supposed to assure that poorer chil-
find ways to deploy the resources
noted, computers purchased under
dren arrive at the schoolhouse door
more effectively." Or as Mr. Bush
the Chapter I program for disadvan-
with unimpaired learning abilities.
stated, "The American people are
taged students cannot be used in the
cau, Mr. Bush made a commit-
ready for radical reforms."
evening for adult education.
ment to "more Federal support" for
To begin with, the meeting pashed
Recognizing the tensions over the
preschool programs like Head Start.
for "national education goals" that
issue of Federal spending, Mr. Bush
The most notable product of the
address dropout rates, adult litera-
emphasized in his speech at the con-
ference that "our goals must be 'na-
tional' not 'Federal.' But if the gov-
ernors were willing to let money
matters rest for now, it was at least
partly because Washington accounts
for less than 7 percent of spending on
public education. So a marginal in-
crease in Federal financing next
year would hardly be noticed.
"We're here for the long haul,"
said Governor Clinton. "If we can
demonstrate the urgency of the
issue, set some goals and get the
President and the governors to ac-
cept responsibility for meeting them,
then I sincerely believe the money
that is needed will begin to flow."
"The object is to bring into action that mass of talents which
lies buried in poverty in every country, for want of the means of
development, and thus give activity to a mass of mind.' "
804/977-3763 curator at Montecello
804/924-0311 main info U.Va.
804/924-3297 Fishback
804/924-3239 U. Guides
804/971-2530 public affairs at Montecello
804/924-3052 Chairman, dept. of music
804/293-7134 Mr. Meade
804/296-6782 Mr. Loach
Jennifer Mendelsonn
overnight trip on Cabell hall elevators
center of arts and sciences, soul of university
I understand from a professor in the School of Education
that Jefferson was the first "Education President,"
Beta the dog in Cabell hall/ Millie
dog warden now
old dogs new tricks?
Frank Hereford - 924-3781 or home 296-7578
Ray Bice Secretary to the BOV - 924-7081 or home 293-5584
Sandy Gilliam - 924-3339 or home 977-6459
reagan sounded the call under Nation at Risk
Dismal stats/ modest turnaround/ed reform needs a second wind
said one ed leader
Iag:
POOL REPORT UVA SUMMIT
Source:
murray
Mark
Story:
twt.nation.murray.M0012720
Depth:
49.9
Christina
{ql}
MG
{gl}
[ql]
OFF THE RECORD{q1)
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST(gl)
(q1)
POOL REPORT(41)
"Education Summit" Pre-Advance(q1)
[q]}
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Sept. 15,1989{q1}
{ql}
Rare as it may be to pre-advance a nearby domestic trip, the White House set
up this one primarily for visual media because of special logistics
circumstances surrounding the meeting called by President Bush with the
nation's governors and the entire Cabinet. Like everything else in
Charlottesville, and the historic university that was founded in 1819, the
situation 1s best understood in the context of Thomas Jefferson. As one
pre-advance official said, "Mr. Jefferson had a great vision -- for the
1850s. "{ql}
{ql}
That translates to small rooms, lighting problems, no air conditioning, an
undersupply of electricity, and a series of meetings that will be reported
virtually entirely by pools of all sizes and descriptions. (This is contrary
to what some may have heard at White House briefing announcing the meeting.)
As of now, the only truly "open coverage" events are the president's welcoming
remarks on Wednesday, a one-hour convocation on Thursday, and the president's
departure comments on Thursday. {ql}
{ql}
In addition to 150 White House press, estimates of the National Governors'
Association and education press corps range from 450-650. As always, there is
a separate White House filing center [located in Cavalier Room of Newcomb
Hall] as well as "Summit Press Center" in the Old Gym. This room was
described as "not ideal but it will work." It 13 a low-ceilinged room that
appears suitable to accommodate tables, telephones, etc., but perhaps not a.
press conference or major briefing. Hotel space also is at a premium. White
House press are to be centered at Moliday Irin Monticello where 106 rooms had
been committed at this writing. Other hotels reportedly are filled up.
[Complicating things 1s the fact that university life will continue apace,
reportedly at the instruction of Mr. Bush who is quoted as saying, "It makes
no sense to go to a university to talk about education and disrupt classes for
two days." This effectively eliminated more commodious space and facilities. {ql}
{ql}
Arrangements at UVA campus, which is called The Grounds (with caps), are in
the hands of the host Summit committee headed by Kevin Moley with Dave
Frederickson coordinating press. Their main number is (804) 980-8856. They
will handle credentialing for non-White House press. {q1}
{ql}
Except for the dinner on Wednesday night at Monticello, all events are on
The Grounds of UVA. Campus p.r. is headed by William Fishbach and Tom Doran
(924-7116) heads the news bureau. The Governors' Association also 1s expected
to have a press office (details not available), but Summit office 18 the place
to contact on logistics, etc. Substantive inquiries about the meeting are
directed to Deputy White House Press Secretary Steve Hart. [gl]
[gl]
Following 1s the tentative presidential schedule followed by brief notes on
venues marked with a *:[q1]
[q]]
Wednesday, Sept. 27{q1}
{ql}
3 P.M. President arrives by copter from Washington at landing sone to be
determined and motorcades to Old Cabell HallA. Expanded pool will accompany
by chopper with remainder of White House press to be bused down (about two
hours). "Sizeable" expanded pool. {ql}
[q]]
3:30 p.m. Welcoming remarks, Old Cabell Hall (president to speak about 5-7
minutes). Open coverage. (qll
[q1}
3:45 (approximate) President, governors, Cabinet members and spouses walk
about 400 yards northeast on the grassy, ash- and Buple-lined LAWn^ (cap L) to
the Rotunda*, the most famous structure at UVA. Press restricted to fixed
positions, probably at two platforms, along the way. No pool walking
alongside. As is done at commencement, wooden stairs will be in place at five
steep terraces along the rectangular Lawn. (FYI, Queen Elizabeth II also made
this walk on her 1976 visit. ) {q1}
[q]]
4-5:30 p.m. Working session in Oval Rooms of Rotunda (two on main floor and
one in basement). Governors and Cabinet will divide evenly among three
meetings. President to visit each for about 20 minutes each. NOTE:
Governors' spouses to attend these sessions, seated along wall rather than at
oval tables with conferees. [gl]
[q1]
5:30-7:15 p.m. Break{ql}
[ql}
7:15 p.m.: President and Mrs. Bush arrive at Monticello*, probably by
helicopter weather-permitting, to host dinner (not black tie). Travel pool
accompanies. Expanded pool in place outside front door. {ql}
[q1]
7:30-8 P.M.: Guests arrive, walk along brick path (past press pool on one
side and fife and drum corps on other) to main house at Monticello where they
will be greeted by the Bushes and swept away for a house tour, drinks and then
onto a wooden deck on the north side of the building. No coverage inside
house. {ql}
{ql}
8 p.m.-10 P.M.: Dinner in 60 x 60 tent on magnificent rear lawn of
Monticello. As of now, toast is set for later in the dinner but press advance,
etc., trying to move it to earlier in the dinner. Poolers to be inside only
until toast 1s given. About 150 guests are expected. A military combo will
serenade [ql] during dinner. No decision yet on after-dinner entertainment.(ql)
[q]]
Thursday, Sept. 28{q1}
{ql}
7-8 a.m.: Informal coffee in Rotunda, president and all Summit
participants.fgl}
{ql}
8-9:30 a.m.: Second working session in Oval Rooms of Rotunda. (q1}
[gl]
9:30-11 a.m.: Plenary session on top floor of Rotunda. NOTE: Spouses to
hold {ql} separate plenary session at Alumni Hall, hosted by Mrs. Bush. [gl]
11-11:30 a.m.: Break to shift scenes to University Hall, the school's
basketball arena.{ql}
[ql]
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Convocation with president's "major remarks" at
University Hall. This will include all governors, Cabinet, full press corps
with remainder of seats to be filled by several thousand UVA students.
i
Governors will be announced individually, leading to an estimated 20 minute
ceremony just to get them seated. President enters from side at what would be
half-court, then turns right and walks to about where the basket would be. He
will give 20 -minute speech. {q1}
[ql]
12:30-1 p.m.: Break to move to Newcomb Hall^. {ql}
[ql]
1-2:30 p.m.: Working lunch in Blue Ballroom, Newcomb Hall. (q1}
{gl}
2:30 P.m.: Move to Lawn outside Rotunda for closing statement of Summit
and, possibly, some kind of presidential Q&A session, either a press
conference or informal ropeline questions.(q1)
[q1]
Conference Adjourns.{q
[gl}
It is not clear whether the conferees will issue a formal final communique,
but we are told soale kind of a statement should be expected. (q1}
{q1}
VENUE NOTES(q1}
{q1}
OLD CABELL HALL: A steeply pitched theater built in 1899 that seats about
1,500 persons before removing some seats for this event. A huge painting
covers the entire wall behind the stage. It is a copy of Raphael's "The
School of Athens," painted by George Breck in Rome and given to the university
in 1902. {ql}
{ql}
ROTUNDA: Keystone of Jefferson's original Academical [cq] Village. This 13
the last busiding designed by Mr. J and is a one-half scale, somewhat modified
copy of the Pantheon in Rome. The drumlike cylinder has three floors capped
by a done with & glass skylight at its crest. It is 77 feet in diameter and
77 feet in height. The first two floors each house three oval shaped rooms
where working sessions of the meeting will be held (one on ground floor and
two on main floor). See first floor plan attached. {q1}
Plenary session Thursday morning to be on the third floor, a bright domed
room (dome is 120 degrees of a sphere) that housed the original library.
Stocked bookshelves are in place. Because Jefferson wanted the FOOM also to
be used for social activities, the stacks are arranged perpendicularly to
outside wall all the way around in such a way that the books are not visible
to a person anywhere near the center of the room. As of now, it is intended
that participants (about 65 people) sit around a circular table that is open
at the center like a giant donut. Two balconies extend completely around the
room's circumference but are said to be unable to support more than 2 few
people 30 are not available for coverage, except possibly a small pool. {q1}
The Rotunda, finished in September 1826 at a cost of $60,000 (cq) was burned
in 1895 and the interior rebuilt in a different manner, but Jefferson's design
was restored in a three-year, $2.3 million project dedicated on April 13,
1976, the 233rd anniversary of his birth. {ql}
{ql}
LAWN: Central vista of Jefferson's original Academical [ca] Village.
University says 1t 13 600 feet from Old Cabell Hall to the Rotunda and 200
feet wide. Television people who measured it say length is over 1,000 feet.
The Lawn is flanked by Ranges, long rows of rooms assigned to individual honor
students and campus leaders. The only item the procession will encounter
other than grass and a little doggy-do is a statue of Homer and His Young
Guide by Sir Moses Ezekiel. The statue shows a seated Homer with the Young
Guide on the ground at his feet. It was e World War I memorial to the first
university [ql} student killed in that conflict (James R. McConnell). [gl}
3
NEXCOMB HAGL: Student center, houses shops, Post Office, theater, and
cafeteria (which is open to public). (gl)
[ql]
MONTICELLO: It would be gratuitous to explain Jefferson's home, except to
mention a few points for those who haven't visited. The house is virtually
invisible until you're right there, sheltered by trees although it commands a
hill southish of Charlottesville. The house is largely brick with a dome like
just shout everything else Jefferson was associated with. Currently
restoration is under way on the gardens, blacksmith shop and artisan shops.
The Bushes will receive guests in a two-story foyer which has & railed balcony
around three of its four sides. Several of Jefferson's inventions were
visible in the foyer including as clock that also keeps track of the day of the
week (accurately when we were there) and French doors that move in tandem when
one is adjusted. His natural air conditioning still keeps the place cool on a
sweaty not day. (The university is not air conditioned.) (q1)
[gl]
SEVERAL COMMENTS{q1}
{q1}
Parking on campus is virtually non-existent although Tom Doran said the
question of providing press parking is being explored. White House buses will
be available from the press hotel to campus and open events, with White House
transportation for pools as is customary. [q]]
[q]]
Press coverage and pools to be based on "parity" among White House press
corps, governors and education press, and "local press. "{gl}
{ql}
Questions raised by your pool about access to deliberations (through such
means as audio-video to plenary and/or working sessions in rooms too small for
coverage) and material other than president's speeches received no direct
response, but reporters were advised to seek information on these aspects from
Steve Hart. Gary Fendler said the White House press would have "access to the
president. "{ql}
{ql}
Frank Murray, The Washington Times(gl)
Friday, September 15, 1989{q1}
{q1}
OFF THE RECORD{q1}
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST{q1}
{ql}
[ql}
4
and floor plan of Rotunda oval
Attached is map of campus
roods where working sessions to be held
Pool report page 5
TO Boar US 5 250 Head WEST Inn
University Hall
N
has Road
15 $ NEWTN
-
10 Wodnington, DC
Emmed Street
5
Memorial Gymnasium Parking La
Newcomb Hall
OF "
Engineering School
The Rotunda
Video Classroom
Prices Plation @
Old Cabell Hall
4001 report page 6
diameter = 77'.
North
Room
Ova (not used)
west Ovul
East
Room
ova!
Room
Basement is
identical
one meeting
O
Entrance
to be there.
O
38. First-floor plan, the Recurre
6
( (Grant) )
September 20, 1989
Draft two
a:dinner
TOAST: GOVERNORS' DINNER
JEFFERSON'S HOME AT MONTICELLO
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1989
7:30 P.M.
((I was worried about coming up Route 53 to get here. I
heard there were so many limosines tonight the Secret Service put
hm sine
them in alphabetical order by state. Well, I suppose Governor
windered if hid Set clenner or
Sullivan, of Wyoming will get here by breakfast. ))
I'll try and keep it short tonight
...
you see, the record
has already been set for toasts here at the University
...
Back
in 1824, Mr. Jefferson hosted a dinner in the Dome Room of the
Rotunda for the Marquis de Lafayette, attended by former
President James Madison and then-President James Monroe. It was
an elegant dinner, and the libations flowed freely ---- so freely,
in fact, that thirteen formal toasts ensued. Only to be followed
by thirty-seven more impromptu ones. So once again, I'm holding
my charisma in check
...
and I'm only giving one toast.
We stand tonight at "the beloved mountaintop home" of
President Thomas Jefferson, the twinkling lights of
Charlottesville below us, the quiet pastures of Brown's Mountain
above us. Not far down the mountain road is Ashlawn Highlands,
the home of President James Monroe.
We are overlooking the "academical village" founded by Mr.
Jefferson 170 years ago. Earlier, at sunset, we could see the
Rotunda and the purple shadows of the Lawn -- once an open-ended
field that looked out to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
It was Mr. Jefferson's wish that it remain that way, so that
students would look out to the horizon, poised between their
education and their future. Today, in the Rotunda, we worked in
that elusive area between education and the future, defining our
dream for excellence and giving shape to our hopes for America.
And it was one day, shortly before he died, that Mr. Jefferson
gazed at the Rotunda and said that establishing his University
was "the last act of usefulness I can render my country."
