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Box 1 of 12
Office of the First Lady
Domestic Policy Council
The Files of Jennifer Klein
File Inventory
File Type:
Loose Files
File Size:
Letter
File Contents:
HRC Events
Children's Conferences
Official Events During 1996 Chicago Convention
Hospital Visits
Education
ATTACHMENTS 13523
ENCLOSURES FILED OVERSIZE
NARA 10923
12 boxesfed 3/19/99 V6
OCT 14 '94 11:55AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THE SECRETARY
INTED STATES UNITED STATES of AMERICA
Remarks of
Richard W. Riley1
U.S. Secretary of Education
Education Issues Before The American Public 1994
George Washington University, Washington, DC
Thursday, October 13, 1994
Good afternoon and thank you, President Trachtenberg. I have come here today to speak to you about the
choices that the American people must make in the upcoming election regarding the improvement of American
education.
The election cycle is now upon us and voters who are looking for answers are beginning the arduous task of
sifting through the many campaign ads to find common sense and good solutions.
This isn't very easy. So many of the ads seem to be drumming on the negative. It's a sorry way to look at the
world and then we wonder why the American people get to feeling low, like they just ought to go out and kick the
dog for no good reason at all.
You look at the political ads and all you see are attack ads, cell doors slamming and sirens wailing. You listen to
the radio talk shows and America a nation with real problems but so much goodness to it -- is just about always
written off as a nation near a sudden state of collapse.
Now, our country has its problems and I won't make light of them. But if the only way to get a rise out of the
American people is to get caught up in this cynical, negative, political dog-eat-dog attitude -- well, in my opinion,
we aren't going to get where we need to go as a country. There isn't going to be much left to our ideals.
I believe that we need to challenge the American people instead of beating them down. Let's quit drumming the
negative. We Americans can lose our focus and get hoodwinked by the slick commercial, but by and large we are
a thinking people with a good nose for what is important and what is not.
So I want to urge all the candidates to be a little more high minded -- to stop packaging people's fears and
frustrations into 30-second sound bites. And I urge all of us who are in the business of education, public service,
and politics to go out and challenge the American people with practical, positive solutions.
Let's also remember that our children and young people are not learning as Democrats or Republicans. They are
learning as the Americans who are the future of the Country. Parents are desperately worried about their
¹The Secretary may depart from prepared remarks.
400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202
OCT 14 '94 11:55AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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2
children's safety, about academic standards, and about how to pay for their children's college education.
So the vital issues that concern you, your parents and the faculty of this university are very close to home -- even
if they seem far, far away from the campaign agenda of campaign consultants.
Now, education is not a hot issue when it comes to 30-second attack commercials. And that may be a blessing.
Education is complicated, progress takes time, and there are no simple solutions.
If a candidate, Democrat or Republican, tells you that the solution to our education problems is simply more money
for teachers or that the only way to get anything done is to support private school vouchers using taxpayer
dollars -- I will be the first to tell you that they are both wrong.
There is no panacea when it comes to improving American education. Improving American education is hard,
steady work, something that is done day by day, student by student, teacher by teacher, family by family,
community by community.
There is no one silver bullet solution -- be it throwing more money at the problem or chipping away at our unique
heritage of free public education a heritage that has done so much good for generation after generation in this
Country.
Public education has always been, and remains to this day, the open door to American success and good
citizenship .. the American way to achievement and freedom for all people and I mean all the people.
Many of you here are graduates of public schools, and while there may have been days when you thought you
would never survive the experience, you all seem to be turning out all right to me. As I have said many times
before .. some of our public schools are excellent, some need to get better, and some schools should not be
schools at all. Private and parochial schools are also a very important part of our American fabric of education.
But public education is always on the front line. Public schools all over America are dealing with violence and drug
use, family breakup, racial tension, the continuing need for AIDS awareness, and the influx of new immigrants.
They are also producing hundreds of thousands of graduates who are making the grade at some of the finest
colleges and universities in America, including this one.
So perhaps the first and most fundamental question that the American public should be asking this fall is whether
or not each and every candidate for public office -- Republican, Democrat or Independent " will reaffirm his or her
commitment to the basic American tradition of free quality public education.
Will they roll up their sleeves and work with us to make public education better across the board? Our critics say
public education is hopelessly broken. They are wrong. I believe that they have simply been swept away by the
latest magic bullet of the moment.
Now, I believe American education cannot stand still. Our schools need to teach the skills for the 21st century
using the best technology. They need to show flexibility and be open to good ideas like public school choice, and
OCT 14 '94 11:55AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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3
support parents who believe that character education is important to their children's future.
They may also test new concepts such as charter schools and privatization of some services so long as they are
focused on high standards and public accountability, and don't keep out students who may need the most help of
all.
Above all, our schools need to recognize that there is a longing for the restoration of standards, a return to
excellence at every level of American education. I am, for example, one of the strongest proponents of more time
in the school day for the basic core academic curriculum. The national average is now just over 40 percent of the
day, and that just isn't good enough. And then we wonder why sales clerks can't make change and why colleges
spend millions of dollars every year teaching remedial classes.
So we need to be a lot more tough-minded about how the school day is used we need to think creatively about
using new technology - and we need to end the practice once and for all of permitting young people to just
drift through school just to move them through the system.
At the same time, every child and young person in this country is going to have to learn skills that we didn't even
anticipate 10 or 15 years ago. They must be computer-literate, understand how to use the Internet, and .. with
skill and confidence .. be able to get on line to the Information Highway.
