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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. letter
Lissa Muscatine to Melissa Levine re FLOTUS' column (partial) (1
09/23/1997
P6/b(6)
page)
002. fax cover
Melissa Levine to Michael O'Mary (partial) (1 page)
nd
P6/b(6)
003. fax cover
Darcy Bacon to Michael O'Mary (partial) (1 page)
nd
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Speechwriting (Noa Meyer Subject Files)
OA/Box Number: 17210
FOLDER TITLE:
Speech Candidates Column [2]
2012-0869-S
kc919
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act - [5 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.
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. letter
Lissa Muscatine to Melissa Levine re FLOTUS' column (partial) (1
09/23/1997
P6/b(6)
page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Speechwriting (Noa Meyer Subject Files)
OA/Box Number: 17210
FOLDER TITLE:
Speech Candidates Column [2]
2012-0869-S
kc919
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
PI 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.
09/23/97
13:12
GRAHAM/MUSCATINE
NO. 675
002
[001]
Faxedon?/ed
THE WHITE HOUSE
@1:50
September 23, 1997
Melissa Levine
P6/(b)(6)
St. Louis, MO 63112:
Dear Melissa:
Thanks for your continued interest in helping with Mrs. Clinton's column. Enclosed are some
background materials for a sample column on charter schools. (Included are the President's
speech last weekend about charter schools, with some brief remarks by the First Lady; a
somewhat rambling and discursive speech Mrs. Clinton gave in Chicago last winter about
education; and the education chapter from her book). Feel free to conduct your own research as
well.
The idea is to convey Mrs. Clinton's strong advocacy of charter schools as a realistic, cost-
effective and rational solution to some of the problems we face in today's public schools. The
tone should be conversational, yet substantive, persuasive without being preachy. You are
welcome to use personal anecdotes from her book and other sources. Keep in mind that the
audience consists principally of readers of small and medium-sized papers in the United States.
About half of the subscribers are newspapers and magazines overseas.
The column should be approximately 750 words. Please do not put your name on your draft. We
want to read them blindly. Completed drafts should be faxed to me no later than Friday morning
at: 202-337-0589. Don't hesitate to call if you have questions or concerns. 1 can be reached at
202-337-3171.
Finally, we appreciate your discretion and confidentiality during this process.
I hope you find this exercise interesting and enjoyable!
Yours truly,
Must
Lissa Muscatine
Special Assistant to the President and
Chief Speechwriter for the First Lady
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 18, 1997
REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT THE CHICAGO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
Chicago, Illinois
MRS. CLINTON: Thank you very much. I am always glad to be back in Chicago and
today I'm especially pleased to have a chance to be here at this museum on this auspicious
occasion of the first Annual Manilow Lecture. I want to thank Lew Manilow for inviting me to
be here, and I want to convey my appreciation, and I'm sure that of many of you here, to both
Lew and Susan for their generous support of the cultural and civic life of this city, and
particularly their support of institutions such as Chicago Children's Museum and others which do
so much for children.
I was delighted that Dianne Sautter could give me the tour, and she had many helpers --
very small helpers -- who showed me around. And I was able to meet some of the staff and
could see on their faces the enthusiasm they have for the work they do here. I am pleased that
we could be joined by your senior Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, and I thank her for being here.
And I thank Congressman Danny Davis also for joining us.
And I want to add my word of appreciation to Bernice Weissbored and to Irving Harris,
because there are not, I believe, two people who have done more to raise awareness about the
importance of families and children anywhere in the United States. And I share the pride of all
of you that they have done this work and have led on behalf of children from right here in
Chicago.
I hope that as we sit here in the midst of this museum and as many of you who have had
the chance to tour through here to see the exhibits that are designed carefully to provoke children
of every age, that we realize we stand on the brink of an extraordinary opportunity and
challenge. And that opportunity and challenge is that we now know we know what works for
children. We know what children need. We understand that from the very earliest days of life a
child is constantly learning. We now know what it requires for the brain to develop. Science has
opened up all kinds of information to us that good mothers and fathers and grandparents knew
instinctively for generations, but now we know for sure.
And that knowledge imposes grave responsibilities on all of us. Whether or not we are
parents, we all, as adults, have an obligation to refuse to make any more excuses about what our
children need.
And so I come today to reflect upon what I have learned and seen here at Chicago
Children's Museum and around our country, because I have been privileged to visit many places
like this museum where we are taking what we now know about children and putting it into
practice; where adults are banding together to build communities and strong families that will
enable as many children as possible to live up to their God-given potential.
And yet, at the same time, we know that in this great city, as in every city and every
suburb and every small rural town in America, there are too many of our children who will not
reap the benefit of this opportunity and challenge that we face. We can pick up the newspaper,
turn on the television, listen to the radio every single hour and hear too often of the lost life, the
missed opportunity, the tragedies that befall our children.
So this is a good news, bad news report. The good news is we know what works. We
know what every child needs. We know what they need in their families, what they need in their
schools, what they need in their communities. We know what parents require to feel that they
are able to give the time and energy that children require. We know what makes for good
schools and good teaching and active learning. And we know that in countless places around
America everything that we know that is good for children is happening. And we also know that
in countless other places what we know will destroy the body, the mind, the soul of a child is also
happening.
Now, there is no way for anyone to write a prescription or pass a law that tells people,
be good parents, be loving grandparents, be caring teachers, be sensitive employers, be
thoughtful public leaders, and always consider first and foremost what children need to develop
and grow. But we know that in many ways we have the tools at our disposal, and they don't
require laws, and lots of times they don't even require a lot of money. What they require is a
different attitude and a set of expectations, both about our children and about ourselves.
Now, my husband says that we live in an age of possibility. And by that he means a time
of great promise as well as uncertainty; an age that requires us to think in new ways about how
to meet old and new challenges; an age that offers few guarantees for the future, but many
opportunities. And though change is certain in this age of possibility, progress is not. Progress
depends on the choices we make today and tomorrow, and whether we meet those challenges,
particularly to our children, and protect our values.
We can start by admitting that we have to recommit ourselves to making America a level
playing field for all children; by coming together as one community committed to helping all
children lift themselves up to better lives; by making sure that the tools of opportunity are
available to every person who is willing to work hard and take responsibility. Those tools are
obvious ones -- obviously, education, health care, access for adults to jobs and credit, legal
protections where necessary, the ability to participate fully in the civic and political life of our
country. But more than those tools of opportunity, we have to think about the attitudes and
expectations that must be joined together in order for those tools to be used effectively.
Just today, here in Chicago, I have seen how the tools of opportunity and those higher
expectations and positive attitudes can make a difference. This morning I saw at the Kinsey
School on the South Side a school that works -- a public school of pre-K through 8th grade
where the principal empowers the teachers, where the teachers collaborate and cooperate with
one another, where the children who are older mentor and tutor the ones who are younger, a
school where when you walk in the door you know that learning is occurring.
Now, are the children at Kinsey the brightest children in Chicago? Were they genetically
chosen to go to the Kinzie School? Were the teachers singled out because they were the best and
most sensitive, charismatic teachers in Chicago? No. Instead, what happened at the Kinzie
School can happen at any school. People were given the support and the motivation and the
tools required to change how a school worked.
So there I was in a class of pre-K children, some of them with disabilities and particularly
hearing impairments because those children are being included at the Kinzie School -- watching
as little boys and girls talked and did their work together; and in a kindergarten class, watching
as they determined what floated or sank -- much as I saw in the Waterways exhibit here -- and I
could see very clearly that what we had at that school is what we need at every school, but what
we still don't have at enough schools.
Later this morning, I visited the Women's Self-employment Project, not far from here -- a
non-profit organization created a decade ago to provide training and assistance, peer support
and loans to low-income women who were interested in starting small businesses and becoming
economically self-sufficient. These women are seldom thought of except in stereotypical terms.
They're not considered independent -- many have been or still are on public assistance. They're
certainly not considered entrepreneurial. The majority have household incomes of less than
$15,00 a year.
And yet, in every case, higher expectations for themselves and about them combined
with tools of opportunity were changing lives. Women were telling me about the businesses they
had started, how they had moved off of welfare. And over and over again, they said to me, I'm
doing this for my children; I'm setting an example for my children. Because they understood how
important expectations and attitudes and tools of opportunity are, not only for them, but for
their children.
Today I want to focus on one of those tools and a particular set of expectations, and that
concerns education. The President issued a national call in the State of the Union, a call to
action for American education in the 21st century. This call for action outlines 10 proposals that
the President believes if implemented would make a significant difference in our schools and in
our children's futures.
We know that to prepare America for the next century we need strong, safe schools with
clear standards of achievement and discipline, and we need talented and dedicated teachers in
every classroom. Now, what have we learned over the last years because of work by people like
Berniece and Irving and others of you in this audience that would enable us to meet that goal?
Well, the President believes that we have learned enough to support each of the 10
points that he is advocating: First, that we have to set rigorous national standards with national
tests in 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade mathematics to make sure our children master the
basics.
Now, there is controversy about national standards and national tests. I understand that.
But I also understand that in the absence of a national (inaudible)
results, and we will be
unable as a nation to say that we have met the challenge that modern education poses to our
children.
What this proposal calls for is voluntary national standards to be implemented at the
local level, but to use tests that are created at the national level to determine whether or not
children in Chicago or New York or Los Angeles are actually learning what they need to know.
This process will enable us to be sure that we have set benchmarks of excellence for our
children -- not to put any child down but to enable all of us to lift children up. There is no
difference between algebra in Chicago and algebra in Boston. There is no difference between
reading in Los Angeles and reading in New York. How we get the best results in working with
our children will be left to the local level, but we have to conclude, as the Mayor here in Chicago
concluded when he took the courageous step of taking on the responsibility for the public schools
here, that we cannot have any more excuses. We cannot pretend that we all live in Lake
Woebegone, where all the children are above average, and where they are socially promoted and
where they are not expected to do well because of who their parents are or what their address
happens to be. Setting those national standards will, for the first time, say to every child, we
have high expectations for you.
Secondly, we have to be sure that there are talented and dedicated teachers in every
classroom. That means we have to do a better job with preparation for teachers and with
in-service training for teachers. And we have to be honest about teachers who do not measure
up. And we have to reward teachers who go above and beyond the call. And we have to enable
more teachers to succeed by staying in the classroom and not being promoted into administration
and taken out of the classroom. In order to maintain the kind of core of excellent, dedicated
teachers, we need to make teaching, not administration, the primary goal of educators.
Third, we have to help every student to read independently and well by the end of 3rd
grade. Now, for those of you who have worked with and studied children, you know very well
that if a child is not reading well on his or her own by the age of 8 or 9, it is going to be very
difficult for that child ever to catch up.
The President has called for a national effort, with volunteers helping teachers, with
parents becoming involved, with tutors who are willing to give their time, to make sure that every
child is able to read. If we could focus on that one goal as a nation and put our hearts and hands
to work on it, we would not only help many children to read, we would involve many adults in
the lives of our schools, because as I go in and out of schools today all over the country, I see
clearly that our schools need more partners. They need people who will be there to assist in the
classroom, to help solve problems, to provide resources. And the more Americans we have
involved in our public schools, through tutoring and mentoring and in other ways, the stronger
community support will become for our schools.
Next, we have to expand preschool and early childhood education, and challenge parents
to become involved early in their children's learning. Irving Harris has been a pioneer in our
efforts to focus on the earliest years of life and learning. And now, with what neuroscience is
telling us, he is a man ahead of his time, because we now know that it is not only an important
way to prepare a child for school by reading and talking with that child, stimulating that baby,
we now know that it makes a physical difference in the way that child's brain develops.
Now, we can't take this the wrong way. I've had friends of mine ask me, you know, now
that I know all about this brain research that's going on, do you think I read enough to my child?
We can't go overboard about this. Most parents who ask that question have done just fine.
What we have to do is to reach out and take this powerful information and enlist every parent
and empower every parent.
Oftentimes, parents will say to me, why would I talk to the baby; he can't talk back. Or I
don't feel comfortable reading to my daughter because I'm not a very good reader. And my
response always is that for a baby it doesn't matter how good a reader you are. It even doesn't
matter how good a talker you are. Just having that interaction on a regular, ongoing basis,
pretending to read the book until the child is older, doing whatever it takes to enlist that child's
active learning is what will make a difference.
And it's not only the family that has to take early childhood education seriously. We all
do. We have to be more committed to programs like Head Start and Early Start and pre-k
programs so that we give every child a chance to be exposed to stimulating educational
opportunities as early as possible.
Next, we have to expand choice and accountability in public education. The President's
plan for charter schools is one of the best ways that any state or community can begin to provide
other options within the public school system. As I have been in and out of charter schools
around our country, I have seen dramatic differences. I think of the charter school in the San
Fernando Valley outside Los Angeles that was in a neighborhood where literally on the school
property drug deals were happening. There was a crack house across the street. And parents
and community members got fed up with having their complaints about the safety of the school
fall on deaf ears at the downtown administration. And they banded together to form a charter
school. And they drove out the drug dealers. And they closed down and destroyed the crack
houses. And they created opportunities for parents to become actively involved in their child's
schooling. And the difference is as clear as it could be, to walk into that school now and see the
learning that is taking place.
Accountability such as that that is being imposed here in Chicago will turn schools
around. And again, we know what works to make schools accountable and effective. It's a
matter of will whether we will be sure to implement those changes.
We have to make sure our schools are safe and disciplined and drug free, and instill our
basic American values. That's where programs like uniforms, such as I saw at the Kinsey School
today, come in, creating an atmosphere of structure and routine, particularly for children who
come from situations that are chaotic. They need that external structure in order to begin to
internalize structure. And curfews and uniforms and strict disciplinary codes all of that begins
to send the signal that this is how we expect you to behave and how we're going to enforce our
discipline in this school so that you will be able to grow and learn while here.
We have to modernize our school buildings and help support school construction. Many
of our schools around our country, particularly in urban areas, are in deplorable condition. This
morning, I heard from Gary Chico of the school system here in Chicago about the numbers of
schools that have serious repair and maintenance problems. Many other schools in fast-growing
districts have no space for children. If we expect our children to learn, there needs to be a
partnership between the federal government, the state and local school districts to make sure our
schools are safe to learn in.
We also have to hold something out to kids who are in school so that they will stay in
school. And that's why the President has emphasized why we need to open the doors of college
to all who work hard and make the grade. We need to make college more available after high
school to many youngsters. Now, some people say, well, not every youngster needs to go to
college. I wouldn't argue with that. But sometimes the youngsters who don't go to college are
ones who would like to, who think they need to, but who for financial reasons are unable to.
Also, we now have in our community colleges the most extraordinary array of vocational
and technical programs that will be available to assist young people and those who go back to
school after having been in the work force to acquire skills that will make them more employable
in the future. So college is not just about the four-year degree, although we should make sure
that any young person who works hard and is willing to study has a chance to compete for that.
But college is also about our community colleges and the preparation that they can provide to all
Americans for the future of their work lives. We have to help adults improve their education and
skills by transforming the tangle of federal training programs into a simple skill grant so that the
individual can make the choice about where to go to get the training that that man or woman
needs.
Focusing on the learning needs of adults is one of the most important ways we can help
the children of those adults. Making it possible for Americans to increase their skills and their
employability will provide more security in the future for the entire family. And that is good
news for children who live in poverty in America -- far too many of them -- and for working
parents who are always struggling about where they're going to be able to find that paycheck or
that college tuition or that rent money in the future.
We also have to be sure that every classroom and library is part of the Information Age.
And the President has urged that every single one be connected to the Internet by the year 2000
and that we help all students become technologically literate. Again, technological literacy is not
a magic panacea, but it is certainly something that those of us in this room are providing for our
children. And if we don't provide it for all children, we will create two classes of young people in
our country: those who are able to navigate the Information Age and those who can't get off the
shore. So it's a matter of simple fairness to expose every child to the kind of technology that we
provide for the children in our own families.
Now, if you look at these points in the President's plan -- standing alone or even passing
them in legislation is not all that we need to do. Yes, we need every one of them if we're going
to create the conditions required for making it possible for us to feel that we are educating our
children. But we also have to change our attitudes and expectations as a society. We have to
begin looking at the promise of every child.
Now that we have ended the entitlement to welfare, let us also end the stereotype about
welfare. Let us begin to recognize that in Cabrini Green, in the Robert Taylor homes, there may
be children who are just as able as any child of ours, and that it is in our interests to do
everything we can to find and foster that potential, to see that child as a gift to America, and to
recognize that we have a lot of ground to make up.
But if we change our attitudes, then we also have to expect more from every child and
every parent. We have to try to make it clear that parenting is the most serious responsibility that
anyone can assume, that it cannot be entered into lightly or irresponsibly, that it is a lifelong
obligation. We have to do all we can to make sure that only those young men and women who
are ready for that obligation assume it.
We also have to be prepared to speak very clearly to every young boy and girl. You will
not succeed in America if you cannot speak English. You will not succeed in America if you do
not take schooling seriously. You will not succeed in America if you do not believe you can
succeed. You will not succeed in America if you engage in self-destructive behaviors or violence
toward others because there will be no place for you in the kind of America we are trying to
build for everyone else.
So, yes, we have a lot of work to do. And we have a lot of attitudes to change among
all of us. But we also have to expect more from every American, and we have to enable every
boy and girl to feel that he or she can succeed.
I think a lot about what the 21st century will be like because it is hard for me to believe
that I will be living in a new century and a new millennium. I don't know if any of you are in
millennial shock yet, but I am. And I wonder what this century holds for my daughter and for her
friends and for all the children I see. And I know deep in my heart that my husband and I have
tried to do all we can for our daughter and give her every advantage we knew to give her --
starting from the time she was a very small baby. I also know that there is no predicting what life
holds for her or for any of us.
