[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S897-S898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ERNIE BOYER: A SELF-EFFACING LEADER

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, several weeks ago I attended a memorial 
service for Dr. Ernie Boyer, a man who had dedicated most of his life 
to improving education and educational opportunities for all Americans. 
The memorial service was more of a celebration of who Ernie was and how 
many lives he touched than a farewell. Speakers included his son Ernest 
Boyer, Jr., Secretary of Education Riley, Senator Edward Kennedy and 
the principal of a San Antonio elementary school Ernie nurtured along. 
None of us said it better than a fifth grader who had gotten to know 
Ernie Boyer, ``You say you don't know who Dr. Boyer was? You never got 
to know him? Too Bad! You would have loved him.''
  I am submitting the remarks made by several of us at the service and 
hope my colleagues will take the time to read what Ernie Boyer meant to 
a lot of very different people.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     Remarks By Senator Paul Simon

       William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet and later an Irish 
     Senator, in the mid 1920s wrote in a poem: ``The best lack 
     conviction, while the worst are full of passionate 
     intensity.'' It sounds as if he is writing about today. But 
     Yeats did not know Ernie Boyer.
       His quiet demeanor, his ready smile and marvelous laughter, 
     his soft response to a hostile question were not indications 
     that he lacked solid conviction. He had backbone and vision 
     and an understanding of humanity that combined to make him 
     superbly effective. The Albany Times Union editorial tribute 
     concluded with this accurate assessment: ``He touched 
     millions of ordinary lives and made them better.''
       The last time I talked to him by telephone, he spoke from a 
     hospital bed, only I did not know it until after I read the 
     story of his death. He was that kind of self-effacing human 
     being.
       While we knew each other for a period casually, I first got 
     to really know him when President Carter appointed the 
     Commission on Foreign Languages and International Education, 
     headed by Jim Perkins of this city. Most of us on the 
     Commission did not know each other. Ernie suggested a few 
     names, and the White House added some. It turned out to be 
     one of those rare commissions where everyone worked, and 
     worked together with a common purpose, on a small budget with 
     limited time, and the end result changed the educational 
     climate in our nation--slightly. But slight changes, like one 
     or two votes in the Senate, can ultimately make a huge 
     difference. Ernie Boyer played a key role in the work of that 
     Commission.
       His work as Chancellor of the State University of New York 
     earned him what I am 

[[Page S898]]
     sure were deserved laurels, but when he became United States 
     Commissioner of Education, then headed the Carnegie Endowment 
     for the Advancement of Teaching, he enriched the nation 
     immensely. In those positions he lifted all of us in ways 
     that never can be calculated fully.
       Our friend attended Greenville College in Illinois, a small 
     liberal arts college, for his undergraduate work. Greenville 
     is sponsored by the Free Methodists. When he attended, female 
     students could not wear lipstick, and all students had to 
     take a pledge not to attend movies. The Free Methodists were 
     not too free.
       But Ernie always felt gratitude to that school for the 
     opportunity it gave him. He learned to respect and understand 
     that part of our culture. From there he grew and reached out 
     across all the barriers of religion and race and ethnicity to 
     live a life of concern. He wanted a quality opportunity to be 
     the option for all in this nation and beyond this nation.
       As we bid a formal farewell to the man, let us honor him by 
     not bidding a formal farewell to his ideas and his ideals. He 
     did not want a nation that has technically superb but useless 
     B-2 bombers and inner-city schools with no books in the 
     library and, too often, no hope in the classroom. He did not 
     want a nation eager to invest in more and grander prisons but 
     unwilling to invest in better schools. He did not want a 
     nation with great sensitivity to the whims of those of us who 
     are more fortunate economically but indifferent to the 24 
     percent of our children who live in poverty. He did not 
     want a nation of scholars who can carry on great 
     discussions but are unable to carry out great dreams.
       Ernie Boyer: gentleman, scholar, dreamer, doer.
       May we be the same.
                                                                    ____


