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James (Terry) Edmonds' Files
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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Terry Edmonds
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
10987
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Folder Title:
Michigan [1]
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. schedule
Trip Book: the Trip of the Presidet to Lansing, Michigan (17 pages)
03/06/97
P6/b(6), b(7)(E)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Terry Edmonds
OA/Box Number: 10987
FOLDER TITLE:
Michigan [1]
2006-0462-F
ry670
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 PRAJ
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 PRAJ
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 PRAJ
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 PRAJ
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.
By PETER APPLEBOME
But the tests also provide evidence
In a generally encouraging sign of
that the persistent gloom about the
progress in American education, the
nation's schools may be overstated.
latest report from the only national
And the fact that the improvements
assessment of educational achieve-
come in the field that was the first to
ment shows steady and significant
adopt national standards leads some
progress in mathematics test results
experts to see a reason to hope that
by the nation's fourth-, eighth-, and
intensified focus and standards can
12th-grade students.
produce results.
Scores on the National Assessment
Education Secretary Richard W.
of Educational Progress test, or
Riley today noted the mixed mes-
NAEP, released yesterday showed
sages in the new report.
that the percentage of the nation's
Mr. Riley hailed the signs of
National Tests Show Students Have Improved in Math
fourth graders performing at or
progress, saying, "This is good news
above what the study says is a basic
and another sign that we are turning
level rose to 64 percent last year,
the corner when it comes to improv-
from 59 percent in 1992; the percent-
ing American education."
age of eighth graders at that level
But he added that the progress
rose to 62 percent, from 58 percent
was not enough.
and the percentage of 12 graders.
"Our national scores may be going
increased to 69 percent, from 64 per-
up," he said, "but we are still far
cent.
behind world-class standards."
The figures come a few months
In fact, although more than three
after a closely watched survey
in five eighth graders reached what
showed American students scoring
is considered a basic level of per-
at the international average in sci-
formance on the test, only about one
ence and just below it in math. But
in four eighth graders reached the
they also coincide with rising mathe-
boys scored higher than fourth-grade
more rigorous "proficient" level for
girls.
their grade.
The states that performed best on
Black, Hispanic and American In-
the test, Mr. Riley said, were North
dian children scored below whites,
STATUS REPORT
Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Iowa,
and the gap between them was es-
Positive Numbers
Montana, Wisconsin and Nebraska.
sentially unchanged from 1992 to
1996.
The ones that showed the most im-
The percentage of students
provement were North Carolina,
Overall, the report on the tests
testing at:or above basic
Michigan and Texas. North Carolina
said, the more education parents
levels in math continues to
improved its score by 17 points on a
had, the higher the scores of their
improve, as indicated by the
500-point scale since 1990.
children.
1996 National Assessment of
New York State's eighth graders
Gail Burrill, president of the Na-
Educational Progress
went from 57 percent performing at
tional Council of Teachers of Mathe-
Mathematics Report Card:
or above a basic level in 1992 to 61
matics said the figures show the re-
percent in 1996. In 1990, 50 percent of
sults of efforts to improve teacher
Grade
60%
students were at or above a basic
training and to develop national
4
50
level. Connecticut went to 70 percent
standards as well as teaching meth-
40
in 1996, from 64 percent in 1992. New
ods that stress reasoning, concepts
30
Jersey's eighth-grade score was not
and problem solving.
20
listed.
"The figures are really encourag-
10
The NAEP tests, which evaluate
ing," Ms. Burrill said. "It's very ex-
0
mathematics, reading and other sub-
citing to have this kind of rise, to
'90
'92
'96
jects, are considered the only con-
show that our kids are actually able
tinuing, nationally representative as-
to achieve more."
Grade
60%
sessment of learning. They were es-
tablished by Federal law and have
Despite the rise in math scores,
8
50
40
been measuring student achieve-
recent reading scores on NAEP tests
30
ment for 27 years.
have been flat. Richard Mills, the
New York Commissioner of Educa-
20
The NAEP scores use a sample of
10
students to serve as a barometer of
tion, said the disparity in math and
0
how the nation and states are pe-
reading scores reflects the degree to
forming. President Clinton has pro-
which schools have focused on math.
'90
'92
'96
posed that a similar national exami-
"In the national reports and in the
Grade
70%
nation be made available to test all
New York report card, we're finding
12
60
fourth graders in reading and all
that when we concentrate, we get
50
eighth graders in math starting in
results, when we don't, we don't," he
40
1999. That test could measure the
said. "Looking at these results, no
30
ability of individual students and
one can convince me we can't turn
20
provide for comparisons between
our reading scores around as well."
10
school districts and states.
0
According to the NAEP results
'90
'92
'96
released yesterday, eighth and 12th-
grade boys and girls showed similar
Source: Department of Education
results on the tests. But fourth-grade
The New York Times
matics scores from other examina-
tions like the S.A.T. 1: Reasoning
Test and the American College Test.
The New York Times
# Taken together, the tests show
some mixed results and offer no
grounds for complacency. There is
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1997
no chance that the United States will
meet the national goal set out in 1990
of being first in the world in mathe-
matics and science by 2000.
Bill Would Keep Most Visitors
To U.S. From Buying Firearms
By ADAM CLYMER
would not reject it out of hand."
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 - React-
A spokesman for the National Ri-
ing to Sunday's shootings at the Em-
fle Association said it wanted to
pire State Building, Senators Ed-
study the proposal but was dubious
ward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts
about it. He said foreigners come to
and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois
the United States seeking freedom,
introduced a bill today to prohibit
including "the freedom to protect
foreign visitors to the United States
themselves."
from buying or carrying firearms.
The Kennedy-Durbin bill would al-
Mr. Durbin told the Senate: "Our
low bodyguards of foreign leaders
nation is a terrorist target. We
and embassy guards to possess fire-
should not be putting guns in the
arms. It would also make an excep-
hands of would-be terrorists."
tion for foreign citizens visiting the
After the shootings by Ali Abu Ka-
United States to hunt or to take part
mal, a Palestinian in the United
in rifle or pistol competitions.
States on a nonimmigrant visitor's
The bill's prohibitions would apply
visa who had bought a semiautomat-
to all other foreigners except those
here on immigrant visas.
The New Times
ic handgun in Florida, the bill pro-
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1997
The measure would also make it a
posed by the two Democrats might
crime for a gun dealer to knowingly
have an easier course than most gun
sell a firearm to a foreigner not
control measures in Congress.
qualified under the law to own one.
