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Christy to Shirley re: phone number [partial] (1 page)
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DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
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001. fax
Christy to Shirley re: phone number [partial] (1 page)
04/15/1999
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Shirley Sagawa
OA/Box Number: 23245
FOLDER TITLE:
Teachers College Speech [1]
2013-0124-S
rc1069
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office |(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA|
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information |(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy |(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes |(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions |(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
04/15/99 THU 21:11 FAX
001
To Christy
1 think this is much better- 1 did some line
From Shilley
editing- still needs
tightening, but were
setting there!
Hope you read can this
THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SPEECHWRITING
Fax (202) 456-5709
Tel (202) 456-2777
TO:
Shuly
FAX:
PHONE
FROM:
Cherty
Comments
I'll be home- so please far
you thoughts to
P6/(b)(6)
[001]
did love even some feedlown
tenegat if you have the eneyer
I went are som 9 an
Date:
or neere - - but have
not incapanded 4
Number of Pages (including cover):
suggesting here -
man Charls
ay
04/15/99 THU 21:12 FAX
002
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment to creating a
more just and fair world for our children; and for your friendship. It is a great honor and a
pleasure to be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set the nation's
standard for excellence in teaching. I want to thank President Levine for his inspired leadership
of Columbia Teacher's College; and for his single minded determination to furn every one of hisyor
students teachers into dedicated indi viduals teachers who will make a real difference in the lives and aspirations
-- of their students I also want to thank Jill Iscol and her husband Ken for sponsoring this new
lecture series here at the College.
you + your
A little over a hundred years ago, when a number group of far-sighted college presidents,
bishops and and philanthropists came together to found Teachers College the world around
them was in upheaval. Our country was in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural
to an industrial nation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and
immigrants from around the world. It was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating
a new breed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented new influx of
people, cultures, and experiences into an urban setting.
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a changing world
lives on in all that you de here at Columbia's Teacher's College It lives on when you help
teachers educate an increasingly diverse student population; when you instill the spirit of social
justice as part of your educational framework; when you pioneer new teaching strategies to meet
the needs of urban and minority students and when you send teachers into the world whose
most important mission is to help every student to fellow his or her highest aspirations.
When so many higher education institutions have closed their schools of education or
treated them like a forgotten step child Columbia's Teacher's College has been a leader in its
field and maintained the highest standards.
Today 100 years after your founding we still recognize some fundamental truths.
That there is nothing more important than a good education. Nothing else offers our children or
ourselves the chance for a better future. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams possibilite and
denies the nation the talents it needs when that education is in some way denied.
dream
The importan of education has not changes The last can time,
et.we also face challenges and opportunities unimagined 100 years ago. We live in a
gove
world of possibilities -- a time of unparalleled growth and prosperity that offers every citizen the
chance to live up to his or her god given potential. Yet we recognize that this age of possibility
is directly tied to how well educated and skilled we are in this new global age, and that students
of today need new skills and knowledge if they are to take advantage of the extraordinary
the
opportunities that are before them.
seems education
04/15/99 THU 21:13 FAX
003
the
accure their
Our public school system holds out that promise that everyone has a chance to lift
god pokatial given
themselves up. That here in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world, we have a
system that offers opportunity to all and no one is turned away. It's a goal admired and
emulated around the world, I've spoken with people in Northern Ireland, for example, who
believe passionately that a unified education system is absolutely critical to building a unified,
other
way
tolerant, and peaceful society. That is the great promise of our nation's public education system
Add et
int int'l be che
ed.
and the reason it serves as the very bedrock of our free and democracy society.
where is me agreesion
Yet we all also know that too many of our children are unable to reap the benefits of the
opportunities and challenges before them. Too many of our children attend schools every day
very
that are understaffed; overcrowded; and falling down. The dreams of too many of our young
a
people are going unfulfilled because no one expects them to succeed or accomplish something
duff.
in their lives. And in too many schools and communities, the gaps of knowledge and
achievement are widening between rich and poor, between black and white, between those who
can navigate their way up the information superhighway, and those who are being left far behind.
Indeed, as we move into the 21st century, we see that the learning gap is rapidly
increasing the earnings gap -- with college educated Americans now making 76% more than
Americans who simply hold a high school diploma.
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century that we end those disparities in
opportunity -- and instead make a world-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to
all of us to must make sure that public education in this country continues to be in the words
of your former professor, John Dewey, America's "great equalizer."
I've heard that the montra at public school #1 here in Manhattan are the words: "All
chidren can learn No exceptions No excuses." Today, I'd like to talk about far we've come
to making that simple statement a reality in the the classrooms of America, and in the lives of our
children. And I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be proud of. But I also
want to talk about how much has yet to be done and what we can all do together to fulfill the
promise of the next generation.
first acutely
I/became (aware of how many of our children were falling through the cracks when I
worked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We
wanted to find out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school. I knocked
on hundreds of doors that year talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.
That experience convinced me as never before that our schools must do more than serve the
we learned
best and the brightest. We must be equally committed to fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of
that the
reasons too
of the disabled; the disadvantaged; the ones who need extra help just to stay even.
of school had
ten were that
leaned We saw how much work was ahead of us when A Nation at Risk was published in 1983,
A decade later, it be came clear to amenue that the challenges we india saw schools Ind
declined the 6 after
we and revealed that our once unchallenged leadership in education was being eroded "by a tide
widespend.
were
The children
of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people." Only half of our high
these homes-
school graduates were going to college. Academic achievement was plumetting the drop out
who in were ofter
rate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps
what disabled disa bled they needed
to F learn.
the 7 publicals
04/16/99 THU 21:13 FAX
004
most troubling -- the report showed a growing chasm between a scientific and technological elite
- and an ill informed citizenry.
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in response, people at the
federal, state, and local level Dbegan rolling up their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In
Arkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make
recommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began traveling across the
state listening and talking to teachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It On
these trips that I saw first hand the disparities between many of our public schools particulary
those in rural areas. Many didn't have libraries; or art programs. And students tended to meet
the low expectations they were offered.
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student achievement.
About raising teaching standards. We began to form alliances with businesses to improve our
public schools. And introduced new programs that encouraged parents to become much more
involved in the education of their children. But most of all we realized that if we did not
change the approach to education; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every
school - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never see the progress we
wanted to see in this one small part of America.
As governor of Arkansas, my husband began to invite student academic starts to come to
the Governor's Mansion. Banquets were always being held to honor the athletic stars. We
wanted to honor the stars of science and math and history. I'll never forget talking to one young
high school graduate who told us with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But when I
asked where he was going to college, he admitted he couldn't get in. His rural high school hadn't
prepared him adequately. I remember so clearly thinking to myself: here's a young man who
2nd clan
worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all they could for him. But his local
school didn't know what the standards were that would enable this young man to fulfill his
ambitions. And it was then weboth decided that no matter where you are born in a state, or what
state you were born in - you should be held to high standards. And your school should be held
accountable for those standards.
have the opportunity to study a regnon,
But I ?
But for that to happen, we recognized at the state level that we needed national standards.
And pushing for those standards became of my husband's top priorities.
Eighachuarment
Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where national education
goals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of governors and President Bush.
Then governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with the President.
When Bill Clinton was elected President he set to work with another former governor,
Dick Riley, to support national goals -- and help schools and communities meet them. Over the
past six years we've worked hard to raise student academic achievement; improve teacher
quality; involve more parents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.
We'ave also sent the strongest possible message that we must not only set high standards for our
students -- but that schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling them to
04/15/99 THU 21:14 FAX
1
005
reach that raised bar of excellence.
So what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15 years ago?
Have we raised our standards and expectations? Are we giving all of America's students --
regardless of where they live a world-class education? Are we helping those who are lagging
behind to catch up?| Like any dynamic progress - we've made significant progress. But many of
our goals remained unrealized.
or the use
Here's the good news. Achievement levels of our high school students are elimbing back
-IIN. SAT scores - which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in the right
direction - with the largest gains in math and-seience. Fewer students are dropping out. Raised
expectations have resulted in higher college enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students
enrolled in college. Today, two thirds are reaching that goal. And slowly but surely, students in
our poorest schools are making gains, and the gap between those living in poverty and those in
more prosperous neibhborhoods is finally narrowing in some states and districts.
in math t Suence
Here's the mixed news. The international standing for America's 4th graders is now
comparing favorably to our counterparts overseas. But our 8th and 12th graders do nor fare as
well.
Our literacy rate is also not what we want it to be- with average reading scores not
significantly higher. Clearly - we still have a long way to go.
Nor is
is
Perhaps the best news of all is that today we have much more experience and
information about what works. We know that yes every child can learn, and that schools in
even the poorest neighborhoods can become world class schools.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished when
dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing schools into models of
success. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school where it wasn't unusual to find more
students hanging out in the hallways than in class. Where only about half the students showed up
on any given day. Where achievement scores were some of the lowest in the nation. But the
principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline. Wired the school for the Internet, and
created a "culture of reading." Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools, and
programs
everyone learned a new vocabulary word a day. People told me that even the security guards
would quiz the kids, Leaders like Chicago's Mayor Daley are imposing strict new standards of
accountability: putting low performing schools on probation; and reconstituting the worst ones.
these
today sable is
paid
of
Just recently, I visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl who introduced me was a
proud star on her basketball team and she wore like all of her fellow students a T-shirt that
read: "Dare to compete." That day, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports. But to me.
that T-shirt represented the spirit that embraced the entire school where dedicated teachers, a
rigourous curruculum, and an engaged community were helping students were learning how to
successfully compete in the 21st century.
I've also heard how schools like PS 154 in Harlem and PS 1 on the lower East Side --
were drifting; where student achievement and student aspirations were low, and teachers felt
04/15/99 THU 21:15 FAX
006
isolated. But now they've turned around because of a new level of communication between
teachers and parents; because of more demanding curricula; new arts and music classes; and
higher accountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 there's a big sign hanging at the
entrance stating: "Only positive attitudes beyond this point." I wish I could hang that sign in
every school in the nation.
As all of you know so well there are no cookie cutter formulas to create a successful
school. We also know there are no magic bullets. It takes an infinite amount of energy and
determination to give our children the tools they need to thrive in the 21 st century, and to lead
fulfilling and productive lives. But if we are to reach our goal of ensuring every student a
very
world-class education, then we must draw on the lessons we've learned over the past decade
and build on them for the future.
232
Perhaps the greatest of those lessons is that we must never, ever give up on our public
school system. Even as we recognize the challenges we still face -- we must recognize as well its
enormous strengths and benefits to our children, and to the prosperity of our nation.
We can't allow ourselves for example to be pulled off track by false debates
particularly about vouchers, which claim to be the real solutions to improving public education,
and fixing failing schools. At a time when more than WE ever we should be devoting more
resources, attention and intelligence to improving our public schools -- some want to drain off
these resources and give them only to a few making it even more difficult for public schools to
improve.
better schools and better smalents.
Vouchers also divide communities at a time when one of our greatest challenges as a
nation is to pull communities together across racial and economic lines. And we've learned that
the voucher system simply does not deliver I've read recent studies that show that when you
look at the voucher systems that have been implemented in Cleveland and elsewhere -- there's
no evidence that students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked.
I'm heartened by recent polls showing that support for vouchers has declined sharply
over the past few years particularly when learn that voucher programs reduce funding for
public schools. Overwhelmingly - Americans want to fix their public schools - not abandon
them.
to
the
But if we are committed to fixing them and making America a level l/playing field for
our children then we must begin by raising our expectations for our students and for our
children. Parents have a vital role to play in challenging their children to reach for the stars. But
so do schools and teachers. Imagine what it would be like if you were an 8th grader, and had
lift
decided you wanted to go to college, and be a computer programer or a doctor. But you were
told there was no more room in the algebra class or the AP class in biology was not even being
offered in your school. Every child has talents; every child can contribute. We have to make sure
they receive not only the encouragement but the opportunities to fulfill their promise.
lead
that you weren't
college material n
Diploma
04/15/99 THU 21:16 FAX
007
Regents deplome
I've heard that high expectations just got a boost here in New York when you did away
with the general diploma and committed city schools to give every child the chance to pass the earn
more rigorous Regency exam. I want to applaud Rick Mills and others for demonstrating his
confidence not only in New York's schools but in the capabilities of your students.
While cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of creating new
achievement standards, the Clinton Aministration is working to be a strong partner in this effort.
Goals 2000 funds have helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing them to
make them part of every teacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President Clinton will
soon send to Congress a significant revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA). It's based on a comprehensive thee-part strategy: targeting increased investments to
disadvantaged children with particular attention to the early yelars of schooling; improving
teacher quality; and promoting real accountablity for results. But we don't need to wait for this
legislation to pass. There is much we can do today that will make real difference in the lives of
all of our children.
First, we know from experience that all children learn better when they get more
attention. So we must commit ourselves to reducing class size. Who hasn't been in classroom
where even the most talented teacher is struggling to maintain order -- let alone teach -- a
rambuncious group of 35 or 40 children. A recent 5-year study of Milwaukee confirms the
importance of having smaller classes. It showed that schools having a 17-1 student teacher ratio
outperformed students not only the regular public schools but those who received scholarships
through voucher system. Reports like this one and so many others are why the President is
fighting SO hard to hire 100,000 teachers so that we can lower class size in the early grades.
Second, we must continue to focus on teacher quality. Placing a talented and dedicated
teacher in every classroom is the single most important thing we can do to ensure our children
succeed. But it also means we have to look harder at teacher preparation. And do more on
teacher
professional in service training. development for existy teacher
(Teaches
don't
like
"traing")
Teachers' colleges obviously play a unique role in this effort and this one is a national
model. Unlike many top universities which have closed their schools of education, or treated
them as second class citizens, Teacher's College at Columbia has maintained high standards
deft.
This
and sees its mission as engaging research on the central issues facing education while
preparing the next generation of education leaders. You recognize that setting demanding
standards for students, and raising the bar for the content being taught in their classes - will be
an excercise in frustration if teacher don't have the skills and knowledge to teach to those
higher standards.
Of course, as we strive to ensure that every child has a high quality teacher and to hold
schools and states accountable for making it happen we have to encourage them to stay in the
profession. We can't give new teachers the toughest assignments and then leave them to sink
or swim. One solution could be to have seasoned teachers serve as mentors to new recruits.
Another is to pay tachers what they're worth something this nation has never done. We must
also do a better job of matching teachers to classroom -- to keep teachers teaching in their field of
04/15/99 THU 21:17 FAX
008
expertise. And we must support professional development for all educators -- experienced and
new not one shot workshops, but sustained, high quality learning opportunities.
Nor we can we ignore the growing pressures that are building up here in New York and
around the country as the demand for higher standards for teacher certification comes up
against the growing crisis of teacher shortages. As President Levine argued so persasively on the
pages of the New York Times a few weeks ago -- we must take steps now -- in recruitment and
training that will enable us to hold the bar of excellence high while at the same time
reducing class size.
Third, we must expand preschool and early childhood education. Ensuring our our
children particularly those at risk -- come to school ready to learn is a top priority. And we
know that preparation for learning begins early -- in the first three years of life. Science now
confirms what we've always believed all along: that time sharing a favorite book or talking with
a child -- or even a newborn helps the baby's brain to grow -- and prepares him or her for a
lifetime of reading and learning. I'm pleased that the President the President has proposed
making a $3 billion investment in the Early Learning Fund so that the language and literacy
skills so critical to success in school can be learned long before a child steps into the classroom.
Fourth, we must ensure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade. For
all of you who have worked with and studied children, you know that if a child is not ready well
by 8 or nine, it's going to be very difficult for that child to ever catch up. And today, 40% of our
children can't read independently by the end of the 3rd grade. That's why we need every
eight
elementary school teacher to be schooled in the latest research given the opportunity to work
with a reading specialist and supported by parents and other volunteers in the classroom.
skt
Fifth, we must expand the opportunities for those who are behind to get ahead - through
summer schools programs; and demanding after school programs that not only provide
opportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well on gaining ground on their
academics as well. Again, we can't just set the bar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra
time, and effort and resources it will always take to help children catch up. [And I'm pleased that
in the President's new budget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and
after school programs - to keep a million children learning.]
And finally we must continue to expand choice and accountability in public education.
Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we can foster innovation in the system,
and challenge children in different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and
jest
freedom, they can experiment with new approaches and still be held accountable for making
sure their students are making the grade. I've been in and out of charter schools around the
much
country -- and while some are struggling I've seen the dramatic differences some of them are
making in the lives and opportunities of their students.
gone
I want to mention one further step that I believe has everything to do with enabling every
could
04/15/99 THU 21:18 FAX
009
child to learn and succeed. We must get the arts back into our schools. We know that a lot of a
kid's education - mine included - didn't just happen during academic classes; but when a
music teacher was introducing us to opera; or the art teacher was trying to teach us how to draw.
These positive outlets for expression can help children find their own hidden talents - and even
more importantly, believe in themselves.
secure
So yes, there is much that schools are doing every day to expand the of our children.
fritures.
But we can't ask our schools to be held accountable for the progress we want whether it's
more qualified teachers; higher standards; expanded after school programs; or a more effective
reading program -- if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well.
We will see that progress when all parents believe in the importance of education, and
support their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their children. Whenever I walk into a
school, I can tell how successfully children are learning by the number of parents who are
volunteering in classrooms and after school programs. But we must also reach out to those
parents who didn't have successful school experiences themselves and empower them with
more information and choices to get involved in their child's education.
Parents are also critical in to the broader mission of holding schools accountable for
progress. They are often the ones making their voices heard in parent teacher associations and
school board meetings, and in the legislatures, as they work as partners to improve their
children's schools and opportunities, But I've also seen in extreme cases when parents have
literally taken the situation into their own hands.
Could cut
I think of the charter school in San Fernando Valley outside Los Angeles in a
neighborhood where drug deals were literally taking place on school property. A crack house
was across the street. Parents and community members got fed up - and banded together to
form a charter school. They drove out the drug dealers. They closed down the crack houses.
They've also changed the culture of learning inside the classroom. More parents are involved;
there are computers in every room. Kids are wearing uniforms. And the result? Expectations
are soaring, as is student achievement.
We will see that progress when communities work in partnership with their schools, and
are engaged in helping children on their journey to adulthood. The most successful schools I've
seen are the product of many hands - when everyone from the local police officer to the retired
teacher to the local business is helping to create the conditions for learning and success. Again
and again, we see the most at risk students flourish when college students and others volunteer
their time to tutor and mentor those who are falling behind. But every child -- even the most able
students - needs the presence of a caring adult.
We will see that progress when businesses understand they have a major stake in
producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I saw what was possible in Arkansas when
a major corporation took that responsibility to heart and helped turn around some of the most
underachieving schools. And I've seen that impact duplicated in countless public private
partnerships with businesses donating everything from computers to teacher training to tutors
04/15/99 THU 21:19 FAX
010
to on the job experiences to college scholarships. The private sector can -- and must -- also play a
broader role in prodding schools in their communities to set goals and provide benchmarks
against which to measure progress.
[what's at stake -- democracy; justice; unleashing the enormous potential;]
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND
POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
1
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate
commitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for
your friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring
this innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to
be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set
the nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to
President Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's
College; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his
students into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the
lives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of
Peter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation
brings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.
Contributions of Teacher's College
A little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted
college presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to
found Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was
in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial
nation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and
immigrants from around the world.
2
It was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new
breed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented
new influx of people, cultures, and experiences.
Coder
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs
of a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's
Teacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the
imagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice
as part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new
strategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many
higher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or
down graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has
maintained the highest standards of excellence.
[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it
became conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early
years; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students
-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a world-
class teacher.
3
You've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of
change and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing
projects; helping to establish professional development schools; and
mentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.
Your work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped
transform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a
collaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and
10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic
new curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership
and faculty of Teacher's College.
II. Importance of Public Education
We've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that
nothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future
than a good education. And nothing SO limits an individuals's dreams
-- and denies the nation the talents it needs - when that education is in
some way beyond reach In this era of almost limitless possibilities --
our public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most
diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance
to live up to their God-given potential.
4
I've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern
Ireland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is
absolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society.
And that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the
future, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is
strengthened.
b. Those values are threatened by unequal access
Yet those values are threatened when many of our children are
unable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too
many of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;
overcrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled
-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or
her to accomplish something, or succeed.
Today, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended
segregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still
determine the quality of your education. (Today, most 17-year-old
African Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white
students
5
Today, the vast majority of white students graduate from high
school, compared to a third of Hispanics Today, a third of white
Americans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.
[Not surprisingly the learning gap is rapidly increasing the
earnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on
what you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more
than those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of
not getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered
expectations -- are increasing every day.]
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways
of unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-
class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must
make sure that education truly does become -- in the words of John
Dewey, America's "great equalizer."
Over the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have
set for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple
mantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: "All children
can learn No exceptions. No excuses."
6
Today, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the
great promise of the next generation.
III. Progress to Improve Public Education
a. HRC involvement
It's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where
we were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were
falling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman
at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find
on.
out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.
And as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to
parents about why their children weren't in school. That experience
convinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as
committed to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as
we were to serving the best and the brightest.
b. A Nation at Risk
With the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to
America that the challenges we saw in individual schools were
widespread.
7
We were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education
was being eroded "by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future
as a nation and a people." Only half of our high school graduates were
going to college. Academic achievement was plummeting and the
drop out rate was rising, Compared to other industrialized nations, the
US ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm
between a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed
citizenry.
c. State Efforts (Arkansas)
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in
response, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up
I hed a chance to first the effer
their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then we
arkana
Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make
recommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began
traveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents
about the challenges they faced. I saw first hand the challenges many of
our schools were facing particulary those in rural areas.
8
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for
student achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to
improve our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much
more involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we
realized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every
school - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never
see the progress we wanted to see.
[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --
ranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted
to be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he
admitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't
prepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young
man who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all
they could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards
were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that
Bill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the
chance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever
you plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my
husband's lifelong priorities.]
9
D. Charlottesville Summit
Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,
where national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a
bipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor
Clinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill
set to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support
national goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.
E. Goals 2000/ESEA J
Educas
Among the President's proudest achievements in the first term
Get
were Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --
for the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop
assessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this
requirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for
disadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower
expectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the
President's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted
high-poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve
the entire school.
10
Both Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.
Title I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district
[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];
to report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to
make adequate progress.
Taken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed
the federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the
development and implementation of high academic standards for all
children. In the past -- our system had too often supported and
encouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor
children -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six
years, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --
and we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.
IV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?
Over the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student
academie achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents;
and bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.
11
We've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not
only set high standards for our students -- but that schools -- and all of
us -- must be held accountable for enabling students to reach that raised
bar of excellence.
These reforms have sparked a burst of state and local reform
activity -- important innovations that are improving the educational
progress of our children. The rapid development of statewide
academie standards is unprecedented in the United States, and
awareness of the need to change practices to support standards is strong
across states, districts and schools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals
2000 -- have been a major force in supporting and stimulating state-
based reform. Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging
academic standards, and most states are working to develop or adopt
new assessments aligned with those standards.
And as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local level --
and perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated teachers -- schools
are improving and our students are doing better. A few weeks ago, we
released new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up
for the first time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.
12
Our achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores
- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in
the right direction - with the largest gains in math. For the first time
in history, SAT and ACT scores have increased each year for the past
five years.
what have we learned
The key lesson that we' ve learned from Goals 2000, ESEA and-
related state and local reform initiatives are that standards-based
education reform works. A recent study of education reform in North
Carolina and Texas -- the two states with the best track record of
improving achievement generally and closing achievement gaps
between minority and white students -- shows us the ingredients of
success -- particularly for disadvantaged students: sustained, statewide
approaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the
flexibility they need, targeting resources for extra help to low-
performing students and schools, and holding schools accountable for
results.
[Other studies have shown that states and school districts, like
Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have adopted
similar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.]
13
A recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are being
used to support a broad range of education activities at the state and
local levels -- including local education reform, professional
development, and the development of education standards and
assessments. Many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has been a
significant factor in promoting their education reform efforts.
HRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School in
Chelsea, where T-shirt read "Dare to compete."]
[Nve heard how schools here in New York are replacing low
expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;
new classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of
accountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big
sign hanging in the entrance hall stating: "Only positive attitudes
beyond this point." I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the
nation.
Becaus of the succes 9 the effect
We know that every child can learn when given the attention he
or she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can
become world class schools. But 5 we smill here alay
was togo [ see 5
14
Our challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school and
every classroom in the country.
for
the
What we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:
fillure
How do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The
President has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed
to take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's
based on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased
investments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the
early years of schooling. Second, Ond to improve teacher quality. And third,
to promote real accountability for results.
A. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY
John Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said:
"The victory is in the classroom." That victory is only assured when a
talented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers
are America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far -
-about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be
accomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.
15
How we recruit prepare, and retain good teachers must be the
central strategy for improving our schools.
1. Higher Standards
The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are
preparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing
undermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's
chances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the
knowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach
subjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one
00
quarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their
main teaching field.
First, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our
children.
** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,
knowledge of subject matter; are teaching skills -- and the National Board
)
for Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.
** School districts must end the practice of using emergency
certification to fill classrooms.
16
How can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly
hired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11
percent have no license at all?
What we're doing about it
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school
districts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency
certification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations
for all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter
knowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to
help them achieve these goals.
Some may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two
million new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals
for teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the
teacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented
candidates to the profession.
17
2. Recruitment/attraction
Colleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality
candidates -- as is proved every day here at Teacher's college. But
unfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to
the high standards of this institution. Universities must be held
accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these
educational programs and if they can't measure up, these programs
should be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of
education as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention
and resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and
x
lawyers.
We must do more to attract talented people to the profession of
teaching --- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the
training they need to translate their subject matter and life
experiences into a teaching career.
** The Administration is planning to expand the President's
Troops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from
other field.
18
** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for
Peace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they
commit to two years.
** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to
students who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.
** Some school districts and universities are working together to
create middle and high school programs that expose young people to the
teaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives
academically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised
experiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study
education with school and university faculty.
We need more programs like these to make sure we raise
standards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.
3. Retention
Once we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must
do more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has
made the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing
themselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --
and then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.
19
It's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three
years. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to
the teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This
might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost -
- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to
receive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and
teacher unions must work together to make sure that the best
interests of students are the top priority.
have her Moved
Strategies to give DOW teachers the extra support they need:
are
** peer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that
Share-ker used
allow high performing teachers to work with new ones;
of but it Deted of
** school districts should allow time for team planning. Unlike
dos
doctors and lawyers, dl who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers are
the
ward
swe
Move
often cut off from their co-workers/ Among teachers whose schools
teach
the
to
half
dedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching "a
app
lot" -- and another third say it "moderately." Yet this practice remains
cimp w the
Leo ment
the exception -- not the rule.
leader and
lollsu,
isdated in
the clean
20
4. Professional Development
All teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing
professional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms
of these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the
"one shot" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to
teachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching
and America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving
teaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers
need to help students succeed.
A serious program of sustained development -- based on research
that works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in
place in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in
their subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to
adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to
response to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need
more help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;
with disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.
21
& response the am
What the Administration is doing to help
** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on
research-based principles of professional development -- and the
Department of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the
practice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the
a
$1.2 b fund
President has proposed increasing funding that can be used for
professional development as an important part of the ESEA proposal.
including pressuppnt and other team-based acherities
Other
Administration
include
** Reducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is
a major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that
Congress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new
teachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good
for students.
A recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools
having a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in
the public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the
system. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits
of one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young
children.
22
** The Administration supports the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a
national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher
standards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for
teachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers
have come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct
-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.
Paying teachers what they're worth
And finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality
DE
teachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that
we remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these
teachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced
teachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them
to other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for
school districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state
leaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the
resources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,
we ought to raise salaries as well.
23
B. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO
DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
Just as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in
schools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other
resources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are
most in need.
Early Learning
This disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to
prenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one
who will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years
of life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to
learn and grow.
[Our White House Conference on Early Development and
Learning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood
development the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this
invaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I
have worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early
Learning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,
particularly those with the least resources.
24
[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading
Partnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together
publishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care
professionals can "prescribe" reading to parents. We're now serving
more than 780,000 children in 47 states.
Early childhood development programs are also critical to ensure
that every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,
Head Start has provided low-income preschool children with
comprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin
/federal support for home and for
school already behind. I've pushed for/increased funding for Head Start
for many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start
dollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional
funding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to
what ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to
receive high quality early childhood education to help them become
"school ready."
But we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We
know, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,
they should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.
25
Children need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're
not talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and
forcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to
know can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the
early childhood and education communities work together to develop
appropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool
programs and to make related training widely available to early
childhood teachers.
Reading
DC
We put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of
almost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason
that children are retained, assigned to special education, or given long-
term remedial services. Although overall reading performance has been
more or less unchanged since 1972 40 percent of all nine-year-olds
score below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between
white students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69
percent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored
below the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders
did].
26
To close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in
many classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled
in the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading
specialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The
President has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading
independently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us
to meet it.
[Title I
The ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I
-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a
disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.
Historically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding
targeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty
schools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children
and their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required
states to develop content and performance standards in reading and
math, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded school-
wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.
27
These changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near
where we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization
proposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to
the same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even
further, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,
increased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of
teacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the
National Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation
proposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure
the early identification of children with reading difficulties.]
I
Mathematics
Like reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,
particularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant
gaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too
often, only students thought to be "good at math" or "college material"
are given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a
disproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous
and to marn of these students are
mathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African
American or Hispanic.
28
Many young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to
go on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,
and school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the
area of mathematics achievement, eliminate "general math" in the
curriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need
to succeed in higher level mathematics.
C. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY
If we are committed to level the playing field for our children --
then we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their
race or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a
boost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma
-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the
more rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating
confidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.
whe new yes
While cities and states across the country are working hard to raise
expectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton
Administration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals
We've
2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing
them -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.
29
Now, we need to take accountability to the next level:
The President's agenda on accountability pinclude C Call
proposal to glur
** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed
requiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely
distributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and
the state. We must empower parents with more information and more
choices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the
quality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We
owe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should
issue report cards on every school.
I
Tough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will require
states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and
least improvement and take corrective action to turn them around These
corrective actions, based on a careful assessment of each school's needs,
would include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to
improve school discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches
to school reform.
30
If these actions do not raise student achievement within two years,
do more
the proposal would require states to take additional corrective actions,
such as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting
the school -- by fairly evaluating the staff and making staff changes as
appropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or
with an entirely new staff.
Nineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve
low-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when these
interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the
resources to support change, schools improve and student achievement
increases. The President's FY 2000 budget contains $200 million to
help states begin taking these steps immediately.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be
accomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join
forces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du
for seen
I
Sable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up
on any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in
the nation.
31
But the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,
wired the school for the Internet, and created a "culture of reading."
Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone
learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would
quiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.
I
End social promotion. No child should graduate from high
school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no
favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without
mastering the material. But we can just hold students back because the
system fails them.
Many people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will
hurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in
grade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.
But these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is
to hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will
need to succeed.
32
This extra help is reflected in the administration's class size
reduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21st Century
Learning Centers after school initiative, which the President has
mpo
proposed to dramatically expand. Instead of using this new policy as an
excuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be
expected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion
standards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer
school programs.
We can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate
from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a
letter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and
they are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.
T
Give parents more information, and more choices. Giving
parents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens
accountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the
ways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in
different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,
they can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held
accountable for making sure their students are making the grade.
33
When the President first came into office -- there was just one
independent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.
And the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next
century -- there will be 3,000.
I've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and
while some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are
making in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San
Fernando Valley charter school story.]
are
We can learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public
ranked last on the ald
school choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many
who I
challenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And as a
recent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University
of New York tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled
the overall number of schools and created many small schools as
are result,
alternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most
important -- both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools
clestried and the
)
both the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones -- contrary
helle perferms
scheds
to fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were
u NY
favored over others.
How
v1 similar
34
cerculate of pereo,
[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in
the late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math
tests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of
families living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last
in New York City in 1974.]
e
Vouchers
At a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater
accountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we
can't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --
particularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to
improving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when
we should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to
improving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable
resources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to
improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our
greatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across
racial and economic lines.
35
We've also learned that the voucher system simply does not
deliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the
voucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that
students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix
our public schools -- not abandon them.
VI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.
Schools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a
world-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the
progress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We
or
need a true partnership.
We need parents who believe in the importance of education, and
support their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their
children. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent
to make a difference.
We need communities to work in partnership with their schools,
and be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be
accomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired
teacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.
36
And we need businesses who understand they have a major stake
in producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the
impact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private
partnerships when local businesses contribute everything from
school-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs
and volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding
schools accountable for high standards and student achievement.
VII. Conclusion
When this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that
education could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers
should care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of
America's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent
in our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry
was required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a
stake in the learning of every child.
Surely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of
history, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to
our future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.
37
The interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly
expanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread
that knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common
potential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity
lie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our
aging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly
revitalizing system of public education in America.
Make no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public
education is more urgent than ever for America. It will require
imagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,
money. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of
teaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --
and America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our
children, and we can do no less for the future of our great country.
38
I.
[Columbia Teachers' college hasn't been closely linked w/ NYC schools in the past, but have
closer relationship now on some issues-- several professors now work with the local union on
literacy and writing skills projects and on performance assessments.]
II. Importance of public education
III. Nation at Risk
State efforts
Summit in Williamsburg
ESEA and Goals 2000
[In the main we got what we asked for, only we were more tough on low-performing schools, and
House Dems slowed that down, though they are now pushing this kind of accountability.)