                       Remarks From Alicia Thomas

       Dr. Ikenberry, Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation, members 
     of Dr. Boyer's family, friends of Dr. Boyer, distinguished 
     guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is my very great honor and 
     privilege today to speak on behalf of all the teachers, 
     students and principals in the Basic School Network. This has 
     been a time of great sadness for us all. We have lost a dear 
     friend. In the two years that we have worked together this 
     group has become very close, very united in our efforts to 
     improve schooling on behalf of this Nation's children. And so 
     for all of us there is a lot of affection, warm affection for 
     Dr. Boyer, much respect for him, and consequently a deep 
     sense of loss and a sense of absence that will always be with 
     those of us who had the privilege to learn from him, and to 
     engage in conversation and discussion. I think his voice and 
     his presence will always be missed, and we will never be 
     quite the same again.
       But this is also a time of reflection on the richness of a 
     life, and the richness of a legacy. Of all the people I've 
     known, no one's life and legacy could have been richer than 
     Ernest Boyer's. His family was a great source of pride; four 
     wonderful children, grandchildren, a loyal and devoted wife. 
     But beyond family, Ernie Boyer's life was one of service. 
     Service to children, both in highly respected positions in 
     our Nation's government, and as President of the Carnegie 
     Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His life was very 
     rich. He gave of himself, and in doing so earned the respect 
     and love of all, family, friends and colleagues, and most 
     especially, teachers.
       To Ernest Boyer there was no nobler profession than 
     teaching. He spoke movingly of the great teachers in his 
     life, including the famed first grade teacher, Miss Rice. And 
     he moved each of us to work with renewed purpose and 
     inspiration, to commit our lives to practice in an exemplary 
     way. Dr. Boyer wanted the best and the brightest in teaching; 
     he wished for loving and supportive first teachers in order 
     that all children succeed. Dr. Boyer felt teachers were part 
     of the strength and solution for our Nation's schools; he 
     knew that a truly great teacher changes lives forever. The 
     teachers at Jackson-Keller said simply, ``He stood up for 
     schools; he stood up for us.'' Kindergarten teacher Kristen 
     Dreyer said ``I just loved it when he told me `you are doing 
     the Lord's work.' '' And so we are.
       I can't forget to mention Dr. Boyer's wonderful sense of 
     humor. He so enjoyed the funny stories shared about teachers 
     and children. He would dance the chicken dance with a group 
     of second graders, listen intently as Kindergartners 
     explained their drawings, chortle with laughter as Third 
     grade teacher Suzann Westermann sang ``Nothing could be 
     sweller than to be at Jackson Keller.'' Ernie Boyer just 
     loved people, and he believed the best in them. It was the 
     people that linked him to schools. And at Jackson-Keller he 
     was as beloved by the Head Custodian as he was by the 
     children, parents, and teachers.
       Danal Jimenez, J-K Fifth grader wrote ``If I can quote 
     Shakespeare, `Alas, I knew him well.' Personally, I feel the 
     loss. He came from Princeton and made me feel special when 
     two years ago he gave me his firm handshake, special note on 
     his business card and friendly words. He was like an instant 
     quick friend and I will never forget him. Did you know he 
     loved the arts?
       Danal's friend Michael Navarro said, ``A few days ago, 
     Jackson-Keller lost a great friend, mentor and thinker. He 
     helped the Basic School exist. You say you don't know who Dr. 
     Boyer was? You never got to know him? TOO BAD! You would have 
     loved him.''
       Michael continued, ``The Asians had their Sensai, the 
     Indians had their Shaman, and we had our Dr. Boyer. Though he 
     passed away, he will continue to live in our commonalities, 
     and through our community of learners, and definitely in the 
     hearts of the children who knew him.''
       During their visit to Jackson-Keller last October, Dr. and 
     Mrs. Boyer were serenaded by our third grade students. Our 
     children sang:

     I am a child,
     I am the future of the world, and just like every boy and 
           girl
     I have a dream.
     And when I dream,
     The only way it will come true is if I'm gently led by you
     And then set free.

       In the Basic School Network, we have been gently led by the 
     words and the actions of Ernest Boyer, and we do believe in 
     this dream of the Basic School, a school committed to the 
     success of every child. I heard Dr. Boyer say on many, many 
     occasions ``the tragedy is not death. The tragedy is to die 
     with commitments undefined, convictions undeclared and with 
     service unfulfilled.''
       Proverbs 29 tells us ``A people without vision shall 
     perish.'' But those with vision shall flourish. In the Basic 
     School Network we have each been blessed to learn from the 
     vision and commitment, the conviction and service, of this 
     fine man. We accept the challenge of Dr. Boyer's legacy, The 
     Basic School. It will live on because he taught us schools 
     are not about buildings and budgets, but about building a 
     better world for children. We learned from him that there 
     must be a school of quality and excellence, a place of love 
     and learning in every neighborhood, within the reach of every 
     child. And that the meaning of life is to create a life as if 
     it were a work of art.
       We are thankful for the life of Ernest Boyer, and that each 
     of us was allowed to touch it, and be touched by it.

                          ____________________