But I want all of us to live in a country where the future's unpredictable pattern can be
met by every child being as well prepared as we have tried to make our daughter. There is no
guarantee, but we have to give every child that basic, fundamental confidence about who she or
he is. And that's a job that can't just be left to parents. It's a job that all of us have to do. It is a
job that is being done in Chicago Children's Museum. It is a job that all of us have to recommit
ourselves to.
I think that America is ready for that job, that challenge, that opportunity. And I'm
hoping that every one of us will do our part in the next years to make it possible for us to say,
we have no more excuses for what happens to the children in America and we don't need any
because we have done our best.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
END
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(San Francisco, California)
For Immediate Release
September 20, 1997
OPENING AND CLOSING REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON CHARTER SCHOOLS
San Carlos Charter Learning Center
San Carlos, California
11:19 A.M. PDT
Thank you very much. First, thank all of you for coming here today and sharing your
Saturday morning. I thank the Superintendent for his really marvelous remarks. He talked about
all the things that we have in common -- I saw a living symbol of his dedication to education
above all else, and one thing that we have in common that he didn't mention -- if you look
closely at his tie you will see it is a pattern of golf balls and tees. (Laughter.) And on this
beautiful Saturday morning he's here with us. (Laughter.)
Let me thank your instructional coordinator, too, for being here, leaving her 11-day-old
baby. I would like to see the 11-day-old baby, but I think it's -- where's the baby? A wise
mother leaves the baby outside. (Laughter.)
Hillary and I are delighted to be here. And I want to spend most of my time just at this
panel today. But I thank all of you for coming because I believe in charter schools and I believe
they are an important part of helping us to lift our standards and renew our schools and achieve
the kind of educational excellence that all of our children need as we move into the 21 st century.
I congratulate the San Carlos Learning Center for being the first of its kind in California,
which obviously makes it among the very first in the United States.
Let me just give you a little, brief personal history here. When I was governor of my
state for 12 years, I spent a great deal of time working on school reform -- and so did Hillary --
spent lots of time in the schools, talking to teachers, talking to parents, talking to students,
dealing with issues of curriculum development and teacher training and all those things. And
when we were active in the 1980s, the state of Minnesota became the first state in the country to
pass a public school choice law, to give parents and their children more choice among the public
schools their children attended. I think we were the second state to pass that law. And we used it
quite a lot.
Then when I began to run for President in 1991, Minnesota became the first state in the
country again to pass a charter school law, recognizing that sometimes it wasn't enough just to
give the parents and the students choices, but that we needed to give the educators and the
parents and the students with whom they worked options to create schools that fit the mission
needed by the children in the area; and that if you gave them options and held them accountable,
we might be able to do something really spectacular. Then five years ago today, I think,
California became the second state in the country to adopt a charter school law, and then you
became the first of those schools.
In 1994, I passed legislation in Congress to help us support more charter schools. By the
end of 1995 there were about 300 charter schools in the country. Today there are 700 charter
schools in the country. Many of them have been helped by the program we passed in
Washington in 1994.
The historic balanced budget agreement that we just passed into law includes the largest
commitment to new investment in education since 1965 -- among other things, expansion of
Head Start programs, more funds to support computers in the schools -- I'll say more about that
in a moment -- our America Reads initiative to help make sure every 8-year-old can read
independently, and the biggest increased investment in helping people go to college since the
G.I. Bill passed 50 years ago, tax credits for the first two years of college, credits for the
remainder of college, IRAs, Pell Grants, work-study positions. All these together mean that for
the first time ever we can really say, if you're responsible enough to work for it, no matter what
your income or your difficulties, college is now a real option for you in America -- for every
single American. And I'm very proud of all of that.
But one of the things that was in this balanced budget that didn't get a lot of notice is
enough money for us to help to set up literally thousands more charter schools in America.
Because excellence in education is more than money. And from my point of view, having spent
years and years and years working on this, we need two things -- we need a set of national
standards of academic excellence that will be internationally competitive in basic subjects. And
then we need grass-roots, school-based reform, because education is the magic that takes place in
every classroom, and indeed in every student's mind, involving every teacher, every student, and
also, hopefully, support from home.
So that's why these charter schools are so important to me. And that's why we've tried to
help a lot more schools like San Carlos get started on the path that you've been on now for some
years.
For people who don't know exactly what they are, let me say that charter schools are
public schools that make a simple agreement: in exchange for public funding, they get fewer
regulations and less red tape, but they have to meet high expectations, and they keep their charter
only so long as their customers are satisfied they're doing a good job.
As I said, we've gone from -- the day I took office, there was only one charter school in
America, January of '93. Then a couple years ago we were up to 300; now there are 700. And
what started as a movement in Minnesota and California now encompasses 29 states; 27 more
states have passed charter school laws.
These funds in our budget, as I said, should allow us to set up several thousand more
over the next four years. Today I am pleased to announce that we're going to release $40 million
in grants to help charter schools open. Start-up costs are often the biggest obstacle. And in states
that can't afford to help, it's a terrible problem. I see a lot of people nodding their heads out there
who have had experience with this.
So we have curriculum development costs, teacher training costs, new technology costs -
- all these things can help. The $40 million we're releasing today, of which about $3.4 million
will come to California, will help us to establish another 500 charter schools in 21 states. So
we'll go from 700 to 500 in one pop here.
And as I said, pretty soon -- and if all the states will join in, we obviously can help all of
them -- we'll have well over 3,000, perhaps even over 4,000 by the year 2000, which is enough to
have a seismic echo effect in all the public school systems of America. So that's what we are
trying to do.
Let me say that there are a couple of problems that we're going to face. Last week, the
U.S. Senate, by a very narrow margin, supported an amendment that would make these charter
schools funding that I just announced the last such announcement that would ever be made,
because it would lump all the education funds together and arbitrarily distribute them to the state
without regard to whether these programs were continued or not. And in the process, it would
abolish very specific and highly successful education reform programs like the charter schools,
where we work with local communities and school districts. It would abolish our highly
successful effort to put computers in the classrooms -- I'll tell you how much movement has
happened on there in just two years -- and to create safe and drug-free schools. I think that
would be a mistake.
The House of Representatives recently passed, although the Senate opposed them, an
amendment that would prohibit us to pay for -- not to develop, but to pay for -- a non-political,
private organization to develop voluntary national tests of excellence in mathematics and
reading. I think that would be a mistake. This is the first time, last year, in history that our
students in elementary schools scored above the international average in math and science.
We're doing much better in America, but we don't test all of our kids, we just test a representative
sample. I think we need to know how we're doing based on a common standard.
So we have these problems in the Congress, and if either one of these provisions makes
it into the final bill I will have to veto it. So I hope that we can continue to work on moving
forward in the right direction. And in that connection, I'd like to say a special word of
appreciation to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who I think is one of the -- absolutely -- even I
would say this if I were in Washington -- she really is one of the finest, most forward-looking
members of the United States Congress, and she's made a big difference in our country today.
(Applause.)
Now, running these charter schools, as we are about to hear, is not easy. It's not self-
evident how to do all this. It sounds great to say we'll cut you free of red tape and bureaucracy;
you have to perform at a higher level, you've got to get the parents involved. There are all kinds
of practical problems, and we'll hear about some of them.
The Secretary of Education, Dick Riley, is going to convene a national conference on
charter schools in Washington this November to bring together teachers, administrators, parents,
others who are interested in this to share best practices and look to the road ahead. But just think
about where we can go with this. If we go -- we've gone from one to 700, to 500 more, with a
budget that calls for funds for 3,000 more -- just this year's budget alone that will be funded
starting October 1st, if we get the funds for it, will give us enough funds for another 700 -- or 900
to 1,000 schools.
So this movement can sweep the country and can literally revolutionize both community
control and standards of excellence in education if we do it right. That's what the panel is about.
And before we start, let me just thank some of the business leaders who are here today
for their commitment to educational excellence -- Regis McKenna, David Ellington, Brook
Byers, Terry Yang, Paul Lippe. And I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Larry Ellison who
is up here on the platform. He's the chairman and CEO of Oracle Corporation.
Two years ago this week, I met with Larry and a number of other high-tech executives to
talk about another one of my passions, which is to connect every classroom and library in every
school in America to the Internet by the year 2000. And that, like everything else, it turned out
to be more complicated. It sounded great, but we not only had to connect them, we had to make
sure we had the hardware, the software, and the trained teachers to do the job.
So we got this group of business people who knew about all this, who are working very
hard to try to make sure that we can do that, give all the support services to every school. We got
the Federal Communications Commission to give what amounts to a $2.25 billion a year subsidy
to schools, to lower the rates they have to pay to hook on to the Internet. But to give you an
example of what we can do when we work together, since we made that announcement two years
ago, California has 65 percent of the schools connected, which is twice the percentage you had
two years ago, and four times as many classrooms connected as just two years ago. That shows
you how quickly we can move.
And Larry has not only sponsored the San Carlos Learning Center, but yesterday he
announced Oracle's promise to spend $100 million in a foundation to help schools across
America who need support to get the kind of connection to the future through
telecommunications technology that we all want. So thank you, Larry, for doing that.
(Applause.)
So this is a good news day. but what I want to do now is to turn it over to the panel and
let's get into the facts of the charter school movement and see hopefully, by being here today,
this will encourage the 21 states who do not have charter school legislation to adopt it. It will
encourage the Congress to fully fund the charter schools program for the next four years. And it
will help us to take what you have done here and spread it all across America in a way that will
guarantee international standards of excellence in the education of all of our children.
Thank you very much.
*****
MRS. CLINTON: Well, I want to thank all of you
for sharing your experiences and success stories about charter
schools. And I think that there are just a couple of general
points that I would make. First, what the Congresswoman just
said is critical, when she talked about test kitchens, because my
husband I have said together and often that there is a good
public school in every community in America, but the problem is
they don't learn from each other and they don't get to scale in
the sense that we know what works, but for too many years we have
not been motivated sufficiently to do what worked in every
school.
And so we are now seeing, with the charter school
movement, an effort to do just that - to take these, in some
ways, old-fashioned ideas that are now married to technology and
very much motivated to be successful by the demands of the new
economy, and put them into action in schools across the country.
When we talk about parental involvement, that is a
very old-fashioned idea that we have had to relearn. When we
talk about empowering teachers to design curriculum, that, too,
is something we know will work if we unleash the creative
energies of teachers. When we talk about giving students a
chance to explore and learn and develop their own capacities,
that's what many of us try to do with our own children, but which
we deny to other children because of the bureaucratic structures
and expectations of the old system.
So there are many aspects of what we heard today
which would be very familiar in any setting 30 or 40 or 50 years
ago in many parts of America, but which we somehow lost track of
as we got bigger and bigger and schools became impersonal and
anonymous, and really we lost our way in the very important
connections that have to be made between homes and schools,
students and teachers, and the understanding of how community has
to support that magic.
Secondly, I think that the charter school movement
should not be seen as a threat to public schools. It should be
seen as a liberation of public schools, and particularly teachers
and administrators who for many years have known what should be
done, but have felt unable to do so. (Applause.) And there is
certainly nothing hidden about the President's agenda on this.
He wants every school, whether it is formally called a charter
school, or not, to act like a charter school.
And that is our real objective in the charter school
movement -- not only to create thousands more charter schools,
but to take the lessons from the charter school movement and
literally infect every public school in America, so that parents
are standing at the door of principals' offices, so that teachers
will not feel so oppressed in their classrooms, but will join
together to demand from administrators and school boards what
they know their children need, and for businesses, which have in
many ways the greatest stake in the future of our public school
system, to be constantly be prodding for academic excellence as
in may communities they now prod for athletic excellence.
So the charter school movement is really a rallying
cry that we hope will not only create more charter schools like
the ones we have heard about today, but encourage and give
courage to public school patrons, teachers, and students around
the country to say, well, you know, if Jose could find a home in
a new charter school in San Francisco, why can't all the Joses in
our public schools feel similarly welcomed and supported? And if
Gregg can go into competition with Oracle in the 6th grade, why
can't all the Greggs in America feel similarly encouraged to
pursue their own intellectual excitement?
So we're very much appreciative of what all of you
on the front lines are doing from San Francisco to South Central,
LA, to San Diego, to right here in this community. And we really
do appreciate the zeal with which you have expressed your
excitement about this, because we do want it to infect and to be
contagious so that, as Yvonne said when I saw firsthand visiting
her school, every child will feel that that child is special and
valued and appreciated. And that's really what we're hoping to
achieve with this kind of effort.
So thank you for doing what needs to be done in
American public education. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, let me say I agree
with everything she said. (Laughter.) I'd just like to make a
couple of brief point to build on what Hillary said. I want to
say, first of all, I have no hidden agenda here; I believe the
only way public schools can survive as the instrument by which we
educate our children and socialize them and bring them together
across all the lines that divide us is if all of our schools
eventually -- and, hopefully, sooner rather than later -- are run
like these charter schools. That's what I believe. I am not
running for office anymore. I have no political interest in
this. I am think about what our country is going to be like 20,
30, 40, 50 years from now.
And you know what Tom said about the industrial
model -- that's part of the problem. A lot of our schools are
organized on an industrial model -- a lot of our middle schools
are almost -- are organized for when families were like Ozzie and
Harriet, instead of like they are today. There are a lot of
organizational problems. It's also true that our schools get
money from a lot of different places and have to suffer rules
from a lot of different places, and a lot of people think if they
give up their rule-making, they won't matter anymore. And in
some way, the most important person here is the Superintendent
because he's here supporting this instead of figuring out how he
can control it. And I think that's important. (Applause.)
And so Hillary and I have been working at this
business for a long time now -- seriously since 1983 -- really
seriously. There has been a dramatic change in the attitudes of
the teacher unions, which is positive. There have been dramatic
advances in the attitude of administrators, which is positive.
But I just want to say, we cannot -- there are a lot
of people who believe in the information age, with things
changing as fast as they are and with standards needing to be as
high as they are, that we ought to just basically send everybody
money and let them do whatever they want to about education, and
forget about the public education network -- let it sink or swim.
The problem with that theory is that the short-term costs to
people who got left behind would be staggering.
But if we want to preserve excellence and the
socially unifying impact of public schools over the next
generation, I am telling you, every school in the country has got
to become like this one. The power needs to be with the parents,
with the children, with the teachers, with the principals. And
those of us who are up the lines somewhere, up the food chain,
what are we interested in? We're interested in what Kim said
--we're interested in results. We don't need to make rules.
We're interested in results and we want to be able to measure
them. We want to know our kids are going to be all right and our
country is going to be all right.
Let them make the rules in the schools. Let them
figure it out. And then education will be something that will
get bright young lawyers to leave their more lucrative law
practices to do something that doesn't pay as much, but makes
them feel good when they go to bed every night and get up in the
morning. That's what we want. And until every school is run
like that, you and I should not rest.
Thank you. God bless you. (Applause.)
END
12:35 P.M. PDT
Education = Expectations
Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.
LADY BIRD JOHNSON
I HAVE NEVER met a stupid child, though I've met plenty
of children whom adults insist on calling "stupid" when
the children don't perform in a way that conforms to
adult expectations.
I remember a six-year-old girl I tutored in reading at
an elementary school in Little Rock. I'll call her Mary.
She lived in a tiny house with six siblings, her parents,
and an assortment of other relatives, who came and went
unpredictably. There was so much commotion in the
evenings that she was rarely able to sleep for longer than
a few hours, and she always looked tired. She seemed un-
comfortable talking, but she didn't want to read, éither.
Sometimes her eyelids would droop and she would lay
her head on the desk.
One day, desperate for a way to hold her attentión, I
asked Mary if she liked to draw. Her brown eyes lit up
and she nodded eagerly. Her colored-pencil drawings of
people and animals were technically advanced and rich
in detail. Awkward as she was with words, Mary com-
240
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
municated vividly through her art. Her pictures of
small house crowded with many people and lacki
space for her to draw or to play provided us with a way
begin talking about her life. When I complimented }
on them, though, she repeated what other adults m
have said to her: The drawings were just silly "baby" st
and not very good.
When her teacher observed what we were doing, S
cautioned me that my purpose was to help Mary learn
read, not to play. I suggested that encouraging Ma
to express herself in her drawings and then helping h
to write stories about what they conveyed could le
her to reading. But the teacher could only see that Ma
and I had failed at our assigned task, which was to re
stories in the class workbooks.
Mary was obviously intelligent, but her intelligen
was expressed in the pictures she drew and not by tryi
to read from a printed page. Yet her artistic interest at
talent were not being praised at home or in school.
wasn't surprising that she often seemed withdrawn
unhappy. How could she not notice that her talents we
ignored, even penalized? It does not take long for chi
dren like Mary, whose intelligence is expressed in a W:
that is not customarily recognized or appreciated, to lo
a sense of how valuable their particular gifts are, an
along with it, their confidence and sense of self.
When this happens, teachers, parents, and other adu
often write them off as "slow" or "unmotivated" and cor
to expect less of them in the way of academic perf
mance. Tragically, the children are thus deprived of
opportunity to master the basic skills they will need
realize their particular gifts. This is a loss not only
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
241
them but to the entire village, which could benefit from
all our talents.
In his 1983 book, Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner
outlined the theories about multiple intelligence that he
had formulated while working with gifted children and
children who had suffered brain damage. He discovered
that the loss of certain mental capacities, such as lan-
guage ability, was accompanied by an enhancement of
others, such as visual or musical abilities. These findings
prompted Gardner to explore how parts of the brain
seem to promote different abilities. He uncovered what
he describes as the capacity people have to express them-
selves through various forms of intelligence.