When I was appointed Secretary of Education by President Clinton, I told people that we needed to stop studying
every problem to death and move from being "A Nation at Risk" to "A Nation on the Move."
I said then that we needed to get beyond the status quo of accepting mediocrity for some students " be they
gifted and talented or behind in reading " and, at the same time, we needed to avoid getting caught up with every
new fad of the moment " like new math in the 1960's and 1970's. For too many years, education has been
driven by the latest quick fix and it has never done us any good. We need to recognize that making our schools
better has to be done in a meaningful and consistent way. Kids needs to learn how to read and write well to
reach the high standards, and they need to be safe. First things first.
So I believe it is so important to lay out for the American people a clear summation of what has been achieved to
date and to define what I think are the essential questions that we need to ask ourselves as we approach Election
Day.
So what has been accomplished?
I can tell you that in the past 20 months, nine education-related bills were sent to the Congress by President
Clinton and eight have been signed into law. And next week, President Clinton will sign number nine - the $12.7-
billion Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- making it nine for nine.
The list is impressive, but it is much more than just a list. It is a coherent package that fits all the pieces
together -- that tells the parents of a four-year-old just starting school or the non-traditional student going back to
school at 38 that we have an educational system that can help people learn what they need to learn at each stage
OCT 14 '94 11:56AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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4
of their life. This is what we mean when we talk about creating a way for Americans to be lifelong learners.
Let me describe very quickly these nine initiatives:
(1)
New funding for and the strengthening of Head Start.
(2)
The first real funding for taking technology into schools and reshaping the classroom of the future.
(3)
A national service program for 20,000 young Americans that can help you pay for college, which is
already larger than a Peace Corps at its peak.
(4)
A redirection of our research arm based on a National Academy of Sciences Report.
(5)
A new commitment to high standards and excellence with passage of the GOALS 2000 Act. This
extraordinary act is centered on state academic standards of excellence, which gives all communities the
support to help them reach their standards.
(6)
The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act, and new money in the crime bill to support safe after-school
programs. We want the guns out of our schools. We simply aren't going to tolerate a 14-year-old out to
prove his manhood by putting other students in harm's way.
(7)
The seventh bill is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which I already
mentioned -- an act that places a great deal of new emphasis on giving teachers better training -- and
opportunities for real professional development.
(8)
One of the most exciting things we have done is to pass a School-to-Work initiative that connects what
young people are learning to the world of work. We want to jump start young people into thinking about
their careers, into entering very demanding apprenticeships, into getting a focus on real life.
(9)
Finally, we recognize that the burden of paying for a good college education can be overwhelming.
College tuition has been on the rise and, at the same time, people need to get their education. But how
do we pay for it? We have created a new direct-lending program that will give many more of you the
opportunity to pay back what you can afford when you first get out of college.
You won't get socked with a very large payment schedule the minute you take off your cap and gown.
Now, being responsible to yourselves and your grandchildren means you shouldn't take 30 years to pay it
off, either. But the direct-lending program is now operating in 100 colleges no and next year will be
operating in over 1,000. I will also tell you that we will continue to support raising the level of the Pell
Grant program, even as we remain tough on defaulters.
Our legislative success has been unusual. The President led this effort from the start. He is a President who
seems to have education in his blood. But what is unique is that in the midst of so much political gridlock, a
strong, bipartisan center for progress and improvement in education has emerged in the Congress. And it has held
firm.
OCT 14 '94 11:56AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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5
This Congress repeatedly dealt with some of the most important but contentious social issues -- sex education.
rights of privacy, student testing, and voluntary school prayer -- and in each and every case this "solid center" of
Republicans and Democrats kept its focus on the essentials -- teaching and learning.
All this is to the good. And I believe it is so important to consider what is at stake in passing this broad legislative
package and how it will sit with the American people. We hear a lot of talk, unfortunately negative, about the
political agenda of this country. So this is a good time to talk about education in the broader public context.
For I believe that passing all this good legislation won't amount to a hill of beans unless we get people thinking
differently about how we educate the young people of this Nation and how we share that responsibility. So, I
want to raise three essential points.
First, the issue of basic civility and setting an example. I believe there is an enormous desire on the part of the
American people to have new rules of public engagement when it comes to how we relate to each other. But we
seem, at the moment, to be increasingly stuck in the old politics of fear and narrowness.
What troubles me the most about the current sour mood of American politics is that in its essence -- this dog-eat-
dog attitude -- tells us that there are no rules of civic rightness -- no rules of civic discourse. The values that are
increasingly defining the "public estate" are just about the direct opposite of the values we want our children to
learn. We adults have lowered our own standards. Listen, in contrast, to these words from a pledge that young
people take every day at school in Independence, Missouri.
I heard this pledge recited for the first time last Friday at the White House Blue Ribbon School ceremony by Pat
Henley, the wonderful principal of Cler-mont Community School.
I am the one and only person who has the power to decide what I will be and do. I will accept the
consequences for my decisions. I am in charge of my learning and behavior. I will respect the rights of
others and will be a credit to myself, my family, my school, and my community.
I believe that the rising demand for character education in our schools .. a desire which crosses the entire political
spectrum -- reflects the American people's sure awareness that we need to reaffirm some basic American values
and create some new rules of public engagement. And I agree with them.
So what does this mean for those of us who are part of the public dialogue about the future of American
education? It seems to me essentially this: we really do need to get beyond the idea that everything in America is
the politics of special interests. We need to lower our voices and make sure our schools, as I have said before, do
not become an ideological or political battleground.