Two leading Republican foes of
Violations of the proposed law
most legislation that curbs gun own-
would be punishable by up to 10
ership, Senators Larry E. Craig of
years in prison. Gun buyers would be
Idaho and Ted Stevens of Alaska,
required to certify, under penalty of
said they wanted to consider the pro-
perjury, that they were not foreign-
posal. "I'm going to take it under
ers prohibited by the law from buy-
advisement," Mr. Craig said. "I
ing firearms.
Confidence Expressed on Redrawing District
By JONATHAN P. HICKS
experts to redraw the districts.
more contiguous," said Alan
One day after a three-judge Fed-
Discussions about altering Con-
Gartner, a professor at the City Uni-
eral panel invalidated the bound-
gressional boundaries - always an
versity of New York's Graduate Cen-
aries of the largely Hispanic 12th
acrimonious business in the Legisla-
ter who was an expert appointed by
Congressional District, Democratic
ture - could serve as a dry run for
New York State's courts to draw a
elected officials predicted that they
other redistricting battles certain to
map of 31 Congressional districts.
could redraw it without affecting the
come following the census in the
"But there will also be a strong effort
lines of at least half of the 14 city-
year 2000. Because of projected
to protect the incumbents."
based districts or endangering the
shifts in population nationwide, New
Several incumbents said that liv-
re-election prospects of incumbents.
York State is expected to lose one or
ing through the process of altering
While several of members of Con-
two of its 31 current seats. In the last
lines would be unpleasant. "Do I find
gress from New York said they
reapportionment after the 1990 cen-
this unsettling?" asked Representa-
found the prospect of changes to
sus, the state lost three seats.
tive Carolyn B. Maloney, a Demo-
their districts unsettling, they and
Several Democrats in the State
crat, whose district is considered
redistricting experts said that those
Legislature made it clear that they
likely to be redrawn. "Well, no one
changes were unlikely to dilute an
were very interested in maintaining
likes to go through redistricting. I
incumbent's chances of winning re-
a largely Hispanic Congressional dis-
don't like change. I love my district. I
election next year.
trict, but in a way that would not
intend to run and win in whatever
On Wednesday, a Federal court
subject other incumbents to big
lines they draw."
ruled that the district, which includes
changes in their districts, in effect,
Meanwhile, Ms. Velazquez repeat-
largely Hispanic neighborhoods in
protecting their re-election pros-
ed her intention to appeal the court's
Queens, Brooklyn and lower Manhat-
pects. The leader of the Democratic-
decision. She said she planned to
tan, was unconstitutional because
controlled Assembly, Sheldon Silver
press for a mostly Hispanic district
race and ethnicity were the predomi-
of Manhattan, said he had not yet
and to run in a 12th District, no
nant factors in drawing its bound-
determined whether to appeal the
matter how it is configured.
aries. The district is represented by
court's decision.
Ms. Velazquez, the first Puerto Ri-
Nydia M. Velazquez, a Democrat.
He expressed confidence that the
can woman elected to the House of
Joseph L. Bruno, the majority
boundaries of the 12th District could
Representatives, made her remarks
leader of the Republican-controlled
be redrawn with a minimum of parti-
during a news conference yesterday.
State Senate, said he had already
san bickering with the Senate since
"This case is not about Nydia Velaz-
asked the Legislature's task force on
the affected areas are represented
quez, it is about our communities,"
redistricting to look at the matter.
by Democratic incumbents. He also
she said. "It is about fair representa-
"It is our intention to comply with
predicted little impact on the rest of
tion and our ability to address the
the court's decision and redraw the
the 14 districts within New York
complex issues of race." She added
Congressional boundaries by the
City. "I would see the least intrusive
that the lawsuit "is but a legal cur-
July 30 deadline," Mr. Bruno said in
approach as being the most effec-
tain that hides the racist agenda of
a statement. The Legislature has un-
tive," he said. "It should only affect
certain extremists." Her remarks
til then to approve a plan, which
maybe three or four districts."
appeared to be an attack on the Cam-
would, then be. submitted to Gov.
Redistricting experts agreed.
paign for a Color-Blind America, a
George E. Pataki. If the Governor
"When the Legislature is through
Texas-based nonprofit group that
and the Legislature miss the dead-
with this, there will likely be nominal
has filed suits against predominantly
line, the court could appoint its own
changes in order to make the district
minority districts in other states.
FEDICAL à d30 BAY
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OFFICE OFTIIE SECRETARY
UNITED STATES of AMERICA
March 3, 1997
To: Michael Waldman
Fr: Kevin Sullivan
Re: Lansing, Michigan/ Raleigh, N.C. events
Attached is Secretary Riley's annual State of Education speech that has some themes and
language that you may find useful for these two events and others.
The Secretary supported the President's "call to action" in his speech but went on to list six
specific action steps that need to be taken to make it happen. His emphasis on what to do about
"failing schools" (p. 7/8) and "how to improve teacher preparation" (p.9-10-11) got significant
press attention.
The Secretary also announced in his speech that he will hold a national forum on teacher
recruitment and preparation this Spring. This has generated a lot of interest and it will helps us
if the President mentions the forum in his Raleigh remarks -- see page 11 of the speech. I'll send
more details over later this week.
C.C. Dan Pink
600 INDEPENDENCE AVE.. S.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20202
Our misston is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation.
P.1/14
MAR 03 '97 12:40PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
RICHARD W. RILEY
U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
FOURTH ANNUAL STATE OF AMERICAN
EDUCATION ADDRESS
PUTTING STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE INTO ACTION
The Carter Center, Atlanta Georgia
February 18, 1997
President and Mrs. Carter, Senator Cleland, Governor and Mrs. Miller, ladies and gentlemen: I
am pleased to be here in Atlanta to give my fourth annual state of American education speech. I
begin by extending my thanks to President Carter for his kindness in introducing me, and for his
foresight in creating the U.S. Department of Education.
Many years ago, when President Carter created the Department there was some heated criticism.
It was not needed, critics charged, and through the years they never gave up. And, yet today, can
anyone really say that advancing education should not be our nation's number one priority?
I tell you, Mr. President, when I go into a Cabinet meeting, I take all the children and college
students of America with me. There I see to it that they are represented, that their education is
always an issue to be dealt with. Mr. President, on behalf of all these young people, I want to
thank you for creating a seat in the President's Cabinet dedicated to advancing American
education.