And amongst (our/ the President's proudest achievements) in the first term was Goals 2000 and
the Improving America's Schools Act, the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. The principle of both
these Acts overhauled federal elementary and secondary education programs by insisting that
every state set challenging academic standards that all students are expected to reach. Goals 2000
required states to set academic standards for all students and develop assessments aligned to those
standards. Title 1 of ESEA built on this requirement by mandating that states use these standards
for disadvantaged students, thus ending the practice of setting lower expectations for low-income
students.
ESEA also provided schools, school districts and states with the flexibility to determine how best
to educate students to meet high standards. ESEA reduced regulations, paperwork, and reporting
requirements; launched the President's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools; and permitted
high-poverty schools (with 50% or more students eligible for Title 1) to combine funds from
separate streams and use them to improve the whole school.
And both pieces of legislation held schools accountable for the results they achieve. Title I now
requires states to set annual goals for each school and district relating to the number of students
who must reach academic standards; to report progress annually for each school (disaggregating
data by demographic subgroup); and to intervene in schools that fail to make adequate progress.
IV. Lessons learned:
These reforms have sparked considerable state and local reform activity -- important innovations
that are improving the educational progress of our children.
And, last week, we released new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up for the
first time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th; we're making slow, but steady progress.
Our achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores - which in '83 were in a virtual
free fall - are once again heading in the right direction - with the largest gains in math and
science.
The Clinton Administration's first efforts in improving elementary and secondary education -
Goals 2000 and ESEA, fundamentally changed the Federal role in elementary and secondary
education to support the development and implementation of high academic standards for all
children. In the past, our system had too often supported and encouraged a two-tiered system
that had low expectations for poor children and held poor and educationally disadvantaged
children to lower academic standards.
There is still work to be done though to take these activities to the next level -- to ensure that
goals in the state house are translated into the classroom. The key lessons that we've learned
from Goals 2000, ESEA and related state and local reform initiatives are:
Standards-based education reform works. A recent study of education reform in North Carolina
and Texas -- the two states with the best track record of improving achievement generally and
closing achievement gaps between minority and white students -- shows that sustained, statewide
approaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the flexibility they need,
targeting resources for extra help to low-performing students and schools, and holding schools
accountable for results produces real results, particularly for disadvantaged students. Other
studies have shown that states and school districts, like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and
Chicago, that have adopted similar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.
We know what we've been doing works -- states that are doing things that goals 2000 pushed for
are making big gains, can't attribute that to Goals 2000. Our challenge ahead is to push reform so
that it reaches every school and every classroom in the country.
Recent study by GAO shows how important Goals 2000 has been to the education reform effort:
The report noted that GAO funds are being used to support a broad range of education activities
at the state and local levels; districts have used Goals 2000 funds to pay for a range of education
reform initiatives, including: local education reform, professional development, the development
of education standards and assessments, and many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has
been a significant factor in promoting their education reform efforts, and in several cases, was
catalyst for some aspect of the state's education reform movement, and state and local officials
said that Goal 2000 funding provided valuable assistance and that, without this funding, some
reform efforts would not have been accomplished so quickly if at all.
Reform is headed in the right direction, but states are still in the process of implementing reforms.
States have adopted policies affecting standard-based education reform, but these policies do not
go far enough. Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging academic standards, and most
states are working to develop or adopt new assessments aligned with the standards. The rapid
development of statewide academic standards is unprecedented in the United States, and
awareness of the need to change practice to support standards is strong across states, districts and
schools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals 2000 -- have been a major force in supporting and
stimulating state-based reform. However, implementing standards driven reform at the school and
classroom level is more difficult -- and the next challenge in education.
V. The next phase reform:
Now we must take them to the next level to ensure the whole school responds to standards-based
reform. We have put forward a bold vision on the future of education reform that will take
accountability to the next level:
a. Accountability - getting the standards in the classroom up to the standards in the state house:
While states are setting standards, we need to do more to make sure that our schools implement
these standards based reforms in the classrooms. And we need greater accountability for
performance: [ Fewer states, however, have adopted accountability systems along with the
standards. Only 25 states provide for financial intervention in low-performing schools, as
required by Title 1. In addition, only 17 states provide extra help, such as summer school or
tutoring, for students who do not meet the standards, and only fives states require students to
demonstrate they have met the standards as a condition for promotion.]
An agenda around accountability:
Annual school report cards: The President has proposed requiring annual report cards, easily
understood by and widely distributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district
and the state. And now we're building continuing to promote high standards for all students,
strengthening the emphasis on accountability for results by calling for school report cards so
everyone knows what the results are. We must empower parents, with more information
and more choices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the quality of the
local restaurants than on the quality of the local schools. Every school district should issue
report cards on every school.
Tough interventions in low-performing schools: The President has proposed significantly
strengthening the accountability requirements in Title 1 so as to require and adequately fund
immediate and significant state and local intervention in the lowest performing schools. The
President's proposal [which strengthens the current accountability provisions in Title 1 relating to
low-performing schools] would require the immediate public identification of and intervention in
the lowest performing schools in each state (i.e., schools with very low levels of achievement that
have made little or no improvement over the previous three years. The proposal would set aside
2.5% of Title 1 funds to support aggressive intervention in these schools, including an external
ssessment of each schools' needs and implementation of needed improvements (such as addressing
school safety and security needs, providing better teacher training, acquiring up-to date textbooks,
technology and curriculum materials, and extending learning time to help students catch up
academically). All states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools --
or shut them down. (Applause.) That's the policy established in North Carolina by Governor Jim
Hunt. North Carolina made the biggest gains in test scores in the nation last year. Our budget
includes $200 million to help states turn around their own failing schools.
We must also end the practice of social promotion. No child should graduate from high school
with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no favors when we allow them to pass
from grade to grade without mastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because
the system fails them. We must make schools accountable to give their students what they need
to succeed to meet the standards, through smaller class size and more attention to kids. We must
make sure our schools and school systems do right by our kids -- that is the most basic
accountability issue. And they need our help, so the President has tripling the funding for summer
school and after-school programs, to keep a million children learning.
Teachers
(Idea: do connection btwn standards and teacher quality, then do professional development, then
mid career transition, then class-size, then pay)
We must ensure teachers have capacity to make standards come alive in classroom. (Some ode to
teachers): We have a lot to do here, because so many teachers are being called on to teach out of
field, etc. This won't work to get our kids up to speed:
Now we should face some facts, we have a ways to go:
Governor Hunt's National Commission on Teaching and America's Future has underscored the
difficulty of recruiting and retaining talented and well-prepared teachers, especially in schools with
the most disadvantaged students. About 50,000 teachers each year enter the progression with
emergency or substandard licenses. Nearly one quarter of secondary teachers lack even a minor
in their main teaching field, and in schools with the highest minority enrollment, students have less
than a 50% chance of having a math or scient teacher with a license and degree in the field. On
average, 22% of new teachers leave the field within three years, and in urban areas, 30-50% leave
within five years. Paraprofessionals are widely and increasingly used to provide instruction to
low-achieving students in Title 1 schools, with as many as 20% of Title 1 instruction aides
providing instruction without a teacher's supervision. By one estimate, instructional aides
account for roughly half (67,000) of the entire Title 1 instructional workforce, and Title I aides
are being hired at twice the rate of Title 1 certified teachers.
The President has proposed a dramatic expansion of professional development -- Mike is it $200
million? -- to support high quality, sustained professional development programs -- programs that
allow teachers to work together as colleagues, to support them in finding solutions to challenges
they face in their school -- to work on curriculum related to high standards Professional
development (support efforts for teachers to work collectively -- Pres. Proposed $200 million).
But obviously we need to have qualified teachers in classroom -- initiatives to get more qualified
teachers in classroom -- from Troops to teachers (litany stuff)
Troops to Teachers --
Talk about class size: 1) smaller class size w/ well prepared work, esp. w/ disadvantaged kids, get
most benefit from it - 2) we know that it's not easy to get well-prepared for teachers -- can use
some of money to recruit and train teachers -- it's not just a matter of getting bodies into the
classroom and we're doing something about recruitment and teacher.
All over country, there are a lot of people who haven't met state standards, many places are
finding it hard to attract qualified teachers into the teaching profession, many -- but one step
would be paying what they're worth. Other things: (safe places for kids -- a little joke about safe
place to park wouldn't be bad idea) But at a time of unbridled economic optimism, we need to
increase resources to the schools and pay teachers what their worth.
Targeting increased investments to disadvantaged children. Ending social promotion and building
up kids.
Targeting increased investments to disadvantaged children
Just as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in schools serving
predominately low-income and minority children, other resources are similarly limited
when it comes to the children who are most in need.
This disparity begins before birth - when a mother's access to prenatal care can make the
difference between a healthy baby and one who will suffer lifelong disabilities. We
know that even in the first years of life, reading to and talking to a child literally
stimulates the brain to learn and grow.
Our White House Conference on Early Development and Learning gave the leading
experts in the field of early childhood development the opportunity to explain their
discoveries and to put this invaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's
families. I have worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early Learning
Fund to help more families put this research into practice, particularly those with the least
resources. This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading Partnership,
which I launched two years ago to bring together publishers, booksellers, pediatricians,
and other dedicated citizens so that health care professionals can "prescribe" reading to
parents. We're now serving more than 780,000 children in 47 states.
Early childhood development programs are also critical to ensure that every child comes
to school ready to learn. For over three decades, Head Start has provided low-income
preschool children with comprehensive development services to make sure they don't
begin school already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start for many
years, and I am pleased that under President Clinton, Head Start dollars have more than
doubled. Many states have provided additional funding for early childhood education,
and we are well on the way to what ought to be our goal: providing every child the
opportunity to receive high quality early childhood education to help them become
"school ready."
But we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We know, for example, that
in order for children to be on track to read well, they should come to school having a
strong base of cognitive skills related to print, background knowledge, and a love of
books. We're not talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and
forcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to know can be learned
if they are read to, and if they have language rich experiences. I propose that the early
childhood and education communities work together to develop developmentally
appropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool programs and to make
related training widely available to early childhood teachers.
We put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of almost every other
subject. Reading failure is the overwhelming reason that children are retained, assigned to
special education, or given long-term remedial services. Although overall reading
performance has been more or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-
olds score below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) reading test. There is a continuing gap-between white students and African-
American and Hispanic students. While 69 percent of African-American and 64 percent
of Hispanic students scored below the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth
graders did.
To close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in many classrooms.
Every elementary school teacher should be schooled in the latest research - given the
opportunity to work with a reading specialist, and have the support of parents and other
tutors. The President has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading
independently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.
The ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve another critical program for
disadvantaged children, including a disproportionate number of African American and
Hispanic students: Title I. Historically, Title I has been the single largest source of
Federal funding targeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty
schools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children and their more
advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required states to develop content and
performance standards in reading and math, and improved the targeting of resources. It
also expanded school-wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.
These changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near where we need to be.
Therefore, the President's reauthorization proposal continues the important features of
the 1994 legislation - holding at-risk children in high-poverty schools to the same high
standards expected of other children - but goes even further, with additional resources for
the lowest achieving schools, increased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing
out the use of teacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Importantly, consistent with
the National Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation proposes the use of
diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure the early identification of children with
reading difficulties.
Like reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects, particularly science
and technology. But here too, we find significant gaps among whites and African
American and Hispanic students. Too often, only students thought to be "good at math"
or "college material" are given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a
disproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous mathematics courses
and poorer quality instruction are African American or Hispanic. Children will not learn
what they are not taught. Many young people will be effectively denied the opportunity
to go on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors, and school
administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the area of mathematics
achievement, eliminate "general math" in the curriculum, and provide the additional
supports some students will need to succeed in higher level mathematics.
Finally, as we push for higher standards in every school and every subject, we must also
make sure that those who don't succeed in meeting them get the extra help they need.
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to end social
promotion - the practice of promoting students from grade to grade regardless of whether
they have mastered the appropriate material and are academically prepared to do the
work at the next level. Students who are promoted without regard to their achievement
fall even further behind their classmates, and are more likely to lack basic skills upon
graduating from high school.
Many people worry that this policy will hurt children of color unfairly, arguing that
children who are retained in grade are more likely to drop out of school and face other
challenges. But these critics miss the point - the goal of ending social promotion is to
hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will need to succeed.
This extra help is reflected in the administration's class size reduction initiative, the
Reading Excellence Act, and the 21ˢᵗ Century Learning Centers after school initiative,
which the President has proposed to expand. Instead of using this new policy as an
excuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be expected to take
aggressive action to help all students make promotion standards on time, even if this
means providing afterschool and summer school programs and other additional resources
must be made available. We can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults
graduate from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a letter.
These are the students who are hurt by current practice, and they are the students with the
most to gain from the proposed policy.
[Neera - I think LEP belongs here but I don' I know enough to write about it coherently -
can you fill in?]
APR-17-99 06:24 PM
P.02
REVISED
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND
POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment
to creating a more just world for our children; and for your friendship. I also
want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring this innovative new lecture series.
It is a great honor and pleasure to be here at this revered educational institution,
which for so long has set the nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are
indebted to President Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's
College; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his teachers
into dedicated individuals who will make a real difference in the lives of their
students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of Peter Cookson whose
Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation brings the best minds in the field
to bear on the challenges of teaching today.
A little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted college
presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to found Teachers
College - the world was in upheaval. Our country was in the throws of
transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial nation, and cities were
filled with new arrivals from the countryside and immigrants from around the
world. It was time - your founders had decided - to start educating a new breed
of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented new influx of
people, cultures, and experiences.
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a
changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's Teacher's College;
every time you give teachers the skills to spark the imagination of a child; every
time you instill the spirit of social justice as part of your educational framework;
and everytime you pioneer new strategies to better reach urban and minority
students. At a time when so many higher education institutions have closed their
-
APR 06:25 PM
P.03
schools of education -- or treated them like forgotten step children -- Columbia's
Teacher's College has maintained the highest standards of excellence and been
an international leader In its field.
Today - 100 years after your founding - the country is in the midst of
another extraordinary revolution as we move into the knowledge and technology
based global economy of the 21st century. One again, you are pioneering new
strategies to teach the skills of the future. But some fundamental truthremain. As
Americans, we still believe there is nothing more important than a good
education. Nothing else offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better
future. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams — and denies the nation the
talents it needs - when that education is in some way beyond reach.
In this era of almost limitless possibilities - our public school system holds
out the promise that here, in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the
world everyone has a chance to live up to their God-given potential. It's a goal
admired and emulated around the world.
I've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern Ireland, who
believe passionately that a unified education system like ours is absolutely critical
to building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society. And that is our mission.
Every day, as children in classrooms everywhere learn the skills of the future, and
the values we hold in common, our democracy is strengthened.
Yet those values are threatened when many of our children are unable to
reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too many of America's
children attend schools that are understaffed; overcrowded; and falling down.
When too many dreams go unfulfilled - not because a child lacks ability - but
because no one expects him or her to accomplish something, or succeed. When
the gap continues to grow between those who can navigate their way on the
information superhighway and learn the skills of the future - and those who are
being left far behind.
When the color of your skin can still determine the quality of your
education. Today, most 17-year-old African Americans are reading at the level of
most 13-year old white students. Today, the vast majority of white students
graduate from high school, compared to a third of Hispanics Today, a third of
2
APR-17-99 06:25 PM
P. 04
white Americans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.
Not surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the earnings gap.
As my husband always says - what you earn depends on what you learn. College
educated Americans are now making 76% more than those who simply hold a high
school diploma. The terrible costs of not getting a quality education -- in lower
quality of life and lowered expectations -- are increasing every day.
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways of
unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-class education
the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must make sure that
education truly does become in the words of John Dewey, America's "great
equalizer."
Over the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have set for
ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple mantra at public
school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: "All children can learn No exceptions
No excuses." Today, I'd like to talk about the remarkable progress we've made in
making that statement a reality in the classrooms of America, and in the lives of
our children. I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be proud
of. But I also want to talk about what we must still do together to fulfill the
promise of the next generation.
It's easier to see how far we've come when we look back at where we were.
I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were falling through the
cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense
fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find out why millions of school-aged
children were not coming to school. And as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of
doors that year -- talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.
That experience convinced me as never before that our schools had to be as
committed to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as we were
to serving the best and the brightest.
A decade later, with the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became
clear to America that the challenges we saw in individual schools were
widespread. We were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education was
being eroded "by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and
3
APR-17-99 06:26 PM
P.05
a people." Only half of our high school graduates were going to college.
Academic achievement was plummeting - and the drop out rate was rising.
Compared to other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps
most troubling -- the report showed a growing chasm between a scientific and
technological elite - and an ill informed citizenry.
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching — and in response,
people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up their sleeves, and
looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to
chair a committee that would make recommendations for improving Arkansas's
educational system. I began traveling across the state -- listening and talking to
teachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It was on these trips that I
saw first hand the challenges many of our schools were facing -- particulary those
in rural areas. Educational resources were sorely lacking, and students tended to
meet the low expectations they were offered.
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student
achievement, and about raising teaching standards. We started to form alliances
with businesses to improve our public schools, and introduced new programs that
encouraged parents to become much more involved in the education of their
children. But most of all we realized that if we did not change the approach to
education; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every school
- and every teacher — and every child — then we would never see the progress
we wanted to see in this one small part of America.
I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate -- ranked second
in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But
when I asked where he was going to college, he admitted he couldn't get in
anywhere. His high school simply hadn't prepared him adequately. I remember
thinking to myself: here's a young man who worked hard; stayed out of trouble;
and whose family did all they could for him. But his local school didn't know
what the standards were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was
then that both me and my husband decided that no matter where you are born in a
state, or what state you were born in - you should be held to high standards, and
high expectations. Pushing for high achievement standards became one of my
husband's lifelong priorities.
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Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where
national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of
governors and President Bush. Then governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with
the President. And when Bill Clinton was elected President - he set to work with
another former governor, Dick Riley, to support national goals -- and help schools,
teachers, and students meet them.
Over the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student academic
achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents; and bring the
technology of the 21 st century into the classroom. We've also sent the strongest
possible message that we must not only set high standards for our students but
that schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling students to
reach that raised bar of excellence.
So what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15
years ago? Are our children improving academically? Have we raised our
standards and expectations? Are we giving all of America's students regardless
of where they live - a world-class education? Like any dynamic reform process -
we see significant progress, and goals that remain unrealized. But with 90% of
America's students in public school, and our country enjoying unparalleled growth
and prosperity, we know we're moving in the right direction..
Thanks to dedicated educators and leaders like those of you here today,
achievement levels of our high school students are climbing back up. SAT scores
- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall — are once again heading in the right
direction — with the largest gains in math and science. And just a few months
ago, new data shows we've made small but significant gains in reading. Today,
fewer students are dropping out, and raised expectations have resulted in higher
college enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students enrolled in college.
Today, two thirds are reaching that goal. Across the country, students in our
poorest schools are making gains, and in some communities, the gap between
those living in poverty and those in more prosperous neighborhoods is finally
narrowing. One of our greatest success stories: thanks to tax credits, Pell grants,
and HOPE scholarships, we have finally opened the doors of college to all
Americans.
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P.07
But serious challenges remain, particularly with our youngest and oldest
citizens. While the international standing for America's 4th graders is now
comparing favorably to our counterparts overseas, our 8th and 12th graders do nor
fare as well. Our adult illiteracy rate remains unacceptably high. And reading
scores - while improving -- are not anywhere near where we want them to be.
We have a long way to go but we also have under our belts much more
experience and information about what really works. We know that yes -- every
child can learn when given the attention he or she deserves, and that yes, schools
in even the poorest neighborhoods can become world class schools.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished
when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing
schools into models of success. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school -
where only about half the students showed up on any given day, and achievement
scores were some of the lowest in the nation. But the principal of that school laid
down a new law of discipline, wired the school for the Internet, and created a
"culture of reading." Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools;
and everyone learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards
would quiz the kids. And as a result of these innovations schools like Du
Sable are turning around.
Here in New York, I recently visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl
who introduced me was a proud star on her basketball team -- and she like all of
her fellow students that day, she wore a T-shirt that read: "Dare to compete." That
day, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports. But to me, that T-shirt
represented the spirit that embraced the entire school -- where dedicated teachers,
a rigorous curriculum, and an engaged community were helping students learn
how to successfully compete in the 21 st century.
I've also heard how schools from Harlem to the lower East Side are
replacing low expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching
in; new classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of
accountability for success. I understand that at PS 154 there's a big sign
hanging in the entrance hall stating: "Only positive attitudes beyond this point." I
wish I could hang that sign in every school in the nation.
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P.08
At a time when we are clearly moving forward — we can't allow ourselves
to be pulled off track by false debates particularly by those who claim that
vouchers are the real solutions to improving public education, and fixing failing
schools. At a time when we should be devoting more resources, attention and
intelligence to improving our public schools some want to drain off valuable
resources and give them only to a few making it even more difficult for public
schools to improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our
greatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across racial and
economic lines.
And we've learned that the voucher system simply does not deliver. I've
read recent studies that show that when you look at the voucher systems that have
been implemented there's no evidence that students do significantly better. It just
hasn't worked. We need to fix our public schools not abandon them.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't give students and teachers greater
public school choice. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we
can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in different ways. By
giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom, they can experiment with new
approaches -- and still be held accountable for making sure their students are
making the grade. I've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -
and while some are struggling - I've seen the dramatic differences others are
making in the lives - and opportunities of their students.
If we are committed to level the playing field for our children then we
must raise our expectations for all students. If there's anything we've learned -
it's that they will always meet the challenge. I've heard that high expectations
recently got a boost here in New York when you did away with the general
diploma - and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the
more rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating
confidence not only in New York's schools but in your students.
While cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of
creating new achievement standards, the Clinton Administration is working to be a
strong partner in this effort. Goals 2000 funds have helped states go from
pushing for standards to implementing them -- to make them part of every
teacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President Clinton will soon send
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P. 10
teachers what they're worth something this nation has never done. We must
also do a better job of matching teachers to classroom -- to keep teachers teaching
in their field of expertise. And we must support professional development for all
educators -- experienced and new - not in one shot workshops, but sustained, high
quality learning opportunities.
As you know so well -- this nation needs two million new teachers over the
next ten years. We must do everything to attract our most promising young people
to consider teaching as a career. I know that the Columbia's Teacher's College
will be at the forefront of that effort.
Third, we must make sure all children come to school ready to learn -- by
expanding preschool and early childhood education. We know that preparation
for learning begins early -- in the earliest years of life. Science now confirms what
we've always known instinctively: that time sharing a favorite book or talking
with a child -- or even a newborn -- helps the brain to grow, and prepares him or
her for a lifetime of reading and learning. I'm pleased that the President the
President has proposed making a $3 billion investment in the Early Learning Fund
-- so that the language and literacy skills so critical to success in school can be
learned long before a child steps into the classroom.
Ensuring children come to school ready to learn will help boost our fourth
goal - to make sure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade.
For all of you who have worked with and studied children, you know that if a
child is not reading well by eight or nine, it's going to be very difficult for that
child to ever catch up. Yet today, 40% of our children's can't read independently
by that time. That's why we need every elementary school teacher to be schooled
in the latest research given the opportunity to work with a reading specialist --
and be supported by parents and other volunteer tutors. The President has laid
down a daunting challenge. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.
And finally, as we push for higher standards in every school - we must also
make sure that those who can't succeed in meeting them get the extra help they
need. So we must expand summer schools and demanding after school programs
that not only provide opportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well
on helping students gain ground on their academics. Again, we can't just set the
bar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra time, effort, and resources it
9
APR-17-99 06:29 PM
P.11
will take to help children catch up. And I'm pleased that in the President's new
budget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and after
school programs - - to keep a million children learning.
Schools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a world-class
education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the progress we want
whether it's more qualified teachers; higher standards; expanded after school
programs; or a more effective reading program - -- if we don't hold ourselves
accountable as well. We need a true partnership.
We need parents who believe in the importance of education, and support
their schools and teachers - and most importantly, their children. All of our
public efforts pale beside the power of every parent to make a difference.
We need communities who work in partnership with their schools, and are
engaged in helping children on their journey to adulthood. I've seen what can be
accomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired teacher to
the owner of the local market makes a commitment to create conditions for
learning and success.
And we need businesses who understand they have a major stake in
producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the impact on a
school's learning environment when local businesses contribute everything from
school-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs and
volunteer mentors.
[Conclusion: what's at stake -- What we do today to educate all of
America's children will define the destiny of this nation for decades to come.
democracy; justice; unleashing potential; civil society; etc.]
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gunley
703-548-6374
Fr.
were
21ST CENTURY SCHOOLS
Accountability for Results
In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton will announce a package of accountability measures designed
to hold students, teachers, and schools to high standards. and to ensure that school districts and states provide
students with a high quality education. These proposals will help to lift student achievement in every public
school and close the achievement gap by giving special attention to disadvantaged students in low-performing
schools.
The President's plan marks a sea change in national education policy -- for the first time holding states and school
districts accountable for progress and rewarding them for results. While insisting that states and local
governments retain primary responsibility for education, President Clinton will call on Congress to make sure
federal dollars support what works and not what doesn't. His proposal emphasizes reforms that a growing
number of states, cities, and schools across the nation are implementing and that are producing clear results
Specifically, the President will announce that he will send Congress legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to cnsure that schools end social promotion; teachers are qualified to teach the
subjects they are assigned; states turn around their lowest-performing schools; parents get annual report cards
on school performance; and schools institute effective discipline policies.
Accountability for Results: End Social Promotion
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to end social promotion -- the practice of
promoting students from grade to grade regardless of whether they have mastered the appropriate material and
are academically prepared to do the work at the next level. Students who are promoted without regard to their
achievement fall even further behind their classmates, and are more likely to lack basic skills upon graduating
from high school.
Tc ensure that this requirement helps more students succeed, rather than simply increasing the number held back,
states and school districts would have to show how they will help students meet promotion standards on time by
(i) strengthening learning opportunities in the classroom with clear standards, small classes with well-prepared
teachers, high quality professional development, and use of proven instructional practices; (2) identifying
students who need help at the earliest possible moment; (3) providing extended learning time, including after-
school and summer school for students who need extra help; and (4) developing an effective remedial plan, with
intensive intervention, for students who still do not meet the standards, so they can get back on track in their
schooling.
In 1996 President Clinton challenged every state and school district to adopt policies to end social promotion and
require students to pass high school graduation exams. Twenty six states now have high school exit exams, and
last year four states adopted policies to stop promoting unprepared students from grade to grade. A growing
number of urban school districts, including Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington D.C. are
adopting similar policies. In Chicago, which three years ago ended the practice of social promotion in a way that
gives students who need it substantial extended learning time, citywide math and reading scores have gone up
every year, with the largest gains among the most disadvantaged students. President Clinton's FY 2000 budget
proposes to triple federal funding for after-school and summer school programs (from $200 million to $600
million) to help schools ending social promotion give students the extra help they need to succeed.
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Accountability for Results: Turn Around Low Performing Schools
The President's ESEA proposal will require states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and
least improvement and take corrective action to turn them around. These corrective actions, based on a careful
assessment of each school's needs, would include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to improve
school discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches to school reform. If these actions do not result
in improved student achievement within two years, the proposal would require states to take additional corrective
actions, such as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting the school, by fairly evaluating
the staff and making staff changes as appropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or
with an entirely new staff Nineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve low-performing schools,
and experience demonstrates that when these interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the
resources to support change, schools improve and student achievement increases. The President's FY 2000
budget contains $200 million to help states begin taking these steps immediately.
Accountability for Results: Put Qualified Teachers in the Classroom
According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, one of the most important factors in
improving student achievement is the knowledge and skills teachers bring to the classroom. Yet every year,
approximately 50,000 individuals teach on "emergency">certificates, which means they do not meet the standards
the state has set for certification. In addition, numerous teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate
preparation, with fully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main teaching field
Students in schools with the highest concentrations of poverty -- those who often need the most help from the best
teachers - are most likely to be in classrooms with teachers who are not fully qualified: for example, in schools
with the highest minority enrollment, students have a less than 50 percent chance of having a math or science
teacher with a license and degree in the field.
The President's ESEA proposal will require states to adopt performance examinations for all new teachers,
requiring them to demonstrate both subject-matter knowledge and teaching expertise. The proposal also will
require states and school districts to phase out, over five years, the use of teachers with emergency certificates
and the practice of assigning teachers to subjects for which they lack adequate preparation. To support these new
teacher quality standards, the proposal will provide resources to help states strengthen teacher certification
standards, test new teachers, provide training to current teachers, and give incentives to recruit more highly
qualified teachers.
Accountability for Results: Issue School Report Cards
The President's ESEA proposal will require states 10 distribute to all parents annual report cards for each school
and school district, as well as the state as a whole. The report cards will include information on student
achievement, teacher professional qualifications, class size, school safety, and other factors that will help parents
to judge the performance of the schools. Where appropriate, the report cards also will show the academic
achievement of ethnic and racial subgroups, to ensure accountability for helping all students achieve. Thirty-six
states currently publish or require local school districts to publish school report cards, and five additional states
will begin the practice in the next two years. A recent report by Public Agenda, however, shows that only 31
percent of parents had seen these report cards. The President's ESEA proposal will help ensure that all parents
in all states have access to the information they need to evaluate the quality of their schools and identify the areas
in which improvement is needed.
Accountability for Results: Adopt Discipline Policies
Schools must be a place of learning. President Clinton already has challenged states, communities, and schools
to take a number of steps to restore order and safety, such as adopting school uniforms, enforcing truancy laws,
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and imposing curfews But in some schools, the breakdown of classroom discipline remains one of the biggest
obstacles to learning and one of the greatest concerns for teachers, students, and parents alike. The President's
proposal will require states and school districts to adopt discipline policies to make sure students have the chance
to learn and teachers have the chance to teach.
A National Effort to Reduce Class Size in the Early Grades
In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed to help local school schools hire 100,000
well-prepared teachers in order to reduce class size in grades 1-3 to a national average of 18, and make sure that
every child gets a solid foundation in the basics. Studies show that smaller classes help teachers provide more
personal attention to students and spend less time on discipline; this helps students to learn more and get a
stronger foundation in the basic skills. In these studies, minority and disadvantaged students showed the largest
achievement gains. Last year, Congress provided a down payment on the President's seven year, $12.4 billion
proposal by appropriating $1.2 billion to help local communities hire about 30,000 teachers. Now Congress must
finish the job by providing the next installment of funds for local schools to continue progress toward hiring
100,000 new teachers over seven years.
Modern School Buildings to Improve Student Learning
For students to learn, schools must be well-equipped and be able to accommodate smaller class sizes. In 1998,
the American Society of Civil Engineers said that school buildings represent the nation's most pressing
infrastructure need. To address this critical need, President Clinton is proposing federal tax credits as incentives
to help states and school districts to build and renovate public schools. Half of the bond authority will be
allocated to the 100 school districts with the largest number of low-income children, and the other half will be
allocated to the states.
Recruiting Outstanding New Teachers for Our Nation's Public Schools
With more than 2 million teachers to be hired in the next ten years to accommodate record student enrollments
and an aging teaching force, the nation must not only recruit an adequate number of teachers, but ensure a quality
teaching force through effective teacher recruitment and preparation. The President's budget will contain a series
of new initiatives and funding increases to help recruit well prepared individuals to teach where they are needed
the most, in high poverty urban and rural communities In particular, the President's FY 2000 budget will
increase funding for his teacher recruitment effort enacted in last year's Higher Education Act - to $35 million
from $7.5 million - to recruit 7,000 outstanding new teachers into high need public schools by giving them
scholarships in exchange for a commitment to teach. The President will announce other initiatives to improve
teacher quality at an event later in the week.
A talented and dedicated teacher in every classroom
What teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn.
Therefore, recruiting, preparing, and retaining good teachers must be the central strategy
for improving our schools.
This can't happen unless we get serious about teacher quality. I believe that the vast
majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who serve their students well. But
nothing undermines the profession of teaching more - or hurts our children's chances
more - than those poorly prepared teachers who find themselves in classroom without the
knowledge or tools they need to succeed.
We ought to hold teachers to the same high standards we want for our children. State
licensing ought to be based on demonstrated performance, subject matter knowledge, and
teaching skill - the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent
benchmark. School districts should have the goal of ending the too common practice of
using emergency certification to fill classrooms - more than 30 percent of newly hired
teachers are entering without full certification and over 11 percent have no license at all.
Finally, too many teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate preparation, with
fully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main
teaching field.
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to phase out out-
of-field assignments and emergency certification over five years. The proposal also will
ask states to adopt performance examinations for all new teachers, requiring them to
demonstrate both subject-matter knowledge and teaching expertise, and will provide
resources to help them achieve these goals.
Some may say that we can't simultaneously meet our needs for up to two million new
teachers over 10 years and still achieve these goals for teacher quality. I believe we can,
if we do more to improve the profession of teacher and create new strategies to recruit
talented candidates to the profession.
Colleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality candidates. The best
colleges of education like Teacher's College,work closely with the community, which
gives their students the opportunity for elinical experiences and gives local schools access
to the latest research and other resources of the university. But unfortunately, too few
teacher preparation programs hold themselves to the high standards of a Teacher's
College. Universities should be held accountable for the quality of the teachers they
produce and if they can't measure up, inadequate schools should be closed. Universities
must stop thinking of their colleges of education as poor stepchildren and instead, devote
the same attention and resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and
lawyers.