I know, for example, that there are many conservative-minded Americans who have legitimate questions about the
Goals 2000 Act. They are concerned that Goals 2000 will federalize American education.
I may strongly disagree with their belief, but 1 respect the sincerity of those who hold it. To date, 40 states and
territories have already submitted their applications to participate in the Goals 2000 Act. We are off to a strong
OCT 14 '94 11:57AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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6
start. Next year, Goals 2000 will commit 90 percent of all of its funding directly to the local level. We don't need
the federal government sending you a FedEx telling you how to manage your schools.
But I want these skeptical parents, these concerned Americans .. many of them religious-minded PO to know that I
will always extend myself to hear their point of view. As I travel around the country, I am meeting with parents,
religious leaders, educators, business leaders, and others trying to build bridges. I may not be able to persuade
them of the rightness of my side, but I will always go more than half way to meet them. They need to be at the
table.
I urge these skeptical parents, by the same token, to pull back from making public schools a polítical football and
give the process a fair chance. And I encourage them to actively participate in the school improvement process.
Only by participating in the process will they come to understand that high standards are designed to make sure
that parents, teachers, and principals stay in control of the process.
Second, violence. Our society is being crippled by violence. When people ask me why I am passionate about
education, I tell them that a vast majority of the people in America's prisons are high school dropouts .. minds and
lives that are wasted. I believe that education has been and remains the way out of this lifestyle.
I am particularly troubled by the idea that so many young boys in fourth and fifth grades are giving up on life. The
American historian, John Hope Franklin, has written extensively about this searing problem. It is "no small
wonder" he writes, "that the number of black males in penal institutions is greater then the number of black males
in higher education." What a sad and tragic statement. Dr. Franklin was speaking about the specific problem of
young African-American males, but this is not just their problem alone.
This is why the President did not give up on the crime bill which includes support for safe after-school programs,
and why this Administration is committed to high academic standards for all students. About the fastest way I
know to create an unthinking, angry 19-year-old dropout who is spiritually numb and heading down the road to
violence is to give that young person a watered-down curriculum from first grade on.
This is why we have just announced a major new initiative in conjunction with Howard University here in the
District and Johns Hopkins University to begin a five-year, $27.7-million effort to determine just how we can help
to put an end to the cycle of student failure among at-risk youth. So for me, improving education is not just an
exercise in how we raise test scores. The issue is how do we create, in our time, a positive moral climate that
ends the violence, which leads me to my third point.
Young people .. and not just at-risk young people .. are searching for authentic adult connections. Just recently, a
very thoughtful college president, Richard Hersh, wrote an article in the "My Turn" column of Newsweek.
He didn't mince words. He said that more and more young people -- his students and mostly middle-class students
-- are growing up without direction or any sense of personal sense of responsibility. Why? Because they have
"experienced few authentic connections with adults in their lifetime."
It is a rather stunning statement " "few authentic connections with adults in their lifetime." He went on to write
OCT 14 '94 11:57AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.13/14
that we have created a "culture of neglect" rather than a "culture of responsibility" for our young people and in
doing so we have absolved our young people of "any notion of obligation or responsibility." I suspect that there is
a great deal of truth to his assertion.
Too many adults are becoming disconnected from our children and we need to recognize that the responsibility of
parenthood is being taken too lightly by too many people, and young people are suffering.
To my mind, it is important to say up front that our schools can't fix what parents won't do. And, our schools
can't solve problems that a community ignores or allows to fester. Our schools can and often are at the center of
the solution, and I have seen many of them first hand, but they cannot be left alone to handle community crisis
after community crisis.
We have to stay connected to our children and give up the notion that the television is the good babysitter, Our
children shouldn't be growing up in a vacuum without values. This is why I am making such a strong effort to
reconnect families to the learning process and encouraging all of us to think through how we find new ways to
help parents and other adults to get back into the lives of their children.
For it is my very strong belief that the family is where expectations and attitudes about learning are formed,
nurtured and set. To create a "culture of responsibility," we have to start with the family, be it the traditional
family, the single parent, the caring grandparent or the stepparent who willingly steps in.
And, if we are going to give the coming generation the best education possible, we need to set our sights high.
We need to commit ourselves to high standards, make our schools havens of order and discipline, recognize that
teachers are at the heart of our effort to reach for excellence, reconnect the family to learning, and find new,
concrete ways to help all of you finance your college and other postsecondary education. That, in a nutshell, has
been and remains our education agenda.
As the election comes closer, I urge Americans not to get to caught up in the steady drumbeat of the negative.
Recognize that easy solutions are often false solutions and don't solve anything. So if we want to get beyond the
sound bites and the negatives we need to start asking political leaders the questions that are on the mind of the
American people.
They just aren't talking about the real issues in education. As a parent, grandparent, and U.S. Secretary of
Education, I have 10 critical questions that you should demand answers to. This is the essence of our
democracy and I urge you to take your citizenship seriously.
Many of you will be the teachers that will have the responsibility of teaching the coming generation of children.
I urge you to stay committed to your ideal of teaching. That's the type of service that is so necessary if we want
to have a real chance to educate America.
Thank you.
DEPARTMENT OF EDICATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES of AMERICA
THE SECRETARY
Remarks Prepared For¹
Richard W. Riley
U.S. Secretary of Education
National Press Club
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, September 7, 1994
Embargoed: 1:00 P.M.