Even within the same family, it's easy to see that dif-
ferent children are good at different things. From very
early on, some seem to be drawn to words and learning
from books, although the abstract, logical reasoning
mathematics requires may come less easily to them. Other
children excel at math, because their minds travel most
easily in the worlds of numbers and symbols, but they
may have difficulty expressing themselves in words.
Verbal and mathematical abilities stand children in
good stead in most classrooms. Other kinds of intelli-
gence may go unrecognized. Children who think in vi-
sual images may not thrive when limited to words and
symbols. An early knack for music, like my husband's,
might be ignored if it is not accompanied by more con-
ventional skills. So might the strong intuitive skills that
allow people to read the moods and temperament of oth-
ers. We have all known children who seemed to think
with their bodies-who can rapidly learn a new sport,
for example-and yet seem restless and uncomfortable
242
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
when they are forced to sit still at a desk. The brilliant
choreographer Martha Graham once said, "IfI could say
it, I wouldn't have to dance it." Yet rather than celebrate
our children's multiple forms of intelligence, too often
we elevate one form over another or caricature kids ac-
cordingly, labeling them "jocks" or "nerds."
Howard Gardner's list of intelligences takes into ac-,
count verbal, mathematical, visual, physical, and musical
intelligences as well as psychological skills like the ability
to understand and interact well with others. These forms
of intelligence are not mutually exclusive. Every one of
us has all of them to some degree. Their particular con-
stellation may determine not only what we are good at
but how we learn-if we are given the encouragement
and opportunity to develop them.
Whatever the range of intelligences includes, it is in-
creasingly clear that standard IQ tests capture only a
fraction of it. The tests were originally designed to mea-
sure only the aptitudes that fall within Gardner's first
two types of intelligence, verbal and mathematical. Yet
much classroom work engages only that part of a child's
potential. Schools often categorize children's intelligence
according to their performance on IQ and other nar-
rowly conceived tests and adjust their encouragement
and expectations accordingly. Even "slow" children are
quick to catch on to the categories schools have put them
into, and learn a simple equation: If adults don't think I
can achieve, I can't and I won't.
The philosopher Nelson Goodman suggests that we
would do well to learn to ask how rather than whether
someone is smart. That question would shift the empha-
sis to helping individuals realize their potential, rather
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
243
than whether they have potential in the first place. The
main point I want to make here is that virtually all chil-
dren can learn and develop more than their parents,
teachers, or the rest of the village often believe. This has
great implications for how we approach our children's
educations.
One of the striking differences international studies
have repeatedly turned up between American parents
and students and their counterparts in other countries,
particularly in Asia, is the greater weight our culture
currently gives to innate ability, as opposed to effort, in
academic success. I don't know all the reasons for this
preoccupation, which seems to be linked to an obsession
with IQ tests and other means of labeling people, but
some possible explanations are not particularly flattering
to us.
Believing in innate ability is a handy excuse for us. Too
tired to read to a child or enforce rules on TV-watching
or phone use? Too preoccupied to seek out extra help for
a child who needs more practice with math or a foreign
language? Why bother, if none of that really makes much
of a difference anyway? More concerned with how a
daughter looks than whether she's reading at grade level?
More interested in a son's jump shot than in how he con-
jugates verbs? If that's what gets our attention, you can
bet it's what kids will think is importantatoo. But how
can we parents see the connection between effort and'
appearance, or between effort and athletic prowess, but
not between effort and academic success?
The bell curve lets the rest of us off the hook too.
What's the sense of reforming schools, especially if it
costs any money? What is the point of figuring out how
244
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
to tailor teaching to the unique ways children learn?
Why puzzle over what they should learn, and why bother
to articulate it to them? Cream will rise to the top no
matter what we do, so let nature take its course and for-
get about nurture.
If we are permitted to write off whole groups of kids
because of their racial or ethnic or economic backgrounds,
then the occasional academic shooting star will be seen
as a fluke. And when whole groups of kids succeed de-
spite the odds, like the poor Hispanic high school students
Jaime Escalante coached to succeed on the Advanced
Placement calculus examination, their success can be as-
cribed to a unique brand of charismatic teaching and
motivation that can't be replicated anywhere else.
I began to work on behalf of education reform in
Arkansas in 1983, when my husband asked me to chair a
committee that would make recommendations for im-
proving Arkansas's education system. That was also the
year that "A Nation at Risk," the landmark report about
our schools, was issued. I couldn't begin to describe in a
single chapter all the effort since then that has gone into
promoting preschool and kindergarten programs, raising
academic standards, establishing accountability, profes-
sionalizing teaching conditions, improving vocational
and technical education, and many other changes. But
after a dozen years of involvement in education reform,
I'm convinced that the biggest obstacles many students
face in learning are the low expectations we have of them
and their schools.
100
I've mentioned the impact President Eisenhowers
post-Sputnik call for higher math and science perfor-
mance had on my generation. Performance standards
were upgraded; new classroom equipment was purchased.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
245
Our parents and teachers demanded more from us.
Nearly forty years later, though, education is more im-
portant to success in the global village than ever. Now we
have no clear and immediate enemy to frighten us into
improving education for our own children; we have to do
it for ourselves. But the starting point is the same: High
expectations begin at home.
MY PARENTS made learning part of our daily activities,
from storytelling and reading aloud to discussing current
events at the dinner table to calculating earned run aver-
ages for Little League pitchers. They taught me and my
brothers in all sorts of informal ways before we started
school, and they continued teaching us in partnership
with our teachers at school.
When I was in fourth grade, I was having trouble with
arithmetic. My father said he would help me if I got up
as early as he did each morning. The house was cold, be-
cause the furnace was turned off when we went to bed. I
would sit shivering at the kitchen table as the house
slowly warmed up and my father drilled me on multipli-
cation tables and long division.
Some parents do not easily assume the role of teacher.
They may lack the confidence, be unwilling to devote the
time, or simply not know, for example, that reading
aloud to babies and toddlers is the single most important
activity we can do with children to ensure that they will
read well in school. But the village has found ways to
help parents start teaching children when it counts most,
in the preschool years.
In Arkansas, I introduced a program that had been
246
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
developed in Israel. Called HIPPY-the Home Instruc
tion Program for Preschool Youngsters-it works lik
this: A staff member recruited from the communit
comes into the home once a week and role-plays wit
the parent (usually the mother), demonstrating for he
how she can work with her child to stimulate cognitiv
development. Along with special activity packets, th
program employs common household objects to illus
trate concepts. For example, a spoon and a fork might b
used to demonstrate differences in shape or sharpness, o
the volume control on the TV might be turned up and
down to teach the concepts of loud and soft. The mate
rial in the activity packets, designed for parents who maj
not read well themselves, is outlined in straightforware
fifteen-minute daily lesson plans arranged in a develop
mental sequence. The usual starting age is four, and mos
children participate for two years. Some programs add
third year, so children can begin the program at the ag
of three.
When we brought HIPPY into rural areas and hous
ing projects in Arkansas, a number of educators and oth
ers did not believe that parents who had not finishe
high school were up to the task of teaching their chi
dren. Many of the parents doubted their own abilitie
One mother whose home I visited told me she had a
ways known she was supposed to put food on the tab
and a roof over her children's heads, but no one had ev
told her before that she was supposed to be her son's fi
teacher.
Not only did the program help kids get jump-start
in the right direction; it also gave the parents a bo
in self-confidence. Many of them became interested
learning for themselves as well as for their childre
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
247
going back to school to get a high school equivalency de-
gree or even starting college. This is a particularly im-
portant development, because researchers cite a mother's
level of education as one of the key factors in determin-
ing whether her children do well in school. It stands to
reason that when a mother furthers her own learning,
she becomes more engaged in her child's.
There are similar-and similarly successful-efforts
going on elsewhere, such as the Parents as Teachers (PAT)
program started in Missouri, which also uses home visits
to coach parents on preparing children for school.
The importance of early learning is also one of the
driving ideas behind Head Start, the thirty-year-old fed-
erally funded preschool education program that has con-
sistently helped to prepare disadvantaged children for
school. But Head Start doesn't reach children until they
are four, when we now know from research that many of
them are already behind their peers. So when Congress
reauthorized Head Start in 1994, at the President's rec-
ommendation it established Early Head Start to target
low-income families with infants and toddlers.
So far, however, Head Start reaches only about
750,000 of the estimated two million children who need
it, and Early Head Start is just getting under way. De-
spite the proven success of investments like Head Start,
it and many other preventive programs are caught in the
battle over federal budget priorities. Our nation can af-
ford to invest in early childhood education and balance
the budget. There are few more important investments
at the federal, state, or local level than programs focused
on helping parents to develop the confidence and skills
to teach young children.
We work at home to prepare children for learning, in
248
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
anticipation that much will be demanded of them when
they reach school. Too often, however, expectations are
undermined by a piecemeal approach to educational
change. Nearly every problem in education, including
the plague of low expectations, has been tackled success-
fully somewhere. Leading education reformers like James
Comer, Theodore Sizer, Ernest L. Boyer, and Deborah
Meier have diagnosed our ills, prescribed strategies for
recovery, and put them to work. They usually boil down
to a few crucial ingredients: clear expectations that all
children can and should learn; manageable school and
class size; an orderly classroom environment; the close
personal involvement of at least one teacher with each
child; a commitment to tailoring instruction to how dif->
ferent children learn; active parental participation. Recit-
ing this wish list is easy. Figuring out how to put it into
practice in the face of bureaucratic opposition, parental
qualms, some teacher resistance, and the host of other
obstacles reform faces is another story.
I once spoke to a group of school superintendents
about model programs that had been effective in trans
forming poorly performing students into motivated
achievers. I asked if anyone in my audience had visited
any of the programs I mentioned. A long silence fell ove
the room. Finally, one superintendent confessed that h
couldn't see himself explaining to his school board that
nearby school was solving a problem that had stumped
him. There wasn't anything new in education anyway,
added, so he couldn't see the sense in getting worked
about some "experiments."
That superintendent would doubtless brush off as
perimental" Reading Recovery, a program started
New Zealand, which is considered among the Binds
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
249
literate countries in the world. Reading Recovery has
demonstrated consistent success in getting nearly nine
out of ten first graders who read poorly to grade level in
a few months. In 1984, a group of educators at Ohio State
University's College of Education launched a Reading
Recovery pilot in selected Columbus, Ohio, public schools.
The program was astonishingly successful, and gradually
it won widespread support. Reading Recovery teachers
are now being trained in school districts in forty=seven
states. Yet many schools continue to pursue remedial
reading methods that are not nearly as effective. Why?
The first problem is money, especially in urban school
districts, which generally have less money to begin with
and more students in need of help. Even though children
nove through the Reading Recovery program quickly
and, after leaving it, usually do not need additional help,
aving money in the long term, a front-end investment is
needed to train teachers in the strategies that make the
rogram a success: one-on-one tutoring, with an emphasis
n phonics and language skills. The failure to make a suf-
cient initial investment creates a self-fulfilling prophecy:
Vhen large numbers of first graders still can't read at the
nd of the year, the program will be judged a failure.
Concerns about career advancement sometimes work
gainst innovative programs, too. The success of a pro-
am like Reading Recovery may not be enough to out-
eigh the preconceptions of teachers and administrators
ho have long affiliated themselves with other approaches
are intent on preserving their budgets, staff, and polit-
al clout.
Such misplaced adult priorities divert our efforts and
lergies from where they are most productively spent-
paying attention to how children learn and doing our
250
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
best to personalize the learning process so that each of
them can meet high standards.
It is precisely this concern that motivated social psy-
chologist Jeff Howard to create the Efficacy Institute in
Lexington, Massachusetts. The Institute has trained
twenty thousand teachers in school districts throughout
this country to rethink their assumptions about chil-
dren's intelligence. In Tacoma, Washington, where two
thirds of the teachers in the district have gone through
Efficacy training during the past three years, results o
this new approach are already visible. On standardized
tests, the scores of fourth and eighth graders rose signif
icantly in just two years. Part of the reason for this in
crease in achievement is that teachers go back into the
classroom and share their new knowledge about learning
with the students, explaining to them how important il
is for them to work hard so they can "get smart." Stu-
dents absorb the message that smart is not something
you simply are, but something you can become.
Another innovator who has pioneered a more effec
tive approach to learning is Bob Moses, who is revere
for his efforts to mobilize black voters in the South dur
ing the civil rights movement. Thirty years later, he ha
brought the same passionate commitment to a differen
kind of work.
Helping his own daughter to struggle with her algebr
homework in the early 1980s, Moses, who had been
teacher before he became a civil rights leader, began vo!
unteering at her school, trying to get students to be com
fortable with numbers and more engaged in the proces
of problem solving. He knew that without strong mat
skills poor children would be at a disadvantage in th
highly competitive world of higher learning. His detei
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
251
mination gave birth to the Algebra Project, which ad-
dressed the crisis in math education among minority
students through a middle school curriculum that was
designed to bridge the conceptual gap between arith-
metic and algebra.
Moses developed a five-step model that mimicked the
natural learning process he had observed in children and
brought abstract concepts down to earth. When working
with students in Boston, for example, he treated a route
on the subway as a number line, assigning negative and
positive values to various stops. After the kids rode the
subway, they returned to the classroom to test out their
concepts. In the early 1990s, Moses returned to Missis-
sippi, this time to crusade for the right to learn algebra,
early and effectively.
Moses's method of teaching students mathematical
concepts through real-life examples seems as if it should
be an obvious one. But in many classrooms, teachers still
treat the subject in purely abstract terms, assuming that
some students are "naturally" able to grasp the concepts,
while others-girls and minority students, for example-
cannot. The methods Moses pioneered demonstrate that
most students can grapple with advanced math. They
have been so successful that programs like the Algebra
Project are being instituted in schools around the country.
Such programs are particularly important because stud-
ies show that the strongest single indicator of whether
students will go on to college is whether they have taken
both algebra and geometry. Armed with this knowledge,
the College Board's Equity 2000 Project is working to
ensure that students receive at least two years of college
preparatory mathematics before graduating from high
school. So far, the program has been adopted in six urban
252
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
areas around the country. Preliminary results show a
in teachers' expectations for students' performance an
dramatic increase in student enrollment in algebra, W
only a small increase in course failure rates.
Forward-thinking teachers and school administrat
across the country are creating a whole range of alt
natives to cookie-cutter teaching and evaluation metho
such as the use of student portfolios and exhibitions
addition to conventional exams to assess students' pr
ress. Such educators also put a premium on getting P
ents involved in kids' learning.
Schools are frightening places for many parei
When Bill and I went to our first parent-teacher coni
ence when Chelsea was in kindergarten, we were app
hensive. For the first time, another adult was going
pass judgment on our child, and our many years
schooling did nothing to ease the anxiety.
If a child's parents have not finished school or W
poor students themselves, they may be even less at e
in a school setting. Many parents stay away except wl
a child gets into trouble. Knowing how important pare
involvement is to their success, however, more scho
are making efforts to involve parents actively as their p:
ners in educating children.
Dr. James Comer, a child psychiatrist at the Yale Cl-
Study Center, created the School Development Progr
as a means of reducing barriers between home and sch
More than six hundred schools in twenty-one states h
adopted Comer's approach, which teaches parents H
to help their children learn, encourages parents to h
plan academic programs, and brings parents, teach
and other school staff together in relaxed settings.
In Camden, New Jersey, the idea of "family scho
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
253
emerged in the early 1990s. As in other communities
where family stability is threatened by drugs, violence,
and abuse, school must be a safe haven for the family as
a whole if children are to prosper. As Annie Rubin, prin-
cipal of Coopers Poynt, one of Camden's family schools,
says, "For every child at risk, there's also a family at risk."
At Coopers Poynt, parents and guardians find an array
of social services. Nurses provide prenatal screening and
conduct classes in parenting and child development. The
presence of a full-day parents' center encourages parents
to volunteer as classroom aides. Coopers Poynt opens its
doors early each morning-before classes begin but not
before many students' parents start their workday-and
doesn't shut them until late afternoon. "We don't have
any magic formula," Rubin says. "We just care. I just feel
that if [families] are touched by us, they're all going to do
a little better."
A number of independent programs exist to strengthen
parents' involvement in their children's schooling. The
Family Math program, based in Berkeley, California, was
developed to give parents the confidence and skills to
help their children learn math. Parents and children
come together for weekly classes, held in four- to eight-
week cycles at schools, community centers, and libraries.
Teachers and parents who have been rained as Family
Math instructors demonstrate math activities' that par-
ents and children can do together at home, none of
which require more than pencil and paper and ordinary
household items like beans, buttons, and toothpicks. The
program has been so successful that it has been repli-
cated in a number of communities around the country.
is with HIPPY, it has inspired some parents to return to
their own education.
254
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
Kent Salveson, an Orange County-based developer
-
Southern California, has offered an innovative examp
of how businesses can help to promote an entire com
munity's involvement. In conjunction with the Unive
sity of Southern California, he created a low-incom
housing project called EEXCEL Apartments. (EEXCE
stands for Educational Excellence for Children wit
Environmental Limitations.) Salveson's idea was t
strengthen the ties between home and school, and t
make education, child and health care, and family cour
seling more accessible to the poor. Explaining the think
ing behind his brainchild, Salveson said, "If we want t
change a neighborhood, a community, our country, w
have to change the home. I don't care if it's in Bever
Hills or in South-Central. Children are being neglected
A nation is the sum of all its homes."