Four years ago, I began this tradition by giving my first speech at Georgetown University,
President Clinton's alma mater. Each year since then, I have tried to capture some feature of
American education that deserves our attention.
All of these speeches, and the one I intend to give today, are rooted in my belief that we need to
stop dumbing down our children, and reach up and set higher expectations. We need to unleash
all the brain power stored in the heads of America's young people, and make excellence happen.
Our children are smarter than we think. We must give them more responsibility as young
children and then expect more of them as they grow and develop.
If ever there was a time to push American education to a higher level, it is now. The sparks are
all around us, and many of them have been created by President Clinton, and by so many of you
here today and those of you joining us from around the country at the many downlink sites.
Keep up your good work, you are making things happen.
Everywhere I go I feel it -- the excitement and the determination of the American people to
expect more from our schools and more from their children. This preoccupation with education is
as old as America itself. Even before they wrote the Constitution, our Founding Fathers set aside
land for the common school. Now, at the edge of the 21st century, the high expectations of the
12.2/14
MAR 03 '97 12:41PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
2
American people can only be achieved if we strive for national standards of excellence, and
commit ourselves to decisive reform on every front.
This is the purpose of my speech today: to suggest to you how we can put standards of
excellence into action to improve American education. And to tell you that we must not drift nor
lose time.
I have a very personal stake in this effort. Last year, when I gave this speech in Saint Louis I had
the pleasure of announcing the birth of my seventh grandchild - Anna Maureen Riley. Well, my
children seem to be on a regular schedule. So today I announce the birth of my eighth grandchild,
Maryann Gardiner Riley, just three-weeks ago.
I have a lot invested in the education of Anna and Maryann and their six cousins. I intend to read
wonderful children's books to both of them -- books like The Wednesday Surprise by Eve
Bunting.
The Progress of the South in Setting High Expectations
As we move toward the 21st century, nothing should be more important to us as a nation than the
actions we take now to help our young people prepare for the future. This is one of the principal
reasons why I chose to come to Atlanta to give this speech.
Georgia is an example to the nation. From your emphasis on early childhood -- to tougher
requirements for high school graduation -- to Hope Scholarships for college - Georgia is a state
on the move. I commend you, Governor Miller, for your leadership. Georgia has opened the
doors of college to all of its citizens and given young people a reason to buckle down and get
smart.
Listen to what a Georgia State freshman told NBC News just two weeks ago: 'Without the Hope
Scholarship, I wouldn't be going to college because my parents can't afford it."
And one high school freshman said: "I started thinking about the Hope Scholarship when I was
in the 6th grade, and I started concentrating on my grades and how I wanted to keep them up."
These are powerful statements. They express hope and something more -- when we give young
people something to respond to, they make the connection. They change their expectations and
study habits in a fundamental way. This is exactly what President Clinton seeks to achieve in
creating a national Hope Scholarship initiative.
Yet we are told by some Washington pundits that this is unwise -- too costly they say -- and not
needed. A few even go on to suggest that too many Americans want to go to college. Well, I
know this President. He isn't about to put a ceiling on the dream of any American who wants to
work hard to get an education. Every American should have that chance.
DIE'd
MAR 03 '97 12:41PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
}
Here in the South, we were once stuck in the rut of low expectations. Not any more. We have
come a long way in the last 20 years. Many more children are in kindergarten and programs for
four-year-olds. Almost 60 percent of high school graduates are now taking the tough academic
courses that prepare them for college. This is a four-fold increase since the mid-80's.
College attendance in the South is close to reaching the national level -- another new milestone.
And the Southeast, like much of the country, is responding to record breaking enrollments by
hiring many more new teachers.
Much of the credit for this progress must go to educators like Mark Musick and the leadership of
the Southern Regional Education Board for staying the course to raise standards.
The Changing Context of American Education
This is good progress but we cannot be satisfied. Knowledge is exploding all around us. We
live in a new golden age of discovery, Astronomers probe the unfolding majesty of the universe,
even as scientists race to map the genetic makeup of humanity. Yet we struggle to put the old
industrial model of education behind us.
And, never before have our nation's classrooms been so crowded. From Los Angeles to
Gwinnett County here in Georgia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- the portable classroom is a
common sight in school yards. That is why our president has proposed a $5 billion initiative to
jump start school construction.
The entire context of American education is changing. We need teachers skilled in using
computers as a powerful teaching tool, and many more teachers well-versed in teaching English
as a second language. Our teachers need to teach to a higher level of achievement, and be
prepared to teach all of America's children - the gifted and talented, our many new immigrants,
the college-bound achiever, and the disabled child who is learning so much more because he or
she is now included.
We have much to do. Achievement scores are not moving up fast enough. Truancy and drop-out
rates are still too high. The equity gap in school financing remains a nagging problem in too
many states. The jewel of American education is our system of higher education - yet, too many
families struggle to pay tuition, and too many high school graduates are going to college but not
graduating.
Education as a National Priority
Today, more than ever before, education is the engine that drives our economy. Education is
now the great "fault line" that determines who is part of the American
Dream. The earnings gap between the educated and the less educated is growing, and it will
continue to grow unless we educate all of our young people to high standards. An average
P.4/14
MAR 03 '97 12:41PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
4
education just isn't good enough anymore.
Automobile plants seek new hires who have some college education. America's
new entrepreneurs and small business owners are just about desperate to find employees who are
motivated, creative and well-educated. The military recruits only high school graduates who
score in the upper half of their class in verbal and math skills. And our great institutions of
higher learning want freshmen who don't need remedial help.
And here I shall be as strong as I can be. There can be no equality in this nation without a
renewed commitment to excellence. Educating every child to use his or her God-given talent is
the pre-condition for full equality. One cannot happen without the other.
My friends, we have the attention of the American people. Our country is prosperous and at
peace. We have the unique opportunity to do what is best
for our children. This should be our great patriotic cause -- our national mission -- giving all of
our children a world-class education by purting standards of excellence into action.
The President's Call to Action
This is why President Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, gave us a bold vision of what
American education can become. From helping our children to master the basics -- to better
teaching and modernizing our schools - to helping families pay for college through increased
Pell Grants and Hope Scholarships - the President has made excellence in education our national
mission.
The President's 10-point "Call to Action" is a bold approach that is national in scope -- yet local
in action because that's the American way. This is leadership at its best. I am pleased that the
Congress has joined President Clinton in a bi-partisan commitment to make sure that politics
stops "at the schoolhouse door." As I have said before, we don't educate our children as
Democrats or Republicans. We educate them as Americans.