We should be more creative about attracting talented people to the profession of teaching,
and do more to enable mid-career entrants to learn the pedagogy they need to translate
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their subject-matter knowledge and life experience into a teaching career. For example,
the administration is planning to expand the President's Troops to Teachers initiative to
reach mid-career professionals from other fields. Financial incentives can make college
and teacher preparation more affordable, such as the President's initiative to provide loan
forgiveness to students who agree to teach in high-poverty schools. Some school
districts and universities are even working together to create middle and high school
programs that expose young people to the teaching profession- for example, South
Carolina's Teacher Cadet Program gives academically talented high school juniors and
seniors supervised experiences teaching younger children and to study education with
school and university faculty. We need more programs like these to make sure that as we
raise standards, we don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.
Once we have attracted individuals into teaching, we must do more to retain them. It
makes no sense to take a person who has make the commitment to teach, who has spent
years preparing with every intention of making it their life's work, and then just drop
them in a classroom to sink or swim. It's no wonder that one out of five new teachers
leaves after three years - and in urban classrooms, the number is one out of two. One
reason is that too often, the most difficult teaching assignments are going to the teachers
with the least experience. This might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority
whatever the cost, but not if our goal is to give the children who most need help receive
the best teachers. School Boards, administrators, and teacher unions must work together
to make sure that the best interests of students are not subordinated to other factors.
Another way to help new teachers and those who need extra support succeed is the
implementation of peer assistance programs that allow high-performing teachers to
others School districts should allow time for team planning, to reduce the isolation of
the profession. Unlike doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues,
teachers are cut off from their coworkers. Among teachers whose schools dedicate time
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for team planning, 40 percent say it improves their teaching "a lot," and another third say
it improves their teaching "moderately." But it remains an uncommon practice.
one in NYC
All teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing professional development,
but unfortunately, the most common forms of professional development activities
continues to be those that are least beneficial - the "one-shot" workshops that last a day
and carry little relevance to teachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission
on Teaching and America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving
teaching was the lack of access to the kinds of knowledge and skills teachers need to help
students succeed.
A serious program of sustained profession development, based on research about what
works, and relevant to the teacher's classroom needs ought to be in place in every school
district - to keep teachers up to date in their subject, to learn proven teaching methods, to
understand how to adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards, and to
respond to the new challenges of the modern classroom (technology, teaching children
from diverse cultures, teaching children with disabilities, and helping limited English
proficient students.
The Clinton administration has supported these efforts in many ways. The 1994
reauthorization included a greater focus on research-based principles of professional
development and the Department of Education supports research and other efforts to
imrpove the practice of teaching. But we need to do more. That is why the President has
proposed increasing funding that can be used for professional development and making it
an important part of the ESEA proposal.
Reducing class size, particularly in the elementary grades, is a major goal of the Clinton
Administration, and we were pleased that Congress agreed to make a down payment
toward the goal of 100,000 new teachers last year. Of course, smaller class size is good
for students - for example, a recent five-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that
schools having a 17 to 1 student teacher ratio outperformed students not only in the
public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside. But small class size is
also good for teachers, who know the limits of one human being teaching a class of 25,
30 or even 40 young children.
Finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality teachers are the most important
resource this nation has in ensuring that we remain the nation of opportunity for all. But
too often we fail these teachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced
teachers ought to be paid what they are worth or we risk losing them to other better-paid
professions. This is a particular challenge for school districts in low-income
communities - I challenge state leaders to find ways to help poorer school districts have
the resources to retain their best teachers, and school districts with resources to reward
those teachers who deserve extra compensation. As we raise standards, we ought to raise
salaries as well.
Dick Riley has proposed a three-stage system that merits support. First, a new teacher
would be granted an initial license for up to three years after passing written exam.
During this trial period, schools would offer new teachers annual contracts and counsel
out those individuals who don't belong in a school. Second, he proposes the creation of a
professional license, with higher standards than the initial license and involving peer
review. The third stage would be the voluntary advanced license, which already exists
through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, established in 1987.
So far, not enough states have created incentives for teachers to undergo this rigorous
assessment, and not enough teachers have come forward to participate. But we are
moving in the right direction - getting serious about teacher quality at every level
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programs, allowing high-performing teachers to serve as mentors: Another IS to allow shull time for team
planning, to reduce the isolation of the profession. Unlike doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with
colleagues. teachers are cut off from their colleagues in the classroom. Among teachers whose schools
dedicate time for team planning, 40 percent say it improves their teaching "a lot," and another third say it
improves their teaching "moderately." But it remains an uncommon practice.
All teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing professional development, but unfortunately,
the most common forms of professional development activities continues to be those that are least
beneficial - the "one-shot" workshops that last a day and carry little relevance to teachers' work in the
classroom. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future found that the biggest
impediment to improving teaching was the lack of access to the kinds of knowledge and skills teachers
need to help students succeed. A serious program of sustained profession development, based on research
about what works, and relevant to the teacher's classroom needs ought to be in place in every school
district - to keep teachers up to date in their subject, to learn proven teaching methods, to understand how
to adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards, and to respond to the new challenges of
the modern classroom (technology, teaching children form diverse cultures, teaching children with
disabilities, and helping limited English profeicient students.) The Clinton administration has supported
these efforts in many ways. The 1994 reauthorization included a greater focus on research-based principles
of professional development. But we need to do more, and that is why the President has proposed
increasing funding that can be used for professional development and making it an important part of the
ESEA proposal.
Reducing class size, particularly in the elementary grades, is a major goal of the Clinton Administration,
and we were pleased that Congress agreed to make a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new
teachers last year. Of course, smaller class size is good for students - for example, a recent five-year study
of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools having a 17 to 1 student teacher ratio outperformed students
not only in the public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside. But it is also good for
teachers, who know the limits of one human being teaching a class of 25, 30 or even/40 young children.
finally, 1 starts below Lat
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Experienced, high quality teachers are the most important resource this nation has in ensuing that we
remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often we fail these teachers just as we fail those idealistic
new teachers who lack support. Experienced teachers ought to be paid what they are worth. more The
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has created standards that should be benchmark for
accomplished teaching. The Board, which was established in 1987, operates a national voluntary system to
assess and certify teachers who meet high standards. But the Board can only impact teacher quality if
states and school districts create incentives for teachers to take the rigorous exam, as more than 20 states
have done.
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04/17/99 SAT 23:37 FAX 202 456 0244
OFC OF THE FIRST LADY
002
TO:
Mrs. Clinton
FROM:
Neera Tanden
RE:
Materials for Columbia Teachers' College speech
DATE:April 17, 1999
Attached are a number of the materials you requested from Shirley. We will provide you with
additional materials tomorrow.
Attached are:
Secretary Riley's most recent State of Education speech
The President's policy on ending social promotion, as well as the rest of his education
agenda as outlined in the State of the Union
Recent articles on Chicago's policy to end social promotion
Materials and articles on Master Teachers
Some materials on mid-career transitions to teaching (more to come tomorrow)
The President's recent statements on vouchers
Information on Rochester's school reforms
A recent article describing evaluations of East Harlem's school choice proposal
Some information on Columbia Teacher's College's connections to New York City's
public schools
04/17/99 SAT 23:37 FAX 202 456 6244
OFC OF THE FIRST LADY
003
TO:
Mrs. Clinton
FROM:
MaryEllen McGuire
RE:
Materials for Columbia Teachers' College Speech
DATE:
April 17, 1999
Attached are some of the materials you requested from Shirley. You will be provided with
additional materials tomorrow.
Attached are:
Materials on innovative research at Teachers College
Materials on Teachers College/ New York Schools Partnerships
List of Catalogued First Lady New York Education Events with Briefs
Master List of Catalogued First Lady Education Events
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment to creating a
more just and fair world for our children; and for your friendship. I also want to thank both you
and Ken and the Iscol Foundation for sponsoring this new lecture series. It is a great honor and a
pleasure to be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set the nation's
standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted stet to President Levine for his inspired
leadership of Columbia Teacher's College; and for his single minded determination to turn every
his students
one of his teachers into dedicated individuals who will make a real difference in the lives -- and
aspirations -- of their students.
teachers
A little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted college presidents, bishops
and and philanthropists came together to found Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval.
Our country was in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial nation,
and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and immigrants from around the
world. It was time your founders had decided -- to start educating a new breed of teachers to
meet the educational needs of this unprecedented new Jinflux of people, cultures, and
experiences.
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a changing world
lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's Teacher's College; when you give teachers the
skills tol educate an increasingly diverse student population; when you instill the spirit of social
justice as part of your educational framework; when you pioneer new teaching strategies to meet
the needs of urban and minority students. At a time when so many higher education institutions
have closed their schools of education or treated them like forgotten step children --
Columbia's Teacher's College has maintained the highest standards of excellence -- and been an
international leader in its field.
Today 100 years after your founding -- the country is in the midst of another
extraordinary revolution -- as we move into the knowledge and technology based global
economy of the 21st century. Yet we still recognize some fundamental truths. That there is
nothing more important than a good education. Nothing else offers our children or ourselves the
chance for a better future. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams possibilities and denies the
nation the talents it needs - when that education is in some way beyond reach.
a dream denied
In the era of almost limitless possibilities -- our public school system holds out the
promise that here, in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a
chance to live up to their God-given potential. It's a unique commitment to ensure that citizens
can lift up their own lives while lifting up their country -- a goal admired and emulated around
the world.
I've spoken with people in Northern Ireland, for example, who believe passionately that a
unified education system like ours is absolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and
just society. And that is our mission. Every single day, as children in classrooms everywhere
learn the skills of the future, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is strengthened.
Yet we all also know that these values of democracy and fairness that we hold to so
tightly are threatened when many of our children are unable to reap the benefits of the
opportunities around them. Too many of America's children today attend schools that are
understaffed; overcrowded; and falling down. Too many dreams go unfulfilled -- because no
one expects them to succeed or accomplish something in their lives. And in too many schools
and communities, the gaps of knowledge and achievement are widening between rich and poor,
between black and white, between those who can navigate their way up the information
superhighway, and those who are being left far behind.
Indeed, as we move into the 21st century, we see that the learning gap is rapidly
increasing the earnings gap -- with college educated Americans now making 76% more than
those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of not getting a quality
education are increasing every day.
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to unleash the vast potential of our
people, by making a world-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to
must make sure that public education truly becomes -- in the words of John Dewey, America's
"great equalizer."
Over the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have set for ourselves at the
brink of this new century. But I like the simple mantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It
states: "All children can learn No exceptions No excuses." Today, I'd like to talk about the
remarkable progress we've made in making that statement a reality in the classrooms of America,
and in the lives of our children. I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be
proud of. But I also want to talk about what we must still do together to fulfill the promise of
the next generation.
It's easier to see how far we've come when we look back at where we were. I first
we the
became acutely aware of how many of our children were falling through the cracks when I
worked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We
wanted to find out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school. I knocked
thatsonere
on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.
That experience convinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to do more than serve
opter ch
the best and the brightest. We had to be equally committed to fulfilling the dreams and
had that decle werenat
aspirations of the disadvantaged, the disabled; and those who need extra help just to stay even.
A decade later, with the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to America
that the challenges we saw in individual schools were widespread. We were told that our once
unchallenged leadership in education was being eroded "by a tide of mediocrity that threatens
our very future as a nation and a people." Only half of our high school graduates were going to
often
they
college. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the drop out rate was rising. Compared
to other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps most troubling -- the report
showed a growing chasm between a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed
citizenry.
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in response, people at the
federal, state, and local levelbegan rolling up their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In
Arkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make
recommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began traveling across the
state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It wason
these trips that I saw first hand the challenges many of our schools were facing -- particulary
those in rural areas. Many didn't have libraries; or art programs. And students tended to meet
the low expectations they were offered.
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student achievement,
and about raising teaching standards. We started to form alliances with businesses to improve
our public schools, and introduced new programs that encouraged parents to become much more
involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we realized that if we did not
change the approach to education; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every
school - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never see the progress we
wanted to see in this one small part of America.
I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate -- ranked second in his class --
who told me with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But when I asked where he was
going to college, he admitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't
prepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young man who worked hard;
stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all they could for him. But his local school didn't
know what the standards were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that
both me and my husband decided that no matter where you are born in a state, or what state you
were born in - you should be held to high standards, and high expectations. Pushing for high
achievement standards became one of my husband's top priorities.
have the opportunity to study a rigorus curricalum.
Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where national education
goals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of governors and President Bush.
Then governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with the President. And when Bill Clinton was
elected President he set to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support national
goals -- and help schools and communities meet them.
Over the past six years we've worked hard to raise student academic achievement;
improve teacher quality; involve more parents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into
the classroom. We've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not only set high
standards for our students but that schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for
enabling students to reach that raised bar of excellence.
So what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15 years ago? (Are
cut
our children improving academically? Have we raised our standards and expectations? Are we
giving all of America's students regardless of where they live a world-class education? Like
any dynamic reform process -- we see significant progress, and goals that remain unrealized.
With 90% of America's students in public school, and with our country is enjoying unparalleled
growth and prosperity, we know we're moving in the right direction.
Thanks to dedicated educators and leaders like those of you here today, we've come a
long way. Achievement levels of our high school students are climbing the back rise up. SAT scores -
there
which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in the right direction - with
the largest gains in math and science. And just a few months ago, new data shows we've made
Danix
x
a
for
small but significant gains in reading. Today, fewer students are dropping out, and raised
expectations have resulted in higher college enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students
Science
clark
enrolled in college. Today, two thirds are reaching that goal. And slowly but surely, students in
our poorest schools are making gains, and the gap between those living in poverty and those in
more prosperous neighborhoods is finally narrowing in some states and districts.
in math science
But serious challenges remain. While the international standing for America's 4th graders
is now comparing favorably to our counterparts overseas, our 8th and 12th graders do nor fare as
well. vOur adult illiteracyrrate remains unacceptably high. And reading scores -- while
improving are not anywhere near where we want them to be.
Clearly we still have a long way to go. But we also have under our belts much more
experience and information about what works. We know that yes every child can learn when
given the attention they deserve, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can become
world class schools.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished when
dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing schools into models of
success. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school -- where only about half the students
showed up on any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in the nation. But
the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline, wired the school for the Internet,
and created a "culture of reading." Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; programs
and everyone learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would quiz the
kids. Leaders like Chicago's Mayor Daley are imposing strict new standards of accountability;
putting low performing schools on probation; and reconstituting the worst ones And as a result
- schools like Du Sable are turning around.
Anthese efforts paid of today Dusable is
Here in New York, I recently visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl who introduced
me was a proud star on her basketball team -- and she wore like all of her fellow students a
T-shirt that read: "Dare to compete." That day, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports.
But to me, that T-shirt represented the spirit that embraced the entire school where dedicated
teachers, a rigorous curriculum, and an engaged community were helping students learn how to
successfully compete in the 21st century.
I've also heard how schools like PS 154 in Harlem and PS 1 on the lower East Side -- are
replacing low expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in; new classes
are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of accountability for success. I
understand that at PS 154 there's a big sign hanging at the entrance stating: "Only positive
attitudes beyond this point." I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the nation.
At a time when we are clearly moving forward - we can't allow ourselves to be pulled
off track by false debates -- particularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions
to improving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when we should be
devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to improving our public schools -- some want
to drain off valuable resources and give them only to a few -- making it even more difficult for
public schools to improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our greatest
challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across racial and economic lines. And
we've learned that the voucher system simply does not deliver, I've read recent studies that show
that when you look at the voucher systems that have been implemented better there's no evidence that
students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked.
Dchools & better students
Polls show that support for vouchers has declined sharply over the past few years --
particularly when parents learn that voucher programs reduce funding for public schools.
Overwhelmingly - Americans want to fix their public schools - not abandon them.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't give students and teachers greater public school
choice. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we can foster innovation in the
system, and challenge children in different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and
freedom, they can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held accountable for making
sure their students are making the grade. I've been in and out of charter schools around the
country -- and while some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences some of them are
making in the lives and opportunities -- of their students.
But if we are committed to level the playing field for our children -- then we must raise
our expectations for all students. If there's anything we've learned - it's that they will meet the
new challenge. I've heard that high expectations recently got a boost here in New York -- when
you did away with the general diploma and committed city schools to give every child the
chance to earn the more rigorous Regeney diploma. I applaud [] Rick Mills and others for
demonstrating confidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.
While cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of creating new
achievement standards, the Clinton Administration is working to be a strong partner in this
effort. Goals 2000 funds have helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing
them -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President
Clinton will soon send to Congress a significant revision of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). It's based on a comprehensive thee-part strategy: targeting increased
investments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the early years of schooling;
improving teacher quality; and promoting real accountability for results. But we don't need to
wait for this legislation to pass. There is much we can do today that will make real difference in
the lives of all of our children. As John Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle's schools has
said, "the victory is in the classroom."
First, we know from experience that all children learn better when they get more
attention. So we must commit ourselves to reducing class size. Who hasn't been in classroom
where even the most talented teacher is struggling to maintain order -- let alone teach -- a group
of 35 or 40 rambuncious children. A recent 5-year with study of Milwaukee confirms the importance
of having smaller classes. It showed that schools having a 17-1 student teacher ratio private
outperformed students not only the regular public schools but those who received scholarships vouchers
through voucher system. Reports like this one and so many others are why the President is
fighting so hard to hire 100,000 teachers -- so that we can lower class size in the early grades.
Second, placing a talented and dedicated teacher in every classroom is the single most
important thing we can do to ensure our children succeed. America's teachers are America's
future -- and all of the things that we've talked about so far -- about higher expectations and
student achievement will not happen unless we make teaching a first class profession.
We must recognize the extraordinary work -- sometimes I'd call it magic -- that teachers
do every single day in the classroom. But we must also look harder at what we need to do to
prepare new teachers -- and provide professional development for those already in the classroom.
We just can't throw a warm body into a classroom, and hope for the best.
As we strive to ensure that every child has a high quality teacher -- and to hold schools
and states accountable for making it happen -- we also have to encourage them to stay in the
profession. We can't give new teachers the toughest assignments -- and then leave them to sink
or swim. One solution could be to have seasoned teachers serve as mentors to new recruits.
Another is to pay teachers what they're worth -- something this nation has never done. We must
also do a better job of matching teachers to classroom to keep teachers teaching in their field of
expertise. And we must support professional development for all educators -- experienced and
new -- not one shot workshops, but sustained, high quality learning opportunities.
Third, we must expand preschool and early childhood education. Ensuring all our
children come to school ready to learn is a top priority. And we know that preparation for
learning begins early -- in the first three years of life. Science now confirms what we've always
believed all along: that time sharing a favorite book or talking with a child or even a newborn -
- helps the brain to grow and prepares him or her for a lifetime of reading and learning. I'm
pleased that the President the President has proposed making a $3 billion investment in the Early
Learning Fund so that the language and literacy skills so critical to success in school can be
learned long before a child steps into the classroom.
Ensuring children come to school ready to learn will help boost our fourth goal -- to make
sure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade. For all of you who have
worked with and studied children, you know that if a child is not ready well by 8 or nine, it's
going to be very difficult for that child to ever catch up. Yet But today, 40% of our children's can't
read independently by that time. That's why we need every elementary school teacher to be
schooled in the latest research -- given the opportunity to work with a reading specialist -- and
be supported by parents and other volunteer tutors. The President has laid down a daunting
challenge. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.
5th
And fourth, we must expand the opportunities for those who are behind to get ahead -
through summer schools programs and demanding after school programs that not only provide
opportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well on gaining ground on their
academics. Again, we can't just set the bar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra time,
effort, and resources it will take to help children catch up. And I'm pleased that in the
President's new budget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and after
school programs - to keep a million children learning.
Schools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a world-class education. We
can't ask them to be held accountable for the progress we want -- whether it's more qualified
teachers; higher standards; expanded after school programs; or a more effective reading program
-- if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We need a true partnership.
We need parents who believe in the importance of education, and support their schools
and teachers -- and most importantly, their children. All of our public efforts pale beside the
power of every parent to make a difference.
We need communities who work in partnership with their schools, and are engaged in
helping children on their journey to adulthood. I've what can be accomplished when everyone
from the local police officer to the retired teacher to the owner of the local market makes a
commitment to create conditions for learning and success.
And we need businesses who understand they have a major stake in producing a well
educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the impact on a school's learning environment
when local businesses donate everything from school-to work experiences and college
scholarships to computer labs and volunteer mentors.
[Conclusion: what's at stake -- What we do today to educate all of America's children
will define the destiny of this nation for decades to come. democracy; justice; unleashing
potential; etc.]
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND
POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
1
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate
commitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for
your friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring
this innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to
be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set
the nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to
President Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's
College; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his
students into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the
lives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of
Peter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation
brings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.
Contributions of Teacher's College
A little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted
college presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to
found Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was
in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial
nation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and
immigrants from around the world.
2
It was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new
breed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented
new influx of people, cultures, and experiences.
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs
of a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's
Teacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the
imagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice
as part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new
strategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many
higher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or
down graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has
maintained the highest standards of excellence.
[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it
became conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early
years; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students
-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a world-
class teacher.
3
You've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of
change and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing
projects; helping to establish professional development schools; and
mentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.
Your work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped
transform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a
collaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and
10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic
new curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership
and faculty of Teacher's College.
II. Importance of Public Education
We've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that
nothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future
than a good education. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams
and denies the nation the talents it needs when that education is in
some way beyond reach. In this era of almost limitless possibilities --
our public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most
diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance
to live up to their God-given potential.
4
I've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern
Ireland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is
absolutely critical to building a tolerant, and 7peaceful and just society.
And that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the
future, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is
strengthened.
b. Those values are threatened by unequal access
Yet those values are threatened when many of our children are
unable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too
many of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;
overcrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled
-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or
her to accomplish something, or succeed.
Today, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended
segregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still
determine the quality of your education. [Today, most 17-year-old
African Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white
students.
5
Today, the vast majority of white students graduate from high
school, compared to a third of Hispanics. Today, a third of white
Americans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.]
twruld
[Not surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the
keep
earnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on
what you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more
than those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of
not getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered
expectations -- are increasing every day.]
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways
of unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-
class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must
make sure that education truly does become -- in the words of John
Dewey, America's "great equalizer."
Over the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have
set for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple
mantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: "All children
can learn No exceptions No excuses."
6
Today, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the
great promise of the next generation.
III. Progress to Improve Public Education
a. HRC involvement
It's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where
we were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were
falling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman
at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find
out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.
And as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to
parents about why their children weren't in school. That experience
convinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as
committed to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as
we were to serving the best and the brightest.
b. A Nation at Risk
With the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to
America that the challenges we saw in individual schools were
widespread.
7
We were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education
was being eroded "by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future
as a nation and a people." Only half of our high school graduates were
going to college. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the
drop out rate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the
US ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm
between a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed
citizenry.
c. State Efforts (Arkansas)
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching and in
response, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up
1 had a chance to further This a First when
their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then
of Arkansal
Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make
recommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began
traveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents
about the challenges they faced. saw first hand the challenges many of
our schools were facing -- particulary those in rural areas.
8
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for
student achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to
improve our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much
more involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we
realized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every
school - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never
see the progress we wanted to see.
[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --
ranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted
to be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he
admitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't
prepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young
man who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all
they could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards
were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that
Bill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the
chance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever
you plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my
wp
Kemal
husband's lifelong priorities.]
9
D. Charlottesville Summit
Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,
where national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a
bipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor
Clinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill
set to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support
national goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.
E. Goals 2000/ESEA
Among the President's proudest achievements in the first term
spell at
were Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --
for the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop
assessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this
requirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for
disadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower
expectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the
President's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted
high poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve
the entire school
10
Both Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.
Title I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district
[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];
to report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to
make adequate progress.
Taken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed
the federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the
development and implementation of high academic standards for all
children. In the past -- our system had too often supported and
encouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor
children -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six
years, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --
and we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.
IV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?
Over the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student
academic achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents;
and bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.
11
We've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not
only set high standards for our students -- but that schools -- and all of
us -- must be held accountable for enabling students to reach that raised
bar of excellence.
These reforms have sparked a burst of state and local reform
activity -- important innovations that are improving the educational
progress of our children. The rapid development of statewide
academic standards is unprecedented in the United States; and
awareness of the need to change practices to support standards is strong
across states, districts and schools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals
2000 == have been a major force in supporting and stimulating state
based reform Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging
academic standards, and most states are working to develop or adopt
new assessments aligned with those standards.
And as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local level --
and perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated teachers -- schools
are improving and our students are doing better. A few weeks ago, we
released new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up
for the first time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.
12
Our achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores
- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in
the right direction - with the largest gains in math. For the first time
in history, SAT and ACT scores have increased each year for the past
five years.
The key lesson that we've learned from Goals 2000, ESEA and
related state and local reform initiatives are that standards-based
education reform works. A recent study of education reform in North
Carolina and Texas -- the two states with the best track record of
improving achievement generally and closing achievement gaps
between minority and white students -- shows us the ingredients of
success -- particularly for disadvantaged students: sustained, statewide
approaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the
flexibility they need, targeting resources for extra help to low-
performing students and schools, and holding schools accountable for
results.
[Other studies have shown that states and school districts, like
Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have adopted
similar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.]
13
A recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are being
used to support a broad range of education activities at the state and
local levels -- including local education reform, professional
development, and the development of education standards and
assessments. Many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has been a
significant factor in promoting their education reform efforts.
[HRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School in
Chelsea, where T-shirt read "Dare to compete."]
[Nve heard how schools here in New York are replacing low
expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;
new classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of
accountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big
sign hanging in the entrance hall stating: "Only positive attitudes
beyond this point." I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the
nation.]
Because 1 the success 9 trave eff-to
We know that every child can learn when given the attention he
or she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can
become world class schools. But we shu Lane
a
Long was L jo -
put state 14 here
Our challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school and
every classroom in the country.
What we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:
How do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The
President has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed
to take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's
based on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased
investments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the
early years of schooling. Second, to improve teacher quality. And third,
to promote real accountability for results.
A. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY
John Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said:
"The victory is in the classroom." That victory is only assured when a
talented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers
are America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far -
- about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be
accomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.
15
How we recruit, prepare, and retain good teachers must be the
central strategy for improving our schools.
1. Higher Standards
The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are
preparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing
undermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's
chances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the
knowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach
subjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one
quarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their
main teaching field.
First, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our
children.
** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,
knowledge of subject matter; teaching skills -- and the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.
** School districts must end the practice of using emergency
certification to fill classrooms. - Today, was has 50,000 teacher
or mergency
16
How can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly
hired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11
percent have no license at all?
What we're doing about it
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school
districts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency
certification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations
for all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter
knowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to
help them achieve these goals.
Some may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two
million new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals
for teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the
teacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented
candidates to the profession.
17
2. Recruitment/attraction
Colleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality
candidates as is proved every day here at Teacher's colles But
unfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to
the high standards of this institution. Universities must be held
accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these
educational programs -- and if they can't measure up, these programs
should be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of
education as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention
and resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and
lawyers.
We must do more to attract talented people to the profession of
teaching -- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the
training they need to translate their subject matter and life
experiences into a teaching career.
** The Administration is planning to expand the President's
Troops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from
other field.
18
** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for
Peace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they
commit to two years.
** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to
students who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.
** Some school districts and universities are working together to
create middle and high school programs that expose young people to the
teaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives
academically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised
experiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study
education with school and university faculty.
We need more programs like these to make sure we raise
standards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.
3. Retention
Once we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must
do more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has
made the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing
themselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --
and then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.
19
It's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three
years. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to
the teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This
might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost -
- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to
receive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and
teacher unions must work together to make sure that the best
interests of students are the top priority.
Trese Strategies to give new teachers the extra support they need:
have been preven
peer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that
share their wisdown
allow high performing teachers to work with new ones;
F built into school he day
** school districts should allow time for team planning / Unlike
would
give
the mess to
doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers/are
often cut off from their co workers. Among teachers whose schools
dedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching "a
too many are cotal in
lot" -- and another third say it "moderately." Yet this practice remains
New claumons
the exception -- not the rule.
20
4. Professional Development
All teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing
professional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms
of these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the
"one shot" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to
teachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching
and America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving
teaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers
need to help students succeed.
A serious program of sustained development -- based on research
that works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in
place in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in
their subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to
adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to
response to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need
more help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;
with disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.
21
What the Administration is doing to help
** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on
research-based principles of professional development -- and the
Department of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the
practice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the
President has proposed increasing funding that can be used for
professional development -- as an important part of the ESEA proposal.
** Reducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is
a major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that
Congress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new
teachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good
for students.
A recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools
having a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in
the public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the
system. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits
of one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young
children.
22
** The Administration supports the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a
national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher
standards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for
teachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers
have come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct
-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.
Paying teachers what they're worth
And finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality
teachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that
we remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these
teachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced
teachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them
to other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for
school districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state
leaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the
resources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,
we ought to raise salaries as well.
23
B. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO
DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
Just as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in
schools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other
resources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are
most in need.
Early Learning
This disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to
prenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one
who will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years
of life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to
learn and grow.
[Our White House Conference on Early Development and
Learning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood
development the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this
invaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I
have worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early
Learning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,
particularly those with the least resources.
24
[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading
Partnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together
publishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care
professionals can "prescribe" reading to parents. We're now serving
more than 780,000 children in 47 states.
Early childhood development programs are also critical to ensure
that every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,
Head Start has provided low-income preschool children with
comprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin
school already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start
for many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start
dollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional
funding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to
what ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to
receive high quality early childhood education to help them become
"school ready."
But we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We
know, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,
they should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.
25
Children need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're
not talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and
forcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to
know can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the
early childhood and education communities work together to develop
appropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool
programs and to make related training widely available to early
childhood teachers.
Reading
We put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of
almost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason
that children are retained, assigned to special education, or given long-
term remedial services. Although overall reading performance has been
more or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-olds
score below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between
white students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69
percent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored
below the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders
did].
26
To close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in
many classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled
in the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading
specialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The
President has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading
independently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us
to meet it.
[Title I
The ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I
-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a
disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.
Historically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding
targeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty
schools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children
and their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required
states to develop content and performance standards in reading and
math, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded school-
wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.
27
These changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near
where we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization
proposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to
the same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even
further, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,
increased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of
teacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the
National Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation
proposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure
the early identification of children with reading difficulties.]
Mathematics
Like reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,
particularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant
gaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too
often, only students thought to be "good at math" or "college material"
are given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a
disproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous
mathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African
American or Hispanic.
28
Many young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to
go on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,
and school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the
area of mathematics achievement, eliminate "general math" in the
curriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need
to succeed in higher level mathematics.
C. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY
If we are committed to level the playing field for our children --
then we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their
race or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a
boost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma
-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the
more rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating
confidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.
While cities and states across the country are working hard to raise
expectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton
Administration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals
2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing
them -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.
29
Now, we need to take accountability to the next level.
The President's agenda on accountability
** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed
requiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely
distributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and
the state. We must empower parents with more information and more
choices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the
quality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We
owe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should
issue report cards on every school.
Tough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will require
states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and
least improvement and take corrective action to turn them around. These
corrective actions, based on a careful assessment of each school's needs,
would include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to
improve school discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches
to school reform.
30
If these actions do not raise student achievement within two years,
do more
the proposal would require states to take additional corrective actions,
such as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting
the school -- by fairly evaluating the staff and making staff changes as
appropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or
with an entirely new staff.
Nineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve
low-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when these
interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the
resources to support change, schools improve and student achievement
increases. The President's FY 2000 budget contains $200 million to
help states begin taking these steps immediately.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be
accomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join
forces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du
Sable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up
on any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in
the nation.
31
But the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,
wired the school for the Internet, and created a "culture of reading."
Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone
learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would
quiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.
End social promotion. No child should graduate from high
school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no
favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without
mastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because the
system fails them.
Many people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will
hurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in
grade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.
But these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is
to hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will
need to succeed.
32
This extra help is reflected in the administration's class size
reduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21 st Century
Learning Centers after school initiative, which the President has
proposed to dramatically Triple expand. Instead of using this new policy as an
excuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be
expected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion
standards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer
school programs.
We can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate
from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a
letter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and
they are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.
Give parents more information, and more choices. Giving
parents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens
accountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the
ways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in
different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,
they can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held
accountable for making sure their students are making the grade.
33
When the President first came into office -- there was just one
independent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.
And the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next
century -- there will be 3,000.
I've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and
while some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are
making in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San
Fernando Valley charter school story.]
also
We can/learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public
school choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many
challenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And a
recent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University
s'>
beth than
of New York-tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled
the overall number of schools and created many small schools as
alternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most
and
w ? 4
Asaresmite
important both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools
w/ka (or I
both the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones2 contrary
Similar NY
to fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were
favored over others.
34
[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in
the late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math
tests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of
families living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last
in New York City in 1974.]
Vouchers
At a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater
accountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we
can't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --
particularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to
improving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when
we should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to
improving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable
resources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to
improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our
greatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across
racial and economic lines.
35
We've also learned that the voucher system simply does not
deliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the
voucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that
students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix
our public schools -- not abandon them.
VI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.
Schools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a
world-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the
progress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We
need a true partnership.
We need parents who believe in the importance of education, and
support their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their
children. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent
to make a difference.
We need communities to work in partnership with their schools,
and be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be
accomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired
teacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.
36
And we need businesses who understand they have a major stake
in producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the
impact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private
partnerships -- when local businesses contribute everything from
school-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs
and volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding
schools accountable for high standards and student achievement.
VII. Conclusion
When this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that
education could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers
should care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of
America's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent
in our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry
was required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a
stake in the learning of every child.
Surely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of
history, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to
our future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.
37
The interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly
expanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread
that knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common
potential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity
lie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our
aging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly
revitalizing system of public education in America.