The original forty-six-unit complex has spawned othe
EEXCEL buildings in California, and more are in th
works in several other states. All of them are in low
income areas that don't generally have access to the fam
ily support services they need. Each has space set aside f
classrooms, which are equipped with computers, book
and school supplies. In exchange for course credit, loc
university students are available four hours a day, fo
days a week, to provide one-on-one tutoring to childre
who live in the complex. At the end of each semest
EEXCEL holds a banquet for the parents, children, a:
tutors to celebrate the children's school achievemer
and awards gift certificates from local bookstores to chi
dren who get good grades. The complexes also spons
other activities and services designed to bring neighb
together-résumé and job training programs, Campf
Girls and Boys, bookmobile visits, a food share progra)
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
255
literacy and art classes, and community holiday parties.
Salveson says that one of his goals is to "break down the
massiveness of the city to a smaller community of people
who live in the building."
NOWHERE IS the partnership of parents and the rest of
the village more crucial to the schools than in the expec-
tation that discipline and order are necessary for learning
to happen. One spring morning, my brother Tony came
downstairs for breakfast and found my father in his cus-
tomary place at the kitchen table, reading the sports
page. Instead of talking sports, though, as they usually
did, my father began to quiz Tony about what he had
done in school the day before. Tony answered with vague
descriptions of a day like any other at his junior high.
Only then did my father show him the photo in the
sports section. Prominently featured in the bleachers
were my brother and several friends who had skipped
school to join the crowd celebrating the Chicago Cubs'
opening game at Wrigley Field. That day, the boys got in
trouble both at home and at school.
Skipping school is one thing. Today drugs and vio-
lence lead the list of offenses foremost OR parents' and
teachers' minds. How do we reassert adult authority?
First, we parents have to back up school authority and
quit making excuses for our kids when they misbehave.
Does that mean teachers and principals are always right?
Of course not, but they deserve to be given back the pre-
sumption that they are.
Schools have to do their part by stating the rules
clearly and punishing violators. Habitually disruptive
256
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
students should be removed from regular classes until
they are able to attend without interfering with other
students. Standards of conduct should be explained and
enforced, and parents should say "Hallelujah" instead of
"I'll sue!"
Schools could take a big step toward improving disci-
pline by sending kids the clear message that school is
their work and they are expected to behave and dress ac
cordingly. I agree with those who advocate dress codes
and even uniforms in some school districts because they
appear to diminish the frictions caused by brand-name
consumerism and gang identification. I'd much rather
have students worrying about their homework for the
next day than whether they have the right clothes to
wear or who might attack them if they wear the wrong
color sneakers.
In 1994, the Long Beach School District in California
became the first district in the nation to mandate uni
forms for its elementary and middle school students.
That year, school violence decreased to half the rates of
the previous year. Other districts are taking note and be
ginning to follow suit.
Long Beach leaves the precise details of the uniform
to each school's principal so long as the elements fit the
overall dress code. The school system has sought finan
cial assistance to enable low-income families to purchase
the uniforms, but a group of parents and students has
filed suit anyway, claiming they cannot afford the costs
and that the school district has not helped. Without
going into the merits of the case, I find it hard to under
stand why energy is being spent litigating that could be
used to raise money for uniforms or to tackle some other
school problem. Other schools with voluntary uniform
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
257
codes, like those in Fulton County, Georgia, have used
school funds to subsidize uniform purchases and have
started an exchange program for outgrown uniforms.
Robert E. Lee High School in Houston, Texas, pro-
vides a good example of the effect community-wide in-
volvement can have on curbing violence in schools.
Several years ago, the school set out to enlist the support
of families and community members in dealing with a
serious gang problem. The city of Houston initiated a
school-day curfew, imposing a two-hundred-dollar fine
on parents if their children were found on the street
when they were supposed to be in school. At the same
time, the high school implemented a "zero tolerance for
gangs in the school" policy. Bilingual administrators
combed the neighborhoods the school serves, speaking
with families and "cutting contracts" with them to enlist
their help in enforcing the policy. A core group of teach-
ers, administrators, police officers, and school district se-
curity guards worked to identify gang members and to
take steps to evict them from the school if they became
violent. Since then, the climate in the school has
changed dramatically, and students' scores on state
exams have steadily improved. An honors English class
has been established for the first time. As the principal
said, "We can now concentrate on our academic prob-
lems, not our sociological ones."
ULTIMATELY, though, what schools need most from the
village are high standards to live up to. Some people dis-
agree, claiming that even voluntary standards interfere
with local control, permitting outsiders to determine what
258
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
children are taught. I have never accepted that argumel
which confuses what standards are for: They establi
what children should know, not how they are taught
measured. Algebra is algebra, from Little Rock to
lanta, from Seattle, Washington, to Washington, Do
And even before I started working on standards
Arkansas, I knew of many schools, particularly in poo
areas, that needed help designing appropriate curricula
Education is fundamental to our country's future and
to the future of our children, who will have to be pre
pared to compete in a national and global economy
High standards will help ensure that all of them
matter where they live-will have access to quality edus
cation.
I think often of a young man I met at an annual recep
tion for high school honors graduates and their parents
that Bill and I started hosting at the governor's mansion
in 1979. He told me he had long dreamed of becoming
doctor. But when he went for an interview at the local
college, he was told that, although he was his graduating
class's salutatorian, his school had not adequately pre
pared him for the rigors of a premed course of study. What
he had been taught as "algebra" was arithmetic with
a
few x's thrown in. He was advised to take a fifth year of
high school somewhere with more challenging classes or
go to college prepared to take remedial courses. What a
rotten choice to be confronted with after he had kept his
side of the bargain by studying and performing well!
When I worked on education reform in Arkansas, the
proposals we made for a standardized curriculum and
course content recommendations to accompany it encoun-
tered opposition from administrators who claimed in all
sincerity that their students didn't want or need higher
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
259
standards. One superintendent told me that very few of
"his kids" went to college, so he couldn't see what differ-
ence it would make. Another superintendent ushered me
into his office and pointed at a sign on his desk that said,
"This too shall pass.' He told me that was what he thought
of my husband's efforts to reform education. Standing in
front of the new gymnasium they had built, he and the
school board solemnly assured me that they knew the kids
in their district, and none of them were interested in taking
foreign languages, art, or advanced sciences.
Thankfully, their attitude was not representative of
the majority of citizens or legislators, and Arkansas
passed a sweeping education reform in 1983 that has
changed the expectations-and lives-of thousands of
students. But all too often, in too many places, the con-
cept of "local control" is still used to justify having low
expectations of students, particularly poor ones, and to
resist holding all students and schools accountable for
their progress in meeting explicit goals.
IN 1989, President George Bush convened the nation's
governors in Williamsburg, Virginia, to kick off an effort
to establish national goals for education, a movement
that received support from all but one of the assembled
governors and that quickly took on national momentum.
My husband represented the Democratic governors at
that gathering, only the third such working meeting in
our nation's history. As President, he and Secretary of
Education Richard Riley, who had championed effective
education reform as Governor of South Carolina, brought
the goals-setting process to fruition in 1993 when they
260
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
presented to Congress the Goals 2000: Educate Americ
Act, which passed with strong bipartisan support and the
backing of almost every major national parent, educa-
tion, and business organization.
The genius of Goals 2000 is that it marries the ideas
of high standards for what children should learn, loca
control over how children learn, and accountability fo
whether children learn. The act reaffirms the traditiona
principle of local control of education, acknowledging
that each community is the best judge of what will wor}
in its schools. But it also recognizes, as I learned in
Arkansas, that many parents and schools need guidance
in setting goals that will prepare children for future chal
lenges, as the Information Age changes the ways we live
and work.
Under the legislation, states are expected to establish
their own academic content standards and assessment
of student performance. Goals 2000 gives schools help ir
determining where, amid the daily flurry of demands
they need to focus their attention and what skills student
need to acquire. The National Assessment of Educa
tional Progress, administered by the federal government
acts as a report card, a tool for charting the results o
state and local reform efforts.
As soon as Goals 2000 passed, it was attacked by ex
tremists, who stirred up anxious parents with visions o
totalitarian control over their children's minds and of "sec
ular humanists" stealing their children's souls. One teache
told me that a local church had protested when she move
the chairs in her classroom into a circle for discussio:
purposes, citing the insidious influence of Goals 2000 be
cause "everyone knows that's how witches' covens meet.
The incident would be laughable except that her princi
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
261
pal ordered her to put the chairs back in their neat rows.
What are these goals that promote such passionate re-
actions?
By the year 2000:
I. All children in America will start school ready to
learn.
2. The high school graduation rate will increase to at
least 90 percent.
3. All students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve
having demonstrated competency in challenging subject
matter, including English, mathematics, science, foreign
languages, civics and government, economics, the arts,
history, and geography; and every school in America will
ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so
that they may be prepared for responsible citizenship,
further learning, and productive employment in our na-
tion's modern economy.
4. United States students will be first in the world in
science and mathematics achievement.
5. Every adult American will be literate and will pos-
sess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a
global economy and exercise the rights and responsibili-
ties of citizenship.
6. Every school in the United States will be free of
drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms
and alcohol and will offer a disciplines environment
conducive to learning.
7. The nation's teaching force will have access to pro-
grams for the continued improvement of their profes-
sional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge
and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American
students for the next century.
262
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
8. Every school will promote partnerships that wi
increase parental involvement and participation in pro
moting the social, emotional, and academic growth.
children.
These goals are hardly the stuff of revolution-and ar
not likely to be fully achieved easily, or by the year 200C
We cannot expect to reverse decades of declining stan
dards in a few years. A recent report showed that th
country has made progress in some areas, such as mat.
and science achievement. There has been little or no
progress in areas such as reading achievement. And then
have been greater problems with respect to juvenile drug
use, especially marijuana, and classroom disruption.
But the whole point of goals is to encourage a proces
in states, school districts, and individual schools that wil:
set standards and offer real guidance as to what should
be taught and how student performance should be mea-
sured so that progress toward the goals can be assessed
Why should we accept goals, standards, and perfor-
mance measures in business or sports but not in our
schools? Can you imagine a successful CEO telling
stockholders that their company has nothing new to
learn from anyone and that it can't be expected to im-
prove in any case, because, after all, look who its employ-
ees and customers are?
I was privileged to know the late Sam Walton, the leg-
endary founder of Wal-Mart. He regularly visited Wal-
Mart stores, literally dropping in unexpectedly in the
small plane he piloted with his bird dogs in the back,
landing in a nearby field if necessary. He would walk up
and down the aisles, asking employees what they
thought could be improved. Until he became too recog-
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
263
nizable, he also walked the aisles of competitors' stores,
asking employees there the same questions. He was
never too proud to take an idea from anywhere if he
thought it would improve customer service and value.
Children and their parents are customers of public ed-
ucation, but they are rarely asked what could be im-
proved. Teachers are the lifeblood of any school, but they
too are often ignored or marginalized when decisions are
made. All citizens have a direct stake in how well our
schools perform. The process of setting-and meeting
goals is one way to make sure all stakeholders in public
education are involved.
SOME critics of public schools urge greater competition
among schools and districts, as a way of returning con-
trol from bureaucrats and politicians to parents and
teachers. I find their argument persuasive, and that's why
I strongly favor promoting choice among public schools,
much as the President's Charter Schools Initiative en-
courages. I also support letting public schools determine
how they can best be managed, including allowing them
to contract out services to private firms.
Charter schools are public schools created and oper-
ated under a charter or contract. They may be organized
by parents, teachers, or others from the community. The
idea is that they should be freed from regulations that
stifle effective innovation, so they can focus on meeting
goals and getting results. By 1995, a total of nineteen
states had enacted charter school laws, and about two
hundred schools had been granted charters. The amount
of autonomy and flexibility the schools have been
264
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
granted varies from state to state. Some are authorized t
operate independently from the outset, while others hav
to appeal to their local districts to waive individual rules
The O'Farrell Community School is a charter schoo
in San Diego, California. It has a racially diverse studer.
body of fourteen hundred sixth, seventh, and eight]
graders. Students are clustered in "families," with a hea.
teacher who stays with them all three years. Cutting th.
red tape and regulations has freed teachers to work to
gether. They have implemented a code of conduct know
as "the O'Farrell way" (which includes community ser-
vice as a graduation requirement), built course require
ments around portfolios of students' work, and arrange
for a health and counseling center to help students with
nonacademic problems.
The Improving America's Schools Act, passed in Oc-
tober 1994 with the President's strong support, provided
federal funds for a wide range of grassroots reforms, in-
cluding launching charter schools. In addition, some
states are using Goals 2000 funds to support charter
schools like O'Farrell. Federal encouragement and fund-
ing are necessary in many places to break through bu-
reaucratic attitudes that block change and frustrate
students and parents, driving some of them to leave the
public schools.
OUR REFUSAL to recognize diverse forms of intelli-
gence and to uphold standards for all are most unfair to
the majority of students who do not go on to obtain
four-year college degree. One in seven students does not
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
265
even get a high school diploma or obtain a GED by the
age of twenty-five.
From 1986 to 1988, I participated in a study sponsored
by the William T. Grant Foundation called Youth and
America's Future. The title of its report, "The Forgotten
Half," referred to "the young people who build our
homes, drive our buses, repair our automobiles, fix our
televisions, maintain and serve our offices, schools, and
hospitals, and keep the production lines of our mills and
factories moving. To a great extent, they determine how
well the American family, economy, and democracy
function. They are also the thousands of young men and
women who aspire to work productively but never quite
'make it' to that kind of employment."
Speaking plainly, we don't do much for these young
people, and the consequences-for them and for us all-
are severe. The 1990 Census showed that young people
without college degrees earn significantly less on average
than those with degrees. Those who go out into the job
market with a high school degree or less are at a much
greater disadvantage than they were fifteen years ago.
Even if they performed well in school, few employers
will even ask to see their transcripts.
In 1994, the President, again with bipartisan support,
signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, aimed at
improving the odds for those forgotten kids. The legisla--
tion offers incentives for improving vocational education
in high schools and community colleges, and it enables
more states, cities, schools, and employers to set up ap-
prenticeship programs that lead to good jobs.
The key to helping students at risk of dropping out to
stay in school is to make learning relevant in their lives
266
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
by linking their schooling with "real world" experience.
The Oakland Health and Bioscience Academy in Oak
land, California, is one example of how that can be done.
With the help and support of an interested community,
the academy prepares students for a wide range of health
and bioscience careers. Academy teachers work closely
with staff from local community colleges and area hospi-
tals to design relevant curricula, and one community col-
lege is developing a program that will grant credit to
students at the academy and other area schools for the
anatomy and physiology courses they take. Formal clini-
cal apprenticeships at area hospitals are also in the works.
School-to-work programs like this one are providing
students who are often disregarded in traditional class-
rooms the chance to learn specific skills. They are also
improving academic performance. A recent report noted
that the Oakland Academy students scored significantly
higher in reading, language, and math than other stu-
dents from similar backgrounds. School-to-Work pro-
grams are a chance for the whole community to get
involved in educating our youth, by opening up intern-
ship opportunities and workplace visits.
As A NATION, we are at a crossroads in deciding not only
what we expect from education, but what education can
expect from us, individually and collectively. The degree
of our commitment will determine whether we graduate
to a new era of progress and prosperity or fail our chil-
dren and ourselves. Like education itself, our decision in-
volves something beyond pragmatism. It is also a test of
our values.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
267
Do we believe children can learn if they are taught
in a way that takes account of their particular talents
and holds them to high and clear expectations? Do we
believe all children deserve an orderly learning environ-
ment? Are we willing to set national goals for educa-
tional performance and provide incentives for teachers,
schools, and students to meet them? Are parents ready to
become partners with schools again; for the benefit of
their own-and other-children? And how about the
other members of the village, those who are childless or
whose children have passed school age? Are they-are all
of us-ready to join this partnership?
If we can answer yes to questions like these, we can be
successful in educating children to move confidently into
the future, carrying the village with them. The root of
the verb "to educate," after all, means "to lead forth."
VAUGHN NEXT CENTURY LEARNING CENTER
Background
The Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima is one of the leading charter schools
in the country. The school -- which achieved its charter status in 1993 -- has earned a
national reputation for its innovative approaches to education, particularly its strong emphasis
on parental involvement. Yvonne Chan, the Vaughn Center's iconoclastic principal, is largely
credited for the school's transformation from the lowest-achieving elementary school in the
San Fernando Valley into one of the most promising charter schools in the nation.
At the heart of the Vaughn Center's approach to education is its onsite Family Center, which
works to alleviate some of the social obstacles to education facing Vaughn's predominantly
poor, Latino and Asian American population. The Family Center serves as a one-stop referral
center, helping families of Vaughn students obtain a range of basic health and social services,
from primary health services like immunizations and dental care to child care, parenting
classes and family counseling. In return for services, the Center asks parents to spend time
volunteering at the school. The Family Center also offers a number of programs for students,
like after-school tutoring and gang prevention programs. The Family Center is a good
example of a public/private investment in education -- in addition to state dollars, the Center
receives funds from the United Way and the Los Angeles Educational Partnership, a coalition
of local businesses that support educational reform.
The Vaughn Center has found other innovative ways to encourage parental involvement -- for
instance, when some parents told Principal Chan that they could not attend parent teacher
association meetings because they lacked access to child care or transportation or had
inconvenient work hours, Chan drove to their neighborhoods and met with groups of parents
in their homes. The school has also instituted a policy of calling students' homes whenever
they are absent -- a policy that, according to Principal Chan, has resulted in a daily attendance
rate of 99%.