Building the Rotunda and the University were the crowning
achievements of "the Sage of Monticello," yet he knew that
creativity
the interectual Challenge a great faculty
without the bright minds and rigorous programs of the professors,
his men center of learning and thought would we
nothing morethon
he- simply had bricks and mortar. Mr. Jefferson searched for the
best in Europe, and brought them to teach at the University as
new citizens -- except in the subject of law, to be taught only
by a resident American. In fact, Jefferson's favorite teacher
was his own law professor, George Wythe, a man who also taught
him the essentials of ancient philosophy and the classics. I'm
sure everyone here has a favorite teacher
mine was my high
school teacher, Dr. A.B. Darling, who made the immortals of
Today, American as America's it was history in Iffersoris teachers come alive WORLD time, for buring me. it w our young people into the next mapire
century, inspiring them to greatness and enlightening them to
excellence. Jefferson knew this, writing once that aside from
education, "no other sure foundation can be devised for the
preservation of freedom and happiness."
And so tonight I toast those who have heard the call and
followed it -- those who have sacrificed so much in order that
might a
America may enjoy the sure foundation of freedom and happiness.
and
I toast our teachers
those who taught us, those teaching our
children, those study ing now to teach; and those among us who
have been members of this procesprofession / the five members - Pmy dolument
have taught: [Dick Thornburgh; Governor Sununu; Secretary
Director Bennett
Cavazos; Secretary Yeutter]]
and all the thirteen governors
present who are former teachers. And not to give too big a plug
for Alternative Certification
but there is one person present
who has never held a teaching position yet has been a leader in
the fight against illiteracy the 6X, my wife Barbara.
We have come to Charlettes Jefferson's home to build
30 the home of Thomas
upon his dream of a strong system of public education for all.
But the dream is nowhere without our teachers, and we salute them
tonight.
all.
God bless them and God bless America.
###
But whant our teachers - w their auson, then dedication
without and
the dream would be losp. & such you
join me in salu time the terchers of America
MK-
*also you need
THE WH
thought this
WASH might be helpful
to come to a
to
3:00 mts in cw's
you. Holly
office today.
September
Dear Governor ^F1^:
We are extremely pleased with the enthusiastic response
from a large number of Governors, and appreciate very much the
assistance from you and the National Governors Association
staff in developing the agenda for the President's Education
Summit Conference with Governors on September 27-28, 1989 in
Charlottesville, Virginia. This conference has the promise of
being an exciting and productive meeting.
The agenda and format of the sessions are designed to
provide for a candid and constructive exchange of views in
informal settings on a wide variety of issues. The format and
agenda reflects our discussions and the suggestions received
through the National Governors Assocation.
We will hold three simultaneous working groups on Wednesday
afternoon, September 27, and three different simultaneous
working group sessions on Thursday morning, September 28,
before beginning the two plenary sessions later Thursday
morning and Thursday afternoon. The plenary sessions will
consider all six subject areas covered by the working groups.
The co-chairmen listed for each working group are the
Governors recommended by the National Governors Association.
A list of the six subject areas and topics for discussion under
each is attached. These topics, of course, do not exhaust the
issues that may come up within each of the working groups.
They do, however, give a sense for the terrain on which each
working group will focus.
A form for you to complete and return to the National
Governors Association staff is also enclosed. In order to draw
up the list of which Governors will participate in each working
group, it is important that you return this form to the
National Governors Association as soon as possible, and no
later than close of business on Thursday, September 20. In our
discussions with Governors Branstad, Gardner, Campbell, and
Clinton, they agreed to take each Governor's preferences into
account regarding the working groups in which each is most
interested.
-2-
I am looking forward to seeing you in Charlottesville.
Warmest regards,
Roger B. Porter
Assistant to the President
for Economic and Domestic Policy
^F2^
THE SUMMIT CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION
1. Teaching: Revitalizing a Profession
Identifying, recognizing and rewarding excellence in
teaching.
Enriching the teaching profession by providing more
flexible routes to certification.
Attracting enough qualified teachers for
elementary and secondary schools.
Meeting our national needs with respect to science
and mathematics instruction in elementary and
secondary schools.
Increasing the number of minorities entering
teaching.
Evaluating proposals for national certification
examinations.
2. The Learning Environment
Providing appropriate pre-school and early childhood
experiences to prepare children for primary school.
Identifying at-risk youth and reducing the number of
student drop-outs.
Creating safe, violence-free schools.
Establishing and maintaining drug-free schools.
Assessing student performance and establishing
appropriate goals.
Engaging teachers, students, parents, and the
community in a partnership and a life-long
commitment to education.
3. Governance: Who Is In Charge?
Defining the appropriate role of the Federal
Government in education.
Defining the appropriate role of State governments
in education.
-2-
Defining the appropriate role of local school boards
in education.
Reforming federal and state education regulations.
Ensuring that schools are publicly accountable for
their performance, that there is adequate scope for
innovation, and that exceptional performance is
recognized and rewarded.
Ensuring parent and citizen involvement in local
school governance.
4.
Choice and Restructuring
Evaluating the experience with choice across the
nation.
Assessing transportation and equity issues involved
in choice.
Considering ways of expanding choice and
strengthening accountability.
Evaluating the experience with magnet schools across
the Nation.
Instituting performance-based restructuring
initiatives.
Evaluating the experience with site-based management
and program restructuring.
5.
A Competitive Workforce and Life-Long Learning
Ensuring that adult Americans are sufficiently
literate to perform effectively as parents,
workers, and citizens.
Determining what institutions, public and private,
bear responsibility for various aspects of worker
training.
Enhancing public-private partnerships in education.
Communicating the needs of the consumers of the
products of our education system.
-3-
Creating incentive programs to produce more high
school graduates.
Enhancing the quality of training and vocational
education.
6. Post Secondary Education: Strengthening Access and
Excellence
Enhancing opportunities for disadvantaged youth
and their access to higher education.
Strengthening science, mathematics and engineering
teaching in American universities.
Strengthening university entrance requirements and
reducing the need for remedial courses.
Recruiting and retaining more minority students and
faculty in higher education institutions.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
SUMMARY SCHEDULE
The following is a Summary Schedule for the President's Education
Summit with Governors to be held in Charlottesville, Virginia on
September 27 - 28, 1989. This schedule is for planning purposes
only and is subject to change.
Wednesday, September 27, 1989
10:00 AM Governors and spouses, education advisors, Cabinet
-3:00 PM members and spouses arrive in Charlottesville,
Virginia.
3:00 PM The President and Mrs. Bush arrive in Charlottesville,
Virginia.
3:15 PM Program begins.
3:30 PM The President and Governors Campbell and Clinton make-
brief remarks and welcome participants and spouses to
the Summit.
3:45 PM The President, Mrs. Bush, Governors, Cabinet
Secretaries and spouses depart Old Cabell Hall and
proceed to the Rotunda.
4:00 PM Opening Session in the Rotunda. There will be three
simultaneous sessions in the Rotunda. Governors' and
Cabinet Secretaries' spouses are invited to attend as
observers.
5:30 PM Opening Session concludes.
7:30 PM Cocktails and Dinner at Monticello, The Home of Thomas
Jefferson, hosted by The President and Mrs. Bush.
Thursday, September 28, 1989
7:00 AM The President, Governors, Cabinet Secretaries and
spouses have an informal, continental breakfast in the
Rotunda.
8:00 AM Second Session in the Rotunda. There will be three
simultaneous sessions in the Rotunda. Governors'
and Cabinet Secretaries' spouses are invited to attend
as observers.
--2-
9:30 AM The President, Governors and Cabinet Secretaries,
attend Plenary Session in the Dome Room of the Rotunda.
One advisor may accompany each Governor and Cabinet
Secretary.
Mrs. Bush will host a separate plenary session for
spouses.
11:00 AM Plenary Session concludes. Governors and Cabinet
Secretaries and staff board vehicles for transportation
to University Hall.
11:30 AM Governors, Cabinet Secretaries, spouses and staff
attend Convocation for the University of Virginia
Community at University Hall.
12:30 PM Convocation concludes. Governors, Cabinet SEcretaries
and spouses depart University Hall.
1:00 PM Governors, Cabinet Secretaries and one advisor attend
working lunch in the Ballroom of Newcomb Hall.
2:30 PM Luncheons conclude. Governors and Cabinet Secretaries
proceed to Rotunda Steps.
2:45 PM Concluding statement by the President and Governors
Branstad, Gardner, Clinton and Campbell.
3:00 PM Summit concludes.
September 13, 1989
THE SUMMIT CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION
Working Group Sessions
Please indicate your first, second, and third preferences for
each of the two working group sessions.
Wednesday, September 27, 1989
Teaching: Revitalizing a Profession
Co-chairmen
Governor Terry Branstad
Governor Booth Gardner
The Learning Environment
Co-chairmen
Governor Guy Hunt
Governor Ray Mabus
Governance: Who is in Charge?
Co-chairmen
Governor Garrey Carruthers
Governor Bill Clinton
Thursday, September 28, 1989
Choice and Restructuring
Co-chairmen
Governor Jock McKernan
Governor Rudy Perpich
A Competitive Workforce and Education
Co-chairmen
Governor Carroll Campbell
Governor William Donald Schaefer
Post-secondary Education: Strengthening Access
and Excellence
Co-chairmen
Governor Cecil Andrus
Governor John Ashcroft
Please FAX your response to Ray Scheppach at 202-624-5313 by
close of business on Wednesday, September 20, 1989.
"The part of college life which, in our minds, is most
important, however, and which meant the most to us at Virginia is
an intangible one. It is the opportunity to do things on your
own, more or less as you please, with few or no restrictions. It
is the opportunity to succeed or fail solely because of what you
decide to do. It is the opportunity to accept the responsibility
of making your own decisions and then reap their benefits or take
their penalty. At the University of Virginia you will be treated
like a man who is alone responsible for what he does. For some
this is too much responsibility. These are the students who
simply fall by the wayside. For others, there is the chance to
find out how far you can go, to see what your potentials are, and
to discover how much you can accomplish -- and all the time
having the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing it on your
own.
"
Peter Gray/1968
Mrs. Bush and illiteracy
5-7 minutes
old
Cabell
at
School at plato Athems & Aristotte Raphael
For
welcoming
Tom Jefferson is looking over our shoulders. I like to think he
would be pleased.
( (Remarks followed by Republican and Democrat governors))
Our meeting/Your advice/inclusive language
some have been teachers/governor sununu
for dinner toast at Montecello
POTUS/Barb/govs and spouses, cabinet and spouses.
George Wylie, Jefferson's teacher
George Bush's favorite teacher?
Then toast all teachers.
3 mins
Thornburgh - gov & teacher
Sunnnu
Bennett ?
Cavazos
Memorandum
RUSH!
The
Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202)546-4400
8/15/89
Number
248
AN AGENDA FOR GEORGE BUSH'S EDUCATION SUMMIT
George Bush recently invited the nation's governors to Washington on September 27 for a
"summit" on education. The purpose: to hammer out a plan to reform America's failing school
system.
Several governors already have responded to the presidential call by asserting that what really is
needed is more federal money. Others are expressing fears that they will be asked to shoulder
more of the responsibility for improving education without being given the resources they claim to
need. These governors note that recent congressional legislation mandates states to assume more
of the burden of funding for health and welfare, and they suspect that education will follow suit.
Even though there is overwhelming evidence that more money is not the answer to the nation's
education problems, the suspicions of governors about the summit are understandable. This should
not cloud the fact that the summit is needed - not to box in the states and force them to pick up
more of the education tab, but to seek ways of removing roadblocks that impede the states from
improving education. The states already are setting the pace in education reform. It is the states
that are introducing wider choice for parents to spur more competition among schools; and it is the
states that are in the vanguard of school management innovation. Thus what Bush needs to do is to
soothe the worries of the governors by assuring them that instead of the summit imposing new
burdens on the states, it will seek ways to make it easier for the states to introduce more reforms of
the kind they are already pioneering.
In particular, at the summit Bush should:
1) Announce that he will issue an Executive Order to free states from cumbersome federal rules
that frustrate state education innovation. He also should challenge the states to do the same for
their local governments.
Many innovative education reforms are impeded by federal red tape. Example: Washington
imposes numerous restrictions on the use of Chapter 1 funds, which serve the needs of
disadvantaged students. Thus states are prevented from using these funds creatively. Freeing up
this money would allow states to experiment with proven innovative methods of instruction.
Shortly after he took office, Bush pledged to remove cumbersome regulations to make it easier
for schools to experiment. The Department of Education is exploring ways to clear away these
barriers. Bush should announce to the summit that once this review is complete, he will issue an
Executive Order to eliminate regulations that impede reform.
Bush also should challenge the states to follow his lead and clear away red tape at the state level.
Education mainly is regulated by state houses, not Washington. Schools must abide by copious
state regulations, many of which interfere with a school's ability to improve the quality of
education. Examples: teacher certification requirements, vocational education and basic course
requirements, and restrictions on the use of school facilities can constrain creative approaches by
Note: Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an
attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.
schools. Bush should call on the governors to remove such burdensome red tape and allow their
school districts to explore new ways of dealing with the old problems.
2) Seek agreement by the summit for the goal of a school choice plan in at least thirty states
within two years.
The experience of Minnesota and Iowa confirms that allowing parents a degree of choice over
which school their child will attend significantly raises the quality of education. Bush should signal
his determination to see more state-wide choice plans by announcing a target to be reached in two
years. He could provide each state that enacts educational choice for parents with a bonus federal
grant and technical assistance to administer the new plans.
3) Call for a Commission on Business Support for Education.
Business is spending some $40 billion on education this year and thus is taking an urgent interest
in education reform that could reduce the high tab for remedial education for their employees.
Countless reports and studies calling for reforms have been issued by business groups; firms are
collaborating with educators, parents, and public policy experts to develop new strategies. 1 Yet
businesses' efforts often are unfocussed. The President should join with the governors at the
summit in calling on the nation's corporate leaders to establish a Commission on Business Support
for Education. Patterned after the Grace Commission, which highlighted waste in the government
budget, the product of the Commission would not be more studies or research. Instead it would
highlight those strategies that have been improving education and indicate practical ways in which
business can stimulate reform.
4) Announce that he will order the Department of Education to assist states in reforming
education. Bush also should call on each governor to appoint a senior staffer to deal exclusively
with parental choice.
States are taking the lead in promoting choice in education. But while the Department of
Education supports these moves, many of its staff lack the direction or authority to help states
reform in this way. Bush should tell the governors that the Department now will work closely with
the states to develop strategies to promote choice. To help this, Bush should ask each governor to
appoint a "choice advisor" to work closely with the Department on reform measures.
Bush's call for an education summit is a recognition of the crisis in American education.
Something needs to be done to reverse the breakdown in quality of a school education. And by
inviting the governors to the summit, Bush recognizes that he feels the best hope for reform lies in
action by the states. What he must do at the summit is develop a battle plan to unlock the pent-up
creativity of America's state houses.
Jeanne A. Allen
Policy Analyst
Editor, Education Update
William Myers
Director for State Policy
The Free Congress Foundation
1 Some of these are outlined in a forthcoming special issue of The Heritage Foundation's Education Update newsletter
reporting on a Heritage conference, "Can Business Save Education: Strategies for the 1990s." The full proceedings of
this conference are available from The Heritage Foundation as Heritage Lecture No. 193.
1
Davis/Martin
Sept. 20, 1989
Draft: Two
Title: Jefferson
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
CONVOCATION, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA
Thursday, Sept. 28, 11:30 a.m.