This is what the American people want and expect of us. I urge Congress to pass the President's
education agenda and to recognize the important contributions that
it can make this year to advancing American education.
This year, the Congress will have to re-authorize many major pieces of legislation: Voc-ed,
Adult-ed, Voc-rehab and the IDEA bill that insures the education of 5.4 million disabled
children. And I am pleased by the open dialogue I have had with the higher education
community as we prepare to re-authorize the Higher Education Act.
But we have much more to do. We are rushing headlong toward the 21st century, yet too many
of our young people are falling by the wayside. I want to be very clear. It's not enough to have
high expectations or set challenging standards. We must put standards of excellence into action.
P.S/14
MAR 03 '97 12:42PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
5
This is my agenda.
Our young people must master the basics once and for all. Our schools need to rethink and
shake-up our current approach to drug prevention. Fixing failing schools must become our first
order of business, not our last. Our children need to be part of the Information Age sooner rather
than later -- to get connected to the world of technology as it unfolds around them.
We must make sweeping changes in how we prepare America's teachers. Public schools and
higher education must develop a fundamentally new relationship - a new partnership to prepare
young people for college-level work. And, we need a smart tax policy for the 21st century to
support life-long learning for all Americans.
First: we must master the basics once and for all. Forty percent of our children are not reading as
well as they should by the end of the third grade. And this nation is below the international
average when it comes to 8th grade math.
That's just not good enough in my book. All of our research tells us that reading well by the 4th
grade and having good math skills - including algebra and some geometry - by the 8th grade
are critical turning points in the education of our young people.
This is why the President has called for challenging, voluntary national tests in fourth-grade
reading and eighth-grade math. We have a President who has the courage to fight for our
children's education, respecting the state and local role but challenging our schools and
communities to get on with it.
Reading is reading. Math is math. For these basics, let's not cloud our children's future with
silly arguments about federal government intrusion. These proposed tests are an opportunity not
a requirement, a national challenge not a national curriculum.
The President and I are firmly opposed to any form of national curriculum. And we have done
all we can to cut red tape and cut people loose. In the last four years, we have eliminated about
half of all federal regulations for elementary and secondary education, while never losing sight
of our constitutional obligations.
I encourage every state and school district to accept the challenge by the President to participate
in these voluntary national tests. Yes, there may be a high failure rate in the beginning. But in
time, we will have a high success rate as well -- if all Americans see themselves as part of the
solution.
The President's effort to support the work of one million volunteer tutors through the America
Reads Challenge is a clear message that the solutions must come from the American people.
This is why I am pleased to announce that a broad spectrum of religious denominations here in
P.6/14
MAR 03 '97 12:42PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
6
Atlanta will spearhead a drive to support the President's reading challenge.
Led by the Georgia Baptist Literacy Mission, the Atlanta Board of Rabbis, the African Methodist
Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church, Atlanta's faith communities are going to
make sure every child in Atlanta is reading a book. And, in the weeks ahead, I will work with
religious leaders from across the country to rally tens of thousands of volunteers to this national
effort.
If reading well is the first basic, we also know that math is the gateway to learning many more
advanced skills. In the last decade, we have made substantial progress in improving math and
science education.
But we need to notch up our standards even higher. Only 20 percent of our young people are
taking algebra by the end of the 8th grade. In the rest of the advanced world, the vast majority--
if not all -- students have studied algebra by the end of the eighth grade. I believe our students
should do the same.
Protecting Our Children from Drugs and Violence
The next point I want to emphasize and this is critical -- achievement can only occur if we have
schools that are safe and drug-free. An unsafe school is a failing school. Children cannot learn if
they are surrounded by drugs and violence. Today, we are confronted by the fact that eighth-
grade drug use is up for the fifth year in a row.
Here I want to speak directly to baby-boomers who are now parents. Some of you have tried it
all, and now you know better-- don't send your children a mixed message when it comes to
drugs, alcohol and smoking.
A child in second or third grade is perfectly capable of getting the message that drugs, alcohol
and smoking are bad for them. Children are starting to make bad choices by the fifth and sixth
grade, and by middle school too many of our young people are taking risks and experimenting
with drugs.
And to the children of America -- don't kill off your brain cells -- don't mess up your lives --
when there is so much hope and possibility around you.
To give our young people that hope, our schools must do a better job of making our classrooms
drug-free. There is an enormous variation in the effectiveness of our drug prevention programs,
and this concerns me for good reason. We have 10 years of rising enrollments ahead of us. We
must place a much stronger focus on creating stable, comprehensive drug prevention programs
with determined leadership.
We know a lot about what works when it comes to drug prevention, programs like Project Alert
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7
and Life Skills. We also know that these proven models are not being used as much as they
should Too often our schools - with the best of intentions -- are flying by the seat of their pants
when it comes to drug prevention. Using proven, tested, research-based drug prevention
programs must become a top priority.
I ask every school board, superintendent, principal and PTA to mount a vigorous review this year
of existing drug prevention programs to see if they can pass muster. General Barry McCaffrey is
the President's effective leader in the fight against drugs - he and I will work with you. For my
part, I promise the same vigorous review of our federal Safe and Drug Free Schools Program.
As always, we remain faithful to the core idea that our schools are where we teach our young
people basic American values. Our commitment to this core idea has taken many forms:
protecting the religious liberty of students by issuing historic guidelines, supporting strong
character education efforts, and placing a very strong emphasis on family involvement.
For too long, parents have been the missing link in our efforts to improve our schools. Experts
talk to experts, and conference after conference is held about new models of education reform. I
urge a different approach: Start with parents. The moral child and the achieving student are just
about always connected to an involved parent.
Parents who set high expectations, even a parent with a limited formal education, is a powerful
force for excellence. Ultimately, the character of American education is going to be defined by
the character and commitment of involved parents and other caring adults.
First Order of Business: Fix Failing Schools
My next point is that we cannot and must not tolerate failing schools. To meet the new
expectations of the American people, we must confront the all-too-common problem of schools
that are low-achieving and even dangerous. In America today, there are schools that should not
be called schools at all. These schools have done just about everything they could to kill the
sense of wonder in their students. And then we wonder why truancy increases and young people
drop out.
Our willingness to abide these schools goes to the heart of my concern about low expectations.
Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking that the children who are stuck in failing schools are
the problem. We accept the easy way out, the false assumption that they cannot learn because
they are the wrong color, from the wrong side of the tracks, or because they speak the wrong
language.
Yet, we all know from first-hand experience that there are good public schools, good parochial
schools and private schools in every inner city in this country that are islands of excellence. Dick
Elmore, a Harvard researcher in the field of education, has often made this point to me -- in every
city that he has visited, he has found three of the best schools in the country and three schools
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8
that are just about the sorriest.
I think Dick has it about right and that is what troubles me. We need to stop making excuses and
get on with the business of fixing our schools. If a school is bad and can't be changed,
reconstitute it or close it down. If a principal is slow to get the message, find strength in a new
leader. If teachers are burned out, counsel them to improve and then, if necessary, offer them a
fair process to leave the profession. If laws needs to be changed, get on with it.
This is not an impossible task. The efforts of Rick Mills and Rudy Crew in New York, Paul
Vallas in Chicago, Gerry House in Memphis, Bill Rojas in San Francisco are all examples of
putting aside the "business as usual" attitude.
Now, fundamental change is hard. Some of you may read the cartoon Dilbert - Dilbert is sort of
a befuddled technocrat of the 1990's. My wife Tunky and I were visiting the ZOO one day when
we saw a teenager with a Dilbert T-shirt that read:
"Change is good - you go first."
Well, those of us who believe in excellence for all children need to take the risk of going first.
When people tell me that public schools can't excel, I tell them that they haven't worked hard
enough to get the job done.
I also tell them not to be fooled by those who want to use public tax dollars for vouchers to help
a few students get out of a troubled school. If a boat is sinking because of a hole, you fix the
hole right away. You don't let it keep sinking and then throw out a lifeline so that a few can
survive.
The strength of our diverse democracy is the direct result of our belief in a quality public
education for all. This is why I will not yield to those who want to abandon public schools. We
need to build up public education, not tear it down.
Do we need many more models of how we can fix troubled schools? Yes, of course we do and
fortunately, help is readily available. Dedicated educators like James Comer, Henry Levin,
E.D.Hirsch, Deborah Maier, Ted Sizer, Marc Tucker and Gene Bottoms are doing the hard work
of creating new models of excellence. The models are each unique in their own way. But they all
have one common denominator they all set high standards.
The New American Schools Development Corporation is another powerful example of how
change can take place. It has developed seven different, well-conceived models of how to fix a
failing school. Local parents and school leaders choose the right model that fits their community.
That's public school choice at its best. A community may want to choose its own approach to
fixing a failing school - or choose any of these models of excellence - or start a charter school.
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9
But make the effort, that is the point. Superintendent Ben Canada here in Atlanta
is making that effort right now. He is reconstituting low-achieving schools and starting them on
the road to excellence -- the A.T. Walden Middle School is one of
them.
And here I want to stress an important factor. There is federal funding available through our
Title I program, Goals 2000, and our new Charter School program that can be used to fix a
failing school or launch a new one. There are over 100 schools now working with Robert Slavin
and the New American Schools Development Corporation that are using federal funds to achieve
excellence. I urge school officials to follow the example of these schools. Don't use the lack of
funding as an excuse to allow failure to continue.
Connecting to the Information Age
The next issue on my action agenda deals with a very important subject: technology in education.
We simply can't leave any child behind in this Information Age. This spring the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) is scheduled to pass the E-rate or education rate. Final
approval by the FCC will cut access charges to the Internet in half for the vast majority of our
schools. Use of the Internet for our poorest schools will be almost free. This is a very big
decision for American education, and it needs to happen.
The Internet is the blackboard of the future and our young people get into it. Today, 65 percent of
our schools are linked to the Internet, but only 14 percent of our classrooms are connected. This
is why the E-rate is so important, and why it has the strong support of the President, Vice-
President Gore and educators all across this country.
This proposal should not be held up by any unnecessary delays. Let's not put our children's
future on hold. I urge the FCC, state regulators and telecommunications leaders to step up for our
children and make the E-rate a reality this year.
A Teaching Force for the 21st Century
Now, I want to talk to you about teaching. I urge sustained attention to the task of preparing
America's future teachers. Improving American education happens classroom by classroom.
There is no other way to get it done. And as a nation, we have a great task in front of us. In the
next 10 years, we need to recruit two million teachers to replace a generation of teachers who are
about to retire, and to keep up with rising enrollments.
But we are not as prepared as we should be for this enormous undertaking and there are several
reasons why. We do not, for example, do a very good job of recruiting people to this demanding
profession, and we have really failed to do justice to the task of recruiting talented minority
candidates and males.
Another reason: our colleges of education and departments of education are too often treated like-
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10
forgotten stepchildren in our system of higher education. And when eager new teachers enter
the classroom for the first time, we give them little, if any, help. As a result of this longstanding
"sink or swim" approach, we are losing 30 percent of our new teachers in the first three years. In
addition, 25 percent of our nation's current teachers are now teaching out of their field.
These are astonishing figures that will only grow as schools rely on hard-working substitute
teachers to stem the tide of crowded classrooms. We will never have "A" students if we can only
give ourselves a "C" as a nation when it comes to preparing tomorrow's teachers. We cannot
lower our standards - as we have in the past -- to meet the growing demand for new teachers.
Now is the time to get it right -- to step back and rethink how we recruit, prepare, and support
America's teachers. This is why the recent report of the National Commission on Teaching and
America's Future chaired by Governor Jim Hunt is
a valuable road map to changing the status quo.
New teachers - like new lawyers and new doctors -- should have to prove that they are qualified
to meet high standards before getting a license. This would mean that prospective teachers are
able to pass a rigorous, performance-based assessment of what they know and what they are able
to do. And, once a new teacher is in a classroom he or she should be linked to master teachers
during their first few years of teaching
Those who prepare America's teachers must rise to the demand for better teaching, and expect
to be held accountable for the success of their students in achieving certification. Stronger public
accountability will help, both in identifying where strengths and weaknesses lie and where
special attention needs to be focused.
I encourage college and university leaders to strengthen links between your schools of liberal arts
and schools of education. See this as an important part of your mission. Greater attention needs
to be paid to the content of what future teachers need to know in their subject area. Rigorous
pre-med and pre-engineering science courses are the accepted norm. The same cannot be said for
the courses being taken by students who look forward to careers in teaching.