Located in one of the poorest areas of the San Fernando Valley, the Vaughn Center faces an
array of challenges -- until last year, for example, the school was located next to several
broken-down houses that Principal Chan said were inhabited by crack dealers. At that point,
the school was so overcrowded that it needed three rotating schedules to accommodate its
students, so the school fought for state funding to bulldoze the crack houses and build new
classrooms. In August, the school celebrated the opening of 14 new classrooms and other
facilities. During the construction, Principal Chan also obtained permission from the school
district to lengthen the Vaughn Center's school year to 200 days, 20 days more than the
statewide standard, so that all 1,150 Vaughn students could attend school simultaneously.
This year, the Vaughn Center also became the first public elementary school in the Los
Angeles Unified School District to institute a mandatory uniform policy.
Recent Controversy
In December, the Los Angeles Unified School District reported the findings of its first
comprehensive review of the district's nine charter schools. The review showed marked
4
improvement in student attendance, minority integration and parental involvement, but found
no corresponding increase in student test scores. According to the district review, the Vaughn
Center's standardized test scores improved the least among all of the local charter schools,
with declines in reading, math and language. Principal Chan has attributed this decline to a
new policy of testing all of the school's students, including those who are traditionally
exempted from standardized tests (for instance, students who have been recently mainstreamed
from bilingual classes). In general, supporters of California's charter schools have objected to
measuring academic achievement solely on the basis of test scores, particularly in light of the
short time the state's charter schools have been in operation.
In a recent financial review of the Vaughn Center, the L.A. Board of Education found that the
school saved a total of $1 million in 1994 (although Chan claims more savings.) While some
of the savings have been attributed to more cost-effective management, the Board of
Education calculated that most of the school's surplus came from financial breaks that the
district gave the school. Principal Chan is particularly proud of the surplus, and has publicly
disagreed with the Board's assessment. Dr. Chan is using the surplus to reinvest in the
school.
Principal Chan
Principal Yvonne Chan's innovative efforts at the Vaughn Center have been lauded on both
sides of the political spectrum Senator Boxer has honored Chan at her "Women Making
History" luncheon; and Mayor Riordan donates computer equipment to the school through his
private foundation. Chan is, however, a controversial figure who has had her share of clashes
with the school district bureaucracy. She has made her disdain of government regulation
well-known, and has been a vocal advocate of dismantling the Los Angeles Unified School
District. She has also expressed her support for a block grant approach to the federal school
lunch program. Chan's detractors say that she does not give enough credit to the teachers,
parents and other administrators who are working to improve the Vaughn Center, and that she
is overly concerned with her own publicity. Even Chan's critics, however, acknowledge that
she is tremendously committed to the Vaughn Center and its students.
California and Charter Schools
In 1992, California became the second state in the nation to pass a charter school law,
permitting a limited number of public schools in the state to operate independently of their
school districts while continuing to receive district funding. The Vaughn Center was the
second of nine charter schools established in the Los Angeles Unified School District. As
you know, you discuss the President's Charter Schools Initiative and the Improving America's
Schools Act in It Takes A Village (pp. 263 - 264). See attached background paper for
budgetary status and talking points on charter schools.
Format
You will be greeted at the Vaughn Center by Dr. Chan, who lead you on a short tour of the
school's "Write to Read" computer lab, where kindergarten and first-grade students will be
working on computers, followed by a drop-by to a classroom of second-graders. After the
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tour, you and Dr. Chan will join a group of about 10 parents, teachers and students in the
school auditorium for a discussion on the Vaughn Center, and the important role it plays as
part of the village. An audience of approximately 100 students, faculty and parents will
observe the discussion. Dr. Chan will moderate.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
GLIDE MEMORIAL CHURCH
As you know, Glide Memorial Church is an important cultural landmark in San Francisco --
known for its spirit of inclusiveness and diversity, Glide attracts more than 6,000 congregants
from a wide range of backgrounds and lifestyles. Glide Memorial is a good example of a
church that has expanded its religious and social roles to become an important foundation in
the community. The church offers services ranging from job training classes and drug
recovery programs to food and clothing drives and support groups for battered spouses, AIDS
patients and others. The church also has programs for at-risk children and youth, like after-
school tutoring, life skills classes, substance abuse prevention programs and others (as you
know, you discuss the expanding roles of churches and other religious institutions in It Takes
A Village on pages 173 - 178.)
Glide Memorial also provides more than 3,000 free meals every day -- more than a million
every year -- to hungry and homeless people in the surrounding neighborhood. Last
November, President Clinton called Reverend Cecil Williams to thank church volunteers who
served a record 6,500 meals on Thanksgiving Day. As you recall, you visited Glide
Memorial during the 1992 campaign, when the President gave a Mother's Day speech there.
Over the years, Glide Memorial has attracted a number of well-known artists and performers
to its congregation, including Maya Angelou. In 1993, Glide Memorial dedicated a "Maya
Angelou Living Room," which provides counseling, workshops and HIV prevention programs
for young women and teenage mothers.
Format
Thursday's event at Glide Memorial Church will follow the standard format for auditorium
events. Mayor Willie Brown will give opening remarks and introduce you, Reverend Cecil
Williams, and Janice Mirikitani, Reverend Williams' wife, onto stage. Rev. Williams will
give remarks and introduce you. Following your remarks, there will be a receiving line with
approximately 1,000 audience members. About one-quarter of the tickets to this event were
sold to the public (for the price of a pre-signed book) by a group of local independent
booksellers; the church distributed the remaining tickets for free on a first-come, first-served
basis.
A group of local independent booksellers will be selling copies of It Takes A Village at Glide
Memorial. San Francisco has one of the most active groups of independent booksellers in the
country.
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MASONIC CENTER AUDITORIUM
Your speech at the Masonic Center Auditorium Thursday night has been billed as an "evening
reading and talk" by City Arts & Lectures, Inc., a local non-profit organization. You will be
introduced by Reverend Williams, and then have approximately 30 minutes to give remarks
and read excerpts from the book if you choose. Following your remarks, there will be a 30-
minute Q & A session with the audience (rather than a receiving line). Sydney Goldstein,
executive director of City Arts and sister-in-law of Justice Stephen Breyer, will moderate the
Q & A session.
City Arts & Lectures is charging $20 a ticket for this event, all of which will be donated to
Oakland Children's Hospital. The ticket price does not include a copy of the book. However,
a group of about 30 local independent booksellers will be selling books at the event. The
booksellers plan to donate all of the proceeds from book sales to the literacy grant program of
the Northern California Children's Booksellers Association and to children's programming at
Glide Memorial Church.
Friday, February 9th
DALLAS, TEXAS
Taylors Bookstores
Taylors Bookstores in Dallas is a small, local bookstore chain with longtime ties to the Dallas
community. In recent years, Taylors has been particularly hurt by competition from the
superstore chains, and last week announced that it would be forced to close many of its
Dallas-area stores. The Taylors Bookstore you are visiting in Prestonwood will be one of the
only remaining stores in Dallas.
The book reception at Taylors will be modeled on the standard bookstore event -- the first
1,000 customers who purchase a pre-signed copy of It Takes A Village will join the receiving
line. Taylors plans to donate a portion of its proceeds from sales of It Takes A Village to the
Children's Medical Center in Dallas and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, which you
visited with the President in 1994.
7
ADDITIONAL BRIEFING MATERIALS FOR THE TATTERED COVER
BOOKSTORE:
-"Buying the Book at the Tattered Cover," Sales & Marketing Management, May 1995
SPEECH CANDIDATES
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2)
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Septembe
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 1 of 4
Draft - Community Service Speech
I think it's fitting to begin my remarks with a few words about a public figure who
recently died. A woman whose life personified the public service that we are here to
honor today: Mother Teresa. She will be missed by the thousands for whom she
personally cared each year, as well as by the millions who were inspired by her selfless
acts of charity and caring. I had the privilege to spend some time with Mother Teresa
over the years and I can safely say that she was one of the most powerful people I have
ever met.
Her power didn't come from any of the sources we commonly point to when we talk
about power in the United States. It didn't come about from her skill at political wheeling
and dealing or her graduation from an Ivy League school. It didn't come from making the
right connections and shaking the right hands; nor from possessing a large bank account.
Mother Teresa was a supremely powerful person because she understood the importance,
the tremendous rippling impact, of personal action.
She knew that while government and other institutions are important in creating a
prosperous and well-run society, ultimately government and institutions can only provide
the blueprint for such a society. But we don't live within a blueprint. The greatest of
accomplishments can only be achieved - and the greatest of problems can only be solved
- by individual action. One simple, courageous, step at a time.
These simple steps are the bedrock of our democracy. Over two thousand years ago,
when the principle was in its infancy, Greek lawgivers arrived at the notion that the
strength of any democracy depends on the sum of the people involved. It is that notion
that fuels our own experience today.
Imagine if the sum of our democracy included more people like Mother Teresa. Imagine
if we were fortunate enough to include within our vast borders more committed women
and men like those gathered in this room.
People like Willie Brown who has spent his entire life working to better the place in
which he lives, whether by building a park community center or by bringing people
together to bridge the racial gaps between our people. People like Marilyn Segal whose
lifelong mission has been to better the lives of children. People like Bill Colson who has
helped bring together the county's diverse leaders. And Susan Reyna, who, not content to
let the needs of migrant Hispanic families go unanswered, formed MUJER to work for
their benefit. People like Joseph Pinon, a former police officer, a Cuban refugee, who
today works with numerous civic organizations.
These are people who embrace the biblical golden rule: Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you. They embrace it not only as a principle of faith, but as a
principle of democracy and service.
I
September
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 2 of 4
Two years ago, during a summer heat wave, something terrible happened in Washington,
DC. A four-year-old little girl and her two-year-old brother wandered away from their
home and, apparently looking for a place to play, climbed into an unlocked car in a
nearby lot. A couple of hours later, both children were found dead of suffocation.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, some neighbors pointed out that for years they had tried
to get local authorities to build a playground so that kids in the area would have
someplace safe to play. And the local government should have done that. But the
neighbors bear some of the blame for what happened that summer, too. If they had
understood and accepted their own personal responsibility, they might have taken it upon
themselves to take turns watching the children; to clean up the yard the children ran in;
and to chip in to buy a few outdoor toys that the children could all share.
A few months after this tragedy, a community service organization stepped up to the
plate. With volunteer labor, a few contributions and a whole lot of planning, they created
something incredibly important, yet exquisitely simple: a place for children to play.
It is through service like this that people together are able to achieve what alone they
could not.
I know service was an important part of my upbringing as a young girl. It helped me
appreciate the life I was born into, and enabled me understand the lives of others who
seemed so different. I remember volunteering to baby sit for young migrant children
while their older brothers and sisters joined their parents working in the fields. Taking
care of those children not only gave their parents a little piece of mind for the few hours I
was there, but it gave me a way to connect with people who spoke a different language
and who ate what looked to me to be pretty exotic food. It gave me an opportunity to see
that those foreign-seeming people had hopes and dreams for themselves, and care and
love for their families, just as great as any I'd encountered in Park Ridge, Illinois.
It's important that we introduce our children to service, early, so that it becomes a way of
life for them. Many schools and cities throughout the country, agreeing with that notion,
are beginning to establish frameworks that make it easier for children to volunteer.
Schools like Washington Elementary School in Mount Vernon Washington have
integrated service into its curriculum. Students there create classroom projects as well as
perform individual acts of service, like tutoring younger children and acting as safety
patrols. Here in Florida, North Miami Beach High School helps organize volunteers with
its own web site and (ADD MORE EXAMPLES HERE).
I am proud of many of the accomplishments made by my husband's administration. but
one of the things of which 1 am most proud is my husband's dedication to the
Corporation for National Service, the public-private enterprise that includes AmeriCorps.
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September
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 3 of 4
Around the country, young AmeriCorps members are devoting themselves to making our
nation more secure for the future. They are doing this by tutoring children, and helping
to raise reading scores; by immunizing hundreds of thousands of children; and by
working with police departments to keep neighborhoods safe and to fight against drugs.
At the Summit For America's Future, held earlier this year in Philadelphia, thousands
more Americans, young and old, took a pledge to participate in community service -
committing themselves to help two million children by the year 2000.
But America's embrace of the service ethic came long before my husband's presidency.
Long before AmeriCorps and its predecessors, the Peace Corps and Vista were even
dreamed of. It was early in the 19th century when Alexis de Tocqueville observed that
voluntary organizations had become a hallmark of American citizenship and a distinctive
part of our national life. It's this unique trait that makes me most proud to be an
American.
There comes a moment when many of us hear the call to serve. The call comes in
various ways and takes many different forms. Some march in armies; and others stand in
front of classrooms. Some will place sandbags against a rising flood; and others will
volunteer to fight fires. We can't all do the same thing - I certainly wouldn't expect
anyone to do what I do - but there is a place for everyone in community service.
Martin Luther King Jr., inspired our entire nation with his acts of service, reminding us
that service is not something just for "other people" - it's for us all. He said: "You don't
have to have a college degree to serve. You don't need to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't
have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve You only need a heart full of
grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
He was right.
The greatest challenges facing us in the 21st century will not be solved by government
alone. Our most daunting challenges will not be how to create greater technologies,
bigger weapons, faster computers. No. We will need to figure out how we can live better
in the midst of the technological and social changes we've already undergone. To
understand how to retain a meaningful connection to our community when our communal
interactions might be fewer. Our challenge will be how to maintain our most precious
gift - our democracy - when SO many Americans are feeling alienated from each other
and their government.
It seems to me that in this area of our lives we have to go back in order to come forward.
A robust economy is not enough. Smart trade policies are not enough. We have to renew
our ties to our community and our country in order to derive the satisfaction we need
from the wealth we have. Because I know that we as a people will be defined not only by
the riches that we reap - but by the kind of society we build with our riches.
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Septembe
1997 02:03:34 PM
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Page 4 of 4
It takes more than money to achieve the things we most care about. It takes more than
government. It takes commitment and time. It takes constant nurturing and vigilance. It
takes the involvement of our people - the sum of our democracy - to fulfill our greatest
goals.
Robert Kennedy said: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot
of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and crossing
each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a
current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
The people we are celebrating today in this room are sending forth those tiny ripples of
hope. I hope you inspire others to follow your example. Because just as it is our privilege
to live in a society for the people and by the people - it is also our fate.
End
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1
REMARKS FOR THE CHARLES WHITED SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE AWARD
SEPTEMBER 30, 1997
It is a great honor to join you tonight in this world-class city to celebrate the better
angels of our nature and our nation.
President Kennedy once said that "a nation reveals itself not only by the men and
women it produces, but also by those it honors, by those it remembers." Tonight our
nation reveals itself by the leaders WC honor with the 13th Annual Charles Whited Spirit
of Excellence Award. We honor heroes who reach across the lines that too often divide
us. Heroes who, in good times and bad, lift up South Florida's vulnerable children and
families. Heroes who, every day, make us proud of who we are and who we can become.
But when we honor these dedicated Americans, we paint a picture of more than
community service in South Florida. We show a model of citizenship in our democracy,
a model that this generation -- like all generations must refinc and redefine for its time.
I was thinking about community and citizenship while the President and I were
back home in Arkansas. We just spent a wonderful weekend visiting family and friends
and attending Bill's high school reunion. But our thoughts kept returning to the reunion
our nation held Thursday at Little Rock Central High School. Forty years ago, when I
was a young girl growing up outside of Chicago, I remember seeing pictures of the Little
Rock Nine as they walked up the steps of Central High, escorted by the 101st Airborne
Division. I will never forget watching them brave the hatred outside and the fear within
in order to seize the opportunity that all children deserve, the opportunity to live and learn
and reach their God-given potential. And I will never forget the look on their faces, 40
years later, as the President opened up the door for them again, only this time to the
welcoming sound of thunderous applause.
Remembering that historic day in 1957, one of the nine, Melba Pattillo, wrote that
she had "crossed the threshold into that place where angry segregationist mobs had
forbidden us to go." Today, at Central High, students of all races freely cross that same
threshold, which is now protected not by the National Guard, but by four strong statues
emblazoned with these words: Ambition, Personality, Preparation, and Opportunity. It is
up to us as a nation to make sure that all children have the ambition, personality,
preparation and opportunity -- yes, opportunity -- they need to walk through those doors
into the new century.
Notice that I said it is up to our nation, not just our government. Throughout our
history, there have been those who claim government can do it all and those who insist
government should do nothing at all. As usual, the real truth lies somewhere in between.
Because when we think about our on-going struggle to build an American house that
cannot be divided by race or religion, we are reminded of both the power and limitations
of government. For while government can pry open those doors, while government can
enforce our constitutional rights, and while government can help our citizens keep out of
harm's way, it cannot heal our racial divide or reweave our frayed communities. It
cannot make sure that involuntary segregation is not replaced simply with voluntary
separation. It cannot change a heart or mend a spirit. It cannot make us feel connected to
one another or allow us to enter the new century together. But citizens can. And as you
have shown in South Florida, citizens do.
2
When Alexis de Tocqueville looked at our democracy, he described a nation that
was truly special. Not just because of our system of limited government. Not just
because of the individual initiative that thrives in our free-market economy. What has
always made America special is the space between our government and our economy.
Social scientists refer to it as our civil or civic society. All of us know it as the roles
played by our families, our churches, our Boys and Girls Clubs, by all of you. We sec it
in Marilyn Segal's exploration of early child development and her fight to give the
children of Broward County the right start in lifc. We see it in the Miami Herald's
Holiday Wish Book, which brings community support to families in need. We see it in
the three words that launched our nation: We the People, and in the three words that
adorn our national seal: E pluribus unum, which tell us that out of many we are still one.