Make no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public
education is more urgent than ever for America. It will require
imagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,
money. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of
teaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --
and America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our
children, and we can do no less for the future of our great country.
38
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND
POSSIBILITIES"
COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
APRIL 19, 1999
Thank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate
commitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for
your friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring
this innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to
be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set
the nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to
President Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's
College; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his
students into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the
lives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of
Peter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation
brings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.
Contributions of Teacher's College
A little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted
college presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to
found Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was
in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial
nation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and
immigrants from around the world.
It was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new
breed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented
new influx of people, cultures, and experiences.
That same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs
of a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's
Teacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the
imagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice
as part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new
strategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many
higher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or
down graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has
maintained the highest standards of excellence.
[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it
became conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early
years; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students
-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a
world-class teacher.
You've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of
change and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing
projects; helping to establish professional development schools; and
mentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.
Your work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped
transform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a
collaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and
10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic
new curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership
and faculty of Teacher's College.
II. Importance of Public Education
We've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that
nothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future
than a good education. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams
- and denies the nation the talents it needs - when that education is in
some way beyond reach. In this era of almost limitless possibilities --
our public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most
diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance
to live up to their God-given potential.
I've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern
Ireland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is
absolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society.
And that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the
future, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is
strengthened.
b. Those values are threatened by unequal access
Yet those values are threatened when many of our children are
unable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too
many of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;
overcrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled
-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or
her to accomplish something, or succeed.
Today, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended
segregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still
determine the quality of your education. [Today, most 17-year-old
African Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white
students.
Today, the vast majority of white students graduate from high
school, compared to a third of Hispanics. Today, a third of white
Americans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.]
[Not surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the
earnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on
what you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more
than those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of
not getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered
expectations -- are increasing every day.]
It is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways
of unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a
world-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us
to must make sure that education truly does become -- in the words of
John Dewey, America's "great equalizer."
Over the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have
set for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple
mantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: "All children
can learn No exceptions. No excuses."
Today, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the
great promise of the next generation.
III. Progress to Improve Public Education
a. HRC involvement
It's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where
we were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were
falling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman
at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find
out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.
And as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to
parents about why their children weren't in school. That experience
convinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as
committed to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as
we were to serving the best and the brightest.
b. A Nation at Risk
With the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to
America that the challenges we saw in individual schools were
widespread.
We were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education
was being eroded "by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future
as a nation and a people." Only half of our high school graduates were
going to college. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the
drop out rate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the
US ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm
between a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed
citizenry.
c. State Efforts (Arkansas)
A Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in
response, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up
their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then
Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make
recommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began
traveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents
about the challenges they faced. I saw first hand the challenges many of
our schools were facing -- particulary those in rural areas.
So we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for
student achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to
improve our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much
more involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we
realized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every
school - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never
see the progress we wanted to see.
[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --
ranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted
to be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he
admitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't
prepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young
man who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all
they could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards
were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that
Bill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the
chance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever
you plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my
husband's lifelong priorities.]
D. Charlottesville Summit
Our efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,
where national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a
bipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor
Clinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill
set to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support
national goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.
E. Goals 2000/ESEA
Among the President's proudest achievements in the first term
were Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --
for the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop
assessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this
requirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for
disadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower
expectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the
President's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted
high-poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve
the entire school.
Both Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.
Title I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district
[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];
to report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to
make adequate progress.
Taken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed
the federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the
development and implementation of high academic standards for all
children. In the past -- our system had too often supported and
encouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor
children -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six
years, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --
and we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.
IV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?
Over the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student
academic achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more
parents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into the
classroom.
We've also sent the strongest possible message that we
must not only set high standards for our students -- but that
schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling
students to reach that raised bar of excellence.
These reforms have sparked a burst of state and local
reform activity -- important innovations that are improving the
educational progress of our children. The rapid development of
statewide academic standards is unprecedented in the United
States, and awareness of the need to change practices to support
standards is strong across states, districts and schools. Federal
efforts -- ESEA and Goals 2000 -- have been a major force in
supporting and stimulating state-based reform. Forty-eight states
have set new, more challenging academic standards, and most
states are working to develop or adopt new assessments aligned
with those standards.
And as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local
level -- and perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated
teachers -- schools are improving and our students are doing
better. A few weeks ago, we released new data that tells us that
our nation's reading scores are up for the first time in all three
grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.
Our achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT
scores - which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again
heading in the right direction - with the largest gains in math.
For the first time in history, SAT and ACT scores have increased
each year for the past five years.
The key lesson that we've learned from Goals 2000, ESEA
and related state and local reform initiatives are that
standards-based education reform works. A recent study of
education reform in North Carolina and Texas -- the two states
with the best track record of improving achievement generally and
closing achievement gaps between minority and white students --
shows us the ingredients of success -- particularly for
disadvantaged students: sustained, statewide approaches of
raising academic standards, providing schools with the flexibility
they need, targeting resources for extra help to low-performing
students and schools, and holding schools accountable for
results.
[Other studies have shown that states and school districts,
like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have
adopted similar approaches have shown significant gains in
reading and math.]
A recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are
being used to support a broad range of education activities at the
state and local levels -- including local education reform,
professional development, and the development of education
standards and assessments. Many state officials reported that
Goals 2000 has been a significant factor in promoting their
education reform efforts.
[HRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School
in Chelsea, where T-shirt read "Dare to compete."]
[I've heard how schools here in New York are replacing low
expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;
new classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of
accountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big
sign hanging in the entrance hall stating: "Only positive attitudes
beyond this point." I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the
nation.]
We know that every child can learn when given the attention
he or she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest
neighborhoods can become world class schools.
Our challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school
and every classroom in the country.
What we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:
How do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The
President has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed
to take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's
based on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased
investments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the
early years of schooling. Second, to improve teacher quality. And third,
to promote real accountability for results.
A. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY
John Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said: "
The victory is in the classroom." That victory is only assured when a
talented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers
are America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far
-- about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be
accomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.
How we recruit, prepare, and retain good teachers must be the
central strategy for improving our schools.
1. Higher Standards
The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are
preparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing
undermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's
chances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the
knowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach
subjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one
quarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their
main teaching field.
First, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our
children.
** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,
knowledge of subject matter; teaching skills -- and the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.
** School districts must end the practice of using emergency
certification to fill classrooms.
How can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly
hired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11
percent have no license at all?
What we're doing about it
The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school
districts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency
certification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations
for all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter
knowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to
help them achieve these goals.
Some may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two
million new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals
for teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the
teacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented
candidates to the profession.
2. Recruitment/attraction
Colleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality
candidates -- as is proved every day here at Teacher's college. But
unfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to
the high standards of this institution. Universities must be held
accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these
educational programs -- and if they can't measure up, these programs
should be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of
education as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention
and resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and
lawyers.
We must do more to attract talented people to the profession of
teaching -- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the
training they need to translate their subject matter and life
experiences into a teaching career.
** The Administration is planning to expand the President's
Troops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from
other field.
** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for
Peace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they
commit to two years.
** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to
students who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.
** Some school districts and universities are working together to
create middle and high school programs that expose young people to the
teaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives
academically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised
experiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study
education with school and university faculty.
We need more programs like these to make sure we raise
standards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.
3. Retention
Once we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must
do more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has
made the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing
themselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --
and then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.
It's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three
years. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to
the teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This
might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost
-- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to
receive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and
teacher unions must work together to make sure that the best
interests of students are the top priority.
Strategies to give new teachers the extra support they need:
peer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that
allow high performing teachers to work with new ones;
** school districts should allow time for team planning. Unlike
doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers are
often cut off from their co-workers. Among teachers whose schools
dedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching "a
lot" -- and another third say it "moderately." Yet this practice remains
the exception -- not the rule.
4. Professional Development
All teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing
professional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms
of these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the "
one shot" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to
teachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching
and America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving
teaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers
need to help students succeed.
A serious program of sustained development -- based on research
that works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in
place in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in
their subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to
adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to
response to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need
more help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;
with disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.
What the Administration is doing to help
** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on
research-based principles of professional development -- and the
Department of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the
practice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the
President has proposed increasing funding that can be used for
professional development -- as an important part of the ESEA proposal.
Reducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is
a major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that
Congress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new
teachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good
for students.
A recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools
having a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in
the public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the
system. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits
of one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young
children.
** The Administration supports the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a
national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher
standards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for
teachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers
have come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct
-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.
Paying teachers what they're worth
And finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality
teachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that
we remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these
teachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced
teachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them
to other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for
school districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state
leaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the
resources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,
we ought to raise salaries as well.
B. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO
DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
Just as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in
schools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other
resources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are
most in need.
Early Learning
This disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to
prenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one
who will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years
of life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to
learn and grow.
[Our White House Conference on Early Development and
Learning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood
development the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this
invaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I
have worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early
Learning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,
particularly those with the least resources.
[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading
Partnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together
publishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care
professionals can "prescribe" reading to parents. We're now serving
more than 780,000 children in 47 states.]
Early childhood development programs are also critical to ensure
that every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,
Head Start has provided low-income preschool children with
comprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin
school already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start
for many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start
dollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional
funding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to
what ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to
receive high quality early childhood education to help them become"
school ready."
But we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We
know, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,
they should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.
Children need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're
not talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and
forcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to
know can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the
early childhood and education communities work together to develop
appropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool
programs and to make related training widely available to early
childhood teachers.
Reading
We put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of
almost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason
that children are retained, assigned to special education, or given
long-term remedial services. Although overall reading performance has
been more or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-olds
score below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between
white students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69
percent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored
below the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders
did].
To close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in
many classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled
in the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading
specialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The
President has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading
independently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us
to meet it.
[Title I
The ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I
-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a
disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.
Historically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding
targeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty
schools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children
and their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required
states to develop content and performance standards in reading and
math, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded
school-wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.
These changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near
where we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization
proposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to
the same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even
further, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,
increased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of
teacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the
National Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation
proposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure
the early identification of children with reading difficulties.]
Mathematics
Like reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,
particularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant
gaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too
often, only students thought to be "good at math" or "college material"
are given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a
disproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous
mathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African
American or Hispanic.
Many young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to
go on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,
and school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the
area of mathematics achievement, eliminate "general math" in the
curriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need
to succeed in higher level mathematics.
C. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY
If we are committed to level the playing field for our children --
then we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their
race or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a
boost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma
-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the
more rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating
confidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.
While cities and states across the country are working hard to raise
expectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton
Administration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals
2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing
them -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.
Now, we need to take accountability to the next level.
The President's agenda on accountability.
** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed
requiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely
distributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and
the state. We must empower parents with more information and more
choices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the
quality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We
owe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should
issue report cards on every school.
Tough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will
require states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement
levels and least improvement and take corrective action to turn
them around. These corrective actions, based on a careful
assessment of each school's needs, would include steps such as
intensive teacher training, support to improve school discipline,
and the implementation of proven approaches to school reform.
If these actions do not raise student achievement within two
years, the proposal would require states to take additional
corrective actions, such as permitting students to attend other
public schools; reconstituting the school -- by fairly evaluating the
staff and making staff changes as appropriate; or closing the
school and reopening it as a charter school or with an entirely new
staff.
Nineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve
low-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when
these interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied
by the resources to support change, schools improve and student
achievement increases. The President's FY 2000 budget
contains $200 million to help states begin taking these steps
immediately.
I've visited schools across the country that prove what can be
accomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join
forces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du
Sable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up
on any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in
the nation.
But the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,
wired the school for the Internet, and created a "culture of reading."
Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone
learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would
quiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.
End social promotion. No child should graduate from high
school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no
favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without
mastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because the
system fails them.
Many people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will
hurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in
grade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.
But these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is
to hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will
need to succeed.
This extra help is reflected in the administration's class size
reduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21st Century
Learning Centers after school initiative, which the President has
proposed to dramatically expand. Instead of using this new policy as an
excuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be
expected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion
standards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer
school programs.
We can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate
from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a
letter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and
they are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.
Give parents more information, and more choices. Giving
parents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens
accountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the
ways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in
different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,
they can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held
accountable for making sure their students are making the grade.
When the President first came into office -- there was just one
independent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.
And the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next
century -- there will be 3,000.
I've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and
while some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are
making in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San
Fernando Valley charter school story.]
We can learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public
school choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many
challenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And a
recent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University
of New York tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled
the overall number of schools and created many small schools as
alternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most
important -- both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools --
both the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones -- contrary
to fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were
favored over others.
[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in
the late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math
tests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of
families living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last
in New York City in 1974.]
Vouchers
At a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater
accountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we
can't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --
particularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to
improving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when
we should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to
improving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable
resources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to
improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our
greatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across
racial and economic lines.
We've also learned that the voucher system simply does not
deliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the
voucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that
students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix
our public schools -- not abandon them.
VI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.
Schools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a
world-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the
progress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We
need a true partnership.
We need parents who believe in the importance of education, and
support their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their
children. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent
to make a difference.
We need communities to work in partnership with their schools,
and be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be
accomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired
teacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.
And we need businesses who understand they have a major stake
in producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the
impact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private
partnerships -- when local businesses contribute everything from
school-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs
and volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding
schools accountable for high standards and student achievement.
VII. Conclusion
When this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that
education could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers
should care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of
America's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent
in our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry
was required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a
stake in the learning of every child.
Surely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of
history, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to
our future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.
The interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly
expanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread
that knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common
potential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity
lie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our
aging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly
revitalizing system of public education in America.
Make no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public
education is more urgent than ever for America. It will require
imagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,
money. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of
teaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --
and America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our
children, and we can do no less for the future of our great country.
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"ocrText": "Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet\nClinton Library\nDOCUMENT NO.\nSUBJECT/TITLE\nDATE\nRESTRICTION\nAND TYPE\n001. fax\nChristy to Shirley re: phone number [partial] (1 page)\n04/15/1999\nP6/b(6)\nCOLLECTION:\nClinton Presidential Records\nFirst Lady's Office\nShirley Sagawa\nOA/Box Number: 23245\nFOLDER TITLE:\nTeachers College Speech [1]\n2013-0124-S\nrc1069\nRESTRICTION CODES\nPresidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]\nFreedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]\nP1 National Security Classified Information |(a)(1) of the PRA|\nb(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]\nP2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA\nb(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of\nP3 Release would violate a Federal statute |(a)(3) of the PRA|\nan agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]\nP4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or\nb(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]\nfinancial information [(a)(4) of the PRAJ\nb(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial\nP5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President\ninformation |(b)(4) of the FOIA]\nand his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]\nb(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of\nP6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of\npersonal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]\npersonal privacy |(a)(6) of the PRA]\nb(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement\npurposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]\nC. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed\nb(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of\nof gift.\nfinancial institutions |(b)(8) of the FOIA]\nPRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.\nb(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information\n2201(3).\nconcerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]\nRR. Document will be reviewed upon request.\nWithdrawal/Redaction Marker\nClinton Library\nDOCUMENT NO.\nSUBJECT/TITLE\nDATE\nRESTRICTION\nAND TYPE\n001. fax\nChristy to Shirley re: phone number [partial] (1 page)\n04/15/1999\nP6/b(6)\nCOLLECTION:\nClinton Presidential Records\nFirst Lady's Office\nShirley Sagawa\nOA/Box Number: 23245\nFOLDER TITLE:\nTeachers College Speech [1]\n2013-0124-S\nrc1069\nRESTRICTION CODES\nPresidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]\nFreedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]\nP1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]\nb(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]\nP2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office |(a)(2) of the PRA]\nb(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of\nP3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA|\nan agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]\nP4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or\nb(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]\nfinancial information |(a)(4) of the PRA]\nb(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial\nP5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President\ninformation [(b)(4) of the FOIA]\nand his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]\nb(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of\nP6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of\npersonal privacy |(b)(6) of the FOIA]\npersonal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]\nb(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement\npurposes |(b)(7) of the FOIA]\nC. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed\nb(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of\nof gift.\nfinancial institutions |(b)(8) of the FOIA]\nPRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.\nb(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information\n2201(3).\nconcerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]\nRR. Document will be reviewed upon request.\n04/15/99 THU 21:11 FAX\n001\nTo Christy\n1 think this is much better- 1 did some line\nFrom Shilley\nediting- still needs\ntightening, but were\nsetting there!\nHope you read can this\nTHE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF SPEECHWRITING\nFax (202) 456-5709\nTel (202) 456-2777\nTO:\nShuly\nFAX:\nPHONE\nFROM:\nCherty\nComments\nI'll be home- so please far\nyou thoughts to\nP6/(b)(6)\n[001]\ndid love even some feedlown\ntenegat if you have the eneyer\nI went are som 9 an\nDate:\nor neere - - but have\nnot incapanded 4\nNumber of Pages (including cover):\nsuggesting here -\nman Charls\nay\n04/15/99 THU 21:12 FAX\n002\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND POSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment to creating a\nmore just and fair world for our children; and for your friendship. It is a great honor and a\npleasure to be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set the nation's\nstandard for excellence in teaching. I want to thank President Levine for his inspired leadership\nof Columbia Teacher's College; and for his single minded determination to furn every one of hisyor\nstudents teachers into dedicated indi viduals teachers who will make a real difference in the lives and aspirations\n-- of their students I also want to thank Jill Iscol and her husband Ken for sponsoring this new\nlecture series here at the College.\nyou + your\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a number group of far-sighted college presidents,\nbishops and and philanthropists came together to found Teachers College the world around\nthem was in upheaval. Our country was in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural\nto an industrial nation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and\nimmigrants from around the world. It was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating\na new breed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented new influx of\npeople, cultures, and experiences into an urban setting.\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a changing world\nlives on in all that you de here at Columbia's Teacher's College It lives on when you help\nteachers educate an increasingly diverse student population; when you instill the spirit of social\njustice as part of your educational framework; when you pioneer new teaching strategies to meet\nthe needs of urban and minority students and when you send teachers into the world whose\nmost important mission is to help every student to fellow his or her highest aspirations.\nWhen so many higher education institutions have closed their schools of education or\ntreated them like a forgotten step child Columbia's Teacher's College has been a leader in its\nfield and maintained the highest standards.\nToday 100 years after your founding we still recognize some fundamental truths.\nThat there is nothing more important than a good education. Nothing else offers our children or\nourselves the chance for a better future. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams possibilite and\ndenies the nation the talents it needs when that education is in some way denied.\ndream\nThe importan of education has not changes The last can time,\net.we also face challenges and opportunities unimagined 100 years ago. We live in a\ngove\nworld of possibilities -- a time of unparalleled growth and prosperity that offers every citizen the\nchance to live up to his or her god given potential. Yet we recognize that this age of possibility\nis directly tied to how well educated and skilled we are in this new global age, and that students\nof today need new skills and knowledge if they are to take advantage of the extraordinary\nthe\nopportunities that are before them.\nseems education\n04/15/99 THU 21:13 FAX\n003\nthe\naccure their\nOur public school system holds out that promise that everyone has a chance to lift\ngod pokatial given\nthemselves up. That here in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world, we have a\nsystem that offers opportunity to all and no one is turned away. It's a goal admired and\nemulated around the world, I've spoken with people in Northern Ireland, for example, who\nbelieve passionately that a unified education system is absolutely critical to building a unified,\nother\nway\ntolerant, and peaceful society. That is the great promise of our nation's public education system\nAdd et\nint int'l be che\ned.\nand the reason it serves as the very bedrock of our free and democracy society.\nwhere is me agreesion\nYet we all also know that too many of our children are unable to reap the benefits of the\nopportunities and challenges before them. Too many of our children attend schools every day\nvery\nthat are understaffed; overcrowded; and falling down. The dreams of too many of our young\na\npeople are going unfulfilled because no one expects them to succeed or accomplish something\nduff.\nin their lives. And in too many schools and communities, the gaps of knowledge and\nachievement are widening between rich and poor, between black and white, between those who\ncan navigate their way up the information superhighway, and those who are being left far behind.\nIndeed, as we move into the 21st century, we see that the learning gap is rapidly\nincreasing the earnings gap -- with college educated Americans now making 76% more than\nAmericans who simply hold a high school diploma.\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century that we end those disparities in\nopportunity -- and instead make a world-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to\nall of us to must make sure that public education in this country continues to be in the words\nof your former professor, John Dewey, America's \"great equalizer.\"\nI've heard that the montra at public school #1 here in Manhattan are the words: \"All\nchidren can learn No exceptions No excuses.\" Today, I'd like to talk about far we've come\nto making that simple statement a reality in the the classrooms of America, and in the lives of our\nchildren. And I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be proud of. But I also\nwant to talk about how much has yet to be done and what we can all do together to fulfill the\npromise of the next generation.\nfirst acutely\nI/became (aware of how many of our children were falling through the cracks when I\nworked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We\nwanted to find out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school. I knocked\non hundreds of doors that year talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.\nThat experience convinced me as never before that our schools must do more than serve the\nwe learned\nbest and the brightest. We must be equally committed to fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of\nthat the\nreasons too\nof the disabled; the disadvantaged; the ones who need extra help just to stay even.\nof school had\nten were that\nleaned We saw how much work was ahead of us when A Nation at Risk was published in 1983,\nA decade later, it be came clear to amenue that the challenges we india saw schools Ind\ndeclined the 6 after\nwe and revealed that our once unchallenged leadership in education was being eroded \"by a tide\nwidespend.\nwere\nThe children\nof mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people.\" Only half of our high\nthese homes-\nschool graduates were going to college. Academic achievement was plumetting the drop out\nwho in were ofter\nrate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps\nwhat disabled disa bled they needed\nto F learn.\nthe 7 publicals\n04/16/99 THU 21:13 FAX\n004\nmost troubling -- the report showed a growing chasm between a scientific and technological elite\n- and an ill informed citizenry.\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in response, people at the\nfederal, state, and local level Dbegan rolling up their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In\nArkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make\nrecommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began traveling across the\nstate listening and talking to teachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It On\nthese trips that I saw first hand the disparities between many of our public schools particulary\nthose in rural areas. Many didn't have libraries; or art programs. And students tended to meet\nthe low expectations they were offered.\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student achievement.\nAbout raising teaching standards. We began to form alliances with businesses to improve our\npublic schools. And introduced new programs that encouraged parents to become much more\ninvolved in the education of their children. But most of all we realized that if we did not\nchange the approach to education; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every\nschool - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never see the progress we\nwanted to see in this one small part of America.\nAs governor of Arkansas, my husband began to invite student academic starts to come to\nthe Governor's Mansion. Banquets were always being held to honor the athletic stars. We\nwanted to honor the stars of science and math and history. I'll never forget talking to one young\nhigh school graduate who told us with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But when I\nasked where he was going to college, he admitted he couldn't get in. His rural high school hadn't\nprepared him adequately. I remember so clearly thinking to myself: here's a young man who\n2nd clan\nworked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all they could for him. But his local\nschool didn't know what the standards were that would enable this young man to fulfill his\nambitions. And it was then weboth decided that no matter where you are born in a state, or what\nstate you were born in - you should be held to high standards. And your school should be held\naccountable for those standards.\nhave the opportunity to study a regnon,\nBut I ?\nBut for that to happen, we recognized at the state level that we needed national standards.\nAnd pushing for those standards became of my husband's top priorities.\nEighachuarment\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where national education\ngoals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of governors and President Bush.\nThen governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with the President.\nWhen Bill Clinton was elected President he set to work with another former governor,\nDick Riley, to support national goals -- and help schools and communities meet them. Over the\npast six years we've worked hard to raise student academic achievement; improve teacher\nquality; involve more parents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.\nWe'ave also sent the strongest possible message that we must not only set high standards for our\nstudents -- but that schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling them to\n04/15/99 THU 21:14 FAX\n1\n005\nreach that raised bar of excellence.\nSo what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15 years ago?\nHave we raised our standards and expectations? Are we giving all of America's students --\nregardless of where they live a world-class education? Are we helping those who are lagging\nbehind to catch up?| Like any dynamic progress - we've made significant progress. But many of\nour goals remained unrealized.\nor the use\nHere's the good news. Achievement levels of our high school students are elimbing back\n-IIN. SAT scores - which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in the right\ndirection - with the largest gains in math and-seience. Fewer students are dropping out. Raised\nexpectations have resulted in higher college enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students\nenrolled in college. Today, two thirds are reaching that goal. And slowly but surely, students in\nour poorest schools are making gains, and the gap between those living in poverty and those in\nmore prosperous neibhborhoods is finally narrowing in some states and districts.\nin math t Suence\nHere's the mixed news. The international standing for America's 4th graders is now\ncomparing favorably to our counterparts overseas. But our 8th and 12th graders do nor fare as\nwell.\nOur literacy rate is also not what we want it to be- with average reading scores not\nsignificantly higher. Clearly - we still have a long way to go.\nNor is\nis\nPerhaps the best news of all is that today we have much more experience and\ninformation about what works. We know that yes every child can learn, and that schools in\neven the poorest neighborhoods can become world class schools.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished when\ndedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing schools into models of\nsuccess. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school where it wasn't unusual to find more\nstudents hanging out in the hallways than in class. Where only about half the students showed up\non any given day. Where achievement scores were some of the lowest in the nation. But the\nprincipal of that school laid down a new law of discipline. Wired the school for the Internet, and\ncreated a \"culture of reading.\" Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools, and\nprograms\neveryone learned a new vocabulary word a day. People told me that even the security guards\nwould quiz the kids, Leaders like Chicago's Mayor Daley are imposing strict new standards of\naccountability: putting low performing schools on probation; and reconstituting the worst ones.\nthese\ntoday sable is\npaid\nof\nJust recently, I visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl who introduced me was a\nproud star on her basketball team and she wore like all of her fellow students a T-shirt that\nread: \"Dare to compete.\" That day, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports. But to me.\nthat T-shirt represented the spirit that embraced the entire school where dedicated teachers, a\nrigourous curruculum, and an engaged community were helping students were learning how to\nsuccessfully compete in the 21st century.\nI've also heard how schools like PS 154 in Harlem and PS 1 on the lower East Side --\nwere drifting; where student achievement and student aspirations were low, and teachers felt\n04/15/99 THU 21:15 FAX\n006\nisolated. But now they've turned around because of a new level of communication between\nteachers and parents; because of more demanding curricula; new arts and music classes; and\nhigher accountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 there's a big sign hanging at the\nentrance stating: \"Only positive attitudes beyond this point.