STRONG FAMILIES, STRONG SCHOOLS
Today I am releasing a report which I have sent to the President entitled. "Strong
Families. Strong Schools." This document gives new recognition to the power. the
promise and the potential of the American family in our continuing efforts to improve
American education. This is a timely report that follows in the footsteps of another
recent report by Child Trends on the decline of parental involvement in schools as
young people enter their teens.
In the last eleven years. ever since the National Commission on Excellence in
Education released its report, "A Nation at Risk," an enormous amount of effort has
been made to instill a new spirit of excellence in American education. This effort has
taken many forms -- increasing graduation requirements, improving teacher
competency and salaries, and updating curricula.
This is all to the good. As a nation, we have taken a strong step forward in teaching
math and science. The number of young people taking the recommended core
academic curriculum is up 30 percent. And, we have a blueprint for excellence in
education in the Goals 2000 Act which was signed by the President last March. But it
is my very strong belief that more sustained attention needs to be paid to that most vital
of links -- the promise and potential of parents and other family members as the most
important teachers of their children.
The American family is the rock on which a solid education can and must be built. I
have seen examples all over this Nation where two-parent families, single parents. step-
parents. grandparents, aunts and uncles are providing strong family support for their
children to learn.
The Secretary may depart from his prepared remarks.
400 MARYLAND AVE.. S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202-0100
2
The research report I am releasing today tells us, in no uncertain terms. that the
essential building block for learning is how the American family uses its strength and
power to support and encourage young people to meet the high expectations now being
demanded of them in the classroom.
This report, then, is both a call to arms against ignorance and low expectations -- a
challenge to adult America to reconnect with our children's education -- and a
summary of concrete examples to inspire parents to be part of their children's
education in new and important ways.
This is why I am announcing the formation of a broad-based partnership led by the
National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) to encourage and
support American families as they seek to prepare their children for the Information
Age that is now upon us. This common effort -- with each partner contributing in its
own best way -- includes such organizations as the National PTA, the National Alliance
of Business, the U.S. Catholic Conference, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Over the last six months, I and/or members of my staff have met with 125 different
parent, religious, education, community-based and business groups on this important
issue. While each group has its own distinctive strength and purpose. we are all
committed to going in the same direction. There is a deep desire for partnership -- to
coalesce around this vital issue and support families.
America needs to put its house in order -- to lower the deficit -- to stop the violence
and despair of drugs -- to make sure our children go to school safely every day -- to
assure Americans who play by the rules that there are rules and moral standards that
we live by as a Nation.
To my mind, there is no more important place to begin putting our house in order than
by recognizing that our children's expectations about the future are rooted in the day-
to-day family activities that help children learn and develop good character. America
needs to give up its get-it-now, live-for-today mentality and start looking down the road
to make sure that we give all of our children the America they deserve.
Thirty years of research tells us that the starting point of American education is parent
expectations and parental involvement with their children's education. This consistent
finding applies to every family regardless of the parents' station in life. their income or
their educational background. As this report indicates, three factors over which parents
exercise authority -- daily attendance in school, reading material and literature in the
home, and the amount of television a young person watches -- are some of the strongest
indicators we have that home life makes a difference when it comes to learning.
Other important research needs to be highlighted. A child who grows up reading for
3
fun is a child who is on the road to success when it comes to learning. We know. for
example. that children's success in school can be linked to reading to children and
listening to them read.
Many years ago, the great American patriot Frederick Douglass was struck by the
powerful recognition that to "teach a slave to read" was the "pathway from slavery to
freedom." Listen to Douglass' powerful testimony: "I set out with high hope and
fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read."
My friends, we need that same type of zeal in the here and now to help families have
the same high hope and fixed purpose. All the data we have tells us that children can
learn to read to high standards if we work with families.
For America to read together, then something has to give. I, for one, want to suggest
that the teenager who is perpetually glued to the tube is well on the way to having a
very dull mind and a very dull -- and perhaps risky -- future. Television is part of our
culture and anyone who has children knows its power to mesmerize, captivate, excite
and yes, teach as well. But I am concerned when report after report tells us that
reading scores decline at all grade levels tested, when young people go into the "red
zone" of danger and watch more than six hours of television on a weekday.
I believe that many parents feel overwhelmed by the all of the outside influences
shaping the lives of their children. They feel that our popular culture, with its current
emphasis on making fame a virtue and often for the strangest of reasons, undermines
the values they want their children to have. They see so many of our young people
growing up wild -- without any abiding sense of citizenship or sense that they have a
stake in this country's future.
We need to get our priorities straight. Without a good education. a young person can
grow up to be a tragic and unhappy figure. Ten years from now, imagine the problems
and the inequity, indeed the crisis, as the six million additional children now flooding
into our education system find themselves without the skills and knowledge they need
to get ahead.
We've got to do better. As this report notes, there are several significant obstacles that
interfere with parents in their efforts to improve their children's learning: the pressure
of time, the unsettling disconnection between educators and families; the uncertainty
that family members feel about how they can contribute; the inflexibility of the work
schedule; the sheer drag of poverty; and language barriers. Let me speak directly to
several of these concerns.
First of all -- time. I am known for telling parents and educators that the most
important single change we need for American education is to find new ways to help
4
parents slow down their lives. Many parents and other family members are stretched
to the limit -- juggling jobs, putting food on the table. getting their children to safe
after-school programs -- doing all they can to keep body and soul together.