This is not big government, it is shared government.
What all of this says, and what all of you have shown, is that good citizenship in a
democracy means more than paying your taxes, casting your ballot, obeying our laws,
and earning an honest living. Good citizenship means internalizing democratic values in
our hearts and minds. It means realizing that we are responsible for one another, each of
us our brother's and our sister's keeper. And, it means understanding that none of us got
to where we are without someone opening the door for us, and none of us will ever get to
where we need to go without reaching back to keep the door open for someone who
comes after us.
Those ideals remain, but how we meet them must continue to change. Because
for more than 200 years, we have been guided not by a document, but by a democracy, a
living, breathing democracy. Every generation has sought to perfect it, without any real
assurances that we ever will. Every generation has sought to balance the power of our
government, our free market and our citizenry. Every generation has sought to meet its
new challenges by redefining what it means to be a citizen in this great country. My
parent's generation was asked to save our nation from economic collapse and world
tyranny. Thirty years ago, my generation was challenged to fight for civil rights, explore
space, and carry the American dream to every corner of our country and our world
As we enter the 21st century, our families, our nation, and our world are all facing
new challenges that will once again force us to redefine the role citizens play in our
democracy. In our homes, parents are under more pressure as they try to balance work
and family, and raise their children in the face of media messages that teach them that
smoking is cool, and a consumer culture that tells them to value the logo on their sneakers
more than the generosity in their hearts. Across our nation, new patterns of work,
technology, and mobility have changed how wc view our connection to and responsibility
for our local and national community. And around the world, the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the rise of new democracies create not only new responsibilities to build alliances of
shared values, but also new opportunities to inspire and learn from them.
When Congressman Tony Hall met the late Mother Theresa a few years ago, he
asked her how she was able to accomplish so much. She replied, "I did the thing that was
in front of me." What is clear is that today, the thing in front of us is no longer just in our
neighborhood or our local school. It is national, and it is global. And yet, while our
concept of community continues to evolve, our age-old commitment to it must not.
3
I was pleased to hear that the Miami Herald and NBC have been hosting events
called Community Circles to talk about how to solve the problems facing our most
vulnerable children. If we are going to redefine citizenship for the new century, I believe
that we need to foster a commitment and connection to ever-widening circles of
community, from our home to our world.
To do that, we must first recognize that citizenship is a lifelong job and
commitment. Not all of us will have children or work in an office. Not all of us will
graduate from college or buy a house. But, all of us will be citizens in our democracy.
We also know that teaching good citizenship must begin with our children. And that
goes far beyond the time we must take to read to children, play with them, talk with them,
and nurture them as they grow. It even extends beyond what we teach our children about
cleaning up their rooms, or helping out around the house. What I'm talking about here is
really our obligation to inspire children to serve others, to help them see service
including political participation -- as a privilege, as an everyday fun activity, and as a way
to find common ground with others by respecting - not just tolerating - our differences.
I was thinking about one of the ways my mother did this as I read about Susan
Reyna's extraordinary work with migrant families. For a few weeks every autumn when
I was growing up, migrant families worked the fields around Chicago and their children
went to classes with us. One of the these kids took to bullying me and my friends on the
playground. Were it not for my mother, I might have wallowed in my anger and fear. I
might have judged an entire group based on the poor behavior of one individual. Instead
my mother encouraged me to volunteer to baby-sit for the migrant families' young
children on Saturdays so that their older brothers and sisters my classmates -- could
help their parents in the field.
I remember how proud I felt to be serving families who worked so hard for so
little. And I remember being struck by both the differences and the similarities in our
lives. We learn the most about ourselves when we stand in someone else's shoes and
someone else's world and look back at our own I've always believed that those carly
experiences with service ultimately helped shape the direction of my career and my life.
As Chelsea grew up, we tried to give her those kinds of experiences, by taking her to
volunteer at shelters, encouraging her to be a part of a cause bigger than herself, and
inspiring her to keep an eye out for everyday needs waiting to be met.
But, those needs don't always appear before us Redefining citizenship for the
21st century also requires peering beyond our own backyards and creating a circle of
community that binds our entire nation together. Our history is replete with examples of
citizens pulling together when faced with war abroad and disaster at home. When
Hurricane Andrew shook this great state, when floods ravaged North Dakota, and when
home-grown terrorism struck Oklahoma City, we saw citizens gathering up their
humanity and rising to the occasion, not as Latinos or Caucasians, liberals or
conservatives, Jews or Christians, but as Americans.
Yet, even in the absence of adversity indeed, cspecially in the absence of
adversity -- citizenship in the 21st century requires that we see our fates are inextricably
linked to the fates of all Americans. We can wear our individual heritage like a badge of
honor, but we should always do so as citizens of the same national community. When we
have differences, whether they are on the playground or at the highest levels of
government, we must lower our voices and look at our common purposes.
005
4
We need a national spirit that secs every problem as our problem, every solution
as our solution, and the government as our government. We need an active citizenry with
the courage to keep our institutions honest and the optimism to serve them on behalf of
our nation.
And we need to give every American a way to serve their communities and their
country. That has always been the President's vision for AmeriCorps. Today, right here
in Miami, AmeriCorps volunteers are earning money for college while building homes
for single familics. They are teaching parenting skills to low-income citizens and reading
skills to their small children. And they are recruiting high school students to mentor
young children after school and during the summers. All in all, there are more than 950
AmeriCorps volunteers in Florida who are literally changing lives, for themselves and
those they serve. If AmeriCorps gets the support it needs from our government and our
citizens -- and it must -- it has the potential to help 160,000 people across the nation serve
by the year 2000.
Finally, 50 years after the Marshall Plan, redefining citizenship for the new
century means that we must reach out again and create a circle of community with our
democratic allies throughout the world. I have been fortunate enough to visit countries in
Europe that once lived under the shadow of the old Iron Curtain and now live under the
flags of free independent nations as they work to build democracies with civil libcrties,
civic duties and a new sense of community. I have seen the spirit of reconciliation alive
and well in South Africa, where a nation of diverse peoples has overcome 40 stubborn
and violent years of Apartheid to begin the difficult journey to democracy. And to our
south, and embodied in the diversity that enriches Miami, we have seen every nation of
our hemisphere save one reject the rule of force and accept the rule of law.
All over the globe, nations are looking to the American experience as an example
and an inspiration of what free people who pull together in common cause can
accomplish for the individual and the community: They are looking at us to see not only
how to build a democracy, but also how to nurture and sustain one. And their journeys,
in turn, can inspire and guide us as we appreciate the blessings we have and continue our
never ending quest to refine and redefine what it means to be a citizen in the oldest and
greatest democracy in the world.
As we do all of this, as we commit ourselves to the ever widening circles of
community throughout our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world, let us always fix
our gaze on the fundamental principles of citizenship that never change.
It was almost exactly 100 years ago, at the dawn of the last century, that a little
girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote one of the most famous letters to the editor of all
time. Her question was, "Is there a Santa Claus?" And the answer the New York Sun
editorial page gave was, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Hc exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion exist." Those simple words offered children, and their
parents, an anchor, a shield, something to believe in. That was the responsibility we had
to the Little Rock Nine as they crossed the threshold into Central High. And, that is the
responsibility we have as journalists, as government officials, as communities, as
citizens -- as we help all children cross the threshold into the next century in a nation that
is great simply because it is good.
Thank you.
P.2
3
Thank you. Thank you distinguished guests, staff
of the Miami Herald, and citizens of Miami. I am honored
to be here this afternoon to commemorate the spirit of
Charles Whited, a columnist who reflected the best of
this diverse community. Nothing makes me happier than
joining in a celebration of service, and of those who
dedicate their lives to it. I can honestly say that I am
humbled by the achievements that today's six honorees
have accomplished.
I have met enough dedicated citizens like today's
award winners to know that they are precious, and
essential to America's well being. Their commitment to
service literally changes lives, and it can change our
nation.
I don't mean that in an abstract way. Anyone who
has seen a young boy enraptured by a mentor's lively
reading will know what I mean: Anyone who has seen an
elderly woman cheerfully recount her life story to a
hospital volunteer will also understand. For the many
Americans who need help, service is as concrete as a new
house or community center or a neighborhood playground,
built by the hands of caring citizens.
And what these citizens are creating is much more
than a new house and a new playground. They are
instilling in all those who come across them an ethos of
responsibility, a spirit of generosity, and a message of
hope. And by spreading those common American values, they
are building the future of our democracy.
For American democracy can not just be about well
oiled institutions, post offices and bus service and tax
refunds that come on time Our democracy must also
internalize democratic values in our hearts, our minds,
and our everyday lives. Now that we no longer have the
threat of a cold war uniting us, it is time to turn
inward, and remember what it means to be active citizens
at home. And central to that memory is a tradition of
service, of reaching out beyond the familiar, to help
those in need.
Think of our democracy as a house. The post
office and the bus service are its foundations, the walls
that keep it from falling. But with only those things,
it's an empty house. In order to come alive it needs
people, meeting and greeting within its walls. It needs
people with a common purpose, working together like a
family.
And no matter how different they seem, Americans
do, indeed, have a common purpose. What individual family
does not confront the same questions that confront our
national family? What parents do not wonder how, in the
face of challenges, in the face of technology and
television that fragment us, can they raise children -
their own children and the nation's children? How to give
them moral signposts to guide them in this frightening
world? How to teach them our common values - values I
call opportunity, responsibility and community. These
are questions every parent, whether from Homestead or
Coral Gables, from Miami or from Maine, must consider.
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The answer has to do with why we are here today.
It has to do with civil society - the meeting and
greeting that happens inside the house. Civil society is
that lively, bustling space where government can not, and
should not reach. It is the heart of a good democracy.
Fueling it are community leaders like the ones gathered
here, running local organizations, philanthropies,
volunteer associations, neighborhood groups, and even
families. That is where our children will learn to be
citizens, and serve their neighbors; that is where they
will learn a new kind of patriotism.
For those who take on the task of teaching our
children, it is a great challenge. Learning how to
become an active citizen can not be taught with chalk and
a chalkboard, in Citizen 101. It can not be tested with a
multiple choice exam. The values that service teaches can
only be learned through experience. There is no
substitute for the first time a young volunteer sees
relief in a neighbor's eyes, when she knows she has made
a difference.
If taught correctly, the experience of serving
should be as searing to this generation of children as
war was to the generations before them. It should have
all the urgency of what happens after an emergency, such
as Hurricane Andrew, when people who never knew each
other as neighbors come to know each other as family.
Today we have among us a few of those teachers, a
few of the rescue workers for our nation. Each of them
has spent their lives rushing to the scene of the
hurricane. Each of them has ventured outside when they
could have stayed home, to forge links between
communities.
In my book, It Takes a Village, I tell a story
from my childhood Near my neighborhood outside Chicago
was a camp of migrant workers from Mexicot Forca while
my only contact with them was unpleasant. A young Mexican
was our local playground bully, taller and older and
meaner than I was. It was not until my mother encouraged
me to volunteer to babysit some younger children in the
camp that I began to think of the migrants as coming from
families just like mine, as a collection of mothers who
cooked dinner and fathers who worked and children who
liked to eat candy.
Susan Reyna has also ventured out, to babysit and
feed and clothe and fight for migrant workers in South
Florida. First at Centro Campesino, then at Migrant
Services Council and now as founder of MUJER, she has
looked after the most basic needs of a population used to
doing without. When migrant homeowners suffered the most
damage after the hurricane and received the least
insurance, she showed them where to turn. She recognized
that what might be familiar to her was entirely foreign
to them, and acted as their guide.
Willie Brown is one of those citizen activists
that pop up everywhere, and just can't help themselves
from getting involved. For most of his adult life, he's
been forging links between the many minority groups in
Homestead and South Dade, as founder of the Haitian,
Hispanic, African American Coalition, the Concerned
Citizens Progressive Action group and a host of other
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neighborhood groups. By now, he qualifies as a one man
civil society.
Edward Pudaloff decided to forego the moment in
our lives we are all waiting for: the comfortable
retirement, in order to help others get there. He reached
across generations down to the young people who needed
his help, first as a guardian in Broward, then as founder
of HANDY, a group that helps abused and neglected
children.
Joseph Pinon was once a frightened child on a
flight from Cuba to Miami. Now he works to make that
relocation a more friendly experience, as an assistant
city manger of Miami Beach, and as president of several
Latin American service organizations.
Bill Colson is a trial lawyer who has fought
large corporations to protect the consumer. He, too, has
chosen to forego retirement, and instead has founded a
group called Leadership Miami, dedicated to bringing
together diverse leaders to address regional problems.
Finally, there's Marilyn Segal, a woman who has
spent her life working on the issue dearest to my heart.
For three decades, Mickey, as she's known to friends, has
dedicated herself to studying child development. As a
teenager, she worked in an orphanage. After college, she
worked at an adoption agency. She then went on to found
some of the most prestigious centers for the study of
children in our nation. And her mission was as simple as
it was grand - to encourage schools to stop separating
children by their socioeconomic background. All that,
plus five of her own kids, and a cookie jar in her office
rumored to have never been empty.
Together, these extraordinary people have changed
the lives of countless children and their parents in
South Florida. But they have also done something more.
They have shown us a way out of one of the most
intractable problems facing America, a problem we've
struggled with almost from the country's founding: how to
keep a nation of increasingly fragmented ethnic groups
from splintering. How to remind our citizens that despite
all their differences they still suffer the same winters,
or in the case of Miami, the same sunburns.
Miami is one of America's famously diverse
cities. Each neighborhood wears its ethnic pride on its
sleeve, with neon-sign delis or bodegas. In restaurants,
schools, and theatres, Miami life is suffused with the
color of identities. And the richness has lasted through
the generations.
It is important for parents to teach their
children a strong sense of identity. But that is only
half a parent's, and a community's task. A child must
also be taught to avoid ethnic arrogance, to respect
everyone's else's strong sense of identity. And a
community must teach its citizens to revel in the
diversity of identities, and to consider the other a
neighbor.
It is this lesson that Susan Reyna, and Willie
Brown, and Edward Pudaloff, and Joseph Pinon, and Bill
Colson, and Marilyn Segal, teach us every time they cross
town, every time they reach beyond the familiar and
become comfortable with the unknown. Call it the lesson
P.5
of babysitting: spend a day in a stranger's house and
they won't seem so much like a stranger.
There is a teacher in Los Angeles who makes his
students spend the night in a neighborhood they had been
too scared to enter. He makes them stand on a street
corner, or, if that's too frightening, camp out in an all
night diner. So far, he's had only one near casualty.
But there's no need to be that dramatic. There is
a story about my husband which illustrates for me what I
would like service to become. One Thanksgiving when Bill
was ten, his mother sent him to the corner store to do
some last minute shopping. One of his classmates was
there, eating a doughnout and drinking a soda. When Bill
asked him where he was eating Thanksgiving dinner, he
held up his doughnut and said "Right here." Bill didn't
hesitate to invite him over for dinner.
We all have lonely colleagues, elderly neighbors,
worried relatives who might need our help. If each of us
developed the habit of offering it, we will have changed
our nation. Service need not be lofty, or connected to
some institution. It should just be a habit of daily
living, as basic as eating or good health.
Harris Wofford, who helped to found the Peace
Corps and now heads the Corporation for National Service,
has said that the service ethic should be to democracy
what the work ethic is to capitalism. Service, in other
words, can be simple, a routine part of our daily lives,
but also a necessary part. And one day it will be
ingrained we won't need to give service awards. Thank you
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
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Fax #: 456-5709
Fax: 4 pages and a cover page.
Note:
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4/97 MON 13:09 FAX 2026907318
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DATE:
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200 Independence Avenue, S.W., HHH Bldg., Room 638-E, Washington, D.C. 20201
SEP 30 '97 04:39PM THE NEW REPUBLIC
P.1
NEW REPUBLIC FAX COVER SHEET
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A
MESSAGE:
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Thanks For yar patience
September
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 1 of 4
Draft - Community Service Speech
I think it's fitting to begin my remarks with a few words about a public figure who
recently died. A woman whose life personified the public service that we are here to
honor today: Mother Teresa. She will be missed by the thousands for whom she
personally cared each year, as well as by the millions who were inspired by her selfless
acts of charity and caring. I had the privilege to spend some time with Mother Teresa
over the years and I can safely say that she was one of the most powerful people I have
ever met.
Her power didn't come from any of the sources we commonly point to when we talk
about power in the United States. It didn't come about from her skill at political wheeling
and dealing or her graduation from an Ivy League school. It didn't come from making the
right connections and shaking the right hands; nor from possessing a large bank account.
Mother Teresa was a supremely powerful person because she understood the importance,
the tremendous rippling impact, of personal action.
She knew that while government and other institutions are important in creating a
prosperous and well-run society, ultimately government and institutions can only provide
the blueprint for such a society. But we don't live within a blueprint. The greatest of
accomplishments can only be achieved - and the greatest of problems can only be solved
- by individual action. One simple, courageous, step at a time.
These simple steps are the bedrock of our democracy. Over two thousand years ago,
when the principle was in its infancy, Greek lawgivers arrived at the notion that the
strength of any democracy depends on the sum of the people involved. It is that notion
that fuels our own experience today.
Imagine if the sum of our democracy included more people like Mother Teresa. Imagine
if we were fortunate enough to include within our vast borders more committed women
and men like those gathered in this room.