It's a delight to be back in Charlottesville. My son Marvin
and my daughter-in-law Margaret have told me to be humble while
I'm at U. Hall. (They told me you only do the wave for Ralph
Sampson. )) ////
((Acknowledge governors, events of the last few days.) ) I
have been deeply impressed by the commitment, the intelligence
and the knowledge that you bring to education reform. Together,
we can achieve great things if we keep putting progress before
partisanship, the future before the politics of the moment.
( (I've also heard eloquent appeals from many authorities on
education in the last few weeks, from state legislators to
leaders in business and education. I have listened. And I am
deeply appreciative of all that I have heard. ))
( (But I want to share with you the concerns of someone from
an under-represented group in this debate -- first-graders.
LETTER ANECDOTE from a "Johnny"))
The (("Johnnys)) of our schools are, in many ways, the
luckiest generation of children in history. Just last month,
these children observed, in the clarity of Voyager's sight, the
horizons of alien worlds, the majesty of space. Think what these
images would have meant to the ever-curious founder of this
i
2
university, who could only look through a primitive telescope at
faint patches of light, and wonder.
But our children are growing up in an age where wonder is
common place, and peace and prosperity are often taken for
granted. Our children are also the beneficiaries of a nation
that lavishes unsurpassed resources on their schooling. So in
many ways, we are close to fulfilling the Enlightenment dream of
universal education, a dream that became a reality in the
Shenandoah Valley, here at Mister Jefferson's school.
"Jefferson had not only an eighteenth century rationalist's
faith in the perfectibility of man; he had not only an
aristocrat's enlightened concern for the less fortunate; he had
not only a cultivated awareness of the educational principles of
his humanistic heritage, he also had the American's fundamental
conviction that on the 'good sense of' an educated citizenry, we
could build and defend a country of liberty and justice."
I borrowed these last few words from a friend of mine. This
assessment of Thomas Jefferson came from another Renaissance man,
but a man of our time -- the late A. Bartlett Giamatti. //
The vision of the founders was as old as Athens and as fresh
as the new world -- to lead an examined life. This was the credo
of Thomas Jefferson. And this was the belief by which Bart
Giamatti lived.
Their lives were a metaphor for decency and public service.
And it is that commitment to public service that we must carry
3
on, not just as an education President, but as education
governors, as an education society.
We have come close to the Jeffersonian ideal of an educated
citizenry. And yet, after two centuries of progress, we are
backsliding. While millions of Americans read for pleasure,
millions of others don't read at all. While millions of
Americans graduate from college, millions of others never finish
high school. Jefferson said that no nation could long be both
ignorant and free. The state of our educational system is
nothing less than the future of our democracy.
So I come to Jefferson's university to make a frank
observation: This nation is moving away from the aspirations of
its founders. The Founding Fathers were as fluent in geography
and science as they were in Latin and French. They began as rapt
students of the ancients, the statecraft of Marcus Aurelius, the
philosophy of thinkers from Socrates to Cicero. And yet they
surpassed their long-dead teachers to become the greatest
political philosophers of all time.
Our founders lived at a time when the purpose of education
was to develop the character of young people. Schools taught
literature, physics and geometry. But they also taught honesty,
discipline and service to country. Judge for yourself how well
we teach these lessons today.
Jefferson wanted to redeem "that mass of talents which lies
buried in poverty." And for most of our history, education has
been the great champion of the poor, leveling all distinctions of
4
class, race and background. Fifty years ago, the poorest
immigrants in the bleakest slum knew that their children could go
anywhere, be anything, because they could get an American
education. Again, judge for yourself if the same could be said
today.
We've heard of high school graduates who believe New Mexico
is in Latin America. We've seen schools that are overrun by
crack and coke. We've read about children who don't know George
Bush from George Burns, // or either from George Washington, for
that matter. We are all, by now, fully aware of the extent to
which our nation is at risk.
This is only the third time in our 200 years as a nation
that a President has called a summit with the governors. And I
did not ask you to such an historic occasion merely to discuss
what is wrong with our schools. We are here to work; to work
together; to again make an American education the best in the
world. ////
This is not a distant goal to be passively pursued. It is
urgent. Imperative. Vital. In the past, one could rise to the
middle class without a high school education or a special skill.
You know as well as I that in the service economy of the future,
this will no longer be possible. There will be few jobs for the
illiterate and the unskilled. By the year 2000, between five
million and fifteen million low-skill jobs will be replaced by
jobs that require vastly greater knowledge and ability. If we do
not find a way to reach that quarter of young Americans who never
5
attain a high school degree, then the underclass will be truly
permanent. And America will no longer be synonymous with
opportunity.
Education is our most enduring legacy, vital to everything
we are and can become. And come the next century -- just ten
years away -- what will we be? Will our descendants forget all
that we have been and forsake all we could become? Will they
still be the children of Jefferson?
Bill Milliken, a friend of mine in the educational
community, told me last week of a boy he knows who is from an
inner-city neighborhood, a neighborhood where chaos and violence
reign. For the trouble of going to school, this boy was shot
through his shoulder.
Bill went to visit him in the hospital. The boy cried, and
Bill rose to get a nurse, thinking that the pain of his wound had
become unbearable. But it wasn't that; it wasn't that at all.
The boy said he was crying because he was afraid to go home,
afraid to walk the streets and afraid to go to school. Before we
do anything, we must first give these children what they need
most -- safety on the streets and sanctuary at school. Then
they can learn. ////
We must become a reading nation, to again approach universal
literacy. We must grapple with the hard sciences. And because
education is as spiritual as it is practical, our children must
know why Americans died at Concord, at Gettysburg, at Monte
Cassino and Inchon. They must know the generosity of Andrew
6
Carnegie, the genius of Alexander Graham Bell and the heroism of
Rosa Parks. ////
To beat illiteracy, to again lead the world in science and
to know history by heart -- these are ambitious goals. To some,
they may appear overly ambitious. But Americans are not a people
who aim for half-way. Nothing less than a full-fledged challenge
will mobilize us as a people.
As President, I am here to make such a challenge. As
governors, you can provide the leadership to match it. You
already are working with the state legislatures and school boards
to better our schools. Let us, then, come together -- President
and principal, governor and teacher -- to define national goals,
to set national standards. ////
My Administration is committed to doing its part. I have
enunciated four principles for federal action. First: Excellence
in education should be recognized and rewarded. Second: Federal
funding should be targeted to those who need it most. Third:
Choice and flexibility -- for educators as well as for parents
and students -- are important to educational reform. And fourth
and finally: Greater accountability.
Accountability means knowing where we are, no matter how
unpleasant that realization may be. We have always measured our
progress against our past performance. We must now meet a new
challenge -- to evaluate ourselves on a tougher grading curve --
one that includes the other major industrial nations.
7
Accountability also means discipline, structure and goals.
And most of all, it means competition -- competition between
students, between teachers and between schools. In short, a
report card for all -- back to the basics.
Yet I do not counsel a naive nostalgia, a timid adherence to
the past. We should embrace only what works. And when hallowed
tradition proves to be hollow convention, then we must shatter
tradition. The public is ready for sweeping and far-reaching
changes, for lasting reform. We must// not// disappoint them.
////
Less than three percent of all families live on a farm; and
yet we still educate by an agrarian school calendar largely
unchanged since the 1880s. The school year could easily be
lengthened to more than 200 days, with generous breaks
throughout. Listen to the children. They will tell you that it
is a tossup as to which is more boring: nine straight months of
school, or three straight months of vacation. Let us shatter
this tradition.
Some subjects may require hours a day; others minutes. Yet
we teach all subjects in rigid 55 minutes formats, as if the
human attention span were a Pavlovian ( (PAHV-Low-Vian) ) response
to the ring of a school bell. School days, like school years,
are structured by custom, not by creativity. Let us shatter this
tradition.
Americans fully realize that when government bodies swell
beyond the boundaries of community interest, bureaucracy takes
8
control. We should scale our school districts to the communities
they serve, empowering parents and teachers alike. Giantism is
deadly. Let us shatter this tradition.
Reform requires even more of us. Too many parents have come
to see education as a service we can hand over to the school
boards, in much the same way we expect our cities to provide
electricity or water. But education is not a utility, not
something to be delegated to public policy. Education is a way
of life, and educational reform is an urgent responsibility for
every parent, every student, every community. Those who do not
advance the cause of education, hinder it. ////
Too often, excessive regulation has also hindered education.
How many great ideas, how many grand and noble experiments, have
been impaled on the narrow spike of a federal directive?
Regulation is the enemy of the bold. And bold action is what we
need most of all. //
Look to Chelsea, Massachusetts, where Boston University has
been asked to assume control of a school system in trouble.
These schools will now stay open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.,
serving as day-care centers for children whose parents work.
Eventually, Boston University will offer pre-school classes for
all children ages three to five, and "after-school" programs
involving arts and exercise.
Look to Milton Goldman and Jeffrey Reed -- teachers in Los
Angeles who use video science to entice the children of the
television age to enjoy reading.
9
And look to Pine Villa Elementary School in Miami. In this
inner-city school, boys from poor households headed by single
mothers were put into an experimental program, in which all the
students and their teachers were males. The idea was simple, and
it worked. These boys were given what they desperately needed --
their first exposure to a positive, male role model. The
principal reported the experiment to be a resounding success.
There were no fights, no major discipline problems. Not a single
parent complained. Most important, the academic ability of these
children improved by leaps and bounds. And yet the federal
government interpreted this program as a violation of its
regulations, and terminated it. This is not oversight, this is
overkill. //
Some experiments are sure to come up short. But for a third
of our schools, experimentation is preferable to the status quo,
because the status quo could scarcely be worse. The worthy and
the useful will win out only if we allow for the vigorous
competition of ideas at the local level.
Some say that the greater answer is to spend more money.
The fact is, our nation already spends more to educate our youth
than it does to defend them -- this year, 353 billion dollars in
all. The average per-pupil expenditure in American public
education has risen by more than $1,500 since 1983, about twice
as much per student as in the mid-sixties and nearly three times
the level of the mid-fifties. And over the decades, while
spending growth burgeoned, high school graduation rates and SAT
10
scores tumbled. Hard experience teaches that we cannot buy our
way out of this problem. / /
I have requested nearly a half a billion dollars on ten
worthy programs. The states may choose to spend more. But our
main focus should no longer solely be on resources. It must be
on results. It is time we got our money's worth in education.
//
To see results will take nothing less than a national
effort. And a national effort must begin with a social compact,
a compact between parents, teachers, principals, superintendents,
state legislators, governors and myself. Our compact is built
not on promises, but on challenges -- three radical departures
from the traditional way of doing things.
I challenge you to join me, for the first time, to define
national goals and standards in education. I seek tighter
standards/ / higher goals// greater aspirations. ( (Specifics to
come.))
Second, I accept your challenge to break the tightening
grasp of federal restrictions. So I will issue ( (an executive
order) ) on ( (date) ) to ( (language to come) )
Third, in return for this greater flexibility from
Washington, I ask that you, in turn, ease state restrictions on
local bodies. And then we will challenge superintendents and
principals to meet our higher national standards.
One way to meet a more stringent standard is to establish
the principle of choice in education. Parents should be free to
11
choose their schools. Principals should be free to choose the
best methods for their schools. And schools should be free to
choose teachers with alternative certification -- those whose
knowledge surpasses their credentials.
These proposals do not add up to a quick and easy solution.
They are the beginning of a process, the work of years. So let
me make a third proposal -- that we meet again in a less formal
setting to take stock of where we succeeded, and where we need to
redouble our efforts.
Individuals must make the same assessment, for our education
is the work of a lifetime. With the average lifespan lengthening
to three-quarters of a century, it is absurd that we should quit
learning at age 18 or 22. Education shouldn't begin with
kindergarten, and end with a diploma and a handshake. Education
begins when we draw our first breath. And it stops only when we
breathe our last.
Our homes and our workplaces must be places of learning;
schools that continually sharpen our skills and upgrade our
competence. Seventy-five percent of the work force of the year
2000 are already on the job today. This makes vocational and
adult education essential.
Yet we need to practice lifelong education for greater
reasons than the trade balance, or the greying of our work force.
These reasons are broader than the narrow compass of economics
and government.
12
A scholar once wrote that great books are not lifeless
paper, but minds alive on the shelves. He said that just as the
touch of a button on a stereo will fill the room with music, so
by taking down one of these volumes, and opening it, one can call
into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and
hear him speak to us, mind to mind, heart to heart.
As a nation, we can impart this enchantment -- every time a
parent reads a bedtime story to a sleepy child; every time a
young scholar turns to the great books. When "the day comes that
every young American can participate in the life of the mind,
then we will truly be Jefferson's children.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Thank you for
your partnership. Let us leave Charlottesville determined to
work together, to work for America. God bless you all.
#
#
#
RDV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:04PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 1
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
University News Office
Booker House
P.O. Box 9018
Charlottesville, VA 22906-9018
TELEPHONE
TELECOPIER
(804) 924-7116
(804) 924-0938
TELECOPIER TRANSMITTAL FORM
TO:
Mary Kay Individual Grant
Institution/Company
Address
Fax Phone Number: 282 456 6218
Office Phone Number:
SENDER:
Mr. William H. Fishback
Office Phone Number: (804)934-4524
DOCUMENT TITLE:
DATE: 9/20/89
NUMBER OF PAGES TO FOLLOW:
16
This document is being sent from a Xerox 295, Level 3, Telecopier.
If you experience difficulty receiving this document, please call Penney Catlett at (804) 924-7803 (for
equipment problems) or the sender noted above.
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:05PM :
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 2
Thomas Jefferson: America's First "Education President"
A Briefing Paper Prepared for the Presidential Summit
Jennings L. Wagoner, Jr.
University of Virginia
September, 1989
Education and Liberty
Thomas Jefferson might well be considered our nation's first
"Education President." Jefferson never arranged for an "education
summit" nor did he issue any ringing proclamations in behalf of
education while president. However, the third president of the
United States was the first American statesman to propose the
establishment of a unified system of publicly supported schools.
Moreover, he founded a distinctive state university, the
University of Virginia, an achievement he considered as one of the
three most important accomplishments of his life--the other two
being his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and of the
Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. Furthermore, Thomas
Jefferson was foremost among the founding fathers in giving firm
and consistent voice to the proposition that only an enlightened
people can hope to maintain a free society. As he put the matter
in a letter in 1816: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,
in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never
will be."
1
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:06PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 3
Education as a Public Responsibility
At a time when formal schooling was considered as basically a
private matter, a privilege to be enjoyed by the few, Jefferson
championed it as a public responsibility, an essential right and
necessity for all citizens. In an era when most schooling was
accessible only to those who could pay tuition fees, Jefferson
advocated free access based upon public support. In a society in
which the well-born often used the advantages of education to
protect their privileged status, Jefferson advanced the idea that
popular education should equalize opportunity and make it
possible for all to engage in the pursuit of happiness. Driving
Thomas Jefferson's commitment to popular education was a
conviction he expressed to George Washington in 1786: "It is an
axiom of my mind that our liberty can never be safe but in the
hands of the people themselves, and that, too, of the people with
a certain degree of instruction. This it is the business of the
state to effect, and on a general plan."