\" I wish I could hang that sign in\nevery school in the nation.\nAs all of you know so well there are no cookie cutter formulas to create a successful\nschool. We also know there are no magic bullets. It takes an infinite amount of energy and\ndetermination to give our children the tools they need to thrive in the 21 st century, and to lead\nfulfilling and productive lives. But if we are to reach our goal of ensuring every student a\nvery\nworld-class education, then we must draw on the lessons we've learned over the past decade\nand build on them for the future.\n232\nPerhaps the greatest of those lessons is that we must never, ever give up on our public\nschool system. Even as we recognize the challenges we still face -- we must recognize as well its\nenormous strengths and benefits to our children, and to the prosperity of our nation.\nWe can't allow ourselves for example to be pulled off track by false debates\nparticularly about vouchers, which claim to be the real solutions to improving public education,\nand fixing failing schools. At a time when more than WE ever we should be devoting more\nresources, attention and intelligence to improving our public schools -- some want to drain off\nthese resources and give them only to a few making it even more difficult for public schools to\nimprove.\nbetter schools and better smalents.\nVouchers also divide communities at a time when one of our greatest challenges as a\nnation is to pull communities together across racial and economic lines. And we've learned that\nthe voucher system simply does not deliver I've read recent studies that show that when you\nlook at the voucher systems that have been implemented in Cleveland and elsewhere -- there's\nno evidence that students do significantly better. It just hasn't worked.\nI'm heartened by recent polls showing that support for vouchers has declined sharply\nover the past few years particularly when learn that voucher programs reduce funding for\npublic schools. Overwhelmingly - Americans want to fix their public schools - not abandon\nthem.\nto\nthe\nBut if we are committed to fixing them and making America a level l/playing field for\nour children then we must begin by raising our expectations for our students and for our\nchildren. Parents have a vital role to play in challenging their children to reach for the stars. But\nso do schools and teachers. Imagine what it would be like if you were an 8th grader, and had\nlift\ndecided you wanted to go to college, and be a computer programer or a doctor. But you were\ntold there was no more room in the algebra class or the AP class in biology was not even being\noffered in your school. Every child has talents; every child can contribute. We have to make sure\nthey receive not only the encouragement but the opportunities to fulfill their promise.\nlead\nthat you weren't\ncollege material n\nDiploma\n04/15/99 THU 21:16 FAX\n007\nRegents deplome\nI've heard that high expectations just got a boost here in New York when you did away\nwith the general diploma and committed city schools to give every child the chance to pass the earn\nmore rigorous Regency exam. I want to applaud Rick Mills and others for demonstrating his\nconfidence not only in New York's schools but in the capabilities of your students.\nWhile cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of creating new\nachievement standards, the Clinton Aministration is working to be a strong partner in this effort.\nGoals 2000 funds have helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing them to\nmake them part of every teacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President Clinton will\nsoon send to Congress a significant revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act\n(ESEA). It's based on a comprehensive thee-part strategy: targeting increased investments to\ndisadvantaged children with particular attention to the early yelars of schooling; improving\nteacher quality; and promoting real accountablity for results. But we don't need to wait for this\nlegislation to pass. There is much we can do today that will make real difference in the lives of\nall of our children.\nFirst, we know from experience that all children learn better when they get more\nattention. So we must commit ourselves to reducing class size. Who hasn't been in classroom\nwhere even the most talented teacher is struggling to maintain order -- let alone teach -- a\nrambuncious group of 35 or 40 children. A recent 5-year study of Milwaukee confirms the\nimportance of having smaller classes. It showed that schools having a 17-1 student teacher ratio\noutperformed students not only the regular public schools but those who received scholarships\nthrough voucher system. Reports like this one and so many others are why the President is\nfighting SO hard to hire 100,000 teachers so that we can lower class size in the early grades.\nSecond, we must continue to focus on teacher quality. Placing a talented and dedicated\nteacher in every classroom is the single most important thing we can do to ensure our children\nsucceed. But it also means we have to look harder at teacher preparation. And do more on\nteacher\nprofessional in service training. development for existy teacher\n(Teaches\ndon't\nlike\n\"traing\")\nTeachers' colleges obviously play a unique role in this effort and this one is a national\nmodel. Unlike many top universities which have closed their schools of education, or treated\nthem as second class citizens, Teacher's College at Columbia has maintained high standards\ndeft.\nThis\nand sees its mission as engaging research on the central issues facing education while\npreparing the next generation of education leaders. You recognize that setting demanding\nstandards for students, and raising the bar for the content being taught in their classes - will be\nan excercise in frustration if teacher don't have the skills and knowledge to teach to those\nhigher standards.\nOf course, as we strive to ensure that every child has a high quality teacher and to hold\nschools and states accountable for making it happen we have to encourage them to stay in the\nprofession. We can't give new teachers the toughest assignments and then leave them to sink\nor swim. One solution could be to have seasoned teachers serve as mentors to new recruits.\nAnother is to pay tachers what they're worth something this nation has never done. We must\nalso do a better job of matching teachers to classroom -- to keep teachers teaching in their field of\n04/15/99 THU 21:17 FAX\n008\nexpertise. And we must support professional development for all educators -- experienced and\nnew not one shot workshops, but sustained, high quality learning opportunities.\nNor we can we ignore the growing pressures that are building up here in New York and\naround the country as the demand for higher standards for teacher certification comes up\nagainst the growing crisis of teacher shortages. As President Levine argued so persasively on the\npages of the New York Times a few weeks ago -- we must take steps now -- in recruitment and\ntraining that will enable us to hold the bar of excellence high while at the same time\nreducing class size.\nThird, we must expand preschool and early childhood education. Ensuring our our\nchildren particularly those at risk -- come to school ready to learn is a top priority. And we\nknow that preparation for learning begins early -- in the first three years of life. Science now\nconfirms what we've always believed all along: that time sharing a favorite book or talking with\na child -- or even a newborn helps the baby's brain to grow -- and prepares him or her for a\nlifetime of reading and learning. I'm pleased that the President the President has proposed\nmaking a $3 billion investment in the Early Learning Fund so that the language and literacy\nskills so critical to success in school can be learned long before a child steps into the classroom.\nFourth, we must ensure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade. For\nall of you who have worked with and studied children, you know that if a child is not ready well\nby 8 or nine, it's going to be very difficult for that child to ever catch up. And today, 40% of our\nchildren can't read independently by the end of the 3rd grade. That's why we need every\neight\nelementary school teacher to be schooled in the latest research given the opportunity to work\nwith a reading specialist and supported by parents and other volunteers in the classroom.\nskt\nFifth, we must expand the opportunities for those who are behind to get ahead - through\nsummer schools programs; and demanding after school programs that not only provide\nopportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well on gaining ground on their\nacademics as well. Again, we can't just set the bar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra\ntime, and effort and resources it will always take to help children catch up. [And I'm pleased that\nin the President's new budget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and\nafter school programs - to keep a million children learning.]\nAnd finally we must continue to expand choice and accountability in public education.\nCharter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we can foster innovation in the system,\nand challenge children in different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and\njest\nfreedom, they can experiment with new approaches and still be held accountable for making\nsure their students are making the grade. I've been in and out of charter schools around the\nmuch\ncountry -- and while some are struggling I've seen the dramatic differences some of them are\nmaking in the lives and opportunities of their students.\ngone\nI want to mention one further step that I believe has everything to do with enabling every\ncould\n04/15/99 THU 21:18 FAX\n009\nchild to learn and succeed. We must get the arts back into our schools. We know that a lot of a\nkid's education - mine included - didn't just happen during academic classes; but when a\nmusic teacher was introducing us to opera; or the art teacher was trying to teach us how to draw.\nThese positive outlets for expression can help children find their own hidden talents - and even\nmore importantly, believe in themselves.\nsecure\nSo yes, there is much that schools are doing every day to expand the of our children.\nfritures.\nBut we can't ask our schools to be held accountable for the progress we want whether it's\nmore qualified teachers; higher standards; expanded after school programs; or a more effective\nreading program -- if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well.\nWe will see that progress when all parents believe in the importance of education, and\nsupport their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their children. Whenever I walk into a\nschool, I can tell how successfully children are learning by the number of parents who are\nvolunteering in classrooms and after school programs. But we must also reach out to those\nparents who didn't have successful school experiences themselves and empower them with\nmore information and choices to get involved in their child's education.\nParents are also critical in to the broader mission of holding schools accountable for\nprogress. They are often the ones making their voices heard in parent teacher associations and\nschool board meetings, and in the legislatures, as they work as partners to improve their\nchildren's schools and opportunities, But I've also seen in extreme cases when parents have\nliterally taken the situation into their own hands.\nCould cut\nI think of the charter school in San Fernando Valley outside Los Angeles in a\nneighborhood where drug deals were literally taking place on school property. A crack house\nwas across the street. Parents and community members got fed up - and banded together to\nform a charter school. They drove out the drug dealers. They closed down the crack houses.\nThey've also changed the culture of learning inside the classroom. More parents are involved;\nthere are computers in every room. Kids are wearing uniforms. And the result? Expectations\nare soaring, as is student achievement.\nWe will see that progress when communities work in partnership with their schools, and\nare engaged in helping children on their journey to adulthood. The most successful schools I've\nseen are the product of many hands - when everyone from the local police officer to the retired\nteacher to the local business is helping to create the conditions for learning and success. Again\nand again, we see the most at risk students flourish when college students and others volunteer\ntheir time to tutor and mentor those who are falling behind. But every child -- even the most able\nstudents - needs the presence of a caring adult.\nWe will see that progress when businesses understand they have a major stake in\nproducing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I saw what was possible in Arkansas when\na major corporation took that responsibility to heart and helped turn around some of the most\nunderachieving schools. And I've seen that impact duplicated in countless public private\npartnerships with businesses donating everything from computers to teacher training to tutors\n04/15/99 THU 21:19 FAX\n010\nto on the job experiences to college scholarships. The private sector can -- and must -- also play a\nbroader role in prodding schools in their communities to set goals and provide benchmarks\nagainst which to measure progress.\n[what's at stake -- democracy; justice; unleashing the enormous potential;]\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND\nPOSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\n1\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate\ncommitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for\nyour friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring\nthis innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to\nbe here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set\nthe nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to\nPresident Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's\nCollege; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his\nstudents into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the\nlives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of\nPeter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation\nbrings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.\nContributions of Teacher's College\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted\ncollege presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to\nfound Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was\nin the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial\nnation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and\nimmigrants from around the world.\n2\nIt was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new\nbreed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented\nnew influx of people, cultures, and experiences.\nCoder\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs\nof a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's\nTeacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the\nimagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice\nas part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new\nstrategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many\nhigher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or\ndown graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has\nmaintained the highest standards of excellence.\n[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it\nbecame conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early\nyears; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students\n-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a world-\nclass teacher.\n3\nYou've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of\nchange and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing\nprojects; helping to establish professional development schools; and\nmentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.\nYour work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped\ntransform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a\ncollaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and\n10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic\nnew curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership\nand faculty of Teacher's College.\nII. Importance of Public Education\nWe've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that\nnothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future\nthan a good education. And nothing SO limits an individuals's dreams\n-- and denies the nation the talents it needs - when that education is in\nsome way beyond reach In this era of almost limitless possibilities --\nour public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most\ndiverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance\nto live up to their God-given potential.\n4\nI've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern\nIreland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is\nabsolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society.\nAnd that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the\nfuture, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is\nstrengthened.\nb. Those values are threatened by unequal access\nYet those values are threatened when many of our children are\nunable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too\nmany of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;\novercrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled\n-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or\nher to accomplish something, or succeed.\nToday, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended\nsegregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still\ndetermine the quality of your education. (Today, most 17-year-old\nAfrican Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white\nstudents\n5\nToday, the vast majority of white students graduate from high\nschool, compared to a third of Hispanics Today, a third of white\nAmericans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.\n[Not surprisingly the learning gap is rapidly increasing the\nearnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on\nwhat you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more\nthan those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of\nnot getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered\nexpectations -- are increasing every day.]\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways\nof unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-\nclass education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must\nmake sure that education truly does become -- in the words of John\nDewey, America's \"great equalizer.\"\nOver the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have\nset for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple\nmantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: \"All children\ncan learn No exceptions. No excuses.\"\n6\nToday, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the\ngreat promise of the next generation.\nIII. Progress to Improve Public Education\na. HRC involvement\nIt's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where\nwe were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were\nfalling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman\nat the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find\non.\nout why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.\nAnd as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to\nparents about why their children weren't in school. That experience\nconvinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as\ncommitted to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as\nwe were to serving the best and the brightest.\nb. A Nation at Risk\nWith the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to\nAmerica that the challenges we saw in individual schools were\nwidespread.\n7\nWe were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education\nwas being eroded \"by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future\nas a nation and a people.\" Only half of our high school graduates were\ngoing to college. Academic achievement was plummeting and the\ndrop out rate was rising, Compared to other industrialized nations, the\nUS ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm\nbetween a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed\ncitizenry.\nc. State Efforts (Arkansas)\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in\nresponse, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up\nI hed a chance to first the effer\ntheir sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then we\narkana\nGovernor, asked me to chair a committee that would make\nrecommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began\ntraveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents\nabout the challenges they faced. I saw first hand the challenges many of\nour schools were facing particulary those in rural areas.\n8\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for\nstudent achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to\nimprove our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much\nmore involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we\nrealized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every\nschool - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never\nsee the progress we wanted to see.\n[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --\nranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted\nto be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he\nadmitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't\nprepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young\nman who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all\nthey could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards\nwere that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that\nBill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the\nchance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever\nyou plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my\nhusband's lifelong priorities.]\n9\nD. Charlottesville Summit\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,\nwhere national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a\nbipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor\nClinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill\nset to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support\nnational goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.\nE. Goals 2000/ESEA J\nEducas\nAmong the President's proudest achievements in the first term\nGet\nwere Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --\nfor the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop\nassessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this\nrequirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for\ndisadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower\nexpectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the\nPresident's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted\nhigh-poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve\nthe entire school.\n10\nBoth Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.\nTitle I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district\n[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];\nto report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to\nmake adequate progress.\nTaken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed\nthe federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the\ndevelopment and implementation of high academic standards for all\nchildren. In the past -- our system had too often supported and\nencouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor\nchildren -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six\nyears, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --\nand we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.\nIV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?\nOver the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student\nacademie achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents;\nand bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.\n11\nWe've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not\nonly set high standards for our students -- but that schools -- and all of\nus -- must be held accountable for enabling students to reach that raised\nbar of excellence.\nThese reforms have sparked a burst of state and local reform\nactivity -- important innovations that are improving the educational\nprogress of our children. The rapid development of statewide\nacademie standards is unprecedented in the United States, and\nawareness of the need to change practices to support standards is strong\nacross states, districts and schools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals\n2000 -- have been a major force in supporting and stimulating state-\nbased reform. Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging\nacademic standards, and most states are working to develop or adopt\nnew assessments aligned with those standards.\nAnd as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local level --\nand perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated teachers -- schools\nare improving and our students are doing better. A few weeks ago, we\nreleased new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up\nfor the first time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.\n12\nOur achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores\n- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in\nthe right direction - with the largest gains in math. For the first time\nin history, SAT and ACT scores have increased each year for the past\nfive years.\nwhat have we learned\nThe key lesson that we' ve learned from Goals 2000, ESEA and-\nrelated state and local reform initiatives are that standards-based\neducation reform works. A recent study of education reform in North\nCarolina and Texas -- the two states with the best track record of\nimproving achievement generally and closing achievement gaps\nbetween minority and white students -- shows us the ingredients of\nsuccess -- particularly for disadvantaged students: sustained, statewide\napproaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the\nflexibility they need, targeting resources for extra help to low-\nperforming students and schools, and holding schools accountable for\nresults.\n[Other studies have shown that states and school districts, like\nPhiladelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have adopted\nsimilar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.]\n13\nA recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are being\nused to support a broad range of education activities at the state and\nlocal levels -- including local education reform, professional\ndevelopment, and the development of education standards and\nassessments. Many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has been a\nsignificant factor in promoting their education reform efforts.\nHRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School in\nChelsea, where T-shirt read \"Dare to compete.\"]\n[Nve heard how schools here in New York are replacing low\nexpectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;\nnew classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of\naccountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big\nsign hanging in the entrance hall stating: \"Only positive attitudes\nbeyond this point.\" I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the\nnation.\nBecaus of the succes 9 the effect\nWe know that every child can learn when given the attention he\nor she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can\nbecome world class schools. But 5 we smill here alay\nwas togo [ see 5\n14\nOur challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school and\nevery classroom in the country.\nfor\nthe\nWhat we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:\nfillure\nHow do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The\nPresident has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the\nElementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed\nto take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's\nbased on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased\ninvestments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the\nearly years of schooling. Second, Ond to improve teacher quality. And third,\nto promote real accountability for results.\nA. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY\nJohn Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said:\n\"The victory is in the classroom.\" That victory is only assured when a\ntalented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers\nare America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far -\n-about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be\naccomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.\n15\nHow we recruit prepare, and retain good teachers must be the\ncentral strategy for improving our schools.\n1. Higher Standards\nThe vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are\npreparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing\nundermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's\nchances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the\nknowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach\nsubjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one\n00\nquarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their\nmain teaching field.\nFirst, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our\nchildren.\n** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,\nknowledge of subject matter; are teaching skills -- and the National Board\n)\nfor Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.\n** School districts must end the practice of using emergency\ncertification to fill classrooms.\n16\nHow can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly\nhired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11\npercent have no license at all?\nWhat we're doing about it\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school\ndistricts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency\ncertification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations\nfor all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter\nknowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to\nhelp them achieve these goals.\nSome may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two\nmillion new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals\nfor teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the\nteacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented\ncandidates to the profession.\n17\n2. Recruitment/attraction\nColleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality\ncandidates -- as is proved every day here at Teacher's college. But\nunfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to\nthe high standards of this institution. Universities must be held\naccountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these\neducational programs and if they can't measure up, these programs\nshould be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of\neducation as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention\nand resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and\nx\nlawyers.\nWe must do more to attract talented people to the profession of\nteaching --- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the\ntraining they need to translate their subject matter and life\nexperiences into a teaching career.\n** The Administration is planning to expand the President's\nTroops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from\nother field.\n18\n** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for\nPeace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they\ncommit to two years.\n** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to\nstudents who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.\n** Some school districts and universities are working together to\ncreate middle and high school programs that expose young people to the\nteaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives\nacademically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised\nexperiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study\neducation with school and university faculty.\nWe need more programs like these to make sure we raise\nstandards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.\n3. Retention\nOnce we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must\ndo more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has\nmade the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing\nthemselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --\nand then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.\n19\nIt's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three\nyears. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to\nthe teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This\nmight make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost -\n- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to\nreceive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and\nteacher unions must work together to make sure that the best\ninterests of students are the top priority.\nhave her Moved\nStrategies to give DOW teachers the extra support they need:\nare\n** peer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that\nShare-ker used\nallow high performing teachers to work with new ones;\nof but it Deted of\n** school districts should allow time for team planning. Unlike\ndos\ndoctors and lawyers, dl who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers are\nthe\nward\nswe\nMove\noften cut off from their co-workers/ Among teachers whose schools\nteach\nthe\nto\nhalf\ndedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching \"a\napp\nlot\" -- and another third say it \"moderately.\" Yet this practice remains\ncimp w the\nLeo ment\nthe exception -- not the rule.\nleader and\nlollsu,\nisdated in\nthe clean\n20\n4. Professional Development\nAll teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing\nprofessional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms\nof these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the\n\"one shot\" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to\nteachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching\nand America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving\nteaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers\nneed to help students succeed.\nA serious program of sustained development -- based on research\nthat works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in\nplace in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in\ntheir subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to\nadjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to\nresponse to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need\nmore help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;\nwith disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.\n21\n& response the am\nWhat the Administration is doing to help\n** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on\nresearch-based principles of professional development -- and the\nDepartment of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the\npractice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the\na\n$1.2 b fund\nPresident has proposed increasing funding that can be used for\nprofessional development as an important part of the ESEA proposal.\nincluding pressuppnt and other team-based acherities\nOther\nAdministration\ninclude\n** Reducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is\na major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that\nCongress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new\nteachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good\nfor students.\nA recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools\nhaving a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in\nthe public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the\nsystem. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits\nof one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young\nchildren.\n22\n** The Administration supports the National Board for\nProfessional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a\nnational voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher\nstandards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for\nteachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers\nhave come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct\n-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.\nPaying teachers what they're worth\nAnd finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality\nDE\nteachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that\nwe remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these\nteachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced\nteachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them\nto other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for\nschool districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state\nleaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the\nresources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,\nwe ought to raise salaries as well.\n23\nB. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO\nDISADVANTAGED CHILDREN\nJust as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in\nschools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other\nresources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are\nmost in need.\nEarly Learning\nThis disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to\nprenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one\nwho will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years\nof life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to\nlearn and grow.\n[Our White House Conference on Early Development and\nLearning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood\ndevelopment the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this\ninvaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I\nhave worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early\nLearning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,\nparticularly those with the least resources.\n24\n[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading\nPartnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together\npublishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care\nprofessionals can \"prescribe\" reading to parents. We're now serving\nmore than 780,000 children in 47 states.\nEarly childhood development programs are also critical to ensure\nthat every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,\nHead Start has provided low-income preschool children with\ncomprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin\n/federal support for home and for\nschool already behind. I've pushed for/increased funding for Head Start\nfor many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start\ndollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional\nfunding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to\nwhat ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to\nreceive high quality early childhood education to help them become\n\"school ready.\"\nBut we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We\nknow, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,\nthey should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.\n25\nChildren need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're\nnot talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and\nforcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to\nknow can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the\nearly childhood and education communities work together to develop\nappropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool\nprograms and to make related training widely available to early\nchildhood teachers.\nReading\nDC\nWe put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of\nalmost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason\nthat children are retained, assigned to special education, or given long-\nterm remedial services. Although overall reading performance has been\nmore or less unchanged since 1972 40 percent of all nine-year-olds\nscore below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational\nProgress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between\nwhite students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69\npercent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored\nbelow the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders\ndid].\n26\nTo close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in\nmany classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled\nin the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading\nspecialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The\nPresident has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading\nindependently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us\nto meet it.\n[Title I\nThe ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I\n-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a\ndisproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.\nHistorically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding\ntargeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty\nschools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children\nand their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required\nstates to develop content and performance standards in reading and\nmath, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded school-\nwide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.\n27\nThese changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near\nwhere we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization\nproposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to\nthe same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even\nfurther, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,\nincreased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of\nteacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the\nNational Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation\nproposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure\nthe early identification of children with reading difficulties.]\nI\nMathematics\nLike reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,\nparticularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant\ngaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too\noften, only students thought to be \"good at math\" or \"college material\"\nare given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a\ndisproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous\nand to marn of these students are\nmathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African\nAmerican or Hispanic.\n28\nMany young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to\ngo on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,\nand school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the\narea of mathematics achievement, eliminate \"general math\" in the\ncurriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need\nto succeed in higher level mathematics.\nC. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY\nIf we are committed to level the playing field for our children --\nthen we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their\nrace or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a\nboost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma\n-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the\nmore rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating\nconfidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.\nwhe new yes\nWhile cities and states across the country are working hard to raise\nexpectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton\nAdministration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals\nWe've\n2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing\nthem -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.\n29\nNow, we need to take accountability to the next level:\nThe President's agenda on accountability pinclude C Call\nproposal to glur\n** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed\nrequiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely\ndistributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and\nthe state. We must empower parents with more information and more\nchoices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the\nquality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We\nowe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should\nissue report cards on every school.\nI\nTough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will require\nstates to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and\nleast improvement and take corrective action to turn them around These\ncorrective actions, based on a careful assessment of each school's needs,\nwould include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to\nimprove school discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches\nto school reform.\n30\nIf these actions do not raise student achievement within two years,\ndo more\nthe proposal would require states to take additional corrective actions,\nsuch as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting\nthe school -- by fairly evaluating the staff and making staff changes as\nappropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or\nwith an entirely new staff.\nNineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve\nlow-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when these\ninterventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the\nresources to support change, schools improve and student achievement\nincreases. The President's FY 2000 budget contains $200 million to\nhelp states begin taking these steps immediately.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be\naccomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join\nforces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du\nfor seen\nI\nSable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up\non any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in\nthe nation.\n31\nBut the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,\nwired the school for the Internet, and created a \"culture of reading.\"\nTeachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone\nlearned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would\nquiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.\nI\nEnd social promotion. No child should graduate from high\nschool with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no\nfavors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without\nmastering the material. But we can just hold students back because the\nsystem fails them.\nMany people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will\nhurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in\ngrade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.\nBut these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is\nto hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will\nneed to succeed.\n32\nThis extra help is reflected in the administration's class size\nreduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21st Century\nLearning Centers after school initiative, which the President has\nmpo\nproposed to dramatically expand. Instead of using this new policy as an\nexcuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be\nexpected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion\nstandards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer\nschool programs.\nWe can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate\nfrom high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a\nletter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and\nthey are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.\nT\nGive parents more information, and more choices. Giving\nparents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens\naccountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the\nways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in\ndifferent ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,\nthey can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held\naccountable for making sure their students are making the grade.\n33\nWhen the President first came into office -- there was just one\nindependent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.\nAnd the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next\ncentury -- there will be 3,000.\nI've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and\nwhile some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are\nmaking in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San\nFernando Valley charter school story.]\nare\nWe can learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public\nranked last on the ald\nschool choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many\nwho I\nchallenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And as a\nrecent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University\nof New York tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled\nthe overall number of schools and created many small schools as\nare result,\nalternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most\nimportant -- both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools\nclestried and the\n)\nboth the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones -- contrary\nhelle perferms\nscheds\nto fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were\nu NY\nfavored over others.\nHow\nv1 similar\n34\ncerculate of pereo,\n[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in\nthe late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math\ntests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of\nfamilies living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last\nin New York City in 1974.]\ne\nVouchers\nAt a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater\naccountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we\ncan't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --\nparticularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to\nimproving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when\nwe should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to\nimproving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable\nresources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to\nimprove. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our\ngreatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across\nracial and economic lines.\n35\nWe've also learned that the voucher system simply does not\ndeliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the\nvoucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that\nstudents do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix\nour public schools -- not abandon them.\nVI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.\nSchools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a\nworld-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the\nprogress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We\nor\nneed a true partnership.\nWe need parents who believe in the importance of education, and\nsupport their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their\nchildren. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent\nto make a difference.\nWe need communities to work in partnership with their schools,\nand be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be\naccomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired\nteacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.\n36\nAnd we need businesses who understand they have a major stake\nin producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the\nimpact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private\npartnerships when local businesses contribute everything from\nschool-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs\nand volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding\nschools accountable for high standards and student achievement.\nVII. Conclusion\nWhen this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that\neducation could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers\nshould care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of\nAmerica's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent\nin our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry\nwas required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a\nstake in the learning of every child.\nSurely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of\nhistory, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to\nour future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.\n37\nThe interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly\nexpanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread\nthat knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common\npotential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity\nlie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our\naging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly\nrevitalizing system of public education in America.\nMake no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public\neducation is more urgent than ever for America. It will require\nimagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,\nmoney. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of\nteaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --\nand America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our\nchildren, and we can do no less for the future of our great country.\n38\nI.\n[Columbia Teachers' college hasn't been closely linked w/ NYC schools in the past, but have\ncloser relationship now on some issues-- several professors now work with the local union on\nliteracy and writing skills projects and on performance assessments.]\nII. Importance of public education\nIII. Nation at Risk\nState efforts\nSummit in Williamsburg\nESEA and Goals 2000\n[In the main we got what we asked for, only we were more tough on low-performing schools, and\nHouse Dems slowed that down, though they are now pushing this kind of accountability.)\nAnd amongst (our/ the President's proudest achievements) in the first term was Goals 2000 and\nthe Improving America's Schools Act, the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. The principle of both\nthese Acts overhauled federal elementary and secondary education programs by insisting that\nevery state set challenging academic standards that all students are expected to reach. Goals 2000\nrequired states to set academic standards for all students and develop assessments aligned to those\nstandards. Title 1 of ESEA built on this requirement by mandating that states use these standards\nfor disadvantaged students, thus ending the practice of setting lower expectations for low-income\nstudents.\nESEA also provided schools, school districts and states with the flexibility to determine how best\nto educate students to meet high standards. ESEA reduced regulations, paperwork, and reporting\nrequirements; launched the President's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools; and permitted\nhigh-poverty schools (with 50% or more students eligible for Title 1) to combine funds from\nseparate streams and use them to improve the whole school.\nAnd both pieces of legislation held schools accountable for the results they achieve. Title I now\nrequires states to set annual goals for each school and district relating to the number of students\nwho must reach academic standards; to report progress annually for each school (disaggregating\ndata by demographic subgroup); and to intervene in schools that fail to make adequate progress.\nIV. Lessons learned:\nThese reforms have sparked considerable state and local reform activity -- important innovations\nthat are improving the educational progress of our children.\nAnd, last week, we released new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up for the\nfirst time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th; we're making slow, but steady progress.\nOur achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores - which in '83 were in a virtual\nfree fall - are once again heading in the right direction - with the largest gains in math and\nscience.\nThe Clinton Administration's first efforts in improving elementary and secondary education -\nGoals 2000 and ESEA, fundamentally changed the Federal role in elementary and secondary\neducation to support the development and implementation of high academic standards for all\nchildren. In the past, our system had too often supported and encouraged a two-tiered system\nthat had low expectations for poor children and held poor and educationally disadvantaged\nchildren to lower academic standards.