People like Willie Brown who has spent his entire life working to better the place in
which he lives, whether by building a park community center or by bringing people
together to bridge the racial gaps between our people. People like Marilyn Segal whose
lifelong mission has been to better the lives of children. People like Bill Colson who has
helped bring together the county's diverse leaders. And Susan Reyna, who, not content to
let the needs of migrant Hispanic families go unanswered, formed MUJER to work for
their benefit. People like Joseph Pinon, a former police officer, a Cuban refugee, who
today works with numerous civic organizations.
These are people who embrace the biblical golden rule: Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you. They embrace it not only as a principle of faith, but as a
principle of democracy and service.
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Septembe
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 2 of 4
Two years ago, during a summer heat wave, something terrible happened in Washington,
DC. A four-year-old little girl and her two-year-old brother wandered away from their
home and, apparently looking for a place to play, climbed into an unlocked car in a
nearby lot. A couple of hours later, both children were found dead of suffocation.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, some neighbors pointed out that for years they had tried
to get local authorities to build a playground so that kids in the area would have
someplace safe to play. And the local government should have done that. But the
neighbors bear some of the blame for what happened that summer, too. If they had
understood and accepted their own personal responsibility, they might have taken it upon
themselves to take turns watching the children; to clean up the yard the children ran in;
and to chip in to buy a few outdoor toys that the children could all share.
A few months after this tragedy, a community service organization stepped up to the
plate. With volunteer labor, a few contributions and a whole lot of planning, they created
something incredibly important, yet exquisitely simple: a place for children to play.
It is through service like this that people together are able to achieve what alone they
could not.
I know service was an important part of my upbringing as a young girl. It helped me
appreciate the life I was born into, and enabled me understand the lives of others who
seemed so different. I remember volunteering to baby sit for young migrant children
while their older brothers and sisters joined their parents working in the fields. Taking
care of those children not only gave their parents a little piece of mind for the few hours I
was there, but it gave me a way to connect with people who spoke a different language
and who ate what looked to me to be pretty exotic food. It gave me an opportunity to see
that those foreign-seeming people had hopes and dreams for themselves, and care and
love for their families, just as great as any I'd encountered in Park Ridge, Illinois.
It's important that we introduce our children to service, early, so that it becomes a way of
life for them. Many schools and cities throughout the country, agreeing with that notion,
are beginning to establish frameworks that make it easier for children to volunteer.
Schools like Washington Elementary School in Mount Vernon Washington have
integrated service into its curriculum. Students there create classroom projects as well as
perform individual acts of service, like tutoring younger children and acting as safety
patrols. Here in Florida, North Miami Beach High School helps organize volunteers with
its own web site and (ADD MORE EXAMPLES HERE).
I am proud of many of the accomplishments made by my husband's administration, but
one of the things of which I am most proud is my husband's dedication to the
Corporation for National Service, the public-private enterprise that includes AmeriCorps.
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Septembe
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 3 of 4
Around the country, young AmeriCorps members are devoting themselves to making our
nation more secure for the future. They are doing this by tutoring children, and helping
to raise reading scores; by immunizing hundreds of thousands of children; and by
working with police departments to keep neighborhoods safe and to fight against drugs.
At the Summit For America's Future, held earlier this year in Philadelphia, thousands
more Americans, young and old, took a pledge to participate in community service -
committing themselves to help two million children by the year 2000.
But America's embrace of the service ethic came long before my husband's presidency.
Long before AmeriCorps and its predecessors, the Peace Corps and Vista were even
dreamed of. It was early in the 19th century when Alexis de Tocqueville observed that
voluntary organizations had become a hallmark of American citizenship and a distinctive
part of our national life. It's this unique trait that makes me most proud to be an
American.
There comes a moment when many of us hear the call to serve. The call comes in
various ways and takes many different forms. Some march in armies; and others stand in
front of classrooms. Some will place sandbags against a rising flood; and others will
volunteer to fight fires. We can't all do the same thing - I certainly wouldn't expect
anyone to do what I do - but there is a place for everyone in community service.
Martin Luther King Jr., inspired our entire nation with his acts of service, reminding us
that service is not something just for "other people" - it's for us all. He said: "You don't
have to have a college degree to serve. You don't need to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't
have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve You only need a heart full of
grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
He was right.
The greatest challenges facing us in the 21st century will not be solved by government
alone. Our most daunting challenges will not be how to create greater technologies,
bigger weapons, faster computers. No. We will need to figure out how we can live better
in the midst of the technological and social changes we've already undergone. To
understand how to retain a meaningful connection to our community when our communal
interactions might be fewer. Our challenge will be how to maintain our most precious
gift - our democracy - when so many Americans are feeling alienated from each other
and their government.
It seems to me that in this area of our lives we have to go back in order to come forward.
A robust economy is not enough. Smart trade policies are not enough. We have to renew
our ties to our community and our country in order to derive the satisfaction we need
from the wealth we have. Because I know that we as a people will be defined not only by
the riches that we reap - but by the kind of society we build with our riches.
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September
1997 02:03:34 PM
Page 4 of 4
It takes more than money to achieve the things we most care about. It takes more than
government. It takes commitment and time. It takes constant nurturing and vigilance. It
takes the involvement of our people - the sum of our democracy - to fulfill our greatest
goals.
Robert Kennedy said: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot
of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and crossing
each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a
current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
The people we are celebrating today in this room are sending forth those tiny ripples of
hope. I hope you inspire others to follow your example. Because just as it is our privilege
to live in a society for the people and by the people - it is also our fate.
End
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1
REMARKS FOR THE CHARLES WHITED SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE AWARD
SEPTEMBER 30, 1997
It is a great honor to join you tonight in this world-class city to celebrate the better
angels of our nature and our nation.
President Kennedy once said that "a nation reveals itself not only by the men and
women it produces, but also by those it honors, by those it remembers." Tonight our
nation reveals itself by the leaders WC honor with the 13th Annual Charles Whited Spirit
of Excellence Award. We honor heroes who reach across the lines that too often divide
us. Heroes who, in good times and bad, lift up South Florida's vulnerable children and
families. Heroes who, every day, make us proud of who we are and who we can become.
But when we honor these dedicated Americans, we paint a picture of more than
community service in South Florida. We show a model of citizenship in our democracy,
a model that this generation -- like all generations -- must refine and redefine for its time.
I was thinking about community and citizenship while the President and I were
back home in Arkansas. We just spent a wonderful weekend visiting family and friends
and attending Bill's high school reunion. But our thoughts kept returning to the reunion
our nation held Thursday at Little Rock Central High School. Forty years ago, when I
was a young girl growing up outside of Chicago, I remember seeing pictures of the Little
Rock Nine as they walked up the steps of Central High, escorted by the 101st Airborne
Division. I will never forget watching them brave the hatred outside and the fear within
in order to seize the opportunity that all children deserve, the opportunity to live and learn
and reach their God-given potential. And I will never forget the look on their faces, 40
years later, as the President opened up the door for them again, only this time to the
welcoming sound of thunderous applause.
Remembering that historic day in 1957, one of the nine, Melba Pattillo, wrote that
she had "crossed the threshold into that place where angry segregationist mobs had
forbidden us to go." Today, at Central High, students of all races freely cross that same
threshold, which is now protected not by the National Guard, but by four strong statues
emblazoned with these words: Ambition, Personality, Preparation, and Opportunity. It is
up to us as a nation to make sure that all children have the ambition, personality,
preparation and opportunity -- yes, opportunity -- they need to walk through those doors
into the new century.
Notice that I said it is up to our nation, not just our government. Throughout our
history, there have been those who claim government can do it all and those who insist
government should do nothing at all. As usual, the real truth lies somewhere in between.
Because when we think about our on-going struggle to build an American house that
cannot be divided by race or religion, we are reminded of both the power and limitations
of government. For while government can pry open those doors, while government can
enforce our constitutional rights, and while government can help our citizens keep out of
harm's way, it cannot heal our racial divide or reweave our frayed communities. It
cannot make sure that involuntary segregation is not replaced simply with voluntary
separation. It cannot change a heart or mend a spirit. It cannot make us feel connected to
one another or allow us to enter the new century together. But citizens can. And as you
have shown in South Florida, citizens do.
2
When Alexis de Tocqueville looked at our democracy, he described a nation that
was truly special. Not just because of our system of limited government. Not just
because of the individual initiative that thrives in our free-market economy. What has
always made America special is the space between our government and our economy.
Social scientists refer to it as our civil or civic society. All of us know it as the roles
played by our families, our churches, our Boys and Girls Clubs, by all of you. We sec it
in Marilyn Segal's exploration of early child development and her fight to give the
children of Broward County the right start in lifc. We see it in the Miami Herald's
Holiday Wish Book, which brings community support to families in need. We see it in
the three words that launched our nation: We the People, and in the three words that
adorn our national seal: E pluribus unum, which tell us that out of many we are still one.
This is not big government, it is shared government.
What all of this says, and what all of you have shown, is that good citizenship in a
democracy means more than paying your taxes, casting your ballot, obeying our laws,
and earning an honest living. Good citizenship means internalizing democratic values in
our hearts and minds. It means realizing that we are responsible for one another, each of
us our brother's and our sister's keeper. And, it means understanding that none of us got
to where we are without someone opening the door for us, and none of us will ever get to
where we need to go without reaching back to keep the door open for someone who
comes after us.
Those ideals remain, but how we meet them must continue to change. Because
for more than 200 years, we have been guided not by a document, but by a democracy, a
living, breathing democracy. Every generation has sought to perfect it, without any real
assurances that we ever will. Every generation has sought to balance the power of our
government, our free market and our citizenry. Every generation has sought to meet its
new challenges by redefining what it means to be a citizen in this great country. My
parent's generation was asked to save our nation from economic collapse and world
tyranny. Thirty years ago, my generation was challenged to fight for civil rights, explore
space, and carry the American dream to every corner of our country and our world.
As we enter the 21st century, our families, our nation, and our world are all facing
new challenges that will once again force us to redefine the role citizens play in our
democracy. In our homes, parents are under more pressure as they try to balance work
and family, and raise their children in the face of media messages that teach them that
smoking is cool, and a consumer culture that tells them to value the logo on their sneakers
more than the generosity in their hearts. Across our nation, new patterns of work,
technology, and mobility have changed how wc view our connection to and responsibility
for our local and national community. And around the world, the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the rise of new democracies create not only new responsibilities to build alliances of
shared values, but also new opportunities to inspire and learn from them.
When Congressman Tony Hall met the late Mother Theresa a few years ago, he
asked her how she was able to accomplish so much. She replied, "I did the thing that was
in front of me." What is clear is that today, the thing in front of us is no longer just in our
neighborhood or our local school. It is national, and it is global. And yet, while our
concept of community continues to evolve, our age-old commitment to it must not.
3
I was pleased to hear that the Miami Herald and NBC have been hosting events
called Community Circles to talk about how to solve the problems facing our most
vulnerable children. If we are going to redefine citizenship for the new century, I believe
that we need to foster a commitment and connection to ever-widening circles of
community, from our home to our world.
To do that, we must first recognize that citizenship is a lifelong job and
commitment. Not all of us will have children or work in an office. Not all of us will
graduate from college or buy a house. But, all of us will be citizens in our democracy.
We also know that teaching good citizenship must begin with our children. And that
goes far beyond the time we must take to read to children, play with them, talk with them,
and nurture them as they grow. It even extends beyond what we teach our children about
cleaning up their rooms, or helping out around the house. What I'm talking about here is
really our obligation to inspire children to serve others, to help them see service --
including political participation -- as a privilege, as an everyday fun activity, and as a way
to find common ground with others by respecting - not just tolerating - our differences.
I was thinking about one of the ways my mother did this as I read about Susan
Reyna's extraordinary work with migrant families. For a few weeks every autumn when
I was growing up, migrant families worked the fields around Chicago and their children
went to classes with us. One of the these kids took to bullying me and my friends on the
playground. Were it not for my mother, I might have wallowed in my anger and fear. I
might have judged an entire group based on the poor behavior of one individual. Instead
my mother encouraged me to volunteer to baby-sit for the migrant families' young
children on Saturdays so that their older brothers and sisters my classmates -- could
help their parents in the field.
I remember how proud I felt to be serving families who worked so hard for so
little. And I remember being struck by both the differences and the similarities in our
lives. We learn the most about ourselves when we stand in someone else's shoes and
someone else's world and look back at our own. I've always believed that those carly
experiences with service ultimately helped shape the direction of my career and my life.
As Chelsea grew up, we tried to give her those kinds of experiences, by taking her to
volunteer at shelters, encouraging her to be a part of a cause bigger than herself, and
inspiring her to keep an eye out for everyday needs waiting to be met.
But, those needs don't always appear before us Redefining citizenship for the
21st century also requires peering beyond our own backyards and creating a circle of
community that binds our entire nation together. Our history is replete with examples of
citizens pulling together when faced with war abroad and disaster at home. When
Hurricane Andrew shook this great state, when floods ravaged North Dakota, and when
home-grown terrorism struck Oklahoma City, we saw citizens gathering up their
humanity and rising to the occasion, not as Latinos or Caucasians, liberals or
conservatives, Jews or Christians, but as Americans.
Yet, even in the absence of adversity -- indeed, cspecially in the absence of
adversity -- citizenship in the 21st century requires that we see our fates are inextricably
linked to the fates of all Americans. We can wear our individual heritage like a badge of
honor, but we should always do so as citizens of the same national community. When we
have differences, whether they are on the playground or at the highest levels of
government, we must lower our voices and look at our common purposes.
005
4
We need a national spirit that sees every problem as our problem, every solution
as our solution, and the government as our government. We need an active citizenry with
the courage to keep our institutions honest and the optimism to serve them on behalf of
our nation.
And we need to give every American a way to serve their communities and their
country. That has always been the President's vision for AmeriCorps. Today, right here
in Miami, AmeriCorps volunteers are earning money for college while building homes
for single familics. They are teaching parenting skills to low-income citizens and reading
skills to their small children. And they are recruiting high school students to mentor
young children after school and during the summers. All in all, there are more than 950
AmeriCorps volunteers in Florida who are literally changing lives, for themselves and
those they serve. If AmeriCorps gets the support it needs from our government and our
citizens -- and it must -- it has the potential to help 160,000 people across the nation serve
by the year 2000.
Finally, 50 years after the Marshall Plan, redefining citizenship for the new
century means that we must reach out again and create a circle of community with our
democratic allies throughout the world. I have been fortunate enough to visit countries in
Europe that once lived under the shadow of the old Iron Curtain and now live under the
flags of free independent nations as they work to build democracies with civil liberties,
civic duties and a new sense of community. I have seen the spirit of reconciliation alive
and well in South Africa, where a nation of diverse peoples has overcome 40 stubborn
and violent years of Apartheid to begin the difficult journey to democracy. And to our
south, and embodied in the diversity that enriches Miami, we have seen every nation of
our hemisphere save one reject the rule of force and accept the rule of law.
All over the globe, nations are looking to the American experience as an example
and an inspiration of what free people who pull together in common cause can
accomplish for the individual and the community. They are looking at us to see not only
how to build a democracy, but also how to nurture and sustain one. And their journeys,
in turn, can inspire and guide us as we appreciate the blessings we have and continue our
never ending quest to refine and redefine what it means to be a citizen in the oldest and
greatest democracy in the world.
As we do all of this, as we commit ourselves to the ever widening circles of
community throughout our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world, let us always fix
our gaze on the fundamental principles of citizenship that never change.
It was almost exactly 100 years ago, at the dawn of the last century, that a little
girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote one of the most famous letters to the editor of all
time. Her question was, "Is there a Santa Claus?" And the answer the New York Sun
editorial page gave was, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Hc exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion exist." Those simple words offered children, and their
parents, an anchor, a shield, something to believe in. That was the responsibility we had
to the Little Rock Nine as they crossed the threshold into Central High. And, that is the
responsibility we have as journalists, as government officials, as communities, as
citizens -- as we help all children cross the threshold into the next century in a nation that
is great simply because it is good.
Thank you.
P.2
3
Thank you. Thank you distinguished guests, staff
of the Miami Herald, and citizens of Miami. I am honored
to be here this afternoon to commemorate the spirit of
Charles Whited, a columnist who reflected the best of
this diverse community. Nothing makes me happier than
joining in a celebration of service, and of those who
dedicate their lives to it. I can honestly say that I am
humbled by the achievements that today's six honorees
have accomplished.
I have met enough dedicated citizens like today's
award winners to know that they are precious, and
essential to America's well being. Their commitment to
service literally changes lives, and it can change our
nation.
I don't mean that in an abstract way. Anyone who
has seen a young boy enraptured by a mentor's lively
reading will know what I mean. Anyone who has seen an
elderly woman cheerfully recount her life story to a
hospital volunteer will also understand. For the many
Americans who need help, service is as concrete as a new
house or community center or a neighborhood playground,
built by the hands of caring citizens.
And what these citizens are creating is much more
than a new house and a new playground. They are
instilling in all those who come across them an ethos of
responsibility, a spirit of generosity, and a message of
hope. And by spreading those common American values, they
are building the future of our democracy.
For American democracy can not just be about well
oiled institutions, post offices and bus service and tax
refunds that come on time. Our democracy must also
internalize democratic values in our hearts, our minds,
and our everyday lives. Now that we no longer have the
threat of a cold war uniting us, it is time to turn
inward, and remember what it means to be active citizens
at home. And central to that memory is a tradition of
service, of reaching out beyond the familiar, to help
those in need.
Think of our democracy as a house. The post
office and the bus service are its foundations, the walls
that keep it from falling. But with only those things,
it's an empty house. In order to come alive it needs
people, meeting and greeting within its walls. It needs
people with a common purpose, working together like a
family.
