    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 11, 1991]
    [Pages 628-630]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 628]]

    Remarks in a Teleconference With the Annual Meeting of the Public
    Broadcasting Service in Orlando, Florida
    June 11, 1991

        The President. Thank you for that kind introduction and for your
    generous comments about our approach to education. And I'll tell you,
    the Points of Light concept, something new with us--we're trying to put
    some focus on it. But believe me, it is taking hold across this country,
    and I think it's a wonderful thing. And I appreciate your interest in
    all of that.
        I must confess I wish I were with you in Orlando. Instead, I'm stuck
    up here in Disney World North. [Laughter]
        I love the idea of talking with you in this manner in a
    teleconference. Nothing could be more appropriate. Every day, PBS
    transforms ideas, lessons, and information from one side of this country
    to the other--big cities, small towns, and back again.
        And some of us remember when PBS was called educational television.
    Your name's changed, but of course, that we understand. But your mission
    hasn't. And today, your 300 affiliates serve 63,000 elementary and
    secondary schools across this country. And your broadcasts reach 30
    million kindergarten through 12th grade students. And some of your
    programs sustain inquisitive adults. And others go straight to college
    and university campuses.
        Personally, I'd like your help. I'm looking for a good computer
    instruction course. But you probably need to find a truly qualified 7-
    year-old to make it credible.
        I was out in Milwaukee the other day. And you should have seen--
    maybe you all have seen this--but you should have seen the competence of
    these young kids as they move into the computer age, their competence on
    computers. It's fantastic. We've got to do more.
        In the past year, enrollment, if you want to call it that, in your
    electronic college classroom has grown 20 percent. These and other
    programs fit right into our America 2000 education strategy. As you
    know, that strategy follows a four-track path to achieving our six
    national education goals: creating better and more accountable schools
    for today's students; inventing a new generation of American schools;
    becoming a nation of students, young and old; and making our communities
    places where learning can happen.
        We've talked a bit about how you improve today's schools. Track one:
    Everyone should get involved. For instance, I'm happy to see that PBS
    will be donating a satellite dish to Slanesville, West Virginia, home of
    the Teacher of the Year, Rae Ellen McKee. Is that she I see smiling away
    on the monitor, maybe? And she'll be talking to you in just a few
    minutes. And what a person she is. You know, I visited her school in
    April, and I think you'll agree when you hear her that she deserves and
    has earned the high honor that she's received.
        State-of-the-art hardware is just one way you help our schools step
    into their future. My kids tell me they used to dread it when a teacher
    rolled a television into the classroom because they knew they'd have to
    look at a black and white videotaped lecture from a teacher in a room
    with bad acoustics. Now, no one makes those complaints anymore. You've
    changed with the times. You've developed new programming. You've
    pioneered new broadcasting techniques, including closed-captioning for
    deaf students and the descriptive video service for blind students.
        And now, as we prepare to create new American schools, you look to
    the heavens. Telstar 401, due to race into orbit in 1993, will let you
    transmit television signals nationwide. And that certainly won't hurt
    when it comes to developing new audiences for your shows.
        Track three of America 2000, developing a nation of students, runs
    right through your studios. You mentioned Barbara, and I'm grateful for
    your very kind comments about her. But she and I cannot thank you enough
    for your work in giving previously illiterate Americans the gift of
    reading. Project Literacy U.S.--PLUS--helps turn Americans submerged in
    the darkness of il-

    [[Page 629]]

    literacy into beaming points of light. You offer refresher courses,
    practical courses in programs that cause the viewer to pause, think, and
    explore the universe of ideas.
        I can't think of any series that has done more to advance the study
    of American history, for instance, than Ken Burns' series, ``The Civil
    War.''
        I'll be visiting some very special students just in an hour or so,
    in Delaware later today--a group of night school students who've worked
    hard to gain high school diplomas. And frankly, I'd be surprised if they
    didn't owe some of their inspiration in education to you.
        So, my point is simple: The days of the little red schoolhouse are
    over. We find ourselves in an era of competition. And education, like
    any other vital industry, will benefit from the constant tug and pull of
    new ideas, new products. You push everyone in the education industry to
    do more, to do better. For years, your efforts--and I've talked only
    about a few of them--have promoted respect for learning and an appetite
    for education.
        In launching our America 2000 project, I have asked each State and
    every American community to join in an ambitious effort, a crusade--and
    this one is--a crusade for educational excellence. In many communities
    across this country, individuals have already stepped forward to be the
    sparkplug that energizes businessmen, parents, community leaders, and
    educators to make America's schools better and more accountable.
        I believe our schools will change for the better when parents and
    communities make change their mission. And so as the America 2000
    project takes root in communities across this country, I would ask each
    of you to join us, to become involved in this enormously important
    revolution to transform American education.
        Well, thanks for listening to my lecture. It is a pleasure to be
    with you in this marvelous electronic manner. And now, with no further
    ado, I would once again say thanks, and I'd be glad to take a question
    or two. Thank you very much.
        Q. Thank you very much, Mr. President. We appreciate your remarks to
    us. You talked about change. How will the role of the States and local
    educational organizations change in the next century?
        The President. Well, State Governors and legislatures, along with
    local school districts, are absolutely crucial to the success of our
    America 2000 strategy. Those who think that education problems can be
    solved in Washington ought to know better, because the American people
    know better. The Federal Government provides roughly 7 percent--7
    percent--of the total dollars spent on education; State and local
    governments provide 93 percent. At the national level, we can set goals
    and standards that every community, every school, and every student can
    try to achieve.
        That was the beauty of the Charlottesville conference with the
    Governors. But it is in our States, it's in our communities that we must
    become part of the crusade to invent a new generation of American
    schools, to figure out better ways of teaching and learning. The States
    will have to agree to hold themselves and their schools to much higher
    standards. This simply cannot be done from Washington. I am not anti-
    Washington, but that can't be done from Washington.
        The Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander, and I are committed to
    lead--to exhort everyone to a higher standard and to travel this country
    and highlight models of what works. Next week we'll join Governor Romer,
    for example, the Governor of Colorado, who's very active in education. I
    might say here, look, this is a totally nonpartisan effort. And Governor
    Romer, we'll be with him when he kicks off Colorado 2000, the first
    statewide effort to adopt the national education goals and develop the
    strategies to meet them. The State role is crucial as communities across
    the Nation compete to be America 2000 communities. Our new breed of
    education Governors--and they are fantastic--is essential to the success
    of our revolutionary new program, America 2000.
        Q. And in addition to what you see as you go around the country, you
    often also meet with world leaders. Have you seen any education
    initiatives in other countries that you'd like to see incorporated in
    your educational goals for the United States?
        The President. Well, yes, some are doing

    [[Page 630]]

    certain things better than we are. In Japan and Korea, the parents are
    actively involved in their children's schools--I'd say more so than
    here. Students do much more homework. This will go over well down there
    in Orlando with the public schools, but they do much more homework than
    the average student in American schools. In China, students routinely
    learn two or three languages. I happen to think we need to do better in
    multilingual disciplines.
        In the Soviet Union, students are learning algebra in elementary
    school. You saw the reports the other day from this nationwide study,
    and it was appalling what we're not achieving in mathematics. Government
    leaders around the world tell me that students are learning math in
    different ways than American youngsters. They aren't just learning to
    use computers, but are applying math to everyday problems, everyday
    situations.
        So, there is a lot to learn from other countries. I am not
    apologizing and saying that they're all right and we're wrong. But we
    should remember that we want to have American schools that countries
    everywhere are trying to emulate. Japan, for instance, is trying to
    introduce more creativity and get away from just learning by rote. And
    wherever we go, we're the world's grand champions in scientific research
    and technology. So, we can learn from them, and they can learn from us.
        But the main point is, we're involved here in something that is
    really revolutionary. For America 2000