Teaching is a demanding profession, and it will be even more demanding in the future. That is
why the President and I strongly support the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
and its goal of certifying over 100,000 master teachers in the next decade. 1 challenge every
school in the nation to have at least one board-certified teacher on your faculty.
We can't adopt a hit-or-miss approach to improving teacher quality. We have to keep at it year
in and year out. This is why I will issue a biennial report on teacher quality beginning next year.
Just as we expect a great deal from our students, we have an obligation to expect a great deal of
ourselves in supporting America's teachers. David Haselkom -- the head of Recruiting New
Teachers, Inc. -- may have said it best: "Teaching is the profession that makes all other
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11
professions possible." As secretary of education, I want to say thank you to America's teachers
who are dedicating their lives to America's children day after day. It's very hard work and I.
thank you for your effort.
A New Partnership Between Public Schools and Higher Education
This leads me to my next proposal. For too long public education in America and higher
education have gone their separate ways, each dedicated to its own vision of excellence and
learning. This 19th-century model is outdated.
We need a new model appropriate for the 21st century, an ongoing dialogue at every level of
education to raise expectations and achieve high standards.
Many young people, for example, are defining their expectations about whether to go to college
as early as eighth grade. How do we capture the attention of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old and
get them on the path that prepares them for college-level work? Surely this is a shared interest.
And, we must spread the word that there are many ways to achieve excellence: Advanced
Placement, School-to-Work, International Baccalaureate, and Tech-Prep. Our colleges and
universities should not always be in the remedial education business.
This is why I will hold a national forum this spring, bringing together the nation's best teachers,
public education leaders, and members of the higher education community. This forum will
explore how we can recruit the next generation of teachers, and do a better job of preparing
teachers for the challenges of the classroom.
Making Expectations a Reality: Financing a College Education
Where do I think that all of this focus on standards and new expectations will lead our nation? It
will lead more of our young people to aspire to learn more, and to carry their education further.
That means access to college my final point - whether it is a community college, a state
college or a private institution of learning.
The President and I are deeply committed to ensuring access to higher education for every
student who works hard to make the grade. This commitment has taken many forms: the creation
of streamlined direct lending program the biggest increase in Pell Grants since its inception as
well as grants for more students - and a growing work study program with a new emphasis on
community service.
This commitment is also why the President is following Georgia's lead in proposing his own
Hope Scholarship program. Georgia's Hope Scholarship pays tuition and fees for qualified
Georgia high school graduate who attend a college or university in the state. This is a big idea.
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'97 12:45PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
12
of the freshman class at the University of Georgia attend OR a.Hepts
live in Atlanta, Houston or Seattle - should/fave
middle-income students of all ages can receive
of college. That amount covers tuition at
way to making the first two years of college
Universal - another big idea.
have the option to deduct up to $10,000. off of
their lifetime.
said the President's plan is not needed. I disagree. When it comes to
income families are in practical terms, barely
an option.
Leime suggest why: For families with incomes of $22,000 to $67,000, the percentage of
earn a bachelor's degree by age 24 has held steady at around 20 percent since
7,000, the percentage of students who earn a bestector
S
period - from less than 50 to about 80 percent.
America's working and middle class has been shut eat. We
Sundamentally
change the expectations of
considered college a possibility.
middle income - deserve the opportunity to go to
this Information Age only if more Americants
history for an instructive lesson. For most of the Industrial Age, we used the code to
plantand
equipment. For the Information Age, we should
people to invest in themselves by getting
Condetuction, and the penalty- free IRA withdrawals
and plan-represent smart tax policies for the
Nation on the Move
began by asking you to recognize the new possibilities, the new excitient
American people. The American people are tumedrives
And we have a President in the White House
MAR.03 '97 12:46PM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
13
Clinton - who cares deeply about education. If ever there was a time to come together for the
good of our children it is now.
America is on the move, and every school, college and university can be a
bastion of hope, creativity and learning. For education is much more than getting
a degree or learning a new skill. There is joy to learning, and the freedom of the intellect that
brings with it new discovery and new thinking.
Thomas Jefferson, America's first great educator, told us many years ago; "If a nation expects to
be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Good citizenship, then, has it roots in education. And as my late father often told me -- there is
no greater honor in America than that of being called a "good citizen."
We are, my friends, at the door to a new time. And, in this new era, we will not build with bricks
and mortar. We will build with minds -- with the power of knowledge -- and with the talent of
every well educated American who is eager to participate in our free enterprise system and
strengthen our democracy.
The year is 1997 -- the issue is education -- the question is: will we meet the challenge? I believe
we can. This is what is at stake for our children. That is
what is at stake for America.
Thank you.
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Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. schedule
Trip Book: the Trip of the Presidet to Lansing, Michigan (17 pages)
03/06/97
P6/b(6), b(7)(E)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Terry Edmonds
OA/Box Number: 10987
FOLDER TITLE:
Michigan [1]
2006-0462-F
ry670
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RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
3/5/97 4:30pm
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
ADDRESS TO THE MICHIGAN STATE
LEGISLATURE
STATE CAPITOL
LANSING, MICHIGAN
MARCH 6, 1997
Acknowledgements: Speaker Curtis Hertel,
Governor Engler, Secretary Riley, Governor Blanchard,
Rep. John Dingell, Rep. Debbie Stabenow, Rep. Sander
Levin, Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, Rep. John Conyers,
Rep. Bart Stupak, Rep. Dave Camp, Rep. Peter
Hoekstra, Rep. James Barcia [BARSHA], State Board of
Education President Kathleen Straus; state-wide elected
officials. And thank you Reverend Wendell Anthony
for your invocation.
I am especially honored to become only the second
sitting President ever to have addressed this legislature.
Ninety years ago, Teddy Roosevelt, on his way to give a
speech at what was then Michigan Agricultural College,
now Michigan State, stopped here to address a joint
session of the Michigan legislature at this same rostrum.
You have since renovated this building to restore the
charm and artistry that was in place when Roosevelt
visited. In 1907, America was at the dawn of the
Industrial Era.
1
This building had only been wired for electricity two
years before. And President Roosevelt went from here to
the college campus in a brand new automobile, built by a
Lansing company that was then just 10 years old. This
year, Oldsmobile celebrates its centennial.
This too is a rare moment in American history. Peace
and prosperity abound. We have just completed four
years where we produced more new jobs than in any other
presidential term in our history. And we are looking
toward a world that is full of exciting new opportunities --
a true Age of Possibility.