Jefferson's Educational Proposals and Activities
The Context for Educational Reform
Thomas Jefferson's efforts in behalf of education began in
the 1770s and continued throughout his lifetime. His initial
labors in behalf of education were part and parcel of his larger
effort to move Virginia and the emerging new nation from colonial
status and mentality into governmental and social arrangements
2
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:06PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 4
befitting citizens of a free republic. In the fall of 1776, only
months after drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson
was selected by his colleagues in the Virginia General Assembly to
serve as chair of a small committee charged with the task of
revising the laws of the Commonwealth. For the next several years
Jefferson played a major role in drafting legislation that, as he
phrased it, was designed to "lay the ax to the root of pseudo-
aristocracy." Jefferson introduced bills that curtailed the
practice of entailing estates and limiting inheritance to first-
born sons. Other bills modernized the legal system, made more
rational and humane the system of punishments for crimes, and
liberalized provisions for the naturalization of foreigners. Not
all of his legislative proposals were successful, as in the case
of his advocacy of the gradual emancipation of slaves, and some of
the 126 bills for which he was responsible, directly or
indirectly, passed only after years of debate and sometimes in
severely modified form.
A bill that did survive with only minor modifications, and
one vastly important in its own right as well as in terms of its
relation to Jefferson's educational views was the Virginia Statute
for Religious Freedom. This act, which disestablished the
Anglican church in Virginia, declared that no one could be
compelled to attend any church or be made to support any religion
not of his own choosing; that one could be made to suffer no
reprisals for his belief or nonbelief in religion; that, in sum,
"all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
3
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:07PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 5
their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall i
no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
Jefferson wrote with understandable pride to James Madison that
"it is honorable for us to have produced the first legislature
who had the courage to declare that the reason of man may be
trusted with the formation of his own opinions."
Jefferson's Educational Plan of 1779
Thomas Jefferson's faith in the right of free people to be
trusted with the formation of their own opinions lay at the basis
of his lifelong interest in and concern for the advancement of
education. Thus, when as part of the revised code of laws he
introduced a Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, he
considered it at the time as the most important item in the entir
legislative package. In the preamble to his bill, Jefferson
reminded his legislative colleagues that history has shown that,
even under the best forms of government, there is a tendency for
those entrusted with power to pervert it into tyranny. The most
effective means of preventing this from occurring, said Jefferson,
would be "to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the
people at large." Jefferson noted further that many "whom nature
hath fitly formed and disposed to become useful instruments for
the public" are prevented by poverty from obtaining an education.
It is far better, Jefferson maintained, that all should be
educated "at the common expense of all, than that the happiness of
all should be confided to the weak or wicked. "
4
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:08PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 6
The general outline of Jefferson's bill, drafted in 1778 and
presented to the legislature in June, 1779, seems so familiar
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:14PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 1
out and cultivate leaders, members of the "natural aristocracy"
virtue and talent (as opposed to the "artificial aristocracy" who
laid claim to privilege and power based on their wealth and
favored birth). Jefferson's bill thus proposed that at public
expense, twenty grammar schools be established at appropriate
geographical locations throughout the state. To these boarding
schools would come students who were able to pay tuition as well
as a select number of "public foundationers" or scholarship
students, survivors of a rigorous system of selection in the lower
schools. The process of competition would continue in the upper
grades as well. According to Jefferson's scheme, after the first
year in the district secondary school, the bottom one-third of the
scholarship students would be discontinued. After the second
year, all the rest, "save one only, the best in genius and
disposition," would bring their formal schooling as scholarship
students to an end. The one best student in each of the secondary
schools would continue his education free of charge for four more
years. "By this means, II Jefferson noted, "twenty of the best
geniuses will be raked from the rubbish annually." By this means
too, Jefferson thought it possible "to avail the state of those
talents which Nature has sown as liberally among the poor as the
rich, but which perish without use if not sought for and
cultivated."
At the top of Jefferson's educational pyramid stood the
College of William and Mary which Jefferson, via a companion bill,
hoped to convert into a state university. His scheme provided for
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:15PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 2
the free education at the College of William and Mary of a small
number of the brightest graduates of the district schools. The
other graduates who had been recipients of state support would
become secondary school teachers.
Jefferson's Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge,
his bill to reform the College of William and Mary, and yet
another bill to establish in Richmond a state-supported library,
all met with defeat. Among a combination of factors contributing
to the failure of Jefferson's educational plans, legislative
fears regarding the expense of his projects seemed paramount. To
Jefferson, however, such false economy was shortsighted. He
encouraged his mentor and friend George Wythe to "Preach, my dear
sir, a crusade against ignorance" and appealed to him to let it be
known "that the tax which will paid for this purpose is not more
than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests
and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in
ignorance." For the moment, however, Jefferson's pleas were in
vain.
Other Educational Ventures
The defeat of Jefferson's education plans signaled a delay
but not an end to his interest in the cause of public education.
Jefferson could take little satisfaction from legislative action
in 1796 which passed into law one portion of his general plan. In
that year, the legislature enacted part of the bill relating to
elementary schools, but the bill was weakened severely by a
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:16PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 3
provision that allowed officials in each county to determine if
and when the schools would be established. Only one county made a
serious attempt to begin public elementary schools. Jefferson
was no more successful in 1817 when he drafted yet another bill,
similar in general outline to his 1779 bill, which also failed to
win legislative approval.
Over the years, Jefferson considered still other measures
that he thought might help realize at least in part some of his
educational ideals. In the 1790s, for example, Jefferson expressed
interest in the plan of Francis D'Ivernois to transport the entire
faculty of the University of Geneva to America. Although
Jefferson thought the idea a good one and Virginia the perfect
location for the transplanted university, neither the Virginia
legislature nor George Washington, to whom Jefferson turned for
support, shared his enthusiasm. Washington, however, proved to be
much more excited about plans for a national university than was
Jefferson. Presidents Washington and Jefferson, along with John
Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Q. Adams all at
various times gave serious consideration to plans recommending the
creation in the District of Columbia of a national university.
After leaving the White House and returning to his mountaintop
home at Monticello in 1809, however, ex-President Thomas Jefferson
soon began to concentrate his efforts on giving birth to an
institution just a few miles away that was to have a national
character as well as serve as the capstone of a state system of
public education: the University of Virginia.
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:17PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 4
Jefferson and the University of Virginia
Jefferson's crowning achievement as an education statesman
was his role as the founder of the University of Virginia. As any
visitor to Charlottesville quickly discovers, the University of
Virginia even today is often referred to as "Mr. Jefferson's
University." Its architectural design, its curriculum, and its
guiding philosophy were all the product of Jefferson's vision and
a reflection of his ideals.
Although Jefferson had for years been giving thought to the
establishment of a superior institution of higher learning in
Virginia, it was not until 1814 that his plans began to take
definite shape. In that year Jefferson joined his nephew, Peter
Carr, and other neighbors as a trustee of a newly revived
secondary school to be known as Albemarle Academy. Rather
quickly, Jefferson persuaded the other board members that they
should elevate their aim and escalate the academy into a college,
a move which the legislature approved in 1816. The charter for
the new institution, Central College, empowered the governor of
the state to appoint the members of its board of visitors. Two
other Virginia presidents, James Madison and James Monroe, soon
joined Jefferson as members of the board and were present with him
when the cornerstone of the first building was laid on October 6,
1817.
A few months later, in February 1818, another bill cleared
the General Assembly that provided initial funding toward the
Extended Page
5.1
in the 1770s in behalf of a complete system of public education.
The university he founded forty years later stands today as a
10
'RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:19PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 6
living reminder of that faith and as an enduring monument to that
commitment.
It seems only fitting that, in our continuing crusade against
ignorance, we pause to give Jefferson his due as our first
"education president."
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:23PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;#10
Thomas Jefferson and Education:
Chronology of Major Events
1743, April 13
Born at Shadwell, Albemarle Co., Virginia
1748
Began schooling with private tutor at
Tuckahoe, plantation of William Randolph
1752
taught by Rev. William Douglas, described by
Enrolled in boarding school in Goochland Co.,
TJ later as a "superficial Latinist"
1757
Following father's death, enrolled in Latin
boarding school conducted by Rev. James Maury
of Louisa Co., "a correct classical scholar"
1760, March 25
Entered College of William & Mary; became
close friends with Dr. William Small, the
Wythe, a prominent lawyer, and Francis
only non-clergyman on the faculty, George
Fauquier, governor of the colony.
1762, April 25
studying law privately with George Wythe
Completed studies at William & Mary and began
1767
Admitted to bar
1776
Delegate to Continental Congress; wrote the
Declaration of Independence
1776
Returned to Virginia; appointed to committee
to revise the laws of Virginia
1779, June
Submitted Bill for the More General Diffusion
of Knowledge
1786
Bill defeated while Jefferson was in Paris
1786
Doctor of Laws from Yale
1787
Doctor of Laws from Harvard and Brown
1788
Cautious
interest
in
Extended Page 10. 1
Kichmona a scientific academy patterned after
the French Academy
1790
Member Sciences of the American Academy of Arts and
1795, February
America Proposed the removal of Geneva faculty to
*RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:24PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218:#11
1797, January 6
Elected president of the American
Philosophical Society
1800, January 18
Described plans for the University of
Virginia in a letter to Joseph Priestley
1806, February 23
university Advised Joel Barlow on a plan for a national
1807
Chairman of Washington, D.C. School Board
1814, March 25
Joined Board of Trustees of Albemarle Academy
1814, September 7
Proposed college in place of academy
1816, February 14
Albemarle Academy became Central College
1817, May 5
Bought land for Central College
1817, October 6
Cornerstone of first building laid, with
Madison, Monroe and Jefferson present
1818, February 21
Bill authorizing a state university passed
1818, August 1-4
Commissioners met at Rockfish Gap
1819, January 25
Central College became University of Virginia
1825, March 7
University of Virginia opened
1826, July 4
Thomas Jefferson died at Monticello
RCV BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 9-20-89 ; 1:18PM ;
CCITT G3->
4566218;# 5
of a special commission to determine the site for and plan of
operation of the new institution. Jefferson chaired the meeting
and wrote the final report of what became known as the Rockfish
Gap Commission. Finally, in January 1919, the Virginia legislature
accepted the recommendations of the Rockfish Gap Commission and
converted the fledgling institution under construction at the foot
of Monticello, Central College, into the University of Virginia.
Six years later, in March of 1825, the University of Virginia
accepted its first students. There to greet them was the
institution's founder and first rector. Thomas Jefferson had been
allowed to live long enough to the see institution he had long
dreamed of come to life. He had been allowed to realize what he
termed "the last act of usefulness I can render my country." He
died the following year at the age of 83--on July 4, 1826.
The most distinctive and significant element in Jefferson's
design for the University of Virginia was his commitment of the
institution to the principle of intellectual freedom. "This
institution of my native state, the hobby of my old age," he wrote
in 1820, will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human
mind to explore and expose every subject susceptible of its
contemplation. For here we are not afraid to follow truth
wherever it may lead, not to tolerate any error, so long as reason
is left free to combat it." It was this faith in reason and
commitment to liberty that gave direction to his efforts beginning
S
EDUCATION
A Summit
for Schools
Progress or platitudes?
H
e repeated the line SO often during
the campaign that it became a cliché.
Over and over (and over) again,
George Bush said, "I want to be the Ed-u-ca-
TIM MURPHY-IMAGE BANK
tion President." But what does that really
An undernourished educational system: The president with students
mean? After nine months of what Ernest
Boyer, president of The Carnegie Founda-
nourished, and we must find innovative,
sponsored reform movement slows, the em-
tion for the Advancement of Teaching,
accountable ways to improve perform-
phasis has shifted to national leadership.
calls "disappointment and skepticism,"
ance." In what Bush is calling "roll-up-
The business community, despairing over
the country may be about to find out. For
your-sleeves meetings," he and the gover-
the quality of the work force, is demanding
only the third time in history, an American
nors will spend two days debating options
measurable improvement. Beyond plati-
president has assembled the nation's gov-
for educational reform, then prepare for a
tudes, some consensus among educators,
ernors to address an issue of major national
set of national goals to be announced later.
parents and politicians is emerging on
importance (the others were on conserva-
Congressional Democrats are annoyed
roughly five areas where palpable change
tion in 1908 and the economy in 1933).
about Bush's "stealing" their issue, but the
is possible:
After this week's "summit," we may know
Democratic summit agenda doesn't call for
Performance Goals. This one is almost en-
whether the result is just another meeting,
much new money from Washington either.
tirely Bush's responsibility. All of the re-
another report, another occasion for pos-
Because neither Bush nor Congress is
ports and commissions say that the presi-
turing-or truly the beginning of the
willing to choose-really choose-educa-
dent is the only one who can really
much-awaited education revolution.
tion over other spending priorities, they
challenge the country to meet the higher
Bush starts from a premise that many
will simply try to expand approaches tried
standards everyone agrees are necessary.
educators reject: no new federal money
by various states. Some of those reform
"The problems in education have little to
needed. As he declared in a summit pre-
efforts have shown success. Teachers' sala-
do with the size of the class or the newness
view earlier this month, "The educational
ries, for instance, are up 20 percent (after
of the test tubes. They have everything to
system is basically well fed, but it's under-
inflation) since 1980. Now, as the state-
do with the expectations of all those in the
The Do-Nothing Education Secretary
educators who do business
with the Education Depart-
ment have made it clear to the
A
fter he was named secre-
ban areas), Cavazos is play-
administration that they sim-
tary of Education during
ing the wallflower. For a
ply don't think the secretary
the final months of the Rea-
federal education policy con-
is up to the job.
gan presidency, Lauro Cava-
sisting largely of cheerlead-
"I think people are mak
zos, the first Hispanic in the
ing, that just won't do.
ing judgments based on per-
cabinet, did almost nothing-
In William Bennett, Cava-
sonality, not performance,"
and was praised for it. If
zos had a tough act to follow.
says his under secretary, Ted
he didn't make waves, the ar-
But imagine what Bennett
Sanders. But Cavazos, a for-
gument went, George Bush
would have done with this
mer president of Texas Tech
would reappoint him. A year
summit. His blunt way of
University, has been slow
later, Cavazos is still causing
framing educational argu-
to fill key subcabinet posi-
barely a ripple-and is likely
ments might have prompted
tions-a problem common to
to lose his job soon because
invigorating debate. Cavazos,
many Bush agencies. Now his
of it. The "Education Presi-
by contrast, will find his mo-
time is running out. By early
dent" has an Education sec-
ment in the sun marred by
next year, say administration
retary who is practically in-
rumors of his departure
sources, Cavazos is likely to be
visible. More than once Bush
While Cávazos will chair two
offered another post and re-
has privately told Cavazos
panels and introduce the
placed either by soon-to-be
that he needs to adopt a
president, he has not been giv-
former New Jersey governor
higher public profile. Even
en other major responsibil-
Tom Kean (now scheduled to
on Hispanic-education issues
ities. That not-so-subtle sig-
be president of Drew Univer-
(Hispanics' dropout rate is
LARRY DOWNING
nal is the result of a classic
sity) or by former Tennessee
near 80 percent in some ur-
Facing expulsion? Cavazos
Washington end run. The
governor Lamar Alexander.
56 NEWSWEEK OCTOBER 2, 1989
Photocopy-Preservation
ing parents is a lengthy process,
and the penalties are limited.