But I believe that we are missing something far deeper in all this rushing around. We
are letting our children grow up, at times, almost alone -- and disconnected. The
education of American children -- their moral development. their sense of citizenship.
and academic growth -- is done in fits and starts. This is not how families want to raise
their children.
The effort that so many parents make to guide their children's lives repeatedly comes
up against the rush of modern living. The mismatch in how major American
institutions -- from schools to businesses carve out time in the day-to-day life of the
American family is -- to my mind -- a serious impediment to how our young people are
growing up. We ask families to twist and turn -- to go through every possible
contortion to fit into the structure and time needs of schools or businesses or other
institutions -- instead of the other way around. It is my very strong belief that we
really must rethink what we are doing and how we use our time.
The best business leaders recognize that the early investment families make on behalf
of their children leads to the promise of a skilled and educated workforce in the future.
This is why the business leadership of America has been in the forefront of improving
education for many years now. Some of these businesses are already developing new
ways that America's "time" can be used to help families and the learning process.
We must see the value in job-sharing, flextime, and release time for families -- to give
attention to the children. Schools at the plant site, day care in the office. parents
working at home without stigma or financial loss -- whatever it takes -- we need to use
all of our ingenuity to find new ways to connect families to their children in these
hectic times.
I also urge educators to give special attention to the recent report of the National
Commission on Time and Learning called "Prisoners of Time," which speaks directly
to how "time" is being taken away from academics during the American school day. I
will be the first to tell you that we will not be able to be first in anything -- math or
science or any other subject for that matter -- if only 41 percent of the school day is
given over to the core academic subjects.
Finally. I want to encourage every American family to stop and take stock. to take a
"time inventory" of how the family is using its time --if they haven't already done so --
as we begin the new school year. This may be one way every family can find that
extra time for learning. I want to suggest seven good practices that may be helpful to
parents and family members.
5
First. take a time inventory. as I said, to find the extra time you need so the family can
learn together. Commit yourself to learning something with your children. I think you
will be rewarded and find happiness and joy in the shared effort.
Second, commit yourself to high standards and set high expectations for your children -
- challenge them in every possible way to reach for their full potential.
Third. limit television viewing on a school night to a maximum of two hours even if
that means that the remote control may have to disappear on occasion.
Fourth, read together. It is the starting point of all learning.
Fifth. make sure your children take the tough courses at school and schedule daily time
to check homework.
Sixth, make sure your child goes to school every day and support community efforts to
keep children safe and off the street late at night.
And seventh, set a good example and talk directly to your children, especially your
teenagers, about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the values you want your
children to have. Such personal talks, however uncomfortable they make you feel,
may save their lives.
This is homework in the true sense of the word. It is also preparation for life.
I want families all across America to know that we are all with you in this effort. The
whole country is on your side. The President, Vice President and I will do all we can
to promote these seven basic steps. You are not alone in your efforts to raise your
children to follow the Golden Rule, to be good citizens and to learn the importance of
what it means to be a proud American.
Now, I want to turn my attention to the unsettling reality that there is a disconnection
between educators and parents that needs our attention. As I said in my "State of
American Education" speech last February, too often parents and educators talk past
one another. Many parents feel that their right to be involved in school policy -- to be
full participants in the learning process -- is ignored, frustrated and sometimes even
denied. They do not feel valued, and too often they find education jargon to be a
putdown.
Kathryn Whitfill, the President of the National PTA, told a group of educators who
were meeting at my office several weeks ago about how put off she felt walking into a
school recently to be greeted by a sign that read. "Notice: Visitors Report to the Front
Office." It was, to her mind, a cold, sterile greeting to any parent visiting the school.
6
with all the warmth of an unexpected legal notice.
This sign, as she related to a room full of nodding heads, was one small but vivid
symbol that parents were less than welcome. There was nothing inviting nothing
that suggested that parents were, in fact, the true owners of the school.
But I also know that there are countless schools and educators who have reached out to
families and have been rewarded with higher test scores, active PTA's. volunteers.
tutors, mentors, strong parent/community/school partnerships and "Security Dads"
walking the halls.
James Comer, who has done so much to set the agenda for good parental involvement -
- Dorothy Rich of Megaskills -- Ernie Cortez, a MacArthur Fellow, who is making
parent power work in Texas -- and Henry Levin, the leader of the Accelerated Schools
initiative -- are just a few of the many educators who have seen the potential and
promise of family involvement in education. All across this country, teachers are
hungry for parents to connect up with them when it comes to educating their children.
This is why I urge educators everywhere to change those signs on the school door that
give parents the cold shoulder. Listen with an open ear. Reach out to parents as
partners. Be creative in using the new technology -- from voice mail, to homework
hotlines, to CD-ROM programs that are educational and now on the market -- and even
the old telephone -- to get parents more involved in the learning process.
Parents -- including those who have strong religious values -- must be at the table when
it comes to public education. But they must also be willing to build bridges and not see
public education as the enemy. I assure you that nothing will be gained by tearing
down public education and making the public school classroom the Bosnia of
America's competing factions. When a community is divided, the children always
suffer. Good common sense should tell us that now is the time for quiet voices to be
heard in the search for common ground.
It is my hope that families, religious and civic groups and schools can come together to
create a moral climate that sustains a culture of learning. A culture of learning rooted
in the great common tradition of basic American values of democracy, honesty. self-
reliance. hard work, and respect for the civic responsibilities of all Americans to
participate in our democracy.