And no matter how different they seem, Americans
do, indeed, have a common purpose. What individual family
does not confront the same questions that confront our
national family? What parents do not wonder how, in the
face of challenges, in the face of technology and
television that fragment us, can they raise children -
their own children and the nation's children? How to give
them moral signposts to guide them in this frightening
world? How to teach them our common values - values I
call opportunity, responsibility and community. These
are questions every parent, whether from Homestead or
Coral Gables, from Miami or from Maine, must consider.
P.3
The answer has to do with why we are here today.
It has to do with civil society - the meeting and
greeting that happens inside the house. Civil society is
that lively, bustling space where government can not, and
should not reach. It is the heart of a good democracy.
Fueling it are community leaders like the ones gathered
here, running local organizations, philanthropies,
volunteer associations, neighborhood groups, and even
families. That is where our children will learn to be
citizens, and serve their neighbors; that is where they
will learn a new kind of patriotism.
For those who take on the task of teaching our
children, it is a great challenge. Learning how to
become an active citizen can not be taught with chalk and
a chalkboard, in Citizen 101. It can not be tested with a
multiple choice exam. The values that service teaches can
only be learned through experience. There is no
substitute for the first time a young volunteer sees
relief in a neighbor's eyes, when she knows she has made
a difference.
If taught correctly, the experience of serving
should be as searing to this generation of children as
war was to the generations before them. It should have
all the urgency of what happens after an emergency, such
as Hurricane Andrew, when people who never knew each
other as neighbors come to know each other as family.
Today we have among us a few of those teachers, a
few of the rescue workers for our nation. Each of them
has spent their lives rushing to the scene of the
hurricane. Each of them has ventured outside when they
could have stayed home, to forge links between
communities.
In my book, It Takes a Village, I tell a story
from my childhood. Near my neighborhood outside Chicago
was a camp of migrant workers from Mexico. For a while,
my only contact with them was unpleasant. A young Mexican
was our local playground bully, taller and older and
meaner than I was. It was not until my mother encouraged
me to volunteer to babysit some younger children in the
camp that I began to think of the migrants as coming from
families just like mine, as a collection of mothers who
cooked dinner and fathers who worked and children who
liked to eat candy.
Susan Reyna has also ventured out, to babysit and
feed and clothe and fight for migrant workers in South
Florida. First at Centro Campesino, then at Migrant
Services Council and now as founder of MUJER, she has
looked after the most basic needs of a population used to
doing without. When migrant homeowners suffered the most
damage after the hurricane and received the least
insurance, she showed them where to turn. She recognized
that what might be familiar to her was entirely foreign
to them, and acted as their guide.
Willie Brown is one of those citizen activists
that pop up evérywhere, and just can't help themselves
from getting involved. For most of his adult life, he's
been forging links between the many minority groups in
Homestead and South Dade, as founder of the Haitian,
Hispanic, African American Coalition, the Concerned
Citizens Progressive Action group and a host of other
P.4
neighborhood groups. By now, he qualifies as a one man
civil society.
Edward Pudaloff decided to forego the moment in
our lives we are all waiting for: the comfortable
retirement, in order to help others get there. He reached
across generations down to the young people who needed
his help, first as a guardian in Broward, then as founder
of HANDY, a group that helps abused and neglected
children.
Joseph Pinon was once a frightened child on a
flight from Cuba to Miami. Now he works to make that
relocation a more friendly experience, as an assistant
city manger of Miami Beach, and as president of several
Latin American service organizations.
Bill Colson is a trial lawyer who has fought
large corporations to protect the consumer. He, too, has
chosen to forego retirement, and instead has founded a
group called Leadership Miami, dedicated to bringing
together diverse leaders to address regional problems.
Finally, there's Marilyn Segal, a woman who has
spent her life working on the issue dearest to my heart.
For three decades, Mickey, as she's known to friends, has
dedicated herself to studying child development. As a
teenager, she worked in an orphanage. After college, she
worked at an adoption agency. She then went on to found
some of the most prestigious centers for the study of
children in our nation. And her mission was as simple as
it was grand - to encourage schools to stop separating
children by their socioeconomic background. All that,
plus five of her own kids, and a cookie jar in her office
rumored to have never been empty.
Together, these extraordinary people have changed
the lives of countless children and their parents in
South Florida. But they have also done something more.
They have shown us a way out of one of the most
intractable problems facing America, a problem we've
struggled with almost from the country's founding: how to
keep a nation of increasingly fragmented ethnic groups
from splintering. How to remind our citizens that despite
all their differences they still suffer the same winters,
or in the case of Miami, the same sunburns.
Miami is one of America's famously diverse
cities. Each neighborhood wears its ethnic pride on its
sleeve, with neon-sign delis or bodegas. In restaurants,
schools, and theatres, Miami life is suffused with the
color of identities. And the richness has lasted through
the generations.
It is important for parents to teach their
children a strong sense of identity. But that is only
half a parent's, and a community's task. A child must
also be taught to avoid ethnic arrogance, to respect
everyone's else's strong sense of identity. And a
community must teach its citizens to revel in the
diversity of identities, and to consider the other a
neighbor.
It is this lesson that Susan Reyna, and Willie
Brown, and Edward Pudaloff, and Joseph Pinon, and Bill
Colson, and Marilyn Segal, teach us every time they cross
town, every time they reach beyond the familiar and
become comfortable with the unknown. Call it the lesson
P.5
of babysitting: spend a day in a stranger's house and
they won't seem so much like a stranger.
There is a teacher in Los Angeles who makes his
students spend the night in a neighborhood they had been
too scared to enter. He makes them stand on a street
corner, or, if that's too frightening, camp out in an all
night diner. So far, he's had only one near casualty.
But there's no need to be that dramatic. There is
a story about my husband which illustrates for me what I
would like service to become. One Thanksgiving when Bill
was ten, his mother sent him to the corner store to do
some last minute shopping. One of his classmates was
there, eating a doughnout and drinking a soda. When Bill
asked him where he was eating Thanksgiving dinner, he
held up his doughnut and said "Right here." Bill didn't
hesitate to invite him over for dinner.
We all have lonely colleagues, elderly neighbors,
worried relatives who might need our help. If each of us
developed the habit of offering it, we will have changed
our nation. Service need not be lofty, or connected to
some institution. It should just be a habit of daily
living, as basic as eating or good health.
Harris Wofford, who helped to found the Peace
Corps and now heads the Corporation for National Service,
has said that the service ethic should be to democracy
what the work ethic is to capitalism. Service, in other
words, can be simple, a routine part of our daily lives,
but also a necessary part. And one day it will be
ingrained we won't need to give service awards. Thank you
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SEP-25-97 THU 8:56
P.02
CHARTER SCHOOLS
The day after we left Chelsea at Stanford University, full of excitement as she begins the
next stage of her education, my husband and I went to San Carlos, California to the state's first
charter school to study an educational development that is brightening the futures of children
across the country.
We met with teachers, parents, administrators, and students who told us about their
experiences building charter schools. These are public schools, supported and chartered by the
states, open to all students, and accountable for their performance. But they are unique because
they are freed from the red tape of traditional school bureaucracies. In San Carlos, we heard
about what worked and why; the problems and frustrations they've encountered; and lessons
learned.
I've been caught up in the challenges facing our education system since 1983, when Bill was
governor of Arkansas and entrusted me with chairing a committee to make schools better. There
are certain things I've come to believe deeply that help explain why charter schools make sense.
First, children learn differently and are smart in varied ways; we need to tailor schools to
respond to their individual needs and talents. Second, the key to good education is to have high
expectations-- of students, of teachers, and of parents-- and then give them a hand in making
changes happen. Third, good ideas are contagious.
The day my husband took office in January, 1993 there was just one charter school in the
country. Now, supported by legislation he passed in Congress in 1994, there are 787, serving
over 100,000 students in 24 states. These schools were started by many different kinds of
people-- teachers, administrators, community groups, businesses.--who want to make our schools
better. Let me tell you about just a few places that reflect the extraordinary diversity and
promise of charter schools.
Earlier this year, I visited the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center outside Los Angeles.
Once one of the lowest-achieving elementary schools in the area, grossly crowded and bordered
by a neighborhood of broken-down crack houses, it's been transformed into one of the country's
most exciting charter schools. Stressing the crucial involvement of parents, Vaughn has an
onsite Family Center to help the school's mostly poor Latino and Asian-American families get
the basic health and social services they need, from immunization and dental care to parenting
classes. Parents volunteer in the school in return for the services. The school requires students
to wear uniforms, provides after-school tutoring and gang prevention programs, and calls
students' homes when they are absent, resulting in an attendance rate of 99%.
SEP-25-97 THU 8:56
P.03
Another acclaimed charter school, Boston's City on a Hill, was founded by two teachers
from traditional inner city schools where they felt they had only minimal influence shaping
decisions. They chose to spend (and risk) their careers building an alternative school where the
diploma truly means something. It's only granted when children have earned it by demonstrating
they've mastered a demanding set of academic skills that they'll need to compete in the 21
century world they're entering. City on a Hill takes advantage of all the great resources of
Boston: art classes are held in museums; the gym program uses the YMCA. Students are
required to get involved and work in the community to link school to real world experience and
learn in practice the values underlying our democracy. They also can't graduate if they haven't
learned to swim.
The first charter school in the nation, City Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, was started to
attract and serve children who'd dropped out of school. One of the main reasons for its
tremendous success was the involvement of twenty school drop-outs who helped design and
create a school they'd want to attend.
Charter schools aren't without problems. The start-up costs are high. They sometimes face
opposition from entrenched bureaucracies reluctant to give up control. They need to be
scrutinized closely from the start in deciding who gets charters, how they'll be managed and
their performance judged. If charter schools don't perform, they can be closed down. A handful
have been.
In November, Secretary of Education Dick Riley will convene a national conference on
charter schools in Washington so they can learn from each other and we can learn from them all.
This year's budget calls for funds for another 500 schools. Charter schools are already proving
what exciting things can be achieved when we relinquish the idea that one size fits all in
American education and give the people who know and care most about our schools a free hand
to find new and better ways for children to learn.
(770 words)
09/25/97
12:45
NO. 676
002
FROM
PHONE NO. :
25 1997 07:34AM P2
DRAFT
Charter Schools: A Gift to Our Community
September 24, 1997
I wish you all could have been with Bill and me when we visited the San Carlos Charter
Learning Center, one of the very first charter schools in the nation. It was a day I'll never
forget.
We had just Jeft Chelsea at Stanford, one of the toughest moments we've ever endured as
parents. Visiting San Carlos was just what the doctor ordered.
San Carlos is a good news story - one of hundreds taking place every day all across the
country. It's a school that works. Volunteers gave 20,000 hours of time to create the
Charter Learning Center. When it was created, one of the organizers said, "The granting
of the San Carlos Charter is a gift the community has given to itself the gift of the
opportunity to create choice for all learners."
That's what charter schools are all about.
Charter schools are public schools operated under a charter or contract They may be
organized by parents, teachers or others from the community, but the idea is that, in
exchange for public funding, they are freed from the regulations and red tape that stifle
effective innovation. In addition, they are held accountable. If they don't meet the high
expectations they've set for themselves, their charter is revoked.
In 1991, Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law. Now, merely six
years later, there are 700 charter schools in 29 states.
As parents, we all know what works for our children: clear expectations that all children
can and should learn; manageable school and class size; an orderly classroom
environment; the close personal involvement of at least one teacher with each child; a
commitment to tailoring instruction to how different children learn; and active parent
participation.
These are pretty fundamental principles. Yet, in too many cases, our public schools have
become too big -- too industrialized Gone are the basic ingredients once considered
requisite to a good education. That's where-charter schools come in.
I've been privileged to visit charter schools all across the country. At San Carlos, Bill
and I saw a business run by students at the school. Eleven to 14-year-olds develop and
market inexpensive games and software for children of all ages.
At the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, principal Yvonne Chan showed me where
crack houses used to stand next to the school. She fought for state funding to bulldoze
09/25/97
12:46
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FROM
PHONE NO.
:
Sep. 25 1997 07:34AM P3
the houses and build new classrooms. What Chan is most proud of, though, is her
students' daily attendance rate - 99%.
Another California school has lengthened the school year to 200 days. Jingletown was
created by Oakland's Hispanic community, long frustrated by the school district's refusal
to provide a bilingual middle school. The longer school year, combined with a longer
school day, allows the school to provide study hall, art and music classes that are no
longer offered in the district's regular public schools. Jingletown parents clean
bathrooms and provide food services for one hour each week, allowing the school to
spend precious resources in the classroom, where they belong.
Early on, critics complained that charter schools would serve only the affluent. Actually,
the opposite is true. Charter schools are serving more minority and at-risk students than
anyone ever expected. Michigan's charter schools have more than twice the minority
enrollment of the public schools.
Here's one of my favorite stories: Pam Girod, a teacher in Minnesota, used $9,000 of her
own money to fund the Cedar-Riverside Community school for students from a
community housing project who had no neighborhood school.
I could fill a year's worth of columns with stories just like these. Parents, in partnership
with energetic educators, are making them happen all across the country.
The President and I are determined to take the lessons we've learned from these stories
and use them to infect every public school in America. In November, Education
Secretary Richard Riley will convene a national conference on charter schools, bringing
together teachers, administrators, parents, and others who are interested to share their
very best ideas.
The recently enacted balanced budget agreement contains enough money to set up
thousands more charter schools across the country. At San Carlos, Bill announced the
release of $40 million in grants to establish 500 more charter schools right away. We
want to see 3,000 - or even 4,000 - charter schools in operation by the year 2000.
Charter schools are about giving people a chance - about empowering parents, teachers,
and communities. But, most of all, charter schools are about doing what's best for our
children.
002
3
TALKING IT OVER (758 words)
Last week, my husband and I flew to California to get Chelsea settled in at
college. It was a difficult time for me as a mother, but as First Lady I had a
different experience.
While we were in California, the President and I visited the San Carlos
Charter Learning Center, one of our nation's emerging charter schools. There, we
encountered a vibrant community of dedicated teachers, students and parents
working together to meet the diverse needs of their children. It was easy to see
success on the smiling faces of those kids.
I don't think anyone would deny that a strong public school system is crucial
to the health of any nation. As we are so often reminded, today's children are
tomorrow's doctors, teachers, business owners and parents. We all agree that
every child, from every background and in every part of the country, deserves the
opportunity to develop his or her God-given potential.
For that reason, the President and I have devoted a lot of time and attention
to education reform. While Bill was Governor of Arkansas, we went into the
schools to learn what was needed. We worked on many issues, but one of the
things we heard expressed frequently was a desire for public school choice. Before
long, Arkansas passed a law granting parents more freedom to choose which
school their child attends.
Charter schools -- which have developed in the last five years -- take the
element of choice one step further. Charter schools are public schools which are
not bound by ordinary regulations but instead are created under contracts specific
to them.
Each child is different, and each child has a different set of talents as well as
needs. Sometimes it takes a particular kind of environment to truly nurture a
child's gifts. Because charter schools operate under a set of guidelines that they
themselves have established, they have the freedom to develop innovative
techniques -- or to reinstate effective old ones -- to meet the varied needs of their
students.
Many advocates of school reform believe that schools would be more
effective if, like businesses, they were answerable to their customers -- in this
case, students and parents. Charter schools are accountable: In order to keep their
charters, they must maintain high standards, and they must satisfy the people they
serve.
And charter schools are satisfying people all over the country. In Pacoima,
003
California, a charter has transformed the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center
from a place where drug deals were happening on school property to one of the
most promising schools in the nation. Among Vaughn's many successful facilities
is a Family Center, a one-stop referral center which helps families obtain health and
social services.
In San Diego, the O'Farrell Community School clusters its students in
"families" headed by a single teacher for three years, so as to keep track of
students' progress. Community service is a requirement for graduation, and the
school has a counseling center to help students with nonacademic problems.
In Massachusetts, where there are currently twenty-two charter schools,
studies show that the overwhelming majority of participants are delighted with the
results. Eighty percent of the parents and students surveyed reported that their
charter school experience was superior to that of their previous school, and
seventy-five percent of the parents reported that their child's interest in learning
has increased at the new school.
Beyond educating our children, charter schools educate us -- about what
does and doesn't work for our students. Far from leaving other schools behind,
these learning centers provide models to be emulated. With some care and
attention, what succeeds in one school can be adopted by another. In this way,
every school will be encouraged to act like a charter school, and students across
the nation will enjoy improvements in the ways they learn.
There are now over five hundred charter schools across the United States.
Because these schools often use money already allocated for public schools, they
are cost-effective. But they need additional support to get started. The President
recently released $40 million in grants to help these schools get up and running,
and I share his hope that every American will see the value in funding these
schools.
Charter schools represent what is best about America -- diverse groups of
teachers, students, parents and members of the community joining together to take
responsibility for meèting the needs of our children. We can improve the quality of
education in this country. In fact, we are already doing so, and charter schools are
leading the way.
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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.
SEP-25-97 THU 8:55 BACON
2023372616
P.01
[003]
I
BACON FAX
Fax:
P6/(b)(6)
Phone:
P6/(b)(6)
To Michael 0' many
Pages to Follow 2
MESSAGE: from Darcy Bacon
Thanks very much
09/25/97
12:45
GRAHAM/MUSCATINE -> 4565709
NO. 676 001
2
FAX COVER SHEET
FROM LISSA MUSCATINE
202-337-3171
TO: MICHAEL O'MARY
FAX: 456-5709
TOTAL PAGES: 3
DATE: MONDAY 5/22 9/25
Beach's