Each state puts a ceiling-from
Cocaine Babies: The Littlest Victims
$250 in Vermont to $15,000 in
Texas-on the amount that can
housands of babies will be
er than 20 cases like John-
who drink, smoke or even ne-
be recovered.
born addicted this year be-
son pending around the
glect their diet during preg-
Putting criminal sanctions
cause their mothers used
country. Prosecutors are us-
nancy. Instead, Connolly and
on parents-as the newer laws
drugs during their pregnan
ing a variety of laws to get
other opponents of these
do-raises the stakes. Support-
cies. These infants often face
the mothers to trial. Most
cases argue, more money
ers say the tougher penalties
a childhood full of medical
child abuse statutes don't ap-
should be spent on drug treat-
involved in criminal cases, es-
problems. Now some prose-
ply; in all states except New
ment programs. But, says
pecially the possibility of jail
cutors say that the best way
Jersey, "fetal abuse does not
Kandall, "it's much easier to
time, are a more effective de-
to help them is to threaten
equal child abuse, says Wal-
grab headlines by prosecut-
terrent than the possibility of
their mothers with jail terms.
ter Connolly Jr., general
ing a couple of women.' If
relatively small lawsuits. Flor-
Last August a) 23-year-
counsel for the National
only the problem were that
ida state Sen. John Grant, who
old Florida mother, Jennifer
Association for Peri-Natal
simple. If a pregnant woman
introduced that state's new
Johnson, was found guilty of
Addiction Research and Edu-
uses drugs even though she
gun law, thinks that at the
delivering a, controlled sub-
cation. He worries that over-
may be harming her baby,
very least such measures gen-
stance to a minor, in this
zealous prosecutors may ex-
why would the remote pros-
erate a lot of publicity. As a
case giving her baby cocaine
tend the penalties to mothers
pect of jail make her quit?
result, he says, parents may be
through the umbilical cord.
scared into locking up their
Though she faced up to 30
weapons and becoming more
years in prison, Johnson was
responsible.
sentenced to a year of house
Little evidence: So far, however,
arrest in a drug rehabilita-
there's not much evidence that
tion center and 14 years of
the tougher rules do work. "It's
probation. Proponents say
only the most educated parents
cases like this send a message
who are going to say, 'My gosh,
to other pregnant addicts
I'm going to be responsible for
that they must assume the
their behavior. I better get with
responsibility to get treat-
it'," says Linda Dunlap, a psy-
ment But some doctors say it
chologist at Marist College in
is the babies who will suffer
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who has
"If I were a woman about to
taught in state prisons for nine
havea baby, and if knew that
years. Wisconsin's grandpar-
if the baby had drugs in the
ent law, enacted in 1985, made
urine I could be prosecuted, I
both sets of grandparents fi-
would probably have my baby
nancially liable for a baby born
in a back alley," says Dr. Ste-
to their unmarried minor chil-
phen Kandall, chief of ne
dren. It was supposed to pre-
onatology at New York's
vent teenage pregnancy and
Beth Israel Medical Center
JAMES STAR
reduce abortion by making par-
There are currently few-
Tragic consequences: An addicted child in Florida
ents feel more responsible for
their children's sexual behav-
ior. Despite the possibility of
$10,000 fines and jail terms of up to two
dence that Williams knew her son was in a
son, director of the Arkansas branch of the
years, the number of births to unmarried
gang-two photo albums showing her pos-
American Civil Liberties Union. Usually,
minors has increased since the regulation
ing with gang members. Williams denied
Jacobson says, prosecutors have to prove
was passed; only 14 parents have faced
the charges. And two months later the
not only that a person committed an act but
penalties. "By and large, the law hasn't
case was dropped when an investigation
also that he intended to do it. In these cases,
been all that successful," admits Marlin
showed that Williams had taken a parent-
he says, "the crime is having a kid who
Schneider, the state legislator who came up
ing course. City Attorney James K. Hahn
commits a crime." He describes the new
with the idea. He thinks the program
says that prosecuting her would not have
laws as "knee-jerk reactions to the frustra-
would be more effective if it got more pub-
been in the spirit of the law because
tions of our more complicated age."
licity and more parents knew about the
she had taken steps to attempt to control
A better solution, some critics say, would
possible penalties.
her child by enrolling in the course. Offi-
be to attack some of the root causes of
Criminal cases against parents are ex-
cials say they'v had only a few similar
juvenile crime: inadequate education, poor
tremely hard to prosecute. California's
cases since then. In those instances, the
job opportunities, drug addiction. But solv-
Street Terrorism Enforcement and Pre-
parents have ended up in school-taking
ing those problems will take immense re-
vention Act makes parents subject to ar-
courses that teach them how to keep their
sources-and there's no guarantee of suc-
rest if their children become suspects in a
kids out of gangs.
cess. In the meantime more judges and
crime. The law says that parents can be
Constitutional challenges may pose
legislators will continue their probably fu-
charged if they knowingly fail to control
additional barriers. The new sanctions
tile search for an easy fix. And more par-
or supervise their children. The first par-
against parents mean that they can go to
ents will do time for their kids' crimes.
ent arrested was Gloria Williams, whose
jail for criminal acts committed by some-
15-year-old son was arrested this spring in
one else. "That goes well beyond the pale of
BARBARA KANTROWITZ with
a rape case. Police said they had solid evi-
KAREN SPRINGEN in Chicago. PETER ANNIN
traditional criminal law," says Jay Jacob-
in Houston and JEANNE GORDON in Los Angeles
Photocopy-Preservation
NEWSWEEK OCTOBER 2. 1989 55
Bush, Governors Chart
Ambitious School Goals
Summit Steers Clear of Federal-Aid Issue
wp A4
quintuple spending
We're liv-
By David S. Broder
minutes in each, asking questions
and David Hoffman
and pressing the governors to spell
ing within constrained resources."
out how they would guarantee bet-
During the campaign, Bush had
Washington Post Staff Writers
ter education results if they had
promised to make Head Start, a
CHARLOTTESVILLE,
Sept.
fewer federal guidelines.
program for pre-schoolers from
27-President Bush led the na-
Most of the participants called
poor families, available to all eligible
tion's governors into an education
the sessions "positive, candid and
four-year-olds.
summit at the University of Vir-
productive," but former education
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R),
ginia today where he and the other
secretary William J. Bennett, the
the chairman of the NGA, said his
participants began to set ambitious
moderator of one who now serves
intent was to take the tentative
goals for the nation's schools but
as the Bush administration's nation-
goals suggested by the Clinton
steered clear of discussing the
al drug policy director, was not im-
statement "and set up an ongoing
costs.
pressed.
dialogue between ourselves and the
The opening hours of the ex-
"There was the standard Dem-
White House to announce specific
traordinary, two-day meeting indi-
ocratic and Republican pap," he told
goals at least by the February
cated bipartisan agreement on an
reporters, "and something that
meeting" of the NGA in Washing-
effort to frame national perform-
rhymes with pap
Much of the
ton.
ance standards and give states and
discussion proceeded in a total ab-
South Carolina Gov. Carroll A.
schools annual report cards on their
sence of knowledge of what takes
Campbell Jr. (R), co-chairman of the
progress.
place in schools."
education task force, said the gov-
Democratic governors, fearful of
A less cynical view came from
ernors would take prime responsi-
being tagged as big-spending beg-
New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean
bility for restructuring schools
gars by the White House, decided
(R), a leader in the education re-
within their states and setting ac-
to steer clear of the issue of federal
form efforts of the past six years.
countability standards.
aid to education and focused on oth-
Kean compared Bush's role at the
Welcoming that approach, Edu-
er ways to improve the schools.
summit to that of a baseball cleanup
cation Secretary Lauro Cavazos
Bush told the 49 state execu-
hitter, who "hits a grand-slam home
said, "As far as we're concerned,
tives-only Minnesota's Rudy Per-
run and lights up the scoreboard."
it's not so much a question of fund-
pich (D) was absent-that "too
He said he had been worried that
ing; it's how we spend it."
much is at stake to let partisanship
the reform movement that began
A new and possibly controversial
with the 1983 report "A Nation at
element was introduced when the
get in the way of progress" in
Clinton draft communique sug-
America's struggle to cut dropouts
Risk" was "running out of gas."
and illiteracy and boost student per-
New Mexico Gov. Garrey E. Car-
gested that the federal government
formance in areas like science and
ruthers (R) said participants in the
undertake a "targeted, focused and
math, where the United States
first working group Bush visited
coordinated" initiative to eliminate
asked him to "heighten expectations
illiteracy and create drug-free
trails other industrial nations.
Americans have of their schools
schools in the District and to reduce
In turn, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clin-
ton, the Democratic spokesman,
stay with the issue and give us stay-
the achievement gap for poor and
told Bush, "We don't expect big in-
ing power."
minority youngsters in 10 or so big-
Bush apparently was not pressed
city school districts and five to 10
creases in federal funds to come out
on spending questions, in part, as
times that number of rural districts.
of this summit
I'm honestly
Kentucky Gov. Wallace G. Wilkin-
It suggested that every Cabinet de-
convinced that if we agree on set-
son (D) remarked, because "none of
partment, including the Pentagon,
ting goals, the money and programs
us [Democrats] want to walk out of
be asked to allocate money and peo-
will follow."
here and have the White House
ple to that effort, thereby making
Clinton, co-chairman of a Nation-
point the finger and say, 'tax and
"education
truly a national se-
al Governors Association (NGA)
spend Democrats.'
curity issue.
task force on education, circulated a
However, the Clinton draft state-
draft statement for Thursday's con-
Campbell said these were among
ment called on the federal govern-
cluding plenary session that would
the "few items we need to talk
ment to meet its existing commit-
set the first national performance
about" at a late-night meeting
ments, especially in pre-school
standards by next February, after
scheduled to follow tonight's state
health and education programs.
consultation with educators, parent
Carruthers said there was general
dinner at Monticello, home of
groups and businessmen, and start
agreement that if federal spending
Thomas Jefferson. But Campbell
a push to deregulate restrictions on
on education increased, it should go
said "there's a lot of consensus" on
most current federal aid funds.
to the pre-schoolers. Virginia Gov.
the bulk of the statement.
The Clinton draft would call for a
Gerald L. Baliles (D), host to the
Staff writer Frank Swoboda
targeted federal effort to end illit-
summit, said, "Most of us would be
eracy in the District of Columbia
contributed to this report.
satisfied if the Feds would just fund
and purge drugs from its schools
the promises they've made, the pro-
and to target aid from all depart-
grams already on the books."
ments' budgets, including the Pen-
Full funding of those programs
tagon's, into a few big-city school
would add billions to the budget.
districts with severe problems.
When Bush was asked about one of
Bush dropped in on three simul-
them, Head Start, at a White House
taneous closed-door discussion ses-
news conference today, he replied,
sions in the Rotunda of the univer-
"I'm not going down there [to the
sity, spending from 20 to 50.
summit] saying we're going to
Hope and Dissent Blend
In Education Conference
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
+ 9-28-89
Special to The New York Times
B13
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 27
lagging and that "measurable national
- President Bush opened his education
goals" were crucial.
conference with the nation's governors
today in an atmosphere of hope tinged
"Accountability, flexibility, tougher
standards and a results-oriented sys-
with division and uncertainty over how
tem - all of these have got to be on the
best to improve the nation's ailing
schools.
table," Mr. Bush told the governors
Many of the Democratic governors
shortly after his arrival by helicopter
and some of the Republicans distrib-
from Washington. "What I'm Seeking
at this summit is not just dialogue but a
uted a document listing "summit ob-
jectives" and intended to serve as their
new sense of direction.
own framework for the meeting.
"We've got to challenge the educa-
Among the goals for the Federal
tion system if we're to meet the chal-
Government and states in the memo-
lenge of educational excellence," Mr.
randum were seeing that "by the year
Bush said. "It's time to stop debating
2000, all children will be ready for the
over commissions and studies and set
first grade," largely by assuring that
priorities, and it's time to get on with
every eligible poor child is enrolled in
it."
Head Start, a Federal preschool pro-
As Mr. Bush spoke in a packed 970-
gram. Experts say Head Start now
seat auditorium in Old Cabell Hall, the
serves only about 20 percent of those
governors applauded unevenly. Also
eligible.
attending were most of President
Another goal was to raise American
Bush's Cabinet.
student achievement "to internation-
Although some governors insisted
that more Federal education aid was
essential, Democrats generally re-
frained from calling for more money.
Bush and the
Two Southerners Comment
"What is needed most critically from
governors differ
the President and the Federal Govern-
ment in the area of education is leader-
on approaches.
ship," said Gov. Joe Frank Harris,
Democrat of Georgia.
"Federal- funding is not the major
issue," said Gov. Bill Clinton, Demo-
ally competitive levels, especially in
crat of Arkansas, one of the organizers
math and science," where tests show
of the event. "It is not the main subject
the United States generally lags far be-
and is only a small part of what we
want to achieve."
hind many other nations.
Mr. Clinton said accountability to
Staking Out Turf
taxpayers on how education money
The memorandum on goals, while
was spent was a more important topic.
not announced, seemed to be an at-
Besides, he told an opening news con-
tempt by the governors to assert them-
ference, the bulk of the more than $350
selves in what has been a White House
billion spent annually on education
show. Nearly all of the nation's gover-
comes from state and local sources, not
nors are attending the two-day confer-
from Washington.
ence at the University of Virginia.
The governors' document listing ob-
Perhaps the sharpest criticism of
jectives mentioned these goals:
Mr. Bush came tonight from Gov.
"Disparities in achievment levels
Mario M. Cuomo of New York. While
of students of different races and eco-
other Democratic governors generally
nomic backgrounds will be dramati-
refrained from publicly criticizing Mr.
cally reduced."
Bush's approach, which seeks to re-
'The dropout rate will be reduced
strain Federal spending on education,
dramatically."
Mr. Cuomo was unabashed in his criti-
q"The percentage of high school
cism.
graduates going on to some form of
Mr. Cuomo said tonight: "You can't
post-secondary education will be in-
do it with poetry. You need a little
creased to a point sufficient to give
prose. You can't do it with garnish. You
them opportunities to get good jobs."
need a little meat and potatoes. You
9"Illiteracy among adult Americans
can't build a University of Virginia
will be virtually eliminated."
with a speech. It takes bricks, that
By inviting the governors to Char-
means dollars and cents and let's be
lottesville, Mr. Bush has drawn atten-
honest. If you really are for these
tion to the education issue - an issue
things, you really are going to have to
he highlighted in the Presidential cam-
start producing resources."
paign, when he said he would become
Mr. Bush, from his arrival at midday
the "education President" and pledged
on the leafy campus ablaze with au-
to tackle such problems as school drop-
tumn colors until a dinner tonight in
out rates, adult illiteracy and many
Monticello with the governors, pro-
students' ignorance of geography,
claimed that the nation's schools were
mathematics and science.
September 27, 1989
FOR YOUR GUIDANCE ONLY
TALKING POINTS FOR GOVERNORS
EDUCATION SUMMIT
O
The President, his Cabinet and the Governors are gathered for
an Education Summit because all of us are committed to making
education a national priority.