We must save this generation of children -- we must not lose them. So I shall spend
much of my efforts in the coming year working with everyone to promote this family
involvement partnership for learning. I ask all Americans to please tune in -- to
recognize that anything we do to connect with our children -- to give them a sense that
their lives and their learning matter to us -- is good for our children and good for our
7
country.
Together, we can start a fire of changing attitudes -- from "getting by" to "getting on
with it" -- to once again giving first attention to the future of our children. It is our
duty as parents, relatives. guardians and caring adults to get involved in our children's
education. It is our patriotic duty as Americans who believe in this nation's future to
make sure our children are shown a preference in our decisions.
This is the right way to go for America.
Thank you.
OCT 14 '94 11:53AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.2/14
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NEWS
V
STATES
STATE
OF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathryn Kahler
October 13, 1994
(202) 401-3026
THE CLINTON EDUCATION AGENDA
With little fanfare, President Clinton over the past twenty-one months has signed into
law six groundbreaking education initiatives -- a cohesive set of programs that span from
kindergarten through college -- all of which passed the Congress with bipartisan support.
Not since the 1960s has so much significant education legislation been enacted.
The Clinton education package promotes safer schools, better discipline, higher
academic standards, improved teaching, greater family involvement, improved access to
college, and community-based solutions to educational improvement.
The Washington Post recently described the "Clinton-backed education initiatives
passed by Congress over the last two years" as "a major area of accomplishment that has
often been ignored. [Helen Dewar, Oct. 6, 1994].
The legislation, which includes the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the School-to-
Work Opportunities Act, the Student Loan Reform Act, the Safe Schools Act, the National
Service Trust Act, and the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,
promises to alter the landscape of American education in important and lasting ways.
The latest bill, the Improving America's Schools Act, which President Clinton will
sign next week, is a perfect example of how the administration is committed to finding the
most effective ways to spend federal education dollars. The bill represents a nearly $11
-MORE-
OCT 14 '94 11:53AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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-2-
billion effort -- the federal government's largest investment in K-12 education -- to better
target special help to poor and special needs students in the nation's schools.
"While public attention has been focused on other things, we've been hard at work
getting our legislation through the 103rd Congress," said U.S. Education Secretary Richard
W. Riley, "but the work we've done over the past year and a half will significantly raise the
quality of education for millions of students of all ages.
"Just about everybody agrees that the federal government must be a supportive
partner with the states and communities to improve schools," Riley said. "Our first order of
business in this new partnership is to bring high academic standards to all students in every
classroom in the country."
The foundation of the Clinton education agenda is the Goals 2000: Educate America
Act, signed into law March 31. The bill supports meaningful state and community school
improvement efforts based on high academic and occupational standards, improving teaching,
expanding the use of technology, and cutting red tape. Forty states and territories have
already applied for first-year planning funds.
Goals 2000 also includes assistance to help schools reduce violence, and a section that
strengthens federal education research to bring the latest and most reliable information about
good teaching and effective learning to the nation's teachers, parents, administrators and
policymakers.
A companion bill, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, is providing assistance to
-MORE-
OCT 14 '94 11:53AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
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-3-
states and communities to give more young people who do not plan to go on immediately to
a four-year college access to high-wage, high-skill jobs by focusing on high quality academic
and work experiences in the critical years before and after high school graduation.
In the area of higher education, the Student Loan Reform Act created the direct loan
program, now available at more than 100 schools and increasing to more than 1,000 next
year. Borrowers can secure a student loan on campus and, through more flexible repayment
options, tailor their monthly payments to match their ability to repay. The new program
reduces paperwork and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in fewer loan
defaults.
In addition, thousands of volunteers are now earning their way to college or paying
back loans through public service under the new National Service Trust Act.
While legislation has been a key component of the Clinton education agenda, the
administration also has focused on getting parents and families more involved in the
education process by launching a national initiative, Strong Families; Strong Schools, to
attract greater public attention on the critical role adults can play in improving student
achievement. The Education Department has joined a national coalition of more than 70
organizations to promote family involvement.
"There's one bill I can't pass," Riley said. "The federal government can't require
every family in this country to get involved in their children's education -- to turn off the
TV, to read and discuss homework with them. But I know that family involvement is a key
to the successful implementation of every one of our initiatives. For that reason, I can't talk
about it enough."
OCT 14 '94 11:54AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.5/14
THE CLINTON LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE FOR EDUCATION:
Bills enacted by the 103rd Congress
THE GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT is based on the premise that all students
must be held to higher academic standards. The Goals 2000 Act assists communities and
states with funds to develop and implement their own school improvements based on local,
"bottom-up" initiatives. Improvement plans will include ways to strengthen academic
achievement, improve discipline, increase parent involvement, better utilize technology, and
ensure that teachers have access to better professional development. The Act also provides
schools, school districts, and states a way to cut through red tape by allowing for extensive
waivers. The new law formally commits the nation to pursuing eight national education goals
and establishes a National Education Goals Panel to report progress. Forty states and
territories have already applied for first-year planning funds.
Also included in Goals 2000:
THE SAFE SCHOOLS ACT recognizes that learning is almost impossible if
classrooms and playgrounds are under siege. The act provides funds to schools
plagued with serious crime to develop violence prevention initiatives. Schools
receiving funds will be expected to teach students ways to resolve conflicts peacefully,
and they also may use some funds for increasing security personnel and acquiring
metal detectors. The act also authorizes the Secretary of Education to conduct various
national activities, including research and evaluation, data collection, and training and
technical assistance in support of safe and drug-free schools.