2
Only a few times before -- after World War II and at
the start of this century when we were entering the
Industrial Era as a powerful and wealthy country at peace
-- have we experienced anything like this. We have an
incredible responsibility -- in America and in Michigan.
Thanks to the hard work of all of you here and across the
state, your unemployment rate has literally turned around
-- from 7.4 percent in 1993 to 4.7 percent today. You
have added more than 380,000 new jobs. Your welfare
rolls have dropped 30 percent. And student achievement
has risen as more schools are meeting the high standards
you have set. Things are good and getting better.
3
But this is a time for us to build a new century. We
cannot afford to squander it, in complacency and division.
That is why I am pleased that a Republican Governor and
a bipartisan state legislature have invited me here today.
For we will meet our new challenges only if we reach
across party lines -- acting together, Democrats and
Republicans, people from every point on the political
spectrum, coming together as One America.
The message I bring today is the same one I carried to
the Maryland legislature last month -- the same one I will
carry to other state legislatures, communities, and forums
in the months to come.
4
I am asking for a new kind of partnership -- with the
people in this chamber, and people all across America.
The era of big government is over. But the era of big
national challenges is not. And while national leadership
can point the way, the real responsibility is one we all
share.
Today, I want to talk about what we must do in two
critical areas where the responsibility rests at least as
much with you as with the national government: giving
our children the best education and raising standards so
our children master the basics, and breaking the cycle of
dependency by finishing the job of welfare reform, and
moving millions to work.
5
Taken together, these issues are at the core of what
we must do to prepare America for the new Century. We
must help all Americans have the tools to make the most
of their own lives in this knowledge economy -- and have
the opportunity to do so.
As I said one month ago in my State-of-the-Union
Address, we must never forget that one of the greatest
sources of our strength throughout the Cold War was a
bipartisan foreign policy. Because our future was at
stake, politics stopped at the water's edge. Now we need
a non-partisan commitment to education -- because
education is the critical national security issue for our
future, and politics must stop at the schoolhouse door.
6
What we must do is to prepare our children and all
our people to know what they must know to navigate the
world ahead. Between 1992 and 2000, 89% of the new
jobs created in this economy will require post-high school
levels of literacy and math skills. But only half the
people entering the work force are prepared for those
high-paying jobs. Our schools are still turning out
millions of young people who simply are not equipped for
the new world of work.
That is why our number-one priority must be to make
our public education the best in the world.
7
Our goals must be: every 8-year-old can read; every
12-year-old can log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old
can go to college; and every adult can keep learning for a
lifetime.
In my State of the Union address, I laid out a
ten-point plan, a Call to Action for American Education
[hold up booklet], that describes the steps we must take --
and the State of Michigan is already doing many of the
right things.
8
Many of those points relate to what we must do for
our people before they start school, and how we help them
in college and beyond. We must begin with the youngest
children, by expanding early childhood learning. We
must open the doors of college wider than ever, making
the 13th and 14th years of college as universal as high
school is today. In my balanced budget plan, I have
proposed education tax cuts to help more families afford
the fine colleges such as those here in Michigan. We
must give our workers the ability to learn and to earn for a
lifetime through my G.I. Bill for Workers -- transforming
the tangle of federal training programs into a simple skill
grant that goes directly into workers' hands.
9
But today, I want to spend special time talking with
you about what we must do to prepare our students in our
schools for the 21st Century.
We must rebuild our nation's crumbling schools; we
cannot raise our children up in schools that are literally
falling down.
We must harness the forces of technology,
connecting every classroom in America to the Internet by
the Year 2000. [Thank freshman U.S. Rep. Debbie
Stabenow, who has helped lead efforts]
10
And our schools must teach discipline and character
-- and serve as safe havens for our children. So I have
proposed funding 1,000 new community schools
programs across this country to help keep our school
doors open after school, on the weekends and in the
summer.
We must recognize that the best schools are only as
good as the teachers in their classrooms. For years,
educators have worked to establish nationally accepted
credentials for excellence in teaching -- through the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards,
headquartered in Detroit.
11
Michigan has the third highest number of board
certified master teachers in the country. My new budget
will enable 100,000 teachers across America to seek
certification as master teachers.
We need a strong system of public education that
gives parents and communities more freedom and
flexibility in education. We should work together to give
parents more choices of what public schools their children
attend, and help teachers, parents, museums, and others
create new public charter schools. I have proposed
doubling the size of our public charter school program to
$100 million.
12
We can help charter schools set an example for
expanding accountability in public education by holding
them to the same state and national standards we expect of
all our schools, making sure they are open to children
from all backgrounds, supporting those that work, and
shutting down those that are not up to standard.
All of this is important. But the most basic thing we
can do -- the most important thing we must do -- is to
make sure that all our children master the basics that will
be the foundation of success in the 21st Century.
13
When 40% of our fourth graders do not read as well
as they should -- when students in Germany or Singapore
learn 15 to 20 math subjects in depth each year, while our
students often race through 30 to 35 without really
learning them at all -- we are not doing what we should to
prepare our children for a knowledge economy.
Let's understand why these basics are so important.
The point is not merely to teach our children facts and
figures, but to teach them the ability to think and reason
and analyze -- to give them the tools and skills that will
serve them in jobs and careers we cannot even
contemplate today.
14
We are not doing right by any of our students when
we set low expectations. We must put an end to social
promotions, and make sure education means something.
We must have a high standard of excellence that all
states can agree upon. That is why, I have challenged our
country to meet national standards of excellence in the
basics --not federal government standards, but national
standards, representing what all our students must know
to succeed in the 21st Century. I am calling on every state
to test every 4th grader in reading and every 8th grader in
math by 1999, to make sure these basic standards are met.
15
We already have widely-accepted, rigorous national
standards in both reading and math -- and widely-used
tests based on those standards. Michigan and more than
40 other states have participated in a test called the
National Assessment of Educational Progress -- which
measures the state's overall performance against a high
national standard of excellence. Just last week, we
released the annual assessment of math performance, and
it shows that across the country our 4th, 8th, and 12th
graders are doing better. Michigan's score was among the
most improved in the nation.
16
Tens of thousands of students across the country
have also taken the Third International Math and Science
Study --a test that reflects the world-class standards our
children must meet for the new era. The headquarters for
that test is just down the road at Michigan State. I want to
thank Dr. William Schmidt at Michigan State for his
leadership of this important study, and I am pleased that
he is here with us today.
Unfortunately, the current tests don't provide scores
for individuals; they only measure how an entire area is
doing.