O
We are engaging in substantive discussions about the
challenges that face us in education, and about the best ways
we can improve our educational performance nationally. We are
examining those ideas for reform that seem to hold the
greatest promise.
Our working group sessions today and tomorrow cover a broad
range of subjects, because education is an important element
in meeting the challenges of a global economy, and in the
economic, intellectual and cultural life of the nation.
The goal of the Education Summit is to formulate a cooperative
process by which national standards and goals can be
determined. We will be looking at improving flexibility and
choice, instituting accountability, and toughening standards.
The work accomplished at the Education Summit will set the
stage for a series of education proposals and national goals
to be unveiled over the next few months.
Hopefully, in President Bush's speech tomorrow, he will call
for a compact between the federal government, state
governments, schools, parents, and teachers that can move the
process of education reform forward -- toward a more results-
oriented education system.
###
September 27, 1989
FOR YOUR GUIDANCE ONLY
TALKING POINTS FOR GOVERNORS
EDUCATION SUMMIT
The President, his Cabinet and the Governors are gathered for
an Education Summit because all of us are committed to making
education a national priority.
We are engaging in substantive discussions about the
challenges that face us in education, and about the best ways
we can improve our educational performance nationally. We are
examining those ideas for reform that seem to hold the
greatest promise.
Our working group sessions today and tomorrow cover a broad
range of subjects, because education is an important element
in meeting the challenges of a global economy, and in the
economic, intellectual and cultural life of the nation.
The goal of the Education Summit is to formulate a cooperative
process by which national standards and goals can be
determined. We will be looking at improving flexibility and
choice, instituting accountability, and toughening standards.
The work accomplished at the Education Summit will set the
stage for a series of education proposals and national goals
to be unveiled over the next few months.
O
Hopefully, in President Bush's speech tomorrow, he will call
for a compact between the federal government, state
governments, schools, parents, and teachers that can move the
process of education reform forward -- toward a more results-
oriented education system.
###
September 27, 1989
FOR YOUR GUIDANCE ONLY
TALKING POINTS FOR GOVERNORS
EDUCATION SUMMIT
The President, his Cabinet and the Governors are gathered for
an Education Summit because all of us are committed to making
education a national priority.
We are engaging in substantive discussions about the
challenges that face us in education, and about the best ways
we can improve our educational performance nationally. We are
examining those ideas for reform that seem to hold the
greatest promise.
Our working group sessions today and tomorrow cover a broad
range of subjects, because education is an important element
in meeting the challenges of a global economy, and in the
economic, intellectual and cultural life of the nation.
The goal of the Education Summit is to formulate a cooperative
process by which national standards and goals can be
determined. We will be looking at improving flexibility and
choice, instituting accountability, and toughening standards.
The work accomplished at the Education Summit will set the
stage for a series of education proposals and national goals
to be unveiled over the next few months.
Hopefully, in President Bush's speech tomorrow, he will call
for a compact between the federal government, state
governments, schools, parents, and teachers that can move the
process of education reform forward -- toward a more results-
oriented education system.
###
September 27, 1989
FOR YOUR GUIDANCE ONLY
TALKING POINTS FOR GOVERNORS
EDUCATION SUMMIT
The President, his Cabinet and the Governors are gathered for
an Education Summit because all of us are committed to making
education a national priority.
We are engaging in substantive discussions about the
challenges that face us in education, and about the best ways
we can improve our educational performance nationally. We are
examining those ideas for reform that seem to hold the
greatest promise.
Our working group sessions today and tomorrow cover a broad
range of subjects, because education is an important element
in meeting the challenges of a global economy, and in the
economic, intellectual and cultural life of the nation.
The goal of the Education Summit is to formulate a cooperative
process by which national standards and goals can be
determined. We will be looking at improving flexibility and
choice, instituting accountability, and toughening standards.
The work accomplished at the Education Summit will set the
stage for a series of education proposals and national goals
to be unveiled over the next few months.
Hopefully, in President Bush's speech tomorrow, he will call
for a compact between the federal government, state
governments, schools, parents, and teachers that can move the
process of education reform forward -- toward a more results-
oriented education system.
# # #
QUESTIONNAIRE
My favorite teacher is/was:
Dr. A.B. Darling
He/She taught:
He taught History- American History
(subject and grade level)
is
at:
Phillips Academy Andover
(school)
This favorking
The things I remember most about this teacher are.
(Specific incidents would be very interesting)
one Chriss-Bushism totachers, other he pulled has
He made us work from a well prepared outline. His course was
3
mer drady the
required. He was tough, demanding, and yet excedingly fair. He knew
history and made it come alive.
Jefferson If American quotes to
Past is Prologue///and when I think back on Dr. Darling's way
us through hiastory the real business of living./
Davis' taught of and teaching Rogel office that last are also in on
Friday
that seems SO true. It wasn't just dates and happenings- he
I the locations of
know the scoop the
The reasons why this is my favorite teacher are.
all remarks interested. if you're
(You might want to include qualities of this teacher, teaching techniques, testing techniques,
interpersonal skills, etc.)
TINA
Techniques- he'd srping quizzes on us. His exams were tough but fair.
He was exacting- slopiness did not amuse him. And yet, if you really fouled
up he could pick you up and give you a hand, taking time to explain things
in detail one on one.
G TW
I am
George Bush Vice President of the United States of America
(name and occupation/affiliation)
I hereby give permission to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to
use my name and edit my response for space and clarity.
14
(initial)
PLEASE ATTACH A PHOTO OF YOURSELF, IF AVAILABLE
Commission on Teacher Credentialing
1812 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814-7000
FEEL FREE TO USE ADDITIONAL PAGES OR A DIFFERENT FORMAT IF YOU PREFER.
THE PRESIDENT'S EDUCATION SUMMIT WITH GOVERNORS
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
September 27 - 28, 1989
Joint Statement
The President and the nation's Governors agree chat a better
educated citizenry is the key to the continued growth and pros-
perity of the United States. Education has historically been,
and should remain, a state responsibility and a local function,
which works best when there is also strong parental involvement
in the schools. And, as Nation we must have an educated
workrorce, second to none, in order to succeed in an increasingly
competitive world economy.
Education has always been important, but never this important
because the stakes have changed: Our competitors tor opportunity
are also working to educate their people. AS they continue to
improve, they make the future d moving target. we believe that
the time has come, for the first time in U.S. history, to estab-
lish clear, national performance goals, goais that will make us
internationally competitive.
The President and the nation's Governors have agreed at this
summit to:
-- establish a process for setting national education goals;
-- to seek greater flexibility and enhanced accountability in
the use of Federal resources to meet the goals, through both
regulatory and legislative changes;
-- to undertake a major state-by-state effort to restructure
our education system; and
-- to report annually on progress in achieving our goals.
This agreement represents the first step in a long-term commit-
ment to reorient the education system and to marshal widespread
support for the needed reforms.
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
The first step III restructuring our education system is to build
is broad-based consensus around a defined set of national educa-
tion goals. The National Governors' Association Task Force on
Education will work with the President's designees to recommend
goals to the President and the Nation's Governors. The process
to develop the goals will involve teachers, parents, local school
administrators, school board members, elected orricials, business
and labor communities, and the public at large. The overriding
objective is to develop an ambitious, realistic set 01 perfor-
mance goals that reflect the views of those with a stake in the
performance of our education system. To succeed we need a common
understanding and a common mission. National goals will allow us
to plan effectively, to set priorities, and to establish clear
lines of accountability and authority. These goals will lead to
the development of detailed strategies that will allow us to meet
these objectives.
The process for establishing these goals should be completed and
the goals announced in early 1990.
- more -
- 2 -
by performance we mean goais that will, it achieved, guarantee
that we are internationally competitive, such as goaïs related
to:
-- the readiness 01 children to start school;
--
the performance or students on international achievement
tests, especially in math and science;
-- the reduction of the dropout rate and the improvement of
academic performance, especially among at-risk students;
-- the functional literacy of adult Americans;
-- the level of training necessary to guarantee a competitive
workforce;
-- the supply of qualified teachers and up-to-date technology;
and
-- the establishment of safe, disciplined, and drug-free
schools.
THE FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP
Flexibility and Accountability
The President and the Governors are committed to achieving the
maximum return possible from our investments in the Nation's
education system. We define mazimum return as the following:
signiticant and sustained educational improvement for all chil-
dren Nothing less will meet the Nation' 3 needs for a strong,
competitive workforce; nothing less will meet our children's
needs tor successful citizenship and economic opportunity.
Federal funds, which represent only a small part of total educa-
tion spending, are directed particularly toward services for
young people most at risk. Federal laws and regulations control
where and for whom states and localities spend this money. State
and local laws and regulations control what is taught, and how,
for all students.
At present, neither Federal nor State and local laws and regu-
lations focus sufficiently on results, or on real educational
improvement for all children. Federal and State executives need
authority to waive statutory and regulatory provisions in return
for greater accountability for results.
The President and the Governors have agreed:
-- to examine Federal regulations under current law and to move
in the direction of greater flexibility;
-- to take parallel steps in each state with respect to State
laws and administrative rules.
-- to submit legislation to Congress early next year that would
provide State and local recipients greater flexibility in
the use of Federal funds, in return for firm commitments to
improved levels of education and skill training.
The President and the Governors have agreed to establish a
working group of Governors and the President's designees to begin
work immediately to accomplish these tasks.
- more -
- 3 -
We know that other voices need to be heard in this discussion --
voices of educators, parents, and those whose primary interest is
the protection of the disadvantaged, minorities, and the handi-
capped. We need to work with the Congress. The processes we
will set up immediately following this conference will involve
all parties.
The urgent need for fiexibility in using Federal tunds can best
be illustrated DI a few examples.
First, the Federal Vocational Education Act, which mandates
specific set-asides that orten result in individual awards that
are too small to be meaningful and that prohibit the money from
being spent to achieve its purpose. One state reported being
required to divide $300,000 in aid among far too many categories
and set-asides.
Second, similarly, the Chapter 1 program requires that equipment
purchased to provide remedial education services cannot be used
for non-Chapter 1 institutions in areas such as adult education.
Several States report that large numbers of computers purchased
by Federal tunds are idle at night, while adult education classes
that need them either do without or use scarce tax dollars to buy
other equipment.
Third, the requirements that children who benefit from Federal
funds for compensatory and special education be taught separately
often undermines their achievement. Waivers that permit these
students to return to regular classes and receive extra help have
produced large increases in their test scores. This option
should be available for all school districts.
These commitments are historic steps toward ensuring that young
people with the greatest needs receive the Dest our schools and
training programs can give them, and that all children reach
their highest educational potential.
In a phrase, we want to swap red tape for results.
The Federal Government's Financial Role
State and local Governments provide more than 90 percent of
education funding. They should continue to bear that lion's
share of the load. The Federal financial role is limited and has
even declined, but it is still important. That role is:
--
to promote National education equity by helping our poor
children get off to a good start in school, giving disad-
vantaged and handicapped children extra help to assist them
in their school years, ensuring accessability to a college
education, and preparing the workforce for jobs;
--
and second, to provide research and development for programs
that work, good information on the real performance of
students, schools, and states, and assistance in replicating
successful state and local initiatives all across the United
States;
we understand the limits imposed on new spending by the Federal
deficit and the budget process. However, we urge that priority
for any further runding increases be given to prepare young
children to succeed in school. This is consistent with the
President's recommendation for an increase in the number of
children served by Head Start in this year's budget. It we are
ever to develop a system that ensures that our children are
healthy and succeed in school, the Federal Government will have
to play a leading role.
- more -
- 4 -
Further, we urge that the Congress not impose new Federal man-
dates that are unrelated to children, but that require States to
spend state tax money that could otherwise go to education.
COMMITMENT TO RESTRUCTURING
Virtually every State has substantially increased its investment
in education, increased standards, and improved learning Real
gains have occurred However, we still have a long way to go.
We must make dramatic improvements in our education system. This
cannot be done without a genuine, National, Bipartisan commitment
to excellence and without a willingness to dramatically alter our
system of education.
The President and the Nation's Governors agree that signiricant
steps must be taken LU restructure education in all states. We
share the view that simply more or the same will not achieve the
results we need. We must find ways to deploy the resources we
commit to education more effectively.
A similar process has been going on in American manuracturing
industry over the last decade with astonishing results: An
increase in productivity of nearly 4 percent a year.
There are many promising new ideas and strategies for restructur-
ing education. These include greater choice for parents and
students, greater authority and accountability for teachers and
principals, alternative certification programs for teachers, and
programs that systematically reward excellence and performance.
Most successful restructuring efforts seem to have certain common
characteristics:
-- a system of accountability that focuses on results, rather
than on compliance with rules and regulations;
-- decentralization of authority and decision-makiny respon-
sibility to the school site, so that educators are empowered
to determine the means for achieving the goals and to be
held accountable for accomplishing them;
-- a rigorous program of instruction designed to ensure that
every child can acquire the knowledge and skills required in
an economy in which our citizens must be able to think ior a
living;
-- an education system that develops first-rate teachers and
creates a professional environment that provides real
rewards for success with students, real consequences for
failure, and the tools and flexibility required to get the
job done; and
-- active, sustained parental and business community involve-
ment.
Restructuring efforts are now underway in many states. The
Nation's Governors are committed to a major restructuring effort
in every state. The Governors will give this task high priority
and will report on their progress in one year.
- more -
- 5 -
ASSURING ACCOUNTABILITY
AS elected chier executives, we expect to be held accountable for
progress in meeting the new National yoals and we expect to hold
other accountable as weil.
,
When goals are set and strategies for achieving them are adopted,
we must establish clear measures of performance and then issue
annual Report Cards on the progress OI students, schools, the
states, and the Federal Government.
Over the last few days we have humbly walked In the footsteps of
Thomas Jefferson. We have started down a promising path. We
have entered into a compact -- a Jerlersonian compact to enlight-
en our children and the children of generations to come.
The time for rhetoric is past; the time for performance is now.
(The following are excerpts from
the Joint Statement.)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Charlottesville, Virginia)
For Immediate Release
September 28, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT,
GOVERNOR GERALD BALILES, GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD
AND SECRETARY LAURO CAVAZOS
DURING UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION
The University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
11:56 A.M. EDT
GOVERNOR BALILES: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
as you may have noticed during the course of this unprecedented
education summit, Virginia law and tradition oblige us to publicly
envoke the name of Thomas Jefferson at least once or twice an hour.
(Laughter and applause.) There are worse habits.
Mr. President, it has been an interesting -- sometimes
provocative -- gathering. You asked the governors to be candid, and
I think we've fulfilled that request -- perhaps beyond your fondest
hopes. (Laughter.) I would also say, however, that you gave as good
as you got. But these are times for candor and outspoken
self-examination. These are times for us to open our eyes and our
minds and face the facts. The world has changed more than we
sometimes would prefer. The challenges, both internally and
externally, are profound and difficult. And, frankly, we have not
made it easy for ourselves.
Within the last decade, immense federal budget deficits
have accumulated with resulting declines in domestic spending,
including education. We need not assign blame, but we ought to
acknowledge that the federal budget situation has left the states
increasingly on their own to address not only education, but also
health concerns. care, transportation, law enforcement and other pressing
Indeed, the federal budget deficits have been the
backdrop to the education summit stage. The federal deficits confine
our flexibility, limit our options, and explain our shared reluctance
to discuss financial resources. To be sure, in recent years the
states have stepped into the breach. Imaginative and innovative
programs have been created and funded by governors and state
legislators determined not to let the red ink in Washington inhibit
the potential of our people in their enterprise.