THE EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DISSEMINATION AND
IMPROVEMENT ACT strengthens the federal effort to support research and to
collect and disseminate information about successful teaching and learning practices.
The new law establishes priorities for research: basic and applied research on student
achievement; education of at-risk students; policy making and management; early
childhood development and education; and postsecondary education, libraries, and
lifelong learning. A new Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination will provide
teachers, parents, administrators and policymakers with information on promising and
exemplary programs.
THE SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES ACT is built on the knowledge that
tomorrow's high-wage jobs will require high academic and workplace skills developed in
secondary and postsecondary school. Under the act, states and communities form
partnerships with schools, postsecondary institutions and employers to design systems in
which students learn both in the classroom and at the worksite. School-to-work is jointly
administered by the Departments of Education and Labor. Initial state and community grants
have already been awarded.
OCT 14 '94 11:54AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.6/14
THE IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT, which reauthorizes the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, targets funds to areas of greatest poverty and provides
schools with greater flexibility to use federal aid to ensure that students with special needs,
especially economically disadvantaged, migrant, and limited English proficient students, are
taught to high standards. The nearly $11 billion bill also expands professional development
opportunities for teachers; promotes safe and drug-free schools and supports desegregation
efforts through magnet schools. New provisions provide resources for improved use of
technology for teaching and learning and federal seed money for local charter schools
initiatives.
THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRUST ACT creates opportunities to earn or pay back
college tuition through some kind of public service. Under Americorps grants to various
agencies and organizations, thousands of volunteers are already at work in neighborhoods
and schools across the country.
THE STUDENT LOAN REFORM ACT broadens access to higher education by making it
easier for borrowers to obtain and repay loans for higher education. A new direct loan
program permits students to receive a loan from a campus student aid office, eliminating
various "middlemen" from the transaction. In addition to the ease in borrowing, the new
loan system will permit student borrowers to tailor their monthly payments to their income
level. Taxpayers are expected to save billions of dollars in coming years through lower loan
default rates. The loans are now available at more than 100 schools. More than 1,000
schools will offer direct loans next year.
###
OCT 14 '94 11:58AM OFFICE OF SECRETARY
P.14/14
STATEMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THE SECRETARY
INITED STATES of AMERICA
Critical Questions for the American People
to Ask Their Future Leaders
1.
What can we do to stop the violence in our schools and bring discipline back into our
classrooms?
2.
What can we do to provide all children with a quality education that prepares them for
responsible citizenship, further learning and productive employment?
3.
What can we do to help parents and teachers become true partners in children's learning
not adversaries and make family involvement in education a basic community value?
4.
What can we do to end the tyranny of low expectations? We know that high standards,
tough courses, and hard work lead to real achievement and better discipline for almost
all students.
5.
What can we do to prepare and keep good teachers, good principals and quality higher
education faculty when there will be six million more students to educate in the next
decade?
6.
What can we do to bring people together -- parents, business people, educators and every
citizen -- to build the quality public education system that will keep America great?
7.
What can we do to ensure that every student-rich and poor-enjoys the educational
benefits that computers and other new technologies offer?
8.
What can we do to prepare the 75 percent of all students who won't get a four-year
college degree for high-skill, high-wage careers?
9.
What can we do to deal honestly with the issue of race and income and their relationship
to education? After progress was made in the 1970s and 1980s in closing the gap, we
now have a sharp decline in the number of African-Americans attending college.
10.
What can we do to avoid educational fads and quick fix solutions and keep focused on
what we need to do to achieve serious and sustained improvement in our schools?
10/13/94
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AUTORIA
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THE new 0 SERVICE
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DRAFT DRAFT ** DRAFT DRAFT ** DRAFT ** DRAFT ** DRAFT
Talking Points for Carol Rasco
The Future of Health care Reform and Collaboration in the
104th Congress"
National Health Education Coalition
January 10, 1994
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PAST HEALTH CARE REFORM EFFORT:
Though the Health Security Act was not passed in the last
Congress, it is fair and accurate to say there are great
success to report. Several important outcomes should be
highlighted:
1.
The national debate was a catalyst for individual
states to move forward with state-wide health care
reforms.
2.
Health care reform forged a solid and permanent
relationship between the Departments of Education and
Health and Human Services. The Departments became very
real partners in identifying the health and education
needs of children.
3.
School health was identified as a major issue in health
care reform efforts. The recognition of school-linked
and school-based health services in providing access
and care to children is an important victory.
Collaborative projects began as a result of the Health care
debate including: exploring Medicaid's role in the financing and
delivery of school health services for eligible children.
Discussions include identifying barriers that exist between state
and federal governments as well as schools and providers
UPCOMING HEALTH CARE REFORM EFFORTS
o
Future health care debate should include the role of School-
linked and school-based health services, which include:
1) clinical health services (ranging from screening and
immunizations provided by school nurses to primary
health care provided by school-based health centers) i
2) rehabiliative health care services for students with
disabilities (many of which are required by law to be
delivered in school sites) ; and
3) public health services (including outreach where
needed and health education).
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2
Where they exist, school-linked and schoo-based health
services often demonstrate a value added to the health care
system in their community. They both increase young
people's access to services and enhance effectiveness of
services. Students who do not ordinarily seek needed health
care obtain services from school health providers.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
0
Health affects learning. Education contributes to improving
the health of a child, and a child's health status is a
major determinant of educational achievement.