\nThere is still work to be done though to take these activities to the next level -- to ensure that\ngoals in the state house are translated into the classroom. The key lessons that we've learned\nfrom Goals 2000, ESEA and related state and local reform initiatives are:\nStandards-based education reform works. A recent study of education reform in North Carolina\nand Texas -- the two states with the best track record of improving achievement generally and\nclosing achievement gaps between minority and white students -- shows that sustained, statewide\napproaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the flexibility they need,\ntargeting resources for extra help to low-performing students and schools, and holding schools\naccountable for results produces real results, particularly for disadvantaged students. Other\nstudies have shown that states and school districts, like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and\nChicago, that have adopted similar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.\nWe know what we've been doing works -- states that are doing things that goals 2000 pushed for\nare making big gains, can't attribute that to Goals 2000. Our challenge ahead is to push reform so\nthat it reaches every school and every classroom in the country.\nRecent study by GAO shows how important Goals 2000 has been to the education reform effort:\nThe report noted that GAO funds are being used to support a broad range of education activities\nat the state and local levels; districts have used Goals 2000 funds to pay for a range of education\nreform initiatives, including: local education reform, professional development, the development\nof education standards and assessments, and many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has\nbeen a significant factor in promoting their education reform efforts, and in several cases, was\ncatalyst for some aspect of the state's education reform movement, and state and local officials\nsaid that Goal 2000 funding provided valuable assistance and that, without this funding, some\nreform efforts would not have been accomplished so quickly if at all.\nReform is headed in the right direction, but states are still in the process of implementing reforms.\nStates have adopted policies affecting standard-based education reform, but these policies do not\ngo far enough. Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging academic standards, and most\nstates are working to develop or adopt new assessments aligned with the standards. The rapid\ndevelopment of statewide academic standards is unprecedented in the United States, and\nawareness of the need to change practice to support standards is strong across states, districts and\nschools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals 2000 -- have been a major force in supporting and\nstimulating state-based reform. However, implementing standards driven reform at the school and\nclassroom level is more difficult -- and the next challenge in education.\nV. The next phase reform:\nNow we must take them to the next level to ensure the whole school responds to standards-based\nreform. We have put forward a bold vision on the future of education reform that will take\naccountability to the next level:\na. Accountability - getting the standards in the classroom up to the standards in the state house:\nWhile states are setting standards, we need to do more to make sure that our schools implement\nthese standards based reforms in the classrooms. And we need greater accountability for\nperformance: [ Fewer states, however, have adopted accountability systems along with the\nstandards. Only 25 states provide for financial intervention in low-performing schools, as\nrequired by Title 1. In addition, only 17 states provide extra help, such as summer school or\ntutoring, for students who do not meet the standards, and only fives states require students to\ndemonstrate they have met the standards as a condition for promotion.]\nAn agenda around accountability:\nAnnual school report cards: The President has proposed requiring annual report cards, easily\nunderstood by and widely distributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district\nand the state. And now we're building continuing to promote high standards for all students,\nstrengthening the emphasis on accountability for results by calling for school report cards so\neveryone knows what the results are. We must empower parents, with more information\nand more choices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the quality of the\nlocal restaurants than on the quality of the local schools. Every school district should issue\nreport cards on every school.\nTough interventions in low-performing schools: The President has proposed significantly\nstrengthening the accountability requirements in Title 1 so as to require and adequately fund\nimmediate and significant state and local intervention in the lowest performing schools. The\nPresident's proposal [which strengthens the current accountability provisions in Title 1 relating to\nlow-performing schools] would require the immediate public identification of and intervention in\nthe lowest performing schools in each state (i.e., schools with very low levels of achievement that\nhave made little or no improvement over the previous three years. The proposal would set aside\n2.5% of Title 1 funds to support aggressive intervention in these schools, including an external\nssessment of each schools' needs and implementation of needed improvements (such as addressing\nschool safety and security needs, providing better teacher training, acquiring up-to date textbooks,\ntechnology and curriculum materials, and extending learning time to help students catch up\nacademically). All states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools --\nor shut them down. (Applause.) That's the policy established in North Carolina by Governor Jim\nHunt. North Carolina made the biggest gains in test scores in the nation last year. Our budget\nincludes $200 million to help states turn around their own failing schools.\nWe must also end the practice of social promotion. No child should graduate from high school\nwith a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no favors when we allow them to pass\nfrom grade to grade without mastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because\nthe system fails them. We must make schools accountable to give their students what they need\nto succeed to meet the standards, through smaller class size and more attention to kids. We must\nmake sure our schools and school systems do right by our kids -- that is the most basic\naccountability issue. And they need our help, so the President has tripling the funding for summer\nschool and after-school programs, to keep a million children learning.\nTeachers\n(Idea: do connection btwn standards and teacher quality, then do professional development, then\nmid career transition, then class-size, then pay)\nWe must ensure teachers have capacity to make standards come alive in classroom. (Some ode to\nteachers): We have a lot to do here, because so many teachers are being called on to teach out of\nfield, etc. This won't work to get our kids up to speed:\nNow we should face some facts, we have a ways to go:\nGovernor Hunt's National Commission on Teaching and America's Future has underscored the\ndifficulty of recruiting and retaining talented and well-prepared teachers, especially in schools with\nthe most disadvantaged students. About 50,000 teachers each year enter the progression with\nemergency or substandard licenses. Nearly one quarter of secondary teachers lack even a minor\nin their main teaching field, and in schools with the highest minority enrollment, students have less\nthan a 50% chance of having a math or scient teacher with a license and degree in the field. On\naverage, 22% of new teachers leave the field within three years, and in urban areas, 30-50% leave\nwithin five years. Paraprofessionals are widely and increasingly used to provide instruction to\nlow-achieving students in Title 1 schools, with as many as 20% of Title 1 instruction aides\nproviding instruction without a teacher's supervision. By one estimate, instructional aides\naccount for roughly half (67,000) of the entire Title 1 instructional workforce, and Title I aides\nare being hired at twice the rate of Title 1 certified teachers.\nThe President has proposed a dramatic expansion of professional development -- Mike is it $200\nmillion? -- to support high quality, sustained professional development programs -- programs that\nallow teachers to work together as colleagues, to support them in finding solutions to challenges\nthey face in their school -- to work on curriculum related to high standards Professional\ndevelopment (support efforts for teachers to work collectively -- Pres. Proposed $200 million).\nBut obviously we need to have qualified teachers in classroom -- initiatives to get more qualified\nteachers in classroom -- from Troops to teachers (litany stuff)\nTroops to Teachers --\nTalk about class size: 1) smaller class size w/ well prepared work, esp. w/ disadvantaged kids, get\nmost benefit from it - 2) we know that it's not easy to get well-prepared for teachers -- can use\nsome of money to recruit and train teachers -- it's not just a matter of getting bodies into the\nclassroom and we're doing something about recruitment and teacher.\nAll over country, there are a lot of people who haven't met state standards, many places are\nfinding it hard to attract qualified teachers into the teaching profession, many -- but one step\nwould be paying what they're worth. Other things: (safe places for kids -- a little joke about safe\nplace to park wouldn't be bad idea) But at a time of unbridled economic optimism, we need to\nincrease resources to the schools and pay teachers what their worth.\nTargeting increased investments to disadvantaged children. Ending social promotion and building\nup kids.\nTargeting increased investments to disadvantaged children\nJust as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in schools serving\npredominately low-income and minority children, other resources are similarly limited\nwhen it comes to the children who are most in need.\nThis disparity begins before birth - when a mother's access to prenatal care can make the\ndifference between a healthy baby and one who will suffer lifelong disabilities. We\nknow that even in the first years of life, reading to and talking to a child literally\nstimulates the brain to learn and grow.\nOur White House Conference on Early Development and Learning gave the leading\nexperts in the field of early childhood development the opportunity to explain their\ndiscoveries and to put this invaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's\nfamilies. I have worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early Learning\nFund to help more families put this research into practice, particularly those with the least\nresources. This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading Partnership,\nwhich I launched two years ago to bring together publishers, booksellers, pediatricians,\nand other dedicated citizens so that health care professionals can \"prescribe\" reading to\nparents. We're now serving more than 780,000 children in 47 states.\nEarly childhood development programs are also critical to ensure that every child comes\nto school ready to learn. For over three decades, Head Start has provided low-income\npreschool children with comprehensive development services to make sure they don't\nbegin school already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start for many\nyears, and I am pleased that under President Clinton, Head Start dollars have more than\ndoubled. Many states have provided additional funding for early childhood education,\nand we are well on the way to what ought to be our goal: providing every child the\nopportunity to receive high quality early childhood education to help them become\n\"school ready.\"\nBut we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We know, for example, that\nin order for children to be on track to read well, they should come to school having a\nstrong base of cognitive skills related to print, background knowledge, and a love of\nbooks. We're not talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and\nforcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to know can be learned\nif they are read to, and if they have language rich experiences. I propose that the early\nchildhood and education communities work together to develop developmentally\nappropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool programs and to make\nrelated training widely available to early childhood teachers.\nWe put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of almost every other\nsubject. Reading failure is the overwhelming reason that children are retained, assigned to\nspecial education, or given long-term remedial services. Although overall reading\nperformance has been more or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-\nolds score below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress\n(NAEP) reading test. There is a continuing gap-between white students and African-\nAmerican and Hispanic students. While 69 percent of African-American and 64 percent\nof Hispanic students scored below the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth\ngraders did.\nTo close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in many classrooms.\nEvery elementary school teacher should be schooled in the latest research - given the\nopportunity to work with a reading specialist, and have the support of parents and other\ntutors. The President has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading\nindependently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.\nThe ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve another critical program for\ndisadvantaged children, including a disproportionate number of African American and\nHispanic students: Title I. Historically, Title I has been the single largest source of\nFederal funding targeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty\nschools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children and their more\nadvantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required states to develop content and\nperformance standards in reading and math, and improved the targeting of resources. It\nalso expanded school-wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.\nThese changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near where we need to be.\nTherefore, the President's reauthorization proposal continues the important features of\nthe 1994 legislation - holding at-risk children in high-poverty schools to the same high\nstandards expected of other children - but goes even further, with additional resources for\nthe lowest achieving schools, increased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing\nout the use of teacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Importantly, consistent with\nthe National Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation proposes the use of\ndiagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure the early identification of children with\nreading difficulties.\nLike reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects, particularly science\nand technology. But here too, we find significant gaps among whites and African\nAmerican and Hispanic students. Too often, only students thought to be \"good at math\"\nor \"college material\" are given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a\ndisproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous mathematics courses\nand poorer quality instruction are African American or Hispanic. Children will not learn\nwhat they are not taught. Many young people will be effectively denied the opportunity\nto go on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors, and school\nadministrators hold higher expectations for all students in the area of mathematics\nachievement, eliminate \"general math\" in the curriculum, and provide the additional\nsupports some students will need to succeed in higher level mathematics.\nFinally, as we push for higher standards in every school and every subject, we must also\nmake sure that those who don't succeed in meeting them get the extra help they need.\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to end social\npromotion - the practice of promoting students from grade to grade regardless of whether\nthey have mastered the appropriate material and are academically prepared to do the\nwork at the next level. Students who are promoted without regard to their achievement\nfall even further behind their classmates, and are more likely to lack basic skills upon\ngraduating from high school.\nMany people worry that this policy will hurt children of color unfairly, arguing that\nchildren who are retained in grade are more likely to drop out of school and face other\nchallenges. But these critics miss the point - the goal of ending social promotion is to\nhold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will need to succeed.\nThis extra help is reflected in the administration's class size reduction initiative, the\nReading Excellence Act, and the 21ˢᵗ Century Learning Centers after school initiative,\nwhich the President has proposed to expand. Instead of using this new policy as an\nexcuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be expected to take\naggressive action to help all students make promotion standards on time, even if this\nmeans providing afterschool and summer school programs and other additional resources\nmust be made available. We can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults\ngraduate from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a letter.\nThese are the students who are hurt by current practice, and they are the students with the\nmost to gain from the proposed policy.\n[Neera - I think LEP belongs here but I don' I know enough to write about it coherently -\ncan you fill in?]\nAPR-17-99 06:24 PM\nP.02\nREVISED\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND\nPOSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment\nto creating a more just world for our children; and for your friendship. I also\nwant to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring this innovative new lecture series.\nIt is a great honor and pleasure to be here at this revered educational institution,\nwhich for so long has set the nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are\nindebted to President Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's\nCollege; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his teachers\ninto dedicated individuals who will make a real difference in the lives of their\nstudents. I also want to recognize the creative vision of Peter Cookson whose\nCenter for Educational Outreach and Innovation brings the best minds in the field\nto bear on the challenges of teaching today.\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted college\npresidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to found Teachers\nCollege - the world was in upheaval. Our country was in the throws of\ntransforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial nation, and cities were\nfilled with new arrivals from the countryside and immigrants from around the\nworld. It was time - your founders had decided - to start educating a new breed\nof teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented new influx of\npeople, cultures, and experiences.\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a\nchanging world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's Teacher's College;\nevery time you give teachers the skills to spark the imagination of a child; every\ntime you instill the spirit of social justice as part of your educational framework;\nand everytime you pioneer new strategies to better reach urban and minority\nstudents. At a time when so many higher education institutions have closed their\n-\nAPR 06:25 PM\nP.03\nschools of education -- or treated them like forgotten step children -- Columbia's\nTeacher's College has maintained the highest standards of excellence and been\nan international leader In its field.\nToday - 100 years after your founding - the country is in the midst of\nanother extraordinary revolution as we move into the knowledge and technology\nbased global economy of the 21st century. One again, you are pioneering new\nstrategies to teach the skills of the future. But some fundamental truthremain. As\nAmericans, we still believe there is nothing more important than a good\neducation. Nothing else offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better\nfuture. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams — and denies the nation the\ntalents it needs - when that education is in some way beyond reach.\nIn this era of almost limitless possibilities - our public school system holds\nout the promise that here, in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the\nworld everyone has a chance to live up to their God-given potential. It's a goal\nadmired and emulated around the world.\nI've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern Ireland, who\nbelieve passionately that a unified education system like ours is absolutely critical\nto building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society. And that is our mission.\nEvery day, as children in classrooms everywhere learn the skills of the future, and\nthe values we hold in common, our democracy is strengthened.\nYet those values are threatened when many of our children are unable to\nreap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too many of America's\nchildren attend schools that are understaffed; overcrowded; and falling down.\nWhen too many dreams go unfulfilled - not because a child lacks ability - but\nbecause no one expects him or her to accomplish something, or succeed. When\nthe gap continues to grow between those who can navigate their way on the\ninformation superhighway and learn the skills of the future - and those who are\nbeing left far behind.\nWhen the color of your skin can still determine the quality of your\neducation. Today, most 17-year-old African Americans are reading at the level of\nmost 13-year old white students. Today, the vast majority of white students\ngraduate from high school, compared to a third of Hispanics Today, a third of\n2\nAPR-17-99 06:25 PM\nP. 04\nwhite Americans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.\nNot surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the earnings gap.\nAs my husband always says - what you earn depends on what you learn. College\neducated Americans are now making 76% more than those who simply hold a high\nschool diploma. The terrible costs of not getting a quality education -- in lower\nquality of life and lowered expectations -- are increasing every day.\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways of\nunleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-class education\nthe birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must make sure that\neducation truly does become in the words of John Dewey, America's \"great\nequalizer.\"\nOver the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have set for\nourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple mantra at public\nschool #1 here in Manhattan. It states: \"All children can learn No exceptions\nNo excuses.\" Today, I'd like to talk about the remarkable progress we've made in\nmaking that statement a reality in the classrooms of America, and in the lives of\nour children. I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be proud\nof. But I also want to talk about what we must still do together to fulfill the\npromise of the next generation.\nIt's easier to see how far we've come when we look back at where we were.\nI first became acutely aware of how many of our children were falling through the\ncracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense\nfund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find out why millions of school-aged\nchildren were not coming to school. And as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of\ndoors that year -- talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.\nThat experience convinced me as never before that our schools had to be as\ncommitted to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as we were\nto serving the best and the brightest.\nA decade later, with the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became\nclear to America that the challenges we saw in individual schools were\nwidespread. We were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education was\nbeing eroded \"by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and\n3\nAPR-17-99 06:26 PM\nP.05\na people.\" Only half of our high school graduates were going to college.\nAcademic achievement was plummeting - and the drop out rate was rising.\nCompared to other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps\nmost troubling -- the report showed a growing chasm between a scientific and\ntechnological elite - and an ill informed citizenry.\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching — and in response,\npeople at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up their sleeves, and\nlooking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to\nchair a committee that would make recommendations for improving Arkansas's\neducational system. I began traveling across the state -- listening and talking to\nteachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It was on these trips that I\nsaw first hand the challenges many of our schools were facing -- particulary those\nin rural areas. Educational resources were sorely lacking, and students tended to\nmeet the low expectations they were offered.\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student\nachievement, and about raising teaching standards. We started to form alliances\nwith businesses to improve our public schools, and introduced new programs that\nencouraged parents to become much more involved in the education of their\nchildren. But most of all we realized that if we did not change the approach to\neducation; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every school\n- and every teacher — and every child — then we would never see the progress\nwe wanted to see in this one small part of America.\nI'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate -- ranked second\nin his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But\nwhen I asked where he was going to college, he admitted he couldn't get in\nanywhere. His high school simply hadn't prepared him adequately. I remember\nthinking to myself: here's a young man who worked hard; stayed out of trouble;\nand whose family did all they could for him. But his local school didn't know\nwhat the standards were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was\nthen that both me and my husband decided that no matter where you are born in a\nstate, or what state you were born in - you should be held to high standards, and\nhigh expectations. Pushing for high achievement standards became one of my\nhusband's lifelong priorities.\n4\nAPR-17-99 06:26 PM\nP.06\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where\nnational education goals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of\ngovernors and President Bush. Then governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with\nthe President. And when Bill Clinton was elected President - he set to work with\nanother former governor, Dick Riley, to support national goals -- and help schools,\nteachers, and students meet them.\nOver the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student academic\nachievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents; and bring the\ntechnology of the 21 st century into the classroom. We've also sent the strongest\npossible message that we must not only set high standards for our students but\nthat schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling students to\nreach that raised bar of excellence.\nSo what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15\nyears ago? Are our children improving academically? Have we raised our\nstandards and expectations? Are we giving all of America's students regardless\nof where they live - a world-class education? Like any dynamic reform process -\nwe see significant progress, and goals that remain unrealized. But with 90% of\nAmerica's students in public school, and our country enjoying unparalleled growth\nand prosperity, we know we're moving in the right direction..\nThanks to dedicated educators and leaders like those of you here today,\nachievement levels of our high school students are climbing back up. SAT scores\n- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall — are once again heading in the right\ndirection — with the largest gains in math and science. And just a few months\nago, new data shows we've made small but significant gains in reading. Today,\nfewer students are dropping out, and raised expectations have resulted in higher\ncollege enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students enrolled in college.\nToday, two thirds are reaching that goal. Across the country, students in our\npoorest schools are making gains, and in some communities, the gap between\nthose living in poverty and those in more prosperous neighborhoods is finally\nnarrowing. One of our greatest success stories: thanks to tax credits, Pell grants,\nand HOPE scholarships, we have finally opened the doors of college to all\nAmericans.\n5\nAPR-17-99 06:27 PM\nP.07\nBut serious challenges remain, particularly with our youngest and oldest\ncitizens. While the international standing for America's 4th graders is now\ncomparing favorably to our counterparts overseas, our 8th and 12th graders do nor\nfare as well. Our adult illiteracy rate remains unacceptably high. And reading\nscores - while improving -- are not anywhere near where we want them to be.\nWe have a long way to go but we also have under our belts much more\nexperience and information about what really works. We know that yes -- every\nchild can learn when given the attention he or she deserves, and that yes, schools\nin even the poorest neighborhoods can become world class schools.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished\nwhen dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing\nschools into models of success. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school -\nwhere only about half the students showed up on any given day, and achievement\nscores were some of the lowest in the nation. But the principal of that school laid\ndown a new law of discipline, wired the school for the Internet, and created a\n\"culture of reading.\" Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools;\nand everyone learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards\nwould quiz the kids. And as a result of these innovations schools like Du\nSable are turning around.\nHere in New York, I recently visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl\nwho introduced me was a proud star on her basketball team -- and she like all of\nher fellow students that day, she wore a T-shirt that read: \"Dare to compete.\" That\nday, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports. But to me, that T-shirt\nrepresented the spirit that embraced the entire school -- where dedicated teachers,\na rigorous curriculum, and an engaged community were helping students learn\nhow to successfully compete in the 21 st century.\nI've also heard how schools from Harlem to the lower East Side are\nreplacing low expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching\nin; new classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of\naccountability for success. I understand that at PS 154 there's a big sign\nhanging in the entrance hall stating: \"Only positive attitudes beyond this point.\" I\nwish I could hang that sign in every school in the nation.\n6\nAPR-17-99 06:27 PM\nP.08\nAt a time when we are clearly moving forward — we can't allow ourselves\nto be pulled off track by false debates particularly by those who claim that\nvouchers are the real solutions to improving public education, and fixing failing\nschools. At a time when we should be devoting more resources, attention and\nintelligence to improving our public schools some want to drain off valuable\nresources and give them only to a few making it even more difficult for public\nschools to improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our\ngreatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across racial and\neconomic lines.\nAnd we've learned that the voucher system simply does not deliver. I've\nread recent studies that show that when you look at the voucher systems that have\nbeen implemented there's no evidence that students do significantly better. It just\nhasn't worked. We need to fix our public schools not abandon them.\nBut that doesn't mean we shouldn't give students and teachers greater\npublic school choice. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we\ncan foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in different ways. By\ngiving these schools greater flexibility and freedom, they can experiment with new\napproaches -- and still be held accountable for making sure their students are\nmaking the grade. I've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -\nand while some are struggling - I've seen the dramatic differences others are\nmaking in the lives - and opportunities of their students.\nIf we are committed to level the playing field for our children then we\nmust raise our expectations for all students. If there's anything we've learned -\nit's that they will always meet the challenge. I've heard that high expectations\nrecently got a boost here in New York when you did away with the general\ndiploma - and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the\nmore rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating\nconfidence not only in New York's schools but in your students.\nWhile cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of\ncreating new achievement standards, the Clinton Administration is working to be a\nstrong partner in this effort. Goals 2000 funds have helped states go from\npushing for standards to implementing them -- to make them part of every\nteacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President Clinton will soon send\n7\nAPR-17-99 06:28 PM\nP. 10\nteachers what they're worth something this nation has never done. We must\nalso do a better job of matching teachers to classroom -- to keep teachers teaching\nin their field of expertise. And we must support professional development for all\neducators -- experienced and new - not in one shot workshops, but sustained, high\nquality learning opportunities.\nAs you know so well -- this nation needs two million new teachers over the\nnext ten years. We must do everything to attract our most promising young people\nto consider teaching as a career. I know that the Columbia's Teacher's College\nwill be at the forefront of that effort.\nThird, we must make sure all children come to school ready to learn -- by\nexpanding preschool and early childhood education. We know that preparation\nfor learning begins early -- in the earliest years of life. Science now confirms what\nwe've always known instinctively: that time sharing a favorite book or talking\nwith a child -- or even a newborn -- helps the brain to grow, and prepares him or\nher for a lifetime of reading and learning. I'm pleased that the President the\nPresident has proposed making a $3 billion investment in the Early Learning Fund\n-- so that the language and literacy skills so critical to success in school can be\nlearned long before a child steps into the classroom.\nEnsuring children come to school ready to learn will help boost our fourth\ngoal - to make sure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade.\nFor all of you who have worked with and studied children, you know that if a\nchild is not reading well by eight or nine, it's going to be very difficult for that\nchild to ever catch up. Yet today, 40% of our children's can't read independently\nby that time. That's why we need every elementary school teacher to be schooled\nin the latest research given the opportunity to work with a reading specialist --\nand be supported by parents and other volunteer tutors. The President has laid\ndown a daunting challenge. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.\nAnd finally, as we push for higher standards in every school - we must also\nmake sure that those who can't succeed in meeting them get the extra help they\nneed. So we must expand summer schools and demanding after school programs\nthat not only provide opportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well\non helping students gain ground on their academics. Again, we can't just set the\nbar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra time, effort, and resources it\n9\nAPR-17-99 06:29 PM\nP.11\nwill take to help children catch up. And I'm pleased that in the President's new\nbudget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and after\nschool programs - - to keep a million children learning.\nSchools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a world-class\neducation. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the progress we want\nwhether it's more qualified teachers; higher standards; expanded after school\nprograms; or a more effective reading program - -- if we don't hold ourselves\naccountable as well. We need a true partnership.\nWe need parents who believe in the importance of education, and support\ntheir schools and teachers - and most importantly, their children. All of our\npublic efforts pale beside the power of every parent to make a difference.\nWe need communities who work in partnership with their schools, and are\nengaged in helping children on their journey to adulthood. I've seen what can be\naccomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired teacher to\nthe owner of the local market makes a commitment to create conditions for\nlearning and success.\nAnd we need businesses who understand they have a major stake in\nproducing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the impact on a\nschool's learning environment when local businesses contribute everything from\nschool-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs and\nvolunteer mentors.\n[Conclusion: what's at stake -- What we do today to educate all of\nAmerica's children will define the destiny of this nation for decades to come.\ndemocracy; justice; unleashing potential; civil society; etc.]\n10\n04/18/99\nSUN\n11:48\nFAX\n001\ngunley\n703-548-6374\nFr.\nwere\n21ST CENTURY SCHOOLS\nAccountability for Results\nIn his State of the Union Address, President Clinton will announce a package of accountability measures designed\nto hold students, teachers, and schools to high standards. and to ensure that school districts and states provide\nstudents with a high quality education. These proposals will help to lift student achievement in every public\nschool and close the achievement gap by giving special attention to disadvantaged students in low-performing\nschools.\nThe President's plan marks a sea change in national education policy -- for the first time holding states and school\ndistricts accountable for progress and rewarding them for results. While insisting that states and local\ngovernments retain primary responsibility for education, President Clinton will call on Congress to make sure\nfederal dollars support what works and not what doesn't. His proposal emphasizes reforms that a growing\nnumber of states, cities, and schools across the nation are implementing and that are producing clear results\nSpecifically, the President will announce that he will send Congress legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and\nSecondary Education Act (ESEA) to cnsure that schools end social promotion; teachers are qualified to teach the\nsubjects they are assigned; states turn around their lowest-performing schools; parents get annual report cards\non school performance; and schools institute effective discipline policies.\nAccountability for Results: End Social Promotion\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to end social promotion -- the practice of\npromoting students from grade to grade regardless of whether they have mastered the appropriate material and\nare academically prepared to do the work at the next level. Students who are promoted without regard to their\nachievement fall even further behind their classmates, and are more likely to lack basic skills upon graduating\nfrom high school.\nTc ensure that this requirement helps more students succeed, rather than simply increasing the number held back,\nstates and school districts would have to show how they will help students meet promotion standards on time by\n(i) strengthening learning opportunities in the classroom with clear standards, small classes with well-prepared\nteachers, high quality professional development, and use of proven instructional practices; (2) identifying\nstudents who need help at the earliest possible moment; (3) providing extended learning time, including after-\nschool and summer school for students who need extra help; and (4) developing an effective remedial plan, with\nintensive intervention, for students who still do not meet the standards, so they can get back on track in their\nschooling.\nIn 1996 President Clinton challenged every state and school district to adopt policies to end social promotion and\nrequire students to pass high school graduation exams. Twenty six states now have high school exit exams, and\nlast year four states adopted policies to stop promoting unprepared students from grade to grade. A growing\nnumber of urban school districts, including Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington D.C. are\nadopting similar policies. In Chicago, which three years ago ended the practice of social promotion in a way that\ngives students who need it substantial extended learning time, citywide math and reading scores have gone up\nevery year, with the largest gains among the most disadvantaged students. President Clinton's FY 2000 budget\nproposes to triple federal funding for after-school and summer school programs (from $200 million to $600\nmillion) to help schools ending social promotion give students the extra help they need to succeed.\n2\n66/91/to\nSUN\n11:49\nFAX\n002\nAccountability for Results: Turn Around Low Performing Schools\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and\nleast improvement and take corrective action to turn them around. These corrective actions, based on a careful\nassessment of each school's needs, would include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to improve\nschool discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches to school reform. If these actions do not result\nin improved student achievement within two years, the proposal would require states to take additional corrective\nactions, such as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting the school, by fairly evaluating\nthe staff and making staff changes as appropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or\nwith an entirely new staff Nineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve low-performing schools,\nand experience demonstrates that when these interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the\nresources to support change, schools improve and student achievement increases. The President's FY 2000\nbudget contains $200 million to help states begin taking these steps immediately.\nAccountability for Results: Put Qualified Teachers in the Classroom\nAccording to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, one of the most important factors in\nimproving student achievement is the knowledge and skills teachers bring to the classroom. Yet every year,\napproximately 50,000 individuals teach on \"emergency\">certificates, which means they do not meet the standards\nthe state has set for certification. In addition, numerous teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate\npreparation, with fully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main teaching field\nStudents in schools with the highest concentrations of poverty -- those who often need the most help from the best\nteachers - are most likely to be in classrooms with teachers who are not fully qualified: for example, in schools\nwith the highest minority enrollment, students have a less than 50 percent chance of having a math or science\nteacher with a license and degree in the field.\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states to adopt performance examinations for all new teachers,\nrequiring them to demonstrate both subject-matter knowledge and teaching expertise. The proposal also will\nrequire states and school districts to phase out, over five years, the use of teachers with emergency certificates\nand the practice of assigning teachers to subjects for which they lack adequate preparation. To support these new\nteacher quality standards, the proposal will provide resources to help states strengthen teacher certification\nstandards, test new teachers, provide training to current teachers, and give incentives to recruit more highly\nqualified teachers.\nAccountability for Results: Issue School Report Cards\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states 10 distribute to all parents annual report cards for each school\nand school district, as well as the state as a whole. The report cards will include information on student\nachievement, teacher professional qualifications, class size, school safety, and other factors that will help parents\nto judge the performance of the schools. Where appropriate, the report cards also will show the academic\nachievement of ethnic and racial subgroups, to ensure accountability for helping all students achieve. Thirty-six\nstates currently publish or require local school districts to publish school report cards, and five additional states\nwill begin the practice in the next two years. A recent report by Public Agenda, however, shows that only 31\npercent of parents had seen these report cards. The President's ESEA proposal will help ensure that all parents\nin all states have access to the information they need to evaluate the quality of their schools and identify the areas\nin which improvement is needed.\nAccountability for Results: Adopt Discipline Policies\nSchools must be a place of learning. President Clinton already has challenged states, communities, and schools\nto take a number of steps to restore order and safety, such as adopting school uniforms, enforcing truancy laws,\n3\n04/18/99\nSUN\n11:50\nFAX\n003\nand imposing curfews But in some schools, the breakdown of classroom discipline remains one of the biggest\nobstacles to learning and one of the greatest concerns for teachers, students, and parents alike. The President's\nproposal will require states and school districts to adopt discipline policies to make sure students have the chance\nto learn and teachers have the chance to teach.\nA National Effort to Reduce Class Size in the Early Grades\nIn his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed to help local school schools hire 100,000\nwell-prepared teachers in order to reduce class size in grades 1-3 to a national average of 18, and make sure that\nevery child gets a solid foundation in the basics. Studies show that smaller classes help teachers provide more\npersonal attention to students and spend less time on discipline; this helps students to learn more and get a\nstronger foundation in the basic skills. In these studies, minority and disadvantaged students showed the largest\nachievement gains. Last year, Congress provided a down payment on the President's seven year, $12.4 billion\nproposal by appropriating $1.2 billion to help local communities hire about 30,000 teachers. Now Congress must\nfinish the job by providing the next installment of funds for local schools to continue progress toward hiring\n100,000 new teachers over seven years.\nModern School Buildings to Improve Student Learning\nFor students to learn, schools must be well-equipped and be able to accommodate smaller class sizes. In 1998,\nthe American Society of Civil Engineers said that school buildings represent the nation's most pressing\ninfrastructure need. To address this critical need, President Clinton is proposing federal tax credits as incentives\nto help states and school districts to build and renovate public schools. Half of the bond authority will be\nallocated to the 100 school districts with the largest number of low-income children, and the other half will be\nallocated to the states.\nRecruiting Outstanding New Teachers for Our Nation's Public Schools\nWith more than 2 million teachers to be hired in the next ten years to accommodate record student enrollments\nand an aging teaching force, the nation must not only recruit an adequate number of teachers, but ensure a quality\nteaching force through effective teacher recruitment and preparation. The President's budget will contain a series\nof new initiatives and funding increases to help recruit well prepared individuals to teach where they are needed\nthe most, in high poverty urban and rural communities In particular, the President's FY 2000 budget will\nincrease funding for his teacher recruitment effort enacted in last year's Higher Education Act - to $35 million\nfrom $7.5 million - to recruit 7,000 outstanding new teachers into high need public schools by giving them\nscholarships in exchange for a commitment to teach. The President will announce other initiatives to improve\nteacher quality at an event later in the week.\nA talented and dedicated teacher in every classroom\nWhat teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn.\nTherefore, recruiting, preparing, and retaining good teachers must be the central strategy\nfor improving our schools.\nThis can't happen unless we get serious about teacher quality. I believe that the vast\nmajority of teachers are dedicated professionals who serve their students well. But\nnothing undermines the profession of teaching more - or hurts our children's chances\nmore - than those poorly prepared teachers who find themselves in classroom without the\nknowledge or tools they need to succeed.\nWe ought to hold teachers to the same high standards we want for our children. State\nlicensing ought to be based on demonstrated performance, subject matter knowledge, and\nteaching skill - the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent\nbenchmark. School districts should have the goal of ending the too common practice of\nusing emergency certification to fill classrooms - more than 30 percent of newly hired\nteachers are entering without full certification and over 11 percent have no license at all.\nFinally, too many teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate preparation, with\nfully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main\nteaching field.\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to phase out out-\nof-field assignments and emergency certification over five years. The proposal also will\nask states to adopt performance examinations for all new teachers, requiring them to\ndemonstrate both subject-matter knowledge and teaching expertise, and will provide\nresources to help them achieve these goals.\nSome may say that we can't simultaneously meet our needs for up to two million new\nteachers over 10 years and still achieve these goals for teacher quality. I believe we can,\nif we do more to improve the profession of teacher and create new strategies to recruit\ntalented candidates to the profession.\nColleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality candidates. The best\ncolleges of education like Teacher's College,work closely with the community, which\ngives their students the opportunity for elinical experiences and gives local schools access\nto the latest research and other resources of the university. But unfortunately, too few\nteacher preparation programs hold themselves to the high standards of a Teacher's\nCollege. Universities should be held accountable for the quality of the teachers they\nproduce and if they can't measure up, inadequate schools should be closed. Universities\nmust stop thinking of their colleges of education as poor stepchildren and instead, devote\nthe same attention and resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and\nlawyers.\nWe should be more creative about attracting talented people to the profession of teaching,\nand do more to enable mid-career entrants to learn the pedagogy they need to translate\nChristy 1\nhere are the\n2 additional\ncharges from\nlike- mared\nw/ $ A\ntheir subject-matter knowledge and life experience into a teaching career. For example,\nthe administration is planning to expand the President's Troops to Teachers initiative to\nreach mid-career professionals from other fields. Financial incentives can make college\nand teacher preparation more affordable, such as the President's initiative to provide loan\nforgiveness to students who agree to teach in high-poverty schools. Some school\ndistricts and universities are even working together to create middle and high school\nprograms that expose young people to the teaching profession- for example, South\nCarolina's Teacher Cadet Program gives academically talented high school juniors and\nseniors supervised experiences teaching younger children and to study education with\nschool and university faculty. We need more programs like these to make sure that as we\nraise standards, we don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.\nOnce we have attracted individuals into teaching, we must do more to retain them. It\nmakes no sense to take a person who has make the commitment to teach, who has spent\nyears preparing with every intention of making it their life's work, and then just drop\nthem in a classroom to sink or swim. It's no wonder that one out of five new teachers\nleaves after three years - and in urban classrooms, the number is one out of two. One\nreason is that too often, the most difficult teaching assignments are going to the teachers\nwith the least experience. This might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority\nwhatever the cost, but not if our goal is to give the children who most need help receive\nthe best teachers. School Boards, administrators, and teacher unions must work together\nto make sure that the best interests of students are not subordinated to other factors.\nAnother way to help new teachers and those who need extra support succeed is the\nimplementation of peer assistance programs that allow high-performing teachers to\nothers School districts should allow time for team planning, to reduce the isolation of\nthe profession. Unlike doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues,\nteachers are cut off from their coworkers. Among teachers whose schools dedicate time\nlike the\nJule\nfor team planning, 40 percent say it improves their teaching \"a lot,\" and another third say\nit improves their teaching \"moderately.\" But it remains an uncommon practice.\none in NYC\nAll teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing professional development,\nbut unfortunately, the most common forms of professional development activities\ncontinues to be those that are least beneficial - the \"one-shot\" workshops that last a day\nand carry little relevance to teachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission\non Teaching and America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving\nteaching was the lack of access to the kinds of knowledge and skills teachers need to help\nstudents succeed.\nA serious program of sustained profession development, based on research about what\nworks, and relevant to the teacher's classroom needs ought to be in place in every school\ndistrict - to keep teachers up to date in their subject, to learn proven teaching methods, to\nunderstand how to adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards, and to\nrespond to the new challenges of the modern classroom (technology, teaching children\nfrom diverse cultures, teaching children with disabilities, and helping limited English\nproficient students.\nThe Clinton administration has supported these efforts in many ways. The 1994\nreauthorization included a greater focus on research-based principles of professional\ndevelopment and the Department of Education supports research and other efforts to\nimrpove the practice of teaching. But we need to do more. That is why the President has\nproposed increasing funding that can be used for professional development and making it\nan important part of the ESEA proposal.\nReducing class size, particularly in the elementary grades, is a major goal of the Clinton\nAdministration, and we were pleased that Congress agreed to make a down payment\ntoward the goal of 100,000 new teachers last year. Of course, smaller class size is good\nfor students - for example, a recent five-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that\nschools having a 17 to 1 student teacher ratio outperformed students not only in the\npublic schools but those who received vouchers to go outside. But small class size is\nalso good for teachers, who know the limits of one human being teaching a class of 25,\n30 or even 40 young children.\nFinally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality teachers are the most important\nresource this nation has in ensuring that we remain the nation of opportunity for all. But\ntoo often we fail these teachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced\nteachers ought to be paid what they are worth or we risk losing them to other better-paid\nprofessions. This is a particular challenge for school districts in low-income\ncommunities - I challenge state leaders to find ways to help poorer school districts have\nthe resources to retain their best teachers, and school districts with resources to reward\nthose teachers who deserve extra compensation. As we raise standards, we ought to raise\nsalaries as well.