But has it been enough? Has the renaissance of state
governments yielded a renewed competitive America? The evidence says
no. Indeed, it may be said of the American federal system of
government that the whole remains less than the sum of the parts.
Education is cne example, but not the only one. In other words, if
we are to take on education as a nation, we had better get all the
parts in accord and pulling together. And you, Mr. President, have
taken a valuable and important step in that direction.
Up to this point, Mr. Jefferson's preference for
locally-administered education has prevailed. We will not depart
from that model entirely. States and localities will continue to
provide more than 90 percent of the funding and the preponderance of
the direction and supervision.
MORE
- 2 -
And yet, there is a federal role to be more clearly
defined, supported and sustained. In response to international
economic competition, a consensus has emerged for an American
national resolve. The Jeffersonian belief that education is the
first, best hope for our Republic's enduring success has not
diminished. We have simply discovered that, as the times change, so
must our ideas.
That may be the finest result of this education summit
that we have begun. State and federal governments together, to think
anew our respective roles and to address education for the first time
as a nation undivided.
Mr. President, you have a loyal ally to support your
efforts in the person of the new Chairman of the National Governors
Association. It is my pleasure to introduce my friend and the
distinguished Governor of the State of Iowa, Terry Branstad.
(Applause.)
GOVERNOR BRANSTAD: Thank you, Governor Baliles. Mr.
President, First Lady Barbara Bush, members of the Cabinet, fellow
governors and their spouses, President O'Neil and Mrs. O'Neil, and
members of the University of Virginia community: It is indeed
appropriate that this education summit be held here amidst this
historic setting. On behalf of the governors and their spouses we
want to thank the faculty, administration and students for hosting us
here at this beautiful University of Virginia campus. And I hope we
haven't disrupted your class schedules too much the last couple of
days. (Laughter.)
With this historic education summit, the President and
the governors have taken an important first step in the process of
developing for the first time a national consensus for educational
goals. We are discussing some of the most critical issues facing
America today -- that is, the state of education. Our discussions
underscore the breadth and depth and the complexity of the issues
that we face. We believe that this summit can serve as a catalyst
for change and improvement in American education.
But we know that we can't do it alone. Not even the
President of the United States and the Congress, each governor and
their legislature can cause the kind of changes that we want. We
have to have the involvement of the people who are directly affected;
the people who can assure that we get results for America's children.
These are the teachers, the parents, local school
administrators and school board members. Students, business leaders,
leaders in their communities. People who care deeply about American
education. Only with the commitment of all of these people and with
their cooperation and help can we be successful in attaining the
goals that we hope to agree upon.
Governors recognize that this is a time for results. We
are working hard to achieve results in our states. Results like
better student. performances on math, science and foreign language
tests; lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates; improved
adult literacy; skilled and productive workers for the jobs of the
21st century.
To get the results we want, we have to hold our education
system accountable and give educators the flexibility they need to do
their job. It is time to find new measures of performance based on
what students know and what students can do; not just the number of
classes that they complete in high school or college. It is time for
more flexibility in the use of federal dollars. And better
coordination and cooperation among all levels of government and the
different agencies of the federal government and state governments.
We need to better serve the needs of American families
and American schools.
MORE
- 3 -
On behalf of the nation's governors, we thank you, Mr.
President, for convening this historic summit, for the process that
you have started and for our opportunity to help achieve significant
goals that will get results for future generations of Americans.
And now I have the privilege of introducing the Secretary
of Education for the United States. Lauro Cavazos was appointed by
President Reagan in 1988 as U.S. Secretary of Education. He was
confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate, and before that,
he had a distinguished career as President of Texas Tech University.
And I'm pleased to say, he also has a PH.D. from Iowa State.
Lauro Cavazos, Secretary of Education. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CAVAZOS: Thank you, Governor. Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It's my distinct pleasure to be
here today as we continue this historic education summit. The
decisions we make will affect the lives of millions of children in
the United States, and it is for those children and the future of
this country that we are here.
President Bush has pledged his support for education and
the need to restructure our educational system, and it is an honor
now for me to introduce the President of the United States, George
Bush. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you
Secretary Cavazos. Thank you governors. Thank you, Dr. Cavazos --
Secretary Cavazos. First, my respects to all the governors here, and
I want to thank the music of that Air Force Band. Just lovely.
Thank you for your performance. (Applause.) I want to thank
Governor Baliles and Governor Branstad and so many others who had a
very special role.
I want to thank President O'Neil and Mrs. O'Neil. It was
only yesterday that I discovered that we had evicted them from the
President's house. (Laughter.) And not only did they go peacefully,
but they left me this necktie from Eljo's, which I'm sure some of you
may (Laughter.) recognize. (Applause.) You talk about Virginia hospitality.
And I also want to pay my respects to the students and
especially to the distinguished faculty of this great institution.
(Applause.)
And for Barbara and me it's a delight to be back in
Charlottesville. Imagine this -- you have a President, the Cabinet,
America's governors all visiting your school. And the big man on the
campus -- still Sean Moore. (Laughter and applause.) But, you see,
we're somewhat familiar. Our son Marvin and our daughter-in-law
Margaret, having gone here, both advising me to be humble while I'm
at U. Hall. You see, they told me you only do the wave for Ralph
Sampson. (Laughter.)
Now, it's easy to keep your perspective and be humble at
a school so rich in history and in educational endeavor. And I've
also been deeply impressed by the commitment, the creativity and the
knowledge that my fellow chief executives bring here to this
education reform agenda. In our meetings yesterday, I learned
exactly how much you care about the children of your states and the
future. And in short, I came to Charlottesville with high
expectations, and I've got to say, you have exceeded them.
So the spirit of our summit is not: "Who will get the
credit?" The spirit of this summit is: "How can we get results?"
We are here to put progress before partisanship, the future before
the moment, and our children before ourselves.
I've heard eloquent advice from many of you, and from so
many others, in the last few weeks. And I've listened, and I am
MORE
- 4 -
deeply appreciative of all that I have learned.
But I've also learned that we should listen to our
children. And they have much to tell us. In many ways, they are the
luckiest generation in history. Just last month, our children
observed, in the clarity of Voyager's sight, the horizons of new
worlds, the majesty of space. And think what these images would have
meant to the ever-curious founder of this univerity, who could only
wonder. look through a primitive telescope at faint patches of light and
But our children are growing up in an age where wonder is
commonplace, peace and prosperity often taken for granted. And our
children are also the beneficiaries of a nation that lavishes
unsurpassed resources on their schooling. So in many ways, we're
close to fulfilling the Enlightenment dream of universal education, a
dream that became a reality in the shadows of the Shenandoahs here at
Mr. Jefferson's school.
And every step we take at this university is truly a walk
in Thomas Jefferson's footsteps. When he first charted the ground on
which we gather today, there was just a field of grass, a horizon
limited only by the Blue Mountains beyond. But Jefferson surveyed a
horizon that no one else could see. He saw the graceful dome of the
Rotunda, the elegance of the Lawn and its pavilions. He saw meeting
rooms and libraries and lecture halls teeming with professors,
students yet unborn.
Jefferson set out to fashion his rarified vision into
solid reality, brick by brick, book by book. And it is his
University and his dream -- that inspires us today to follow in
his footsteps.
As President O'Neil said, Thomas Jefferson, our first
education president, was a relentless advocate for universal public
education. "He had a fundmental conviction that on the good sense of
an educated citizenry, we could build and defend a country of liberty
and justice."
I borrowed those words - this assessment - from a
friend of mine another Renaissance man of our time the late
Bartlett Giamatti.
Like Jefferson, his life was a metaphor for civility and
public service. And it is this commitment to public service that we
must carry on. So let us make this an education society.
We have already come close to this Jeffersonian ideal.
Our educational system is, in many ways, unrivaled in its scale and
its diversity; in its commitment to meeting special needs and
individual differences. And we're inspired by our best teachers, who
give more than we can rightly expect; and from our best students, who
surpass our highest expectations.
And yet, after two centuries of progress, we are
stagnant. While millions of Americans read for pleasure, millions of
others don't read at all. And while millions go to college, millions
may never graduate from high school.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress estimates
that fewer than one in four of our high school juniors can write an
adequate, persuasive letter. And only half can manage decimals,
fractions and percentages. And barely one in three can locate the
Civil War in the correct half-century. No modern nation can long
afford to allow SO many of its sons and daughters to emerge into
adulthood ignorant and unskilled. The status quo is a guarantee of
mediocrity, social decay and national decline.
Education is our most enduring legacy, vital to
everything that we are and can become. And come the next century --
MORE
- 5 -
just 10 years away -- what will we be? Will we be the children of
the enlightenment, or its orphans?
Six years ago, the Committee on Excellence in Education
issued its powerful report; and yet today, our nation is still at
risk. The educational reform movement has done well in articulating
its criticisms. And now it is time to define goals. This is the
time for action.
I sent my proposals for federal action in education to
Congress last spring, including an increase in funding for Head
Start. The Educational Excellence Act of 1989 includes ways to
reshape and expand federal efforts, to recognize excellence, lift the
needy, foster flexibility and choice, and measure and reward
progress. I remain solidly committed to these principles and I value
your advice and ideas as we continue to refine the federal role.
Some offer a completely different answer -- spend more
money alone. And at the federal level, we have asked Congress to
provide nearly a half a billion dollars in new funding for 10 worthy
programs. Your states may also choose to spend more. But to those
who say that money alone is the answer, I say that there is no one
answer. If anything, hard experience teaches that we are simply not
getting our money's worth in education. Our focus must no longer be
on resources. It must be on results.
And this is only the third time in our 200 years as a
nation that a President has called a summit with the governors. And
I've called you together because you bear the constitutional
responsibility for education. And I didn't ask you to such an
historic occasion merely to bemoan what is wrong. We are here to
work; and work together; to once again make an American education the
best in the world. (Applause.) And let me say to the governors
before this majestic audience, these sessions have been informative
and thoughtful and very useful to me. And I appreciate the obvious
extensive preparations that the governors have undertaken in the days
and weeks leading up to this summit. The governors have emphasized
to me the need for national performance goals and the importance of
greater flexibility in the use of federal funds, while accepting
enhanced accountability for the results.
And they've also stressed the high priority that helping
prepare preschool children should have in federal spending even in
time of fiscal constraint.
And finally, the governors have articulated eloquently
the need to restructure our education system. You already are
consulting with state legislators to better our schools. Our
teachers already are giving their heart and soul to their jobs. But
we've never before worked together -- President and principal,
governor and teacher -- to achieve results in education.
A social compact begins today in Charlottesville,
Virginia -- a compact between parents, teachers, principals,
superintendents, state legislators, governors and the administration.
Dur compact is founded not on promises, but on challenges -- each one
radical departure from tradition.
I hope that you will join me, to define national goals in
ducation for the first time. From this day forward, let us be an
merica of tougher standards, of higher goals and a land of bigger
reams. (Applause.)
Our goals must be national, not federal. That's why I
elcome the initiatives of the National Governors Association, from
he Time for Results report in 1986, to the goal-setting project
ecently begun under the leadership of Iowa's Terry Branstad, South
arolina's Carroll Campbell, Washington's Booth Gardner, Bill Clinton
Arkansas. And my administration will work with you to build on
National Assessment Program's first state-by-state achievement
MORE
- 7 -
But to be accountable, we need to know just how much
progress we're making. So, fourth, I see the day when we use
accurate assessments, carefully linked to our educational goals. We
need to first know where we are. And this means accepting the bad
news along with the good. We've always measured our progress against
our past performance. We must now evaluate ourselves on a tougher
grading curve -- one that includes the other major industrial
nations. (Applause.)
And accountability also means we must act on what we
discover. Weak performance in the classroom or the principal's
office will no longer be tolerated. But neither will indifference
towards good educators. Society has no greater benefactors than
outstanding teachers and principals. (Applause.) And so, let them
have their day in the sun, get what they deserve -- generous praise
and solid rewards. (Applause.)
Fifth, I see an educational system that never settles for
the minimum, in academics or in behavior. Decades of research bear
out what the best teachers already know -- when standard and
expectations are high, everyone does better. And this includes both
the unusually gifted and those with special needs and disabilities.
But it must also include the student we too often forget, the average
student. (Applause.) All you guys with C's, I want to hear it from
you. (Applause.) For I do believe that with a little care and a
little work we can unleash within each of these so-called ordinary
kids an extraordinary potential.
This same potential can be found within every
disadvantged child, those from troubled neighborhoods, children for
whom our schools must be a beacon of excellence, a sanctuary from
violence, a model of good character, sound values, exemplary ethics.
Let no child in America be forgotten or forsaken. (Applause.)
Some of our reforms and experiments are sure to come up
short. But for too many of our schools, experimentation is
preferable to the status quo, because the status quo could scarcely
be worse. The worthy and the useful will win out only if we give our
schools the freedom that they need.
And such freedom will not lead to a quick and easy
solution. It's the work of years. And we've taken such a long-term
view in our meetings over the last couple of days.
We've discussed the need for educational reform in terms
of our national competitiveness -- you heard Governor Baliles refer
to that just a minute ago. But I'm sure you agree that there is more
to learning than just our trade balance or the graying of our work
force; it is broader than the important, but narrow, compass of
economics and government.
A scholar once wrote that great books are not lifeless
paper, but minds alive on the shelves. And he observed that just as
the touch of a button on a stereo will fill a room with music, so by
taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into
range the voice of a man far distant in time and space and hear him
speak, mind to mind, heart to heart.
As a nation, we can again hear these voices, feel this
enchantment -- every time a parent reads a bedtime story to a sleepy
child; every time a young scholar turns to the great books. The day
must come when every young American can know the life of the mind.
(Applause.)
I might say parenthetically that is why my wife, Barbara,
for many years, has devoted a lot of her time to making this country
more literate. (Applause.)
In essence, that is why we've gathered here at Mr.
MORE
- 8 -
Jefferson's school. He was just one man, but look at what one man
can do. Imagine what we can do, if we -- more than 50 strong -- are
united by this great cause. So let us dream. And let us talk. And
if need be, let us argue. But in the end, let us walk together on a
journey to enlightenment, in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication. God bless
you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END
12:28 P.M. EDT
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Charlottesville, Virginia)
For Immediate Release
September 28, 1989
FAREWELL REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT,
EDUCATION SECRETARY CAVAZOS,
GOVERNOR BRANSTAD, GOVERNOR GARDNER,
GOVERNOR CARRUTHERS AND GOVERNOR CLINTON
The Rotunda Steps
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
3:07 P.M. EDT
SECRETARY CAVAZOS: Thank you very much. The past two
days have been busy for all of us, but the enthusiasm has come to
this meeting, discussions have borne our knowledge that we are doing
vital and important work and that the results of our decisions will
have an impact far beyond what we can imagine. We've made history at
this education summit and I know that we will continue to make
history in every state and every school across America.