Nearly 48 million children attend elementary and high
schools each day in the United States. Schools are on the
front line and have a major influence on the child's
development and intellectual and social growth. Schools in
many communities have hald to expand their role and assume a
variety of health and sdcial service functions: providing
health care and referral, mental health counseling,
nutrition, health education, referrals to the juvenile
justice system, coordination with child abuse and welfare
agencies, family literady and the like.
Schools cannot address children's issues alone. No one
institution -- federal, state or local -- can hope to
accomplish a comprehensive approach to serving children and
families without the cooperation and commitment on all
levels. All the institutions that serve children --
including schools -- musit collaborate. Coordination of
services is critical to addressing the needs of families,
whether it is within health care reform, welfare reform or
education reform.
The health needs of children have become increasingly
complex. of the health threats to children today, the vast
majority -- including substance abuse, sexual activity
leading to unwanted precnancies and sexually transmitted
diseases, suicide, violence, accidents, heart disease, and
cancer caused by smoking or poor nutrition -- are
preventable.
Research has shown that the initiation of high risk
behaviors by children and youth can be delayed, reduced or
prevented through school-based health education programs.
INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL HEALTH AND NATIONAL COORDINATING
COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL HEALTH
The Interagency Committee on School Health (ICSH) is a
strong example of the President's effort to reinvent
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3
government through federal coordination. It also has served
as the foundation for continuing discussions that began as a
direct result of Health Care Reform efforts.
The Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and
Agriculture share a close working relationship on issues
related to children's health through the ICSH. The
Committee is jointly chaired by Assistant Secretaries within
the three Departments.
The mission of the Interagency Committee on School Health is
to increase the overall effectiveness of Federal efforts to
improve the education and health of school-aged children and
youth through school health programs. Through the ICSH,
these federal agencies work together to improve
collaboration at the federal, state and local levels and to
address policies and practices that may be acting as
barriers to school health programs. One of the most visible
issues is reviewing Medicaid financing of services delivered
in school-linked or schdol-based centers.
Another important interagency activity is the National
Coordinating Committee dn School Health. This committee
includes representatives from federal agencies and national
organizations. The purpose of this committee is to improve
the health and educational achievement of children through
school-linked and school-based programs. The committee
serves to facilitate communication and collaboration among
the various organizations and agencies.
JOINT STATEMENT ON SCHOOL HEALTH
Last year (spring 1994) Secretary of Education, Richard
Riley and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna
Shalala released the Joint Statement on School Health, which
they co-signed. It embraces the fundamental relationship
between education and health and acknowledges the important
role of school health programs in helping students develop
the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors necessary to
perform well in school. Nutrition is cited as an important
component in preparing children to learn. I have enclosed
several copies for you to share with your membership.
GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, sweeping national
education reform legislation, was passed and signed
President Clinton this spring. Health and physical
education are recognized within several of the National
Education Goals.
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4
Goal 1: School Readiness by the year 2000, states as an
objective: "(iii) children will receive the nutrition,
physical activity experiences, and health care needed
to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies, and
to maintain the mental alertness necessary to be
prepared to learn and the number of low-birthweight
babies will be significantly reduced through enhanced
prenatal health systems.
:
Goal 2: Student Achievement and Citizenship, states as
objectives: "(iii) all student will be involved in
activities that promote and demonstrate good
citizenship, good Health, community service, and
personal responsibility; and "(iv) all students will
have access to physical education and health education
to ensure they are healthy and fit."
--
Goal 7: Safe, Disciplined, and Alcohol-and Drug-free
schools, states as an objective: "(v) drug and alcohol
curriculum should be taught as an integral part of
sequential, comprehensive health education."
IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT (Reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act - ESEA)
A main principle within ESEA is linking schools, parents and
communities. There must be a partnership to ensure that all
students reach high standards, particularly in high-poverty
communities. Under the proposal, parents would be enlisted
to help their children do well at school. And schools and
communities would coordinate services in ways that make a
difference in the learning and lives of children and
families.
Title XI of ESEA is designed to address problems that
children face outside the classroom that affect their
performance in school. The legislation specifies poor
nutrition, unsafe living conditions, physical and sexual
abuse, family and gang violence, inadequate health care, and
substance abuse as some of the factors that may impede a
child's academic success. This title allows local education
agencies, schools, and donsortia of schools to use up to
five percent of the funds they receive under the ESEA to
develop, implement or expand a coordinated service project.
STRONG FAMILIES/STRONG SCHOOLS INITIATIVE:
o
Parents are a Child's first teacher. They learn what they
see and hear. This initiative to encourage and support
efforts by families to thake a more active role in their
children's learning.
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5
Children who spend a lot of time with their parents, and
talk with them often, are less likely to smoke or drink than
youngsters without such close partental contacts, reported
by researchers at the Louisiana State Univ. Medical Ctr and
the Univ. of Souther California. Released in the September
issue of PEDIATICS.
The report suggested providing parents with more help with
child-rearing issues and making them targets of future
substance-abuse prevention programs -- before their children
reach adolescence.
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PAYMENT * UNITED STATES OF EDICATION OF AMERICA *
U.S. Department of Education
Washington, D.C.
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication.
Publications have not been scanned in their entirety for the purpose
of digitization. To see the full publication please search online or
visit the Clinton Presidential Library's Research Room.
STRONG FAMILIES, STRONG SCHOOLS
BUILDING
COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS
FOR
LEARNING
A research base for family involvement in learning from the US Department of Education