\nDick Riley has proposed a three-stage system that merits support. First, a new teacher\nwould be granted an initial license for up to three years after passing written exam.\nDuring this trial period, schools would offer new teachers annual contracts and counsel\nout those individuals who don't belong in a school. Second, he proposes the creation of a\nprofessional license, with higher standards than the initial license and involving peer\nreview. The third stage would be the voluntary advanced license, which already exists\nthrough the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, established in 1987.\nSo far, not enough states have created incentives for teachers to undergo this rigorous\nassessment, and not enough teachers have come forward to participate. But we are\nmoving in the right direction - getting serious about teacher quality at every level\nA talented and dedicated teacher in every classroom\nareablet\nThank\nWhat teacher know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn, and recruiting,\npreparing, and retaining good teachers must be is the central strategy for improving our schools.\nHow de we make this happen?\nbelieve that the vant majority\nteacher are deductive profer and who\nFirst we need to get serious about teacher quality. Nothing undermines. the profession of teaching more\nI Legger unless\nserr then children well. But\nabout\nw/o\nthe\nor hurts our children's chances more than poorly prepared teachers. We ought to hold teachers to the\nknowledge\nsame high standards we want for our children. State licensing ought to be based on demonstrated\nperformance, subject matter knowledge, and teaching skill - not what is it now based on]. School districts\nforth need\nsucced\nshould have the goal of ending the too common practice of using emergency certification to fill classrooms\n- more than 30 percent of newly hired teachers are entering without full certification and over 11 percent\nhave no license at all. In addition, too many teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate\nproparation, with fully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main\nteaching field. The President's ESEA proposal will require states and school districts to phase out out-of-\nfield assignments and emergency certification over five years. The proposal also will ask states to adopt\nperformance examinations for all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject-matter\nknowledge and teaching expertise, and will provide resources to help them achieve these goals.\nsome man san that we tand meetor reads -p 2 new teacher are years\nColleges of education ought to to be one of the best sources for top quality candidates, but unfortunately, too\nand still achive\ntreese\nfew schools hold themselves to the high standards of aTeacher's College, universities should be held\nfn teacher quality.\naccountable for the quality of the teachers they produce and if they can't measure up, inadequate schools\nbelieve\nwe\nshould be closed. The best colleges of education, like Teacher's College, work closely with the\ncommunity, which gives their students the opportunity for clinical experiences and gives local schools\nI\naccess to the latest research and other resources of the university.\ntook\nwe\nfails\nThinking\ntheir\ncollege\n7xd\nas\n-layer.\nper p5\ndevote\nthe\npan\nthat\npaper\ndo if two theys\nWe should be more creative about attracting talented people to the profession of teaching, and do more to\nenable mid-career entrants to learn the pedagogy they need to translate their subject-matter knowledge and\nstreet she our\nlife experience into a teaching career. For example, the President's Troops to Teachers initiative [does\ncolleg 7\nwas\nwhat?]. Financial incentives can make college and teacher preparation more affordable Clinton initiative)\ned create\nnew strategies\nSome school districts and universities are working together to create middle and high school programs that\nexpose young people to the teaching profession Idoes Teacher's College do this?] - for example, South\nto tablet bis peyple\nCarolina's Teacher Cadet Program gives academically talented high school juniors and seniors surpervised\nexperiences teaching younger children and to study education with school and university faculty. We need\nint md-care. poper\nSKF\nmore programs like this to make sure that as we raise standards, we don't exacerbate the looming 2 million\nteacher shortage.\nThere\nOnce we have attracted individuals - whatever their age to teaching profession, we must do more to\nretain them. It makes no sense to take a person who has make the commitment to teach, who has spent\nyears preparing with every intention of making it their life's work, and then just drop them in a classroom.\n100 often not in the field of their subject matter expertise and tell them to sink or swim. It's no wonder that\none out of five new teachers leaves after three years - and in urban classrooms, the number is one out of\ntwo. One reason is that too often, the most difficult teaching assignments are going to the teachers with the\nleast experience. This might make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost, but not if\nteacher, can make this does Lleggen if they work The together implements L do what's The ,lild\nour goal is to give the children who most need help receive the best teachers. School District Boads admin\nOne way to help new teachers and those who need extra support to succeed to organize peer assistance\nanother\nprograms, allowing high-performing teachers to serve as mentors: Another IS to allow shull time for team\nplanning, to reduce the isolation of the profession. Unlike doctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with\ncolleagues. teachers are cut off from their colleagues in the classroom. Among teachers whose schools\ndedicate time for team planning, 40 percent say it improves their teaching \"a lot,\" and another third say it\nimproves their teaching \"moderately.\" But it remains an uncommon practice.\nAll teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing professional development, but unfortunately,\nthe most common forms of professional development activities continues to be those that are least\nbeneficial - the \"one-shot\" workshops that last a day and carry little relevance to teachers' work in the\nclassroom. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future found that the biggest\nimpediment to improving teaching was the lack of access to the kinds of knowledge and skills teachers\nneed to help students succeed. A serious program of sustained profession development, based on research\nabout what works, and relevant to the teacher's classroom needs ought to be in place in every school\ndistrict - to keep teachers up to date in their subject, to learn proven teaching methods, to understand how\nto adjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards, and to respond to the new challenges of\nthe modern classroom (technology, teaching children form diverse cultures, teaching children with\ndisabilities, and helping limited English profeicient students.) The Clinton administration has supported\nthese efforts in many ways. The 1994 reauthorization included a greater focus on research-based principles\nof professional development. But we need to do more, and that is why the President has proposed\nincreasing funding that can be used for professional development and making it an important part of the\nESEA proposal.\nReducing class size, particularly in the elementary grades, is a major goal of the Clinton Administration,\nand we were pleased that Congress agreed to make a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new\nteachers last year. Of course, smaller class size is good for students - for example, a recent five-year study\nof Milwaukee schools confirms that schools having a 17 to 1 student teacher ratio outperformed students\nnot only in the public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside. But it is also good for\nteachers, who know the limits of one human being teaching a class of 25, 30 or even/40 young children.\nfinally, 1 starts below Lat\nSun.cl.sye\nExperienced, high quality teachers are the most important resource this nation has in ensuing that we\nremain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often we fail these teachers just as we fail those idealistic\nnew teachers who lack support. Experienced teachers ought to be paid what they are worth. more The\nNational Board for Professional Teaching Standards has created standards that should be benchmark for\naccomplished teaching. The Board, which was established in 1987, operates a national voluntary system to\nassess and certify teachers who meet high standards. But the Board can only impact teacher quality if\nstates and school districts create incentives for teachers to take the rigorous exam, as more than 20 states\nhave done.\nRich Riley her paperal x\n\\ his dea 9 a carer ladle\nAnd S-port at the Lpn the ladler orght not be a transfer NL\nof to clamon ml an admin J4, but -\nbetter well paid posih an mar-te- teacher, a resorve\nt every teacher in to school and a valual and\nof he entire comments.\n04/17/99 SAT 23:37 FAX 202 456 0244\nOFC OF THE FIRST LADY\n002\nTO:\nMrs. Clinton\nFROM:\nNeera Tanden\nRE:\nMaterials for Columbia Teachers' College speech\nDATE:April 17, 1999\nAttached are a number of the materials you requested from Shirley. We will provide you with\nadditional materials tomorrow.\nAttached are:\nSecretary Riley's most recent State of Education speech\nThe President's policy on ending social promotion, as well as the rest of his education\nagenda as outlined in the State of the Union\nRecent articles on Chicago's policy to end social promotion\nMaterials and articles on Master Teachers\nSome materials on mid-career transitions to teaching (more to come tomorrow)\nThe President's recent statements on vouchers\nInformation on Rochester's school reforms\nA recent article describing evaluations of East Harlem's school choice proposal\nSome information on Columbia Teacher's College's connections to New York City's\npublic schools\n04/17/99 SAT 23:37 FAX 202 456 6244\nOFC OF THE FIRST LADY\n003\nTO:\nMrs. Clinton\nFROM:\nMaryEllen McGuire\nRE:\nMaterials for Columbia Teachers' College Speech\nDATE:\nApril 17, 1999\nAttached are some of the materials you requested from Shirley. You will be provided with\nadditional materials tomorrow.\nAttached are:\nMaterials on innovative research at Teachers College\nMaterials on Teachers College/ New York Schools Partnerships\nList of Catalogued First Lady New York Education Events with Briefs\nMaster List of Catalogued First Lady Education Events\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND POSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate commitment to creating a\nmore just and fair world for our children; and for your friendship. I also want to thank both you\nand Ken and the Iscol Foundation for sponsoring this new lecture series. It is a great honor and a\npleasure to be here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set the nation's\nstandard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted stet to President Levine for his inspired\nleadership of Columbia Teacher's College; and for his single minded determination to turn every\nhis students\none of his teachers into dedicated individuals who will make a real difference in the lives -- and\naspirations -- of their students.\nteachers\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted college presidents, bishops\nand and philanthropists came together to found Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval.\nOur country was in the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial nation,\nand cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and immigrants from around the\nworld. It was time your founders had decided -- to start educating a new breed of teachers to\nmeet the educational needs of this unprecedented new Jinflux of people, cultures, and\nexperiences.\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs of a changing world\nlives on in all that you do here at Columbia's Teacher's College; when you give teachers the\nskills tol educate an increasingly diverse student population; when you instill the spirit of social\njustice as part of your educational framework; when you pioneer new teaching strategies to meet\nthe needs of urban and minority students. At a time when so many higher education institutions\nhave closed their schools of education or treated them like forgotten step children --\nColumbia's Teacher's College has maintained the highest standards of excellence -- and been an\ninternational leader in its field.\nToday 100 years after your founding -- the country is in the midst of another\nextraordinary revolution -- as we move into the knowledge and technology based global\neconomy of the 21st century. Yet we still recognize some fundamental truths. That there is\nnothing more important than a good education. Nothing else offers our children or ourselves the\nchance for a better future. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams possibilities and denies the\nnation the talents it needs - when that education is in some way beyond reach.\na dream denied\nIn the era of almost limitless possibilities -- our public school system holds out the\npromise that here, in the most diverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a\nchance to live up to their God-given potential. It's a unique commitment to ensure that citizens\ncan lift up their own lives while lifting up their country -- a goal admired and emulated around\nthe world.\nI've spoken with people in Northern Ireland, for example, who believe passionately that a\nunified education system like ours is absolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and\njust society. And that is our mission. Every single day, as children in classrooms everywhere\nlearn the skills of the future, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is strengthened.\nYet we all also know that these values of democracy and fairness that we hold to so\ntightly are threatened when many of our children are unable to reap the benefits of the\nopportunities around them. Too many of America's children today attend schools that are\nunderstaffed; overcrowded; and falling down. Too many dreams go unfulfilled -- because no\none expects them to succeed or accomplish something in their lives. And in too many schools\nand communities, the gaps of knowledge and achievement are widening between rich and poor,\nbetween black and white, between those who can navigate their way up the information\nsuperhighway, and those who are being left far behind.\nIndeed, as we move into the 21st century, we see that the learning gap is rapidly\nincreasing the earnings gap -- with college educated Americans now making 76% more than\nthose who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of not getting a quality\neducation are increasing every day.\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to unleash the vast potential of our\npeople, by making a world-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to\nmust make sure that public education truly becomes -- in the words of John Dewey, America's\n\"great equalizer.\"\nOver the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have set for ourselves at the\nbrink of this new century. But I like the simple mantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It\nstates: \"All children can learn No exceptions No excuses.\" Today, I'd like to talk about the\nremarkable progress we've made in making that statement a reality in the classrooms of America,\nand in the lives of our children. I believe, and I hope you do, that we have a great deal to be\nproud of. But I also want to talk about what we must still do together to fulfill the promise of\nthe next generation.\nIt's easier to see how far we've come when we look back at where we were. I first\nwe the\nbecame acutely aware of how many of our children were falling through the cracks when I\nworked with Marion Wright Edeleman at the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We\nwanted to find out why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school. I knocked\nthatsonere\non hundreds of doors that year -- talking to parents about why their children weren't in school.\nThat experience convinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to do more than serve\nopter ch\nthe best and the brightest. We had to be equally committed to fulfilling the dreams and\nhad that decle werenat\naspirations of the disadvantaged, the disabled; and those who need extra help just to stay even.\nA decade later, with the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to America\nthat the challenges we saw in individual schools were widespread. We were told that our once\nunchallenged leadership in education was being eroded \"by a tide of mediocrity that threatens\nour very future as a nation and a people.\" Only half of our high school graduates were going to\noften\nthey\ncollege. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the drop out rate was rising. Compared\nto other industrialized nations, the US ranked at the bottom. Perhaps most troubling -- the report\nshowed a growing chasm between a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed\ncitizenry.\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in response, people at the\nfederal, state, and local levelbegan rolling up their sleeves, and looking for solutions. In\nArkansas, my husband, then Governor, asked me to chair a committee that would make\nrecommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began traveling across the\nstate -- listening and talking to teachers and parents about the challenges they faced. It wason\nthese trips that I saw first hand the challenges many of our schools were facing -- particulary\nthose in rural areas. Many didn't have libraries; or art programs. And students tended to meet\nthe low expectations they were offered.\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for student achievement,\nand about raising teaching standards. We started to form alliances with businesses to improve\nour public schools, and introduced new programs that encouraged parents to become much more\ninvolved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we realized that if we did not\nchange the approach to education; if we didn't upgrade the standards that were expected of every\nschool - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never see the progress we\nwanted to see in this one small part of America.\nI'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate -- ranked second in his class --\nwho told me with great pride that he wanted to be a doctor. But when I asked where he was\ngoing to college, he admitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't\nprepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young man who worked hard;\nstayed out of trouble; and whose family did all they could for him. But his local school didn't\nknow what the standards were that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that\nboth me and my husband decided that no matter where you are born in a state, or what state you\nwere born in - you should be held to high standards, and high expectations. Pushing for high\nachievement standards became one of my husband's top priorities.\nhave the opportunity to study a rigorus curricalum.\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Williamsburg, where national education\ngoals for the first time were endorsed by a bipartisan group of governors and President Bush.\nThen governor Clinton-co-chaired that effort with the President. And when Bill Clinton was\nelected President he set to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support national\ngoals -- and help schools and communities meet them.\nOver the past six years we've worked hard to raise student academic achievement;\nimprove teacher quality; involve more parents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into\nthe classroom. We've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not only set high\nstandards for our students but that schools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for\nenabling students to reach that raised bar of excellence.\nSo what have we accomplished since the Nation at Risk was published 15 years ago? (Are\ncut\nour children improving academically? Have we raised our standards and expectations? Are we\ngiving all of America's students regardless of where they live a world-class education? Like\nany dynamic reform process -- we see significant progress, and goals that remain unrealized.\nWith 90% of America's students in public school, and with our country is enjoying unparalleled\ngrowth and prosperity, we know we're moving in the right direction.\nThanks to dedicated educators and leaders like those of you here today, we've come a\nlong way. Achievement levels of our high school students are climbing the back rise up. SAT scores -\nthere\nwhich in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in the right direction - with\nthe largest gains in math and science. And just a few months ago, new data shows we've made\nDanix\nx\na\nfor\nsmall but significant gains in reading. Today, fewer students are dropping out, and raised\nexpectations have resulted in higher college enrollment. In 1983 - half of America's students\nScience\nclark\nenrolled in college. Today, two thirds are reaching that goal. And slowly but surely, students in\nour poorest schools are making gains, and the gap between those living in poverty and those in\nmore prosperous neighborhoods is finally narrowing in some states and districts.\nin math science\nBut serious challenges remain. While the international standing for America's 4th graders\nis now comparing favorably to our counterparts overseas, our 8th and 12th graders do nor fare as\nwell. vOur adult illiteracyrrate remains unacceptably high. And reading scores -- while\nimproving are not anywhere near where we want them to be.\nClearly we still have a long way to go. But we also have under our belts much more\nexperience and information about what works. We know that yes every child can learn when\ngiven the attention they deserve, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can become\nworld class schools.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be accomplished when\ndedicated teachers, parents, and communities join forces, and turn failing schools into models of\nsuccess. I've visited Chicago's Du Sable high school -- where only about half the students\nshowed up on any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in the nation. But\nthe principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline, wired the school for the Internet,\nand created a \"culture of reading.\" Teachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; programs\nand everyone learned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would quiz the\nkids. Leaders like Chicago's Mayor Daley are imposing strict new standards of accountability;\nputting low performing schools on probation; and reconstituting the worst ones And as a result\n- schools like Du Sable are turning around.\nAnthese efforts paid of today Dusable is\nHere in New York, I recently visited the Lab School in Chelsea. The girl who introduced\nme was a proud star on her basketball team -- and she wore like all of her fellow students a\nT-shirt that read: \"Dare to compete.\" That day, we were honoring pioneers in women's sports.\nBut to me, that T-shirt represented the spirit that embraced the entire school where dedicated\nteachers, a rigorous curriculum, and an engaged community were helping students learn how to\nsuccessfully compete in the 21st century.\nI've also heard how schools like PS 154 in Harlem and PS 1 on the lower East Side -- are\nreplacing low expectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in; new classes\nare being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of accountability for success. I\nunderstand that at PS 154 there's a big sign hanging at the entrance stating: \"Only positive\nattitudes beyond this point.\" I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the nation.\nAt a time when we are clearly moving forward - we can't allow ourselves to be pulled\noff track by false debates -- particularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions\nto improving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when we should be\ndevoting more resources, attention and intelligence to improving our public schools -- some want\nto drain off valuable resources and give them only to a few -- making it even more difficult for\npublic schools to improve. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our greatest\nchallenges as a nation is to pull communities together across racial and economic lines. And\nwe've learned that the voucher system simply does not deliver, I've read recent studies that show\nthat when you look at the voucher systems that have been implemented better there's no evidence that\nstudents do significantly better. It just hasn't worked.\nDchools & better students\nPolls show that support for vouchers has declined sharply over the past few years --\nparticularly when parents learn that voucher programs reduce funding for public schools.\nOverwhelmingly - Americans want to fix their public schools - not abandon them.\nBut that doesn't mean we shouldn't give students and teachers greater public school\nchoice. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the ways we can foster innovation in the\nsystem, and challenge children in different ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and\nfreedom, they can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held accountable for making\nsure their students are making the grade. I've been in and out of charter schools around the\ncountry -- and while some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences some of them are\nmaking in the lives and opportunities -- of their students.\nBut if we are committed to level the playing field for our children -- then we must raise\nour expectations for all students. If there's anything we've learned - it's that they will meet the\nnew challenge. I've heard that high expectations recently got a boost here in New York -- when\nyou did away with the general diploma and committed city schools to give every child the\nchance to earn the more rigorous Regeney diploma. I applaud [] Rick Mills and others for\ndemonstrating confidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.\nWhile cities and states across the country are doing the hard work of creating new\nachievement standards, the Clinton Administration is working to be a strong partner in this\neffort. Goals 2000 funds have helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing\nthem -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan. To get us to the next stage, President\nClinton will soon send to Congress a significant revision of the Elementary and Secondary\nEducation Act (ESEA). It's based on a comprehensive thee-part strategy: targeting increased\ninvestments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the early years of schooling;\nimproving teacher quality; and promoting real accountability for results. But we don't need to\nwait for this legislation to pass. There is much we can do today that will make real difference in\nthe lives of all of our children. As John Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle's schools has\nsaid, \"the victory is in the classroom.\"\nFirst, we know from experience that all children learn better when they get more\nattention. So we must commit ourselves to reducing class size. Who hasn't been in classroom\nwhere even the most talented teacher is struggling to maintain order -- let alone teach -- a group\nof 35 or 40 rambuncious children. A recent 5-year with study of Milwaukee confirms the importance\nof having smaller classes. It showed that schools having a 17-1 student teacher ratio private\noutperformed students not only the regular public schools but those who received scholarships vouchers\nthrough voucher system. Reports like this one and so many others are why the President is\nfighting so hard to hire 100,000 teachers -- so that we can lower class size in the early grades.\nSecond, placing a talented and dedicated teacher in every classroom is the single most\nimportant thing we can do to ensure our children succeed. America's teachers are America's\nfuture -- and all of the things that we've talked about so far -- about higher expectations and\nstudent achievement will not happen unless we make teaching a first class profession.\nWe must recognize the extraordinary work -- sometimes I'd call it magic -- that teachers\ndo every single day in the classroom. But we must also look harder at what we need to do to\nprepare new teachers -- and provide professional development for those already in the classroom.\nWe just can't throw a warm body into a classroom, and hope for the best.\nAs we strive to ensure that every child has a high quality teacher -- and to hold schools\nand states accountable for making it happen -- we also have to encourage them to stay in the\nprofession. We can't give new teachers the toughest assignments -- and then leave them to sink\nor swim. One solution could be to have seasoned teachers serve as mentors to new recruits.\nAnother is to pay teachers what they're worth -- something this nation has never done. We must\nalso do a better job of matching teachers to classroom to keep teachers teaching in their field of\nexpertise. And we must support professional development for all educators -- experienced and\nnew -- not one shot workshops, but sustained, high quality learning opportunities.\nThird, we must expand preschool and early childhood education. Ensuring all our\nchildren come to school ready to learn is a top priority. And we know that preparation for\nlearning begins early -- in the first three years of life. Science now confirms what we've always\nbelieved all along: that time sharing a favorite book or talking with a child or even a newborn -\n- helps the brain to grow and prepares him or her for a lifetime of reading and learning. I'm\npleased that the President the President has proposed making a $3 billion investment in the Early\nLearning Fund so that the language and literacy skills so critical to success in school can be\nlearned long before a child steps into the classroom.\nEnsuring children come to school ready to learn will help boost our fourth goal -- to make\nsure every student can read independently by the end of 3rd grade. For all of you who have\nworked with and studied children, you know that if a child is not ready well by 8 or nine, it's\ngoing to be very difficult for that child to ever catch up. Yet But today, 40% of our children's can't\nread independently by that time. That's why we need every elementary school teacher to be\nschooled in the latest research -- given the opportunity to work with a reading specialist -- and\nbe supported by parents and other volunteer tutors. The President has laid down a daunting\nchallenge. It will take the work of all of us to meet it.\n5th\nAnd fourth, we must expand the opportunities for those who are behind to get ahead -\nthrough summer schools programs and demanding after school programs that not only provide\nopportunities for sports and the arts, but which focus as well on gaining ground on their\nacademics. Again, we can't just set the bar higher. We must be willing to spend the extra time,\neffort, and resources it will take to help children catch up. And I'm pleased that in the\nPresident's new budget - he's calling for a tripling of the funding for summer school and after\nschool programs - to keep a million children learning.\nSchools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a world-class education. We\ncan't ask them to be held accountable for the progress we want -- whether it's more qualified\nteachers; higher standards; expanded after school programs; or a more effective reading program\n-- if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We need a true partnership.\nWe need parents who believe in the importance of education, and support their schools\nand teachers -- and most importantly, their children. All of our public efforts pale beside the\npower of every parent to make a difference.\nWe need communities who work in partnership with their schools, and are engaged in\nhelping children on their journey to adulthood. I've what can be accomplished when everyone\nfrom the local police officer to the retired teacher to the owner of the local market makes a\ncommitment to create conditions for learning and success.\nAnd we need businesses who understand they have a major stake in producing a well\neducated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the impact on a school's learning environment\nwhen local businesses donate everything from school-to work experiences and college\nscholarships to computer labs and volunteer mentors.\n[Conclusion: what's at stake -- What we do today to educate all of America's children\nwill define the destiny of this nation for decades to come. democracy; justice; unleashing\npotential; etc.]\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND\nPOSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\n1\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate\ncommitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for\nyour friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring\nthis innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to\nbe here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set\nthe nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to\nPresident Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's\nCollege; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his\nstudents into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the\nlives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of\nPeter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation\nbrings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.\nContributions of Teacher's College\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted\ncollege presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to\nfound Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was\nin the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial\nnation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and\nimmigrants from around the world.\n2\nIt was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new\nbreed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented\nnew influx of people, cultures, and experiences.\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs\nof a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's\nTeacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the\nimagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice\nas part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new\nstrategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many\nhigher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or\ndown graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has\nmaintained the highest standards of excellence.\n[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it\nbecame conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early\nyears; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students\n-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a world-\nclass teacher.\n3\nYou've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of\nchange and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing\nprojects; helping to establish professional development schools; and\nmentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.\nYour work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped\ntransform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a\ncollaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and\n10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic\nnew curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership\nand faculty of Teacher's College.\nII. Importance of Public Education\nWe've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that\nnothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future\nthan a good education. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams\nand denies the nation the talents it needs when that education is in\nsome way beyond reach. In this era of almost limitless possibilities --\nour public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most\ndiverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance\nto live up to their God-given potential.\n4\nI've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern\nIreland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is\nabsolutely critical to building a tolerant, and 7peaceful and just society.\nAnd that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the\nfuture, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is\nstrengthened.\nb. Those values are threatened by unequal access\nYet those values are threatened when many of our children are\nunable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too\nmany of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;\novercrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled\n-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or\nher to accomplish something, or succeed.\nToday, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended\nsegregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still\ndetermine the quality of your education. [Today, most 17-year-old\nAfrican Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white\nstudents.\n5\nToday, the vast majority of white students graduate from high\nschool, compared to a third of Hispanics. Today, a third of white\nAmericans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.]\ntwruld\n[Not surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the\nkeep\nearnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on\nwhat you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more\nthan those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of\nnot getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered\nexpectations -- are increasing every day.]\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways\nof unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a world-\nclass education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us to must\nmake sure that education truly does become -- in the words of John\nDewey, America's \"great equalizer.\"\nOver the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have\nset for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple\nmantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: \"All children\ncan learn No exceptions No excuses.\"\n6\nToday, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the\ngreat promise of the next generation.\nIII. Progress to Improve Public Education\na. HRC involvement\nIt's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where\nwe were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were\nfalling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman\nat the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find\nout why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.\nAnd as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to\nparents about why their children weren't in school. That experience\nconvinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as\ncommitted to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as\nwe were to serving the best and the brightest.\nb. A Nation at Risk\nWith the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to\nAmerica that the challenges we saw in individual schools were\nwidespread.\n7\nWe were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education\nwas being eroded \"by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future\nas a nation and a people.\" Only half of our high school graduates were\ngoing to college. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the\ndrop out rate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the\nUS ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm\nbetween a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed\ncitizenry.\nc. State Efforts (Arkansas)\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching and in\nresponse, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up\n1 had a chance to further This a First when\ntheir sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then\nof Arkansal\nGovernor, asked me to chair a committee that would make\nrecommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began\ntraveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents\nabout the challenges they faced. saw first hand the challenges many of\nour schools were facing -- particulary those in rural areas.\n8\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for\nstudent achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to\nimprove our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much\nmore involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we\nrealized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every\nschool - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never\nsee the progress we wanted to see.\n[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --\nranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted\nto be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he\nadmitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't\nprepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young\nman who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all\nthey could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards\nwere that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that\nBill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the\nchance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever\nyou plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my\nwp\nKemal\nhusband's lifelong priorities.]\n9\nD. Charlottesville Summit\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,\nwhere national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a\nbipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor\nClinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill\nset to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support\nnational goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.\nE. Goals 2000/ESEA\nAmong the President's proudest achievements in the first term\nspell at\nwere Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --\nfor the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop\nassessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this\nrequirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for\ndisadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower\nexpectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the\nPresident's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted\nhigh poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve\nthe entire school\n10\nBoth Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.\nTitle I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district\n[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];\nto report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to\nmake adequate progress.\nTaken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed\nthe federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the\ndevelopment and implementation of high academic standards for all\nchildren. In the past -- our system had too often supported and\nencouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor\nchildren -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six\nyears, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --\nand we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.\nIV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?\nOver the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student\nacademic achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more parents;\nand bring the technology of the 21st century into the classroom.\n11\nWe've also sent the strongest possible message that we must not\nonly set high standards for our students -- but that schools -- and all of\nus -- must be held accountable for enabling students to reach that raised\nbar of excellence.\nThese reforms have sparked a burst of state and local reform\nactivity -- important innovations that are improving the educational\nprogress of our children. The rapid development of statewide\nacademic standards is unprecedented in the United States; and\nawareness of the need to change practices to support standards is strong\nacross states, districts and schools. Federal efforts -- ESEA and Goals\n2000 == have been a major force in supporting and stimulating state\nbased reform Forty-eight states have set new, more challenging\nacademic standards, and most states are working to develop or adopt\nnew assessments aligned with those standards.\nAnd as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local level --\nand perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated teachers -- schools\nare improving and our students are doing better. A few weeks ago, we\nreleased new data that tells us that our nation's reading scores are up\nfor the first time in all three grades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.\n12\nOur achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT scores\n- which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again heading in\nthe right direction - with the largest gains in math. For the first time\nin history, SAT and ACT scores have increased each year for the past\nfive years.\nThe key lesson that we've learned from Goals 2000, ESEA and\nrelated state and local reform initiatives are that standards-based\neducation reform works. A recent study of education reform in North\nCarolina and Texas -- the two states with the best track record of\nimproving achievement generally and closing achievement gaps\nbetween minority and white students -- shows us the ingredients of\nsuccess -- particularly for disadvantaged students: sustained, statewide\napproaches of raising academic standards, providing schools with the\nflexibility they need, targeting resources for extra help to low-\nperforming students and schools, and holding schools accountable for\nresults.\n[Other studies have shown that states and school districts, like\nPhiladelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have adopted\nsimilar approaches have shown significant gains in reading and math.]\n13\nA recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are being\nused to support a broad range of education activities at the state and\nlocal levels -- including local education reform, professional\ndevelopment, and the development of education standards and\nassessments. Many state officials reported that Goals 2000 has been a\nsignificant factor in promoting their education reform efforts.\n[HRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School in\nChelsea, where T-shirt read \"Dare to compete.\"]\n[Nve heard how schools here in New York are replacing low\nexpectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;\nnew classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of\naccountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big\nsign hanging in the entrance hall stating: \"Only positive attitudes\nbeyond this point.\" I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the\nnation.]\nBecause 1 the success 9 trave eff-to\nWe know that every child can learn when given the attention he\nor she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest neighborhoods can\nbecome world class schools. But we shu Lane\na\nLong was L jo -\nput state 14 here\nOur challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school and\nevery classroom in the country.\nWhat we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:\nHow do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The\nPresident has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the\nElementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed\nto take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's\nbased on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased\ninvestments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the\nearly years of schooling. Second, to improve teacher quality. And third,\nto promote real accountability for results.\nA. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY\nJohn Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said:\n\"The victory is in the classroom.\" That victory is only assured when a\ntalented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers\nare America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far -\n- about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be\naccomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.\n15\nHow we recruit, prepare, and retain good teachers must be the\ncentral strategy for improving our schools.\n1. Higher Standards\nThe vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are\npreparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing\nundermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's\nchances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the\nknowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach\nsubjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one\nquarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their\nmain teaching field.\nFirst, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our\nchildren.\n** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,\nknowledge of subject matter; teaching skills -- and the National Board\nfor Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.\n** School districts must end the practice of using emergency\ncertification to fill classrooms. - Today, was has 50,000 teacher\nor mergency\n16\nHow can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly\nhired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11\npercent have no license at all?\nWhat we're doing about it\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school\ndistricts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency\ncertification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations\nfor all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter\nknowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to\nhelp them achieve these goals.\nSome may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two\nmillion new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals\nfor teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the\nteacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented\ncandidates to the profession.\n17\n2. Recruitment/attraction\nColleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality\ncandidates as is proved every day here at Teacher's colles But\nunfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to\nthe high standards of this institution. Universities must be held\naccountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these\neducational programs -- and if they can't measure up, these programs\nshould be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of\neducation as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention\nand resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and\nlawyers.\nWe must do more to attract talented people to the profession of\nteaching -- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the\ntraining they need to translate their subject matter and life\nexperiences into a teaching career.\n** The Administration is planning to expand the President's\nTroops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from\nother field.\n18\n** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for\nPeace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they\ncommit to two years.\n** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to\nstudents who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.\n** Some school districts and universities are working together to\ncreate middle and high school programs that expose young people to the\nteaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives\nacademically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised\nexperiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study\neducation with school and university faculty.\nWe need more programs like these to make sure we raise\nstandards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.\n3. Retention\nOnce we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must\ndo more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has\nmade the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing\nthemselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --\nand then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.\n19\nIt's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three\nyears. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to\nthe teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This\nmight make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost -\n- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to\nreceive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and\nteacher unions must work together to make sure that the best\ninterests of students are the top priority.\nTrese Strategies to give new teachers the extra support they need:\nhave been preven\npeer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that\nshare their wisdown\nallow high performing teachers to work with new ones;\nF built into school he day\n** school districts should allow time for team planning / Unlike\nwould\ngive\nthe mess to\ndoctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers/are\noften cut off from their co workers. Among teachers whose schools\ndedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching \"a\ntoo many are cotal in\nlot\" -- and another third say it \"moderately.\" Yet this practice remains\nNew claumons\nthe exception -- not the rule.\n20\n4. Professional Development\nAll teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing\nprofessional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms\nof these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the\n\"one shot\" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to\nteachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching\nand America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving\nteaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers\nneed to help students succeed.\nA serious program of sustained development -- based on research\nthat works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in\nplace in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in\ntheir subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to\nadjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to\nresponse to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need\nmore help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;\nwith disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.\n21\nWhat the Administration is doing to help\n** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on\nresearch-based principles of professional development -- and the\nDepartment of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the\npractice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the\nPresident has proposed increasing funding that can be used for\nprofessional development -- as an important part of the ESEA proposal.\n** Reducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is\na major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that\nCongress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new\nteachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good\nfor students.\nA recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools\nhaving a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in\nthe public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the\nsystem. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits\nof one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young\nchildren.\n22\n** The Administration supports the National Board for\nProfessional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a\nnational voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher\nstandards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for\nteachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers\nhave come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct\n-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.\nPaying teachers what they're worth\nAnd finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality\nteachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that\nwe remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these\nteachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced\nteachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them\nto other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for\nschool districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state\nleaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the\nresources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,\nwe ought to raise salaries as well.\n23\nB. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO\nDISADVANTAGED CHILDREN\nJust as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in\nschools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other\nresources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are\nmost in need.\nEarly Learning\nThis disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to\nprenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one\nwho will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years\nof life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to\nlearn and grow.\n[Our White House Conference on Early Development and\nLearning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood\ndevelopment the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this\ninvaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I\nhave worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early\nLearning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,\nparticularly those with the least resources.\n24\n[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading\nPartnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together\npublishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care\nprofessionals can \"prescribe\" reading to parents. We're now serving\nmore than 780,000 children in 47 states.\nEarly childhood development programs are also critical to ensure\nthat every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,\nHead Start has provided low-income preschool children with\ncomprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin\nschool already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start\nfor many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start\ndollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional\nfunding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to\nwhat ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to\nreceive high quality early childhood education to help them become\n\"school ready.\"\nBut we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We\nknow, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,\nthey should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.\n25\nChildren need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're\nnot talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and\nforcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to\nknow can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the\nearly childhood and education communities work together to develop\nappropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool\nprograms and to make related training widely available to early\nchildhood teachers.\nReading\nWe put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of\nalmost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason\nthat children are retained, assigned to special education, or given long-\nterm remedial services. Although overall reading performance has been\nmore or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-olds\nscore below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational\nProgress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between\nwhite students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69\npercent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored\nbelow the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders\ndid].\n26\nTo close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in\nmany classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled\nin the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading\nspecialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The\nPresident has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading\nindependently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us\nto meet it.\n[Title I\nThe ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I\n-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a\ndisproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.\nHistorically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding\ntargeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty\nschools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children\nand their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required\nstates to develop content and performance standards in reading and\nmath, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded school-\nwide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.\n27\nThese changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near\nwhere we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization\nproposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to\nthe same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even\nfurther, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,\nincreased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of\nteacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the\nNational Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation\nproposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure\nthe early identification of children with reading difficulties.]\nMathematics\nLike reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,\nparticularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant\ngaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too\noften, only students thought to be \"good at math\" or \"college material\"\nare given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a\ndisproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous\nmathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African\nAmerican or Hispanic.\n28\nMany young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to\ngo on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,\nand school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the\narea of mathematics achievement, eliminate \"general math\" in the\ncurriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need\nto succeed in higher level mathematics.\nC. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY\nIf we are committed to level the playing field for our children --\nthen we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their\nrace or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a\nboost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma\n-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the\nmore rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating\nconfidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.\nWhile cities and states across the country are working hard to raise\nexpectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton\nAdministration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals\n2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing\nthem -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.\n29\nNow, we need to take accountability to the next level.\nThe President's agenda on accountability\n** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed\nrequiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely\ndistributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and\nthe state. We must empower parents with more information and more\nchoices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the\nquality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We\nowe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should\nissue report cards on every school.\nTough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will require\nstates to identify the schools with the lowest achievement levels and\nleast improvement and take corrective action to turn them around. These\ncorrective actions, based on a careful assessment of each school's needs,\nwould include steps such as intensive teacher training, support to\nimprove school discipline, and the implementation of proven approaches\nto school reform.\n30\nIf these actions do not raise student achievement within two years,\ndo more\nthe proposal would require states to take additional corrective actions,\nsuch as permitting students to attend other public schools; reconstituting\nthe school -- by fairly evaluating the staff and making staff changes as\nappropriate; or closing the school and reopening it as a charter school or\nwith an entirely new staff.\nNineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve\nlow-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when these\ninterventions are carefully implemented and accompanied by the\nresources to support change, schools improve and student achievement\nincreases. The President's FY 2000 budget contains $200 million to\nhelp states begin taking these steps immediately.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be\naccomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join\nforces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du\nSable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up\non any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in\nthe nation.\n31\nBut the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,\nwired the school for the Internet, and created a \"culture of reading.\"\nTeachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone\nlearned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would\nquiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.\nEnd social promotion. No child should graduate from high\nschool with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no\nfavors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without\nmastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because the\nsystem fails them.\nMany people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will\nhurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in\ngrade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.\nBut these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is\nto hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will\nneed to succeed.\n32\nThis extra help is reflected in the administration's class size\nreduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21 st Century\nLearning Centers after school initiative, which the President has\nproposed to dramatically Triple expand. Instead of using this new policy as an\nexcuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be\nexpected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion\nstandards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer\nschool programs.\nWe can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate\nfrom high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a\nletter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and\nthey are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.\nGive parents more information, and more choices. Giving\nparents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens\naccountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the\nways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in\ndifferent ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,\nthey can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held\naccountable for making sure their students are making the grade.\n33\nWhen the President first came into office -- there was just one\nindependent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.\nAnd the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next\ncentury -- there will be 3,000.\nI've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and\nwhile some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are\nmaking in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San\nFernando Valley charter school story.]\nalso\nWe can/learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public\nschool choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many\nchallenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And a\nrecent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University\ns'>\nbeth than\nof New York-tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled\nthe overall number of schools and created many small schools as\nalternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most\nand\nw ? 4\nAsaresmite\nimportant both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools\nw/ka (or I\nboth the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones2 contrary\nSimilar NY\nto fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were\nfavored over others.\n34\n[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in\nthe late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math\ntests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of\nfamilies living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last\nin New York City in 1974.]\nVouchers\nAt a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater\naccountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we\ncan't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --\nparticularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to\nimproving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when\nwe should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to\nimproving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable\nresources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to\nimprove. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our\ngreatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across\nracial and economic lines.\n35\nWe've also learned that the voucher system simply does not\ndeliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the\nvoucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that\nstudents do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix\nour public schools -- not abandon them.\nVI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.\nSchools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a\nworld-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the\nprogress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We\nneed a true partnership.\nWe need parents who believe in the importance of education, and\nsupport their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their\nchildren. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent\nto make a difference.\nWe need communities to work in partnership with their schools,\nand be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be\naccomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired\nteacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.\n36\nAnd we need businesses who understand they have a major stake\nin producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the\nimpact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private\npartnerships -- when local businesses contribute everything from\nschool-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs\nand volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding\nschools accountable for high standards and student achievement.\nVII. Conclusion\nWhen this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that\neducation could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers\nshould care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of\nAmerica's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent\nin our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry\nwas required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a\nstake in the learning of every child.\nSurely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of\nhistory, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to\nour future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.\n37\nThe interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly\nexpanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread\nthat knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common\npotential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity\nlie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our\naging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly\nrevitalizing system of public education in America.\nMake no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public\neducation is more urgent than ever for America. It will require\nimagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,\nmoney. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of\nteaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --\nand America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our\nchildren, and we can do no less for the future of our great country.\n38\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\n\"RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE AND\nPOSSIBILITIES\"\nCOLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE\nNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK\nAPRIL 19, 1999\nThank you, Jill, for that kind introduction, for your passionate\ncommitment to creating a more just world for our children; and for\nyour friendship. I also want to thank both you and Ken for sponsoring\nthis innovative new lecture series. It is a great honor and a pleasure to\nbe here at this revered educational institution, which for so long has set\nthe nation's standard for excellence in teaching. We are indebted to\nPresident Levine for his inspired leadership of Columbia Teacher's\nCollege; and for his single minded determination to turn every one of his\nstudents into dedicated teachers who will make a real difference in the\nlives of their students. I also want to recognize the creative vision of\nPeter Cookson -- whose Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation\nbrings the best minds to bear on the challenges of teaching today.\nContributions of Teacher's College\nA little over a hundred years ago, when a group of far-sighted\ncollege presidents, bishops and and philanthropists came together to\nfound Teachers College -- the world was in upheaval. Our country was\nin the throws of transforming itself from an agricultural to an industrial\nnation, and cities were filled with new arrivals from the countryside and\nimmigrants from around the world.\nIt was time -- your founders had decided -- to start educating a new\nbreed of teachers to meet the educational needs of this unprecedented\nnew influx of people, cultures, and experiences.\nThat same pioneering spirit and commitment to meet the needs\nof a changing world lives on in all that you do here at Columbia's\nTeacher's College; every time you give teachers the skills to spark the\nimagination of a child; every time you instill the spirit of social justice\nas part of your educational framework; and everytime you pioneer new\nstrategies to better reach the students of today. At a time when so many\nhigher education institutions have closed their schools of education -- or\ndown graded their importance -- Columbia's Teacher's College has\nmaintained the highest standards of excellence.\n[Whether it was teaching early childhood education -- before it\nbecame conventional wisdom to look at the importance of those early\nyears; or researching new ways of teaching urban and minority students\n-- you've expanded our knowledge about what it takes to create a\nworld-class teacher.\nYou've also used your resources and talents to be instruments of\nchange and progress in the New York city schools -- initiating writing\nprojects; helping to establish professional development schools; and\nmentoring first year teachers, so they stay on in the toughest schools.\nYour work to get the arts back into the city's public schools has helped\ntransform lives in hundreds of schools. And today, thanks to a\ncollaboration between Teacher's College and the city schools -- 9th and\n10th graders at the Heritage School are now benefitting from a dynamic\nnew curriculum infused with the arts and culture. I salute the leadership\nand faculty of Teacher's College.\nII. Importance of Public Education\nWe've all here today because as all Americans, we still believe that\nnothing offers our children or ourselves the chance for a better future\nthan a good education. And nothing so limits an individuals's dreams\n- and denies the nation the talents it needs - when that education is in\nsome way beyond reach. In this era of almost limitless possibilities --\nour public school system holds out the promise that here, in the most\ndiverse and multi-cultural nation in the world -- everyone has a chance\nto live up to their God-given potential.\nI've spoken with people in strife-torn countries like Northern\nIreland, who believe that a unified education system like ours is\nabsolutely critical to building a tolerant, and peaceful and just society.\nAnd that is our mission. Every day, as children learn the skills of the\nfuture, and the values we hold in common, our democracy is\nstrengthened.\nb. Those values are threatened by unequal access\nYet those values are threatened when many of our children are\nunable to reap the benefits of the opportunities around them. When too\nmany of America's children attend schools that are understaffed;\novercrowded; and falling down. When too many dreams go unfulfilled\n-- not because a child lacks ability -- but because no one expects him or\nher to accomplish something, or succeed.\nToday, more than four decades after the Supreme court ended\nsegregation in America's schools, the color of your skin can still\ndetermine the quality of your education. [Today, most 17-year-old\nAfrican Americans are reading at the level of most 13-year old white\nstudents.\nToday, the vast majority of white students graduate from high\nschool, compared to a third of Hispanics. Today, a third of white\nAmericans are college graduates. Blacks graduate half that many.]\n[Not surprisingly, the learning gap is rapidly increasing the\nearnings gap. As my husband always says -- what you earn depends on\nwhat you learn. College educated Americans are now making 76% more\nthan those who simply hold a high school diploma. The terrible costs of\nnot getting a quality education -- in lower quality of life and lowered\nexpectations -- are increasing every day.]\nIt is perhaps our greatest challenge in the 21st century to find ways\nof unleashing the vast potential of all our people, by making a\nworld-class education the birthright of every citizen. It's up to all of us\nto must make sure that education truly does become -- in the words of\nJohn Dewey, America's \"great equalizer.\"\nOver the years, I've heard many variations on the goals we have\nset for ourselves at the brink of this new century. But I like the simple\nmantra at public school #1 here in Manhattan. It states: \"All children\ncan learn No exceptions. No excuses.\"\nToday, I'd like to talk about what we must do together to fulfill the\ngreat promise of the next generation.\nIII. Progress to Improve Public Education\na. HRC involvement\nIt's easy to see how far we've come when we look back at where\nwe were. I first became acutely aware of how many of our children were\nfalling through the cracks when I worked with Marion Wright Edeleman\nat the Children's Defense fund in the early 1970s. We wanted to find\nout why millions of school-aged children were not coming to school.\nAnd as Jill said, I knocked on hundreds of doors that year -- talking to\nparents about why their children weren't in school. That experience\nconvinced me -- as never before -- that our schools had to be as\ncommitted to fulfilling the dreams of the disadvantaged and disabled as\nwe were to serving the best and the brightest.\nb. A Nation at Risk\nWith the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, it became clear to\nAmerica that the challenges we saw in individual schools were\nwidespread.\nWe were told that our once unchallenged leadership in education\nwas being eroded \"by a tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future\nas a nation and a people.\" Only half of our high school graduates were\ngoing to college. Academic achievement was plummeting -- and the\ndrop out rate was rising. Compared to other industrialized nations, the\nUS ranked at the bottom. Also troubling -- there was a growing chasm\nbetween a scientific and technological elite - and an ill informed\ncitizenry.\nc. State Efforts (Arkansas)\nA Nation at Risk sparked a national soul searching - and in\nresponse, people at the federal, state, and local level began rolling up\ntheir sleeves, and looking for solutions. In Arkansas, my husband, then\nGovernor, asked me to chair a committee that would make\nrecommendations for improving Arkansas's educational system. I began\ntraveling across the state -- listening and talking to teachers and parents\nabout the challenges they faced. I saw first hand the challenges many of\nour schools were facing -- particulary those in rural areas.\nSo we began to talk about the need for greater accountability for\nstudent achievement. We started to form alliances with businesses to\nimprove our public schools, and encouraged parents to become much\nmore involved in the education of their children. But most of all -- we\nrealized that if we didn't upgrade standards that were expected of every\nschool - and every teacher - and every child - then we would never\nsee the progress we wanted to see.\n[I'll never forget talking to one young high school graduate --\nranked second in his class -- who told me with great pride that he wanted\nto be a doctor. But when I asked where he was going to college, he\nadmitted he couldn't get in anywhere. His high school simply hadn't\nprepared him adequately. I remember thinking to myself: here's a young\nman who worked hard; stayed out of trouble; and whose family did all\nthey could for him. But his local school didn't know what the standards\nwere that would enable him to fulfill his ambitions. And it was then that\nBill and I decided that no matter where you lived, you should have the\nchance to complete a rigorous curriculum that prepares you for whatever\nyou plan to do in life. Pushing for high standards became one of my\nhusband's lifelong priorities.]\nD. Charlottesville Summit\nOur efforts bore fruit at the Education Summit in Charlottesville,\nwhere national education goals for the first time were endorsed by a\nbipartisan group of governors and President Bush. Then Governor\nClinton co-chaired that effort. And when he was elected President -- Bill\nset to work with another former governor, Dick Riley, to support\nnational goals -- and help schools, teachers, and students meet them.\nE. Goals 2000/ESEA\nAmong the President's proudest achievements in the first term\nwere Goals 2000 and the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA. Goals 2000 --\nfor the first time -- required states to set academic standards and develop\nassessments aligned to those standards. ESEA's Title I built on this\nrequirement -- by mandating that states use these standards for\ndisadvantaged students -- thus ending the practice of setting lower\nexpectations for low-income students. ESEA also launched the\nPresident's initiative to establish 3,000 charter schools -- and permitted\nhigh-poverty schools to combine their funds and use them to improve\nthe entire school.\nBoth Goals 2000 and ESEA held schools accountable for results.\nTitle I now requires states to set annual goals for each school and district\n[relating to the number of students who must reach academic standards];\nto report progress for each school; and to intervene in schools that fail to\nmake adequate progress.\nTaken together -- these two reforms have fundamentally changed\nthe federal role in elementary and secondary education to support the\ndevelopment and implementation of high academic standards for all\nchildren. In the past -- our system had too often supported and\nencouraged a two-tiered system that had low expectations for poor\nchildren -- and held them to lower academic standards. Over the past six\nyears, we've been working hard to end that unequal and unjust system --\nand we've begun to see the fruits of our labor.\nIV. Where are we as a result of these efforts?\nOver the past six years -- we've worked hard to raise student\nacademic achievement; improve teacher quality; involve more\nparents; and bring the technology of the 21st century into the\nclassroom.\nWe've also sent the strongest possible message that we\nmust not only set high standards for our students -- but that\nschools -- and all of us -- must be held accountable for enabling\nstudents to reach that raised bar of excellence.\nThese reforms have sparked a burst of state and local\nreform activity -- important innovations that are improving the\neducational progress of our children. The rapid development of\nstatewide academic standards is unprecedented in the United\nStates, and awareness of the need to change practices to support\nstandards is strong across states, districts and schools. Federal\nefforts -- ESEA and Goals 2000 -- have been a major force in\nsupporting and stimulating state-based reform. Forty-eight states\nhave set new, more challenging academic standards, and most\nstates are working to develop or adopt new assessments aligned\nwith those standards.\nAnd as a result of hard work at the federal, state and local\nlevel -- and perhaps most of all as a result of our dedicated\nteachers -- schools are improving and our students are doing\nbetter. A few weeks ago, we released new data that tells us that\nour nation's reading scores are up for the first time in all three\ngrades levels -- 4th, 8th and 12th.\nOur achievement scores are up for math and science. SAT\nscores - which in '83 were in a virtual free fall - are once again\nheading in the right direction - with the largest gains in math.\nFor the first time in history, SAT and ACT scores have increased\neach year for the past five years.\nThe key lesson that we've learned from Goals 2000, ESEA\nand related state and local reform initiatives are that\nstandards-based education reform works. A recent study of\neducation reform in North Carolina and Texas -- the two states\nwith the best track record of improving achievement generally and\nclosing achievement gaps between minority and white students --\nshows us the ingredients of success -- particularly for\ndisadvantaged students: sustained, statewide approaches of\nraising academic standards, providing schools with the flexibility\nthey need, targeting resources for extra help to low-performing\nstudents and schools, and holding schools accountable for\nresults.\n[Other studies have shown that states and school districts,\nlike Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, that have\nadopted similar approaches have shown significant gains in\nreading and math.]\nA recent study by GAO shows how Goals 2000 funds are\nbeing used to support a broad range of education activities at the\nstate and local levels -- including local education reform,\nprofessional development, and the development of education\nstandards and assessments. Many state officials reported that\nGoals 2000 has been a significant factor in promoting their\neducation reform efforts.\n[HRC's visits to NYC schools -- most recently the Lab School\nin Chelsea, where T-shirt read \"Dare to compete.\"]\n[I've heard how schools here in New York are replacing low\nexpectations with high achievement -- because parents are pitching in;\nnew classes are being held in art and music; and there's a new spirit of\naccountability for success. I've heard that at PS 154 -- there's a big\nsign hanging in the entrance hall stating: \"Only positive attitudes\nbeyond this point.\" I wish I could hang that sign in every school in the\nnation.]\nWe know that every child can learn when given the attention\nhe or she deserves, and that schools in even the poorest\nneighborhoods can become world class schools.\nOur challenge is to push reform so it reaches every school\nand every classroom in the country.\nWhat we must do: ESEA's three-part strategy:\nHow do we help fulfill the promise of every student? The\nPresident has laid out a bold strategy -- through a major revision of the\nElementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- which is designed\nto take us to the next step of accountability and higher standards. It's\nbased on a comprehensive three-part strategy: first, to target increased\ninvestments to disadvantaged children -- with particular attention to the\nearly years of schooling. Second, to improve teacher quality. And third,\nto promote real accountability for results.\nA. IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY\nJohn Sanford, the late superintendent of Seattle Schools has said: \"\nThe victory is in the classroom.\" That victory is only assured when a\ntalented and dedicated teacher is in each classroom. America's teachers\nare America's future -- and none of the things we've talked about so far\n-- about higher expectations and student achievement -- will be\naccomplished if we don't make teaching a first class profession.\nHow we recruit, prepare, and retain good teachers must be the\ncentral strategy for improving our schools.\n1. Higher Standards\nThe vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals who are\npreparing their students well for the challenges ahead. But nothing\nundermines the profession of teaching more -- or hurts our children's\nchances more -- than a poorly prepared teacher who doesn't have the\nknowledge or tools they need to succeed. Too many teachers teach\nsubjects for which they lack adequate preparation -- with fully one\nquarter of secondary school teachers not even holding a minor in their\nmain teaching field.\nFirst, we must hold teachers to the same standards we hold for our\nchildren.\n** State Licensing must be based on demonstrated performance,\nknowledge of subject matter; teaching skills -- and the National Board\nfor Professional Teaching Standards offer an excellent benchmark.\n** School districts must end the practice of using emergency\ncertification to fill classrooms.\nHow can we expect results when more than 30 percent of newly\nhired teachers are entering without full certification -- and over 11\npercent have no license at all?\nWhat we're doing about it\nThe President's ESEA proposal will require states and school\ndistricts to phase out out-of-field assignments and emergency\ncertification. It will also ask states to adopt performance examinations\nfor all new teachers, requiring them to demonstrate both subject matter\nknowledge and teaching expertise. And we will provide resources to\nhelp them achieve these goals.\nSome may say we can't meet our needs to hire up to two\nmillion new teachers over ten years -- and still achieve these goals\nfor teacher quality. I say we can -- if we do more to improve the\nteacher profession, and create new strategies to recruit talented\ncandidates to the profession.\n2. Recruitment/attraction\nColleges of education are one of the best sources for top quality\ncandidates -- as is proved every day here at Teacher's college. But\nunfortunately, too few teacher preparation programs hold themselves to\nthe high standards of this institution. Universities must be held\naccountable for the quality of the teachers they produce in these\neducational programs -- and if they can't measure up, these programs\nshould be closed. Universities must stop thinking of their colleges of\neducation as poor stepchildren, and instead, devote the same attention\nand resources to them as they do to programs that prepare doctors and\nlawyers.\nWe must do more to attract talented people to the profession of\nteaching -- and do more to enable mid-career entrants to get the\ntraining they need to translate their subject matter and life\nexperiences into a teaching career.\n** The Administration is planning to expand the President's\nTroops to Teachers initiative to reach mid-career professionals from\nother field.\n** I'm pleased Teacher's College has a teaching program for\nPeace Corps volunteers to get a degree and teach in schools -- if they\ncommit to two years.\n** The Administration is also providing loan forgiveness to\nstudents who agree to teach in high-poverty schools.\n** Some school districts and universities are working together to\ncreate middle and high school programs that expose young people to the\nteaching profession. South Carolina's teacher cadet programs gives\nacademically talented high school juniors and seniors supervised\nexperiences teaching young children -- and the opportunity to study\neducation with school and university faculty.\nWe need more programs like these to make sure we raise\nstandards -- and don't exacerbate the looming teacher shortage.\n3. Retention\nOnce we've attracted the best individuals into teaching -- we must\ndo more to retain them. It makes no sense to take someone who has\nmade the commitment to teach -- and who has spent years preparing\nthemselves with every intention of making teaching their life's work --\nand then just drop them into a classroom to sink or swim.\nIt's no wonder that one out of five new teachers leaves after three\nyears. We must stop giving the most difficult teaching assignments to\nthe teachers with the least experience -- standing logic on its head. This\nmight make sense if our goal was to reward seniority whatever the cost\n-- but not if our goals is to give the children who most need the help to\nreceive the best possible teachers. School boards, administrators and\nteacher unions must work together to make sure that the best\ninterests of students are the top priority.\nStrategies to give new teachers the extra support they need:\npeer assistance programs, like the one here in New York, that\nallow high performing teachers to work with new ones;\n** school districts should allow time for team planning. Unlike\ndoctors and lawyers, who routinely confer with colleagues, teachers are\noften cut off from their co-workers. Among teachers whose schools\ndedicate time for team planning, 40% say it improves their teaching \"a\nlot\" -- and another third say it \"moderately.\" Yet this practice remains\nthe exception -- not the rule.\n4. Professional Development\nAll teachers should have the opportunity to receive ongoing\nprofessional development. But unfortunately -- the most common forms\nof these activities continue to be those at that are least beneficial -- the \"\none shot\" workshops that last a day -- and have little relevance to\nteachers' work in the classroom. The National Commission on Teaching\nand America's Future found that the biggest impediment to improving\nteaching was lack of access to the kind of knowledge and skills teachers\nneed to help students succeed.\nA serious program of sustained development -- based on research\nthat works and is relevant to teacher's classroom needs -- ought to be in\nplace in every school district. Teachers need help to keep up to date in\ntheir subject, to learn proven teaching methods; to understand how to\nadjust their curriculum in response to state and local standards; and to\nresponse to new challenges in the modern classroom. They also need\nmore help with technology, and teaching children from diverse cultures;\nwith disabilities; and with limited English proficiency.\nWhat the Administration is doing to help\n** The 1994 re-authorization act included a greater focus on\nresearch-based principles of professional development -- and the\nDepartment of Education funds research and other efforts to improve the\npractice of teaching. But more needs to be done. That's why the\nPresident has proposed increasing funding that can be used for\nprofessional development -- as an important part of the ESEA proposal.\nReducing class size -- particularly in the elementary grades -- is\na major goal of the Clinton Administration. And we are pleased that\nCongress made a down payment toward the goal of 100,000 new\nteachers last year. Over and over, we see how smaller class size is good\nfor students.\nA recent 5-year study of Milwaukee schools confirms that schools\nhaving a 17-1 student teacher radio outperformed not only students in\nthe public schools but those who received vouchers to go outside the\nsystem. Small class size is also good for teachers -- who know the limits\nof one human being teaching to a class of 25, 30 or even 40 young\nchildren.\n** The Administration supports the National Board for\nProfessional Teaching Standards -- established in 1987 to create a\nnational voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet higher\nstandards. So far -- not enough states have created incentives for\nteachers to undergo this rigorous assessment -- and not enough teachers\nhave come forward to partic ipate. But we are moving in the right direct\n-- getting serious about teacher quality at every level.\nPaying teachers what they're worth\nAnd finally, I strongly believe that experienced, high quality\nteachers are the most important resources this nation has in ensuring that\nwe remain the nation of opportunity for all. But too often, we fail these\nteachers just as we fail many idealistic new teachers. Experienced\nteachers ought to be paid what they are worth -- or we risk losing them\nto other, better paid professionals. This is a particular challenge for\nschool districts in low income communities -- and I challenge state\nleaders to find ways to help those poorer school districts get the\nresources they need to retain their best teachers. As we raise standards,\nwe ought to raise salaries as well.\nB. TARGETING INCREASED INVESTMENTS TO\nDISADVANTAGED CHILDREN\nJust as the shortage of high quality teachers is most acute in\nschools serving predominately low-income and minority children, other\nresources aresimilarly limited when it comes to the children who are\nmost in need.\nEarly Learning\nThis disparity begins before birth, when a mother's access to\nprenatal care can make the difference between a healthy baby and one\nwho will suffer lifelong disabilities. We know that even in the first years\nof life, reading to and talking to a child literally stimulates the brain to\nlearn and grow.\n[Our White House Conference on Early Development and\nLearning gave the leading experts in the field of early childhood\ndevelopment the opportunity to explain their discoveries and to put this\ninvaluable body of knowledge at the service of America's families. I\nhave worked with the President to develop a proposal for an Early\nLearning Fund to help more families put this research into practice,\nparticularly those with the least resources.\n[This is also the premise behind the Prescription for Reading\nPartnership, which I helped launch two years ago to bring together\npublishers, booksellers, pediatricians, and citizens so that health care\nprofessionals can \"prescribe\" reading to parents. We're now serving\nmore than 780,000 children in 47 states.]\nEarly childhood development programs are also critical to ensure\nthat every child comes to school ready to learn. For over three decades,\nHead Start has provided low-income preschool children with\ncomprehensive development services to make sure they don't begin\nschool already behind. I've pushed for increased funding for Head Start\nfor many years, and I am pleased that under this President, Head Start\ndollars have more than doubled. Many states have provided additional\nfunding for early childhood education, and we are well on the way to\nwhat ought to be our goal: providing every child the opportunity to\nreceive high quality early childhood education to help them become\"\nschool ready.\"\nBut we need to do more, particularly in the area of quality. We\nknow, for example, that in order for children to be on track to read well,\nthey should come to school having a strong base of cognitive skills.\nChildren need background knowledge, and a love of books. We're\nnot talking about sitting preschool-age children at desks in rows and\nforcing them to memorize the alphabet. Much of what they need to\nknow can be learned if they are read to, and talked do. I propose that the\nearly childhood and education communities work together to develop\nappropriate education standards for Head Start and other preschool\nprograms and to make related training widely available to early\nchildhood teachers.\nReading\nWe put great emphasis on reading because it is the foundation of\nalmost every other subject. Failure to read is the overwhelming reason\nthat children are retained, assigned to special education, or given\nlong-term remedial services. Although overall reading performance has\nbeen more or less unchanged since 1972, 40 percent of all nine-year-olds\nscore below the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational\nProgress (NAEP) reading test. There is also a continuing gap between\nwhite students and African-American and Hispanic students. [While 69\npercent of African-American and 64 percent of Hispanic students scored\nbelow the basic level in 1994, only 31 percent of white fourth graders\ndid].\nTo close the gap, we need to change the way we teach reading in\nmany classrooms. Every elementary school teacher should be schooled\nin the latest research, given the opportunity to work with a reading\nspecialist, and have the support of parents and other tutors. The\nPresident has laid down a daunting challenge: every child reading\nindependently by the end of third grade. It will take the work of all of us\nto meet it.\n[Title I\nThe ESEA reauthorization will extend, expand, and improve Title I\n-- which has been so beneficial for disadvantaged children, including a\ndisproportionate number of African American and Hispanic students.\nHistorically, Title I has been the single largest source of Federal funding\ntargeted to raising the achievement levels of students in high-poverty\nschools and helping to close the achievement gap between these children\nand their more advantaged peers. The 1994 reauthorization required\nstates to develop content and performance standards in reading and\nmath, and improved the targeting of resources. It also expanded\nschool-wide programs, and strengthened parental involvement.\nThese changes are having an impact, but we are not anywhere near\nwhere we need to be. Therefore, the President's reauthorization\nproposal continues to hold at-risk children in high-poverty schools to\nthe same high standards expected of other children -- but goes even\nfurther, with additional resources for the lowest achieving schools,\nincreased authority for school-wide programs, and phasing out the use of\nteacher aides as instructors in Title I schools. Consistent with the\nNational Academy of Sciences recommendations, the legislation\nproposes the use of diagnostic assessments in the first grade to ensure\nthe early identification of children with reading difficulties.]\nMathematics\nLike reading, mathematics is a foundation for many other subjects,\nparticularly science and technology. But here too, we find significant\ngaps among whites and African American and Hispanic students. Too\noften, only students thought to be \"good at math\" or \"college material\"\nare given the chance to take higher level mathematics classes, and a\ndisproportionate number of children who are offered less rigorous\nmathematics courses and poorer quality instruction are African\nAmerican or Hispanic.\nMany young people will be effectively denied the opportunity to\ngo on to college and to enter many careers unless teachers, counselors,\nand school administrators hold higher expectations for all students in the\narea of mathematics achievement, eliminate \"general math\" in the\ncurriculum, and provide the additional supports some students will need\nto succeed in higher level mathematics.\nC. PROMOTING REAL ACCOUNTABILITY\nIf we are committed to level the playing field for our children --\nthen we must raise our expectations for all students -- regardless of their\nrace or background. I've heard that high expectations recently got a\nboost here in New York -- when you did away with the general diploma\n-- and committed city schools to give every child the chance to earn the\nmore rigorous Regent's diploma. I applaud all of you for demonstrating\nconfidence not only in New York's schools -- but in your students.\nWhile cities and states across the country are working hard to raise\nexpectations and create higher achievement standards, the Clinton\nAdministration is working to be a strong partner in this effort. Goals\n2000 has helped states go from pushing for standards to implementing\nthem -- to make them part of every teacher's lesson plan.\nNow, we need to take accountability to the next level.\nThe President's agenda on accountability.\n** Annual School Report Cards. The President has proposed\nrequiring annual report cards, easily understood by and widely\ndistributed to parents and the public, for each school, school district, and\nthe state. We must empower parents with more information and more\nchoices. In too many communities, it's easier to get information on the\nquality of the local restaurant than on the quality of local schools. We\nowe it to our parents and our children -- every school district should\nissue report cards on every school.\nTough interventions. The President's ESEA proposal will\nrequire states to identify the schools with the lowest achievement\nlevels and least improvement and take corrective action to turn\nthem around. These corrective actions, based on a careful\nassessment of each school's needs, would include steps such as\nintensive teacher training, support to improve school discipline,\nand the implementation of proven approaches to school reform.\nIf these actions do not raise student achievement within two\nyears, the proposal would require states to take additional\ncorrective actions, such as permitting students to attend other\npublic schools; reconstituting the school -- by fairly evaluating the\nstaff and making staff changes as appropriate; or closing the\nschool and reopening it as a charter school or with an entirely new\nstaff.\nNineteen states currently take similar actions to help improve\nlow-performing schools, and experience demonstrates that when\nthese interventions are carefully implemented and accompanied\nby the resources to support change, schools improve and student\nachievement increases. The President's FY 2000 budget\ncontains $200 million to help states begin taking these steps\nimmediately.\nI've visited schools across the country that prove what can be\naccomplished when dedicated teachers, parents, and communities join\nforces, and turn failing schools into models of success. Chicago's Du\nSable high school -- where only about half the students used to show up\non any given day, and achievement scores were some of the lowest in\nthe nation.\nBut the principal of that school laid down a new law of discipline,\nwired the school for the Internet, and created a \"culture of reading.\"\nTeachers volunteered in after school and summer schools; and everyone\nlearned a new vocabulary word a day. Even the security guards would\nquiz the kids. As a result -- Du Sable high school is turning around.\nEnd social promotion. No child should graduate from high\nschool with a diploma he or she can't read. We do our children no\nfavors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without\nmastering the material. But we can't just hold students back because the\nsystem fails them.\nMany people worry that the policy of ending social promotion will\nhurt children of color unfairly, arguing that children who are retained in\ngrade are more likely to drop out of school and face other challenges.\nBut these critics miss the point. The goal of ending social promotion is\nto hold schools accountable for giving children the extra help they will\nneed to succeed.\nThis extra help is reflected in the administration's class size\nreduction initiative, the Reading Excellence Act, and the 21st Century\nLearning Centers after school initiative, which the President has\nproposed to dramatically expand. Instead of using this new policy as an\nexcuse to toss aside children having difficulty learning, schools will be\nexpected to take aggressive action to help all students make promotion\nstandards on time, even if this means providing afterschool and summer\nschool programs.\nWe can't afford to allow 10 or 15 percent of young adults graduate\nfrom high school without being able to balance a checkbook or write a\nletter. These are the students who are hurt by the current practice, and\nthey are the ones with the most to gain from the proposed policy.\nGive parents more information, and more choices. Giving\nparents more choices in selecting their public schools also strengthens\naccountability. Charter schools and magnet schools are some of the\nways we can foster innovation in the system, and challenge children in\ndifferent ways. By giving these schools greater flexibility and freedom,\nthey can experiment with new approaches -- and still be held\naccountable for making sure their students are making the grade.\nWhen the President first came into office -- there was just one\nindependent public charter school in America. Now there are now 1100.\nAnd the President is proposing funding that assure that early in the next\ncentury -- there will be 3,000.\nI've visited charter and magnet schools around the country -- and\nwhile some are struggling -- I've seen the dramatic differences others are\nmaking in the lives -- and opportunities -- of their students. [San\nFernando Valley charter school story.]\nWe can learn from examples like East Harlem -- the first public\nschool choice system in the country. That district, that faces so many\nchallenges, adopted public school choice over 20 years ago. And a\nrecent evaluation of East Harlem by researchers at the State University\nof New York tells us important things: first the district nearly doubled\nthe overall number of schools and created many small schools as\nalternatives to the traditional neighborhood schools. Second and most\nimportant -- both reading and math scores have gone up in all schools --\nboth the neighborhood schools and the new alternative ones -- contrary\nto fears that a choice system would create a district in which some were\nfavored over others.\n[Although the improvement has leveled off or declined slightly in\nthe late 1980s, the district is still performing better on reading and math\ntests than schools in the rest of the city with similar concentrations of\nfamilies living in poverty -- all for a school district that was ranked last\nin New York City in 1974.]\nVouchers\nAt a time when we are clearly moving forward - with greater\naccountability; higher standards; and greater public schools choice -- we\ncan't allow ourselves to be pulled off track by false debates --\nparticularly by those who claim that vouchers are the real solutions to\nimproving public education, and fixing failing schools. At a time when\nwe should be devoting more resources, attention and intelligence to\nimproving our public schools -- some want to drain off valuable\nresources for a few -- making it even more difficult for public schools to\nimprove. Vouchers divide communities at a time when one of our\ngreatest challenges as a nation is to pull communities together across\nracial and economic lines.\nWe've also learned that the voucher system simply does not\ndeliver. I've read recent studies that show that when you look at the\nvoucher systems that have been implemented there's no evidence that\nstudents do significantly better. It just hasn't worked. We need to fix\nour public schools -- not abandon them.\nVI. Everyone has a stake, everyone has a role.\nSchools by themselves can't ensure that every child is given a\nworld-class education. We can't ask them to be held accountable for the\nprogress we want if we don't hold ourselves accountable as well. We\nneed a true partnership.\nWe need parents who believe in the importance of education, and\nsupport their schools and teachers -- and most importantly, their\nchildren. All of our public efforts pale beside the power of every parent\nto make a difference.\nWe need communities to work in partnership with their schools,\nand be engaged in helping children thrive. We've seen what can be\naccomplished when everyone from the local police officer to the retired\nteacher makes a commitment to creating conditions for success.\nAnd we need businesses who understand they have a major stake\nin producing a well educated, highly skilled workforce. I've seen the\nimpact on a school's learning environment as a result of public/private\npartnerships -- when local businesses contribute everything from\nschool-to work experiences and college scholarships to computer labs\nand volunteer mentors. They can also be a powerful force in holding\nschools accountable for high standards and student achievement.\nVII. Conclusion\nWhen this nation was first founded, it was a radical idea that\neducation could every become a public matter. That mothers and fathers\nshould care about children in households beyond their own. Yet some of\nAmerica's visionary leaders argued that public education was inherent\nin our commitment to democracy and justice. That an informed citizenry\nwas required to survive and prosper, and that every American had a\nstake in the learning of every child.\nSurely, they were right. Let us never take for granted that lesson of\nhistory, that America's miracle of public education is not only vital to\nour future prosperity -- but a cornerstone of our democracy.\nThe interdependent world of tomorrow requires constantly\nexpanding knowledge at its base -- not just its elite. Failure to spread\nthat knowledge not only perpetuates injustice -- but injures our common\npotential for growth. America's greatest markets for future opportunity\nlie right here at home -- in our cities; in our rural communities; in our\naging suburbs. Their hope -- and our hope -- begins with a constantly\nrevitalizing system of public education in America.\nMake no mistake. The maintenance and reform of public\neducation is more urgent than ever for America. It will require\nimagination and daring; commitment and experimentation; and yes,\nmoney. But standing here today -- at this remarkable institution of\nteaching and learning -- I am convinced that the best days of America --\nand America's public schools -- are before us. We can do no less for our\nchildren, and we can do no less for the future of our great country."
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