17
What we need are tests that will measure the
performance of each and every student, and each and
every school. That way, parents and teachers will know
how every child is doing compared to students in other
schools, other states, and other countries.
That is why I am presenting a plan to help states meet
and measure the highest standards. Over the next two
years, our Department of Education will support the
development of new tests for 4th grade reading and 8th
grade math to show how every student measures up to the
existing, widely-accepted standards.
18
The tests will be developed by independent test
experts in consultation with leading math and reading
teachers. The federal government will not require them,
but these tests will be available to every state that chooses
to administer them.
I am pleased that today Governor Engler has
endorsed our plan to test all 4th graders to make sure
they are meeting the challenge in reading and all 8th
graders to ensure they are measuring up in math. We
have plenty of standardized tests; now it is time to test
for standards.
19
Together, we are saying, this is not about
partisanship. There is no Democratic or Republican
way to teach. There is no Maryland or Michigan way
to learn. Reading is reading and math is math. If we
are serious about holding our children to the highest
standards, every state in America must put politics
aside, work in a bipartisan fashion, take up our
challenge, and test our children in the same rigorous
way.
Raising standards will not be easy. Some of our
children will not be able to meet them at first.
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But good tests will show us who needs help, what
changes in teaching we must make, and which schools
need to improve. We are not talking about winners and
losers; we are not talking about tearing anyone down, but
about lifting them up. But you cannot lift them up if you
don't know what the score is.
Our responsibility must be to do what we can so our
children can meet these standards.
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When it comes to reading, I want to remind everyone
that this past August, during my train trip in Wyandotte,
with the help of two elementary school students, Justin
Whitney and Elizabeth Schweyn [SCHWINN], I
announced our America Reads Challenge. We set a goal
of mobilizing a million volunteer tutors to help every 8
year old read independently. We will use 11,000 of our
AmeriCorps members to mobilize this army -- and we
should enlist at least 100,000 college work study students
to join in this effort. I am pleased that 16 Michigan
college presidents have pledged to provide some of those
students. You here have already launched a similar
statewide tutoring effort.
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Let's make sure that every child can say what Justin
and Elizabeth said after they read The Little Engine that
Could: "I read it myself." They showed us that when our
students are held to high standards they can excel. I am
pleased that Justin and Elizabeth are able to join us here
today.
And I want to do more to help our young people
be ready to be tested in math. Today I am directing
the Department of Education and the National Science
Foundation to identify and coordinate resources
throughout the Federal government and through the
non-profit and private sectors that can be used to help
students meet the math standards.
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I am also directing them to find ways to help our
young people do better and learn more science. The
entire national government can be a vital resource as
educators in every community work to teach young
people these skills. Let me give you one example.
Today, the federal government has some of the
world's most esteemed laboratories and research
institutions -- we should make sure that every high
school math and science teacher has easy access to this
world of learning through the Internet. As our entire
nation works to lift students and raise standards,
everyone has a responsibility -- and we will do our
part.
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Throughout my career in public life --as a Governor,
and as President --I have worked harder on education than
on any other issue. That is because renewing education,
raising our standards, and lifting up our schools is the
embodiment of everything we must do to prepare for the
21st Century --to promote opportunity, demand
responsibility, and build community.
When it comes to providing the tools to succeed, our
other great challenge is helping to move the permanent
underclass into our growing middle class.
25
And here, too, the only way to do it is by reaching
across party lines and working together, Democrats and
Republicans, national government and state government,
business and labor and religious institutions.
Working together, we ended the old welfare system.
Over the past four years, we worked with 43 states to
launch welfare reform experiments, which helped move a
record 2.5 million people off our nation's welfare rolls.
Here in Michigan, a strong economy and your efforts have
helped move more than 208,000 people off the welfare
rolls, a 30 percent drop. This is an accomplishment you
can be proud of.
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But this is not the end of welfare reform, it is a new
beginning. Now that we have demanded that those on
welfare take responsibility, we must all take responsibility
to see that the jobs are there, so people on welfare can
become permanent members of the workforce. Our goal
must be to move people from welfare to work so that two
million more Americans are off the welfare rolls by the
year 2000.
I have challenged the nation's businesses to join in
this effort, and I have a offered a plan to help them: Tax
credits and other incentives for businesses to hire people
off welfare;
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incentives for job placement firms and states to
create more jobs for welfare recipients; training,
transportation, and child care to help people go to work. I
urge Michigan's businesses, non-profits, and religious
organizations -- large and small -- to heed this important
call. Each and every one of us must fulfill our
responsibility -- indeed, our moral obligation --to make
sure that those who now must work, can work.
The most direct and effective steps must be taken by
the states. The legislation we passed gives states the
authority, for the very first time, to take the money that
had been used on welfare checks, and subsidize private
sector paychecks.
28
Missouri began doing this under one of our waivers
--and it is working. Now I challenge every state to follow
their example. Use the new flexibility you have been
given. Turn those welfare checks into paychecks. That is
what we need to do to help welfare recipients find jobs
and keep them.
Second, I urge you to use the money saved from
moving people from welfare to work to make sure that
even more people can make that transition. Your model
program, Project Zero, is a good example -- investing in
child care and transportation with the goal of getting
everyone on welfare to earn a paycheck.
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Finally, I urge every state and every Governor,
Republican or Democrat, to join with me to get Congress
to restore basic health and disability benefits when
misfortune strikes immigrants who came to this country
legally, who work hard, pay taxes and obey the law. To
do otherwise is simply unworthy of a great nation of
immigrants.
We passed historic welfare reform -- giving states the
authority and flexibility they had sought for years. We
were right to do it. Now states must live up to their
responsibility, and help us finish the job.
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On education reform, on welfare reform, on all our
major challenges --let us build new partnerships across
old lines of responsibility. Preparing for the 21st Century
is not a job for any one level of government alone. Many
of our greatest challenges do not fall under the authority
of Washington, nor should they. They do not fall under
the authority of state capitals like Lansing, nor should
they. The power to solve our problems rests with all
levels of government, and all sectors of society -- and that
is where we must forge our solutions as well.
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Together, we must seize this moment of opportunity,
and prepare our people for the changes and challenges of
a new century. Together, we must renew our basic
bargain of opportunity, responsibility, and community,
and give everyone the tools to make the most of their own
lives. If we rise to that challenge, we will enter the 21st
Century full of new promise and possibility, for all who
share a stake in the American dream.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
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