It is an honor now to introduce the President of the
United States, George Bush. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. My role is simply
now, at the end of what I think we all agree was a very successful
conference, to again thank the University of Virginia -- students,
its faculty, its President -- to thank all of the governors. I want
to single out those on the platform with me now. Governor Branstad,
who is head of the Governors' Association; Governor Carruthers;
Governor Booth Gardner of the State of Washington; and of course Bill
Clinton, who looks a little tired, but took on an extra
responsibility for hammering out a statement upon which there is
strong agreement.
And we've reached agreement on the need for national
performance goals, on the need for more flexibility and
accountabilty, the need for restructuring and choice, and I agree
with Governor Clinton that this is a major step forward in education.
The need for letting parents, teachers, students and communities --
to encourage them to work together more and more and the need for
more federal support for the pre-kindergarten education process
normally identified with Head Start, but certainly other programs
might fit that description.
But I want to thank each and every one of the governors
and their families. This has been historic, and I pledge to you my
determination to follow up in every way possible. We just cannot let
it sit here and end here, and I promise you that I won't, that my
Cabinet won't, and that our entire administration will not.
So with no further ado to all the governors here, my
heartfelt thanks. (Applause.)
GOVERNOR BRANSTAD: Mr. President, on behalf of the
National Governors Association, we thank you for calling us together
in this very historic summit on education. I want to thank all of
the governors that participated. We had better attendance than we
even do at the National Governors Annual Meetings. There were open
and frank discussions. A very significant agreement has been
reached. This year, the National Governors Association has an agenda
that calls for building a consensus for change to address some of the
critical issues facing the United States of America -- the issues of
MORE
- 2 -
education and the environment.
And in the last two days here, we have made significant
progress towards building that national consensus with the leadership
of the President and the governors. In the area of setting national
education goals, we unanimously agree that there is a need for the
first time in this nation's history to have specific results-oriented
goals. And we're talking about roles in the area of readiness of
children to start school; in the area of performance of students in
international achievement tests in the areas of math and science; in
the reduction of the dropout rate and the improvement of academic
performance, especially for at-risk children -- in the functional
literacy of adult Americans, in the level of training necessary to
guarantee a competitive work force, in the supply of qualified
teachers with up-to-date technology, and the establishment of safe,
disciplined and drug-free schools.
We recognize the need for both flexibility to state
governments and to local school districts; but coupled with that,
accountablity for outcome-related results. I think significant
progress has been made. We have committed to work together. The
National Governors Association Task Force on Education and the people
designated by the President to make specific goals and to reach those
goals hopefully by the February meeting of the National Governors
Association in the Nation's Capital.
It's a beautiful day in Charlottesville, Virginia. I'm
proud that the President has invited us to be here. We appreciate
the great hospitality of this great state and this great university,
and I'm pleased to introduce my Vice Chairman for the National
Governors Association, the Governor of the State of Washington,
Governor Booth Gardner, to talk about some of the other goals that
have been spelled out in this joint statement.
Governor Gardner. (Applause.)
GOVERNOR GARDNER: The report goes further, and I think
one of the reasons that we're all so excited about the results of the
last two days are that the report addresses the financial role of the
federal government in education, albeit in a limited role, but an
extremely important role. And the understanding is that the money
that becomes available will be applied to the issue of early
childhood education and Head Start and preparing young people for the
day that they enter school that they will be on a parred and equity
basis with other children and they're ready and able to perform.
And we also discussed and agreed that we have to continue
to look at mandates from the federal government to make sure that
those mandates do not impinge on the state's ability to provide its
discretionary funds for education.
Then we have a very exciting statement on the commitment
to restructuring. The President and the nation's governments have
agreed that significant steps must be made in restructuring education
in all states; a system of accountability that focuses on results
rather than input; a decentralized authority and decision-making
responsibility to the school site; empowerment to the principals and
the teachers to carry out their mandates and citing challenges to
face us in this country; and an educational system that develops
first-rate teachers and supports those teachers with the technology,
staff, and services that are necessary to allow them to be
productive.
And lastly, we want to compliment the Secretary of
Education and the President on agreeing that we will have a report
card and that we will measure the schools, the state, and the federal
government year by year to make sure that we remain committed to the
agreements that we have reached in the past two days and the goals
that will come out of the process for the next few months that we
hope to agree on in Feburary or March.
MORE
- 3 -
In the past few days, the President, his Cabinet,
Secretary of Education, the governors and their staff have humbly
walked the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson. We started down a
promising path, and we have composed a Jeffersonian compact -- the
beneficiaries of which will be the children of this country.
The children of this country today represent 25 percent
of our population. Tomorrow, they are 100 percent of that
population. (Applause.)
With that, I'd like to introduce the Governor of New
Mexico and the Chairman of the Educational Commission of the States,
Garrey Carruthers.
GOVERNOR CARRUTHERS: Thank you very much, Booth. We
came to talk about sharing the responsibility for success, and we've
done that. And to have success we need to have a vision, much higher
expectations, and the President of the United States gave one of the
finest speeches I've ever heard on education today at the convocation
at the University of Virginia. (Applause.)
And it is from that speech and the work that we have to
do afterwards that will develop the vision of education in this
country. But I think also we came to talk about empowering people,
and we talked a lot about empowering. We're going to empower parents
by encouraging choice; we're going to empower teachers by letting
them take over the classrooms again; we're going to empower those
educational entrepreneurs that exist in all our communities by
deregulating the educational system.
We need to empower the kids by making sure that before
they're five years old they've been properly taken care of in every
way, particularly with health. And we need to empower the private
sector by inviting them into the school systems and getting their
assistance and mentoring programs and the financial assistance
they've always been willing to give us.
And then we need to empower all Americans very simply by
having them join us in developing a set of national goals. It has
been a wonderful conference and now I'd like to introduce you to
Governor Bill Clinton who's one of the prime forces in developing
this conference, the Summit, with the President of the United States.
(Applause.)
GOVERNOR CLINTON: Thank you very much, Governor
Carruthers, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen.
This is a rather emotional moment for me. For one thing,
statement. I didn't get much sleep last night. We were up working on this
I want to thank Governor Campbell, who is not here, and
Governor Branstad, who is, and all the others who worked on this
statement from the National Governors Association -- John Sununu and
Roger Porter and others from the White House staff. And most
important, Mr. President, I want to thank you for giving us the
chance, the governors, after seven years of hard work on educational
reform, to have a real national partnership in education.
The press will ask today, and maybe the people will when
we get home, what really happened here that makes a difference. I
would say there are three things.
This is the first time in the history of this country
that we have ever thought enough of education and ever understood its
significance to our economic future enough to commit ourselves to
national performance goals. It has never happened in over 200 years.
This is the first time, ever, any group of public officials have ever
committed themselves to a national effort to restructure the schools
MORE
- 4 -
of the United States -- something every educator who studied it says
is the single most significant thing we could do.
And this is the first time a president and governors have
stood before the American people and said, not only are we going
ever to set national performance goals, which are ambitious, not only are
we before you and tell you we expect to be held personally accountable
going to develop strategies to achieve them, but we stand here
for the progress we make in moving this country to a brighter future. Thank
If that doesn't make this a happy day, I don't know what does.
you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Well done, Bill. You did
a wonderful job. Booth, thanks for everything.
END
3:20 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT'S EDUCATION SUMMIT WITH GOVERNORS
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
September 27 - 28, 1989
Joint Statement
The President and the nation's Governors agree that a better
educated citizenry is the key to the continued growth and pros-
perity of the United States. Education has historically been,
and should remain, a state responsibility and a local function,
which works best when there is also strong parental involvement
in the schools. And, as Nation we must have an educated
workforce, second to none, in order to succeed in an increasingly
competitive world economy.
Education has always been important, but never this important
because the stakes have changed: Our competitors for opportunity
are also working to educate their people. AS they continue to
improve, they make the future a moving target. We believe that
the time has come, for the first time in U.S. history, to estab-
lish clear, national performance goals, goals that will make us
internationally competitive.
The President and the nation's Governors have agreed at this
summit to:
establish a process for setting national education goals;
to seek greater flexibility and enhanced accountability in
the use of Federal resources to meet the goals, through both
regulatory and legislative changes;
-- to undertake a major state-by-state effort to restructure
our education system; and
-- to report annually on progress in achieving our goals.
This agreement represents the first step in a long-term commit-
ment to reorient the education system and to marshal widespread
support for the needed reforms.
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
The first step in restructuring our education system is to build
a broad-based consensus around a defined set of national educa-
tion goals. The National Governors' Association Task Force on
Education will work with the President's designees to recommend
goals to the President and the Nation's Governors. The process
to develop the goals will involve teachers, parents, local school
administrators, school board members, elected officials, business
and labor communities, and the public at large. The overriding
objective is to develop an ambitious, realistic set of perfor-
mance goals that reflect the views of those with a stake in the
performance of our education system. To succeed we need a common
understanding and a common mission. National goals will allow us
to plan effectively, to set priorities, and to establish clear
lines of accountability and authority. These goals will lead to
the development of detailed strategies that will allow us to meet
these objectives.
The process for establishing these goals should be completed and
the goals announced in early 1990.
- more -
- 2 -
By performance we mean goals that will, if achieved, guarantee
that we are internationally competitive, such as goals related
to:
-- the readiness OI children to start school;
-- the performance of students on international achievement
tests, especially in math and science;
-- the reduction or the dropout rate and the improvement of
academic performance, especially among at-risk students;
-- the functional literacy of adult Americans;
-- the level of training necessary to guarantee a competitive
workforce;
--- the and supply of qualified teachers and up-to-date technology;
-- the establishment of safe, disciplined, and drug-free
schools.
THE FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP
Flexibility and Accountability
The President and the Governors are committed to achieving the
maximum return possible from our investments in the Nation's
education system. We define maximum return as the following:
significant and sustained educational improvement for all chil-
dren. Nothing less will meet the Nation's needs for a strong,
competitive workforce; nothing less will meet our children's
needs for successful citizenship and economic opportunity.
Federal funds, which represent only a small part of total educa-
tion spending, are directed particularly toward services for
young people most at risk. Federal laws and regulations control
where and for whom states and localities spend this money. State
and local laws and regulations control what is taught, and how,
for all students.
At present, neither Federal nor State and local laws and regu-
lations focus sufficiently on results, or on real educational
improvement for all children. Federal and State executives need
authority to waive statutory and regulatory provisions in return
for greater accountability for results.
The President and the Governors have agreed:
-- to examine Federal regulations under current law and to move
in the direction of greater flexibility;
-- to take parallel steps in each state with respect to State
laws and administrative rules.
-- to submit legislation to Congress early next year that would
provide State and local recipients greater flexibility in
the use of Federal funds, in return for firm commitments to
improved levels of education and skill training.
The President and the Governors have agreed to establish a
working group of Governors and the President's designees to begin
work immediately to accomplish these tasks.
- more -
- 3 -
We know that other voices need to be heard in this discussion --
voices of educators, parents, and those whose primary interest is
the protection of the disadvantaged, minorities, and the handi-
capped. We need to work with the Congress. The processes we
will set up immediately following this conference will involve
all parties.
The urgent need for flexibility in using Federal funds can best
be illustrated by a few examples.
First, the Federal Vocational Education Act, which mandates
specific set-asides that orten result in individual awards that
are too small to be meaningful and that prohibit the money from
being spent to achieve its purpose. One state reported being
required to divide $300,000 in aid among far too many categories
and set-asides.
Second, similarly, the Chapter 1 program requires that equipment
purchased to provide remedial education services cannot be used
for non-Chapter 1 institutions in areas such as adult education.
Several States report that large numbers of computers purchased
by Federal tunds are idle at night, while adult education classes
that need them either do without or use scarce tax dollars to buy
other equipment.
Third, the requirements that children who benefit from Federal
funds for compensatory and special education be taught separately
often undermines their achievement. Waivers that permit these
students to return to regular classes and receive extra help have
produced large increases in their test scores. This option
should be available for all school districts.
These commitments are historic steps toward ensuring that young
people with the greatest needs receive the best our schools and
training programs can give them, and that all children reach
their highest educational potential.
In a phrase, we want to swap red tape for results.
The Federal Government's Financial Role
State and local Governments provide more than 90 percent of
education funding. They should continue to bear that lion's
share of the load. The Federal financial role is limited and has
even declined, but it is still important. That role is:
-- to promote National education equity by helping our poor
children get off to a good start in school, giving disad-
vantaged and handicapped children extra help to assist them
in their school years, ensuring accessability to a college
education, and preparing the workforce for jobs;
--- and second, to provide research and development for programs
that work, good information on the real performance of
students, schools, and states, and assistance in replicating
successful state and local initiatives all across the United
States;
we understand the limits imposed on new spending by the Federal
deficit and the budget process. However, we urge that priority
for any further funding increases be given to prepare young
children to succeed in school. This is consistent with the
President's recommendation IOI an increase in the number of
children served by Head Start in this year's budget. If we are
ever to develop a system that ensures that our children are
healthy and succeed in school, the Federal Government will have
to play a leading role.
- more -
- 4 -
Further, we urge that the Congress not impose new Federal man-
dates that are unrelated to children, but that require States to
spend state tax money that could otherwise go to education.
COMMITMENT TO RESTRUCTURING
Virtually every State has substantially increased its investment
in education, increased standards, and improved learning. Real
gains have occurred. However, we still have a long way to go.
We must make dramatic improvements in our education system. This
cannot be done without a genuine, National, Bipartisan commitment
to excellence and without a willingness to dramatically alter our
system of education.
The President and the Nation's Governors agree that significant
steps must be taken to restructure education in all states. We
share the view that simply more of the same will not achieve the
results we need. We must find ways to deploy the resources we
commit to education more effectively.
A similar process has been going on in American manuracturing
industry over the last decade with astonishing results: An
increase in productivity of nearly 4 percent a year.
There are many promising new ideas and strategies for restructur-
ing education. These include greater choice for parents and
students, greater authority and accountability for teachers and
principals, alternative certification programs for teachers, and
programs that systematically reward excellence and performance.
Most characteristics: successful restructuring efforts seem to have certain common
--- a system of accountability that focuses on results, rather
than on compliance with rules and regulations;
-- decentralization of authority and decision-making respon-
sibility to the school site, SO that educators are empowered
to determine the means for achieving the goals and to be
held accountable for accomplishing them;
-- a rigorous program of instruction designed to ensure that
every child can acquire the knowledge and skills required in
an living; economy in which our citizens must be able to think for a
-- an education system that develops first-rate teachers and
creates a professional environment that provides real
rewards for success with students, real consequences for
failure, and the tools and flexibility required to get the
job done; and
--- ment. active, sustained parental and business community involve-
Restructuring efforts are now underway in many states. The
Nation's Governors are committed to a major restructuring effort
in every state. The Governors will give this task high priority
and will report on their progress in one year.
I I more
- 5 -
ASSURING ACCOUNTABILITY
AS elected chier executives, we expect to be held accountable for
progress in meeting the new National goals and we expect to hold
other accountable as well.
When goals are set and strategies for achieving them are adopted,
we must establish clear measures of performance and then issue
annual Report Cards on the progress of students, schools, the
states, and the Federal Government.
Over the last few days we have humbly walked in the footsteps of
Thomas Jefferson. We have started down a promising path. We
have entered into a compact -- a Jerfersonian compact to enlight-
en our children and the children oi generations to come.
The time for rhetoric is past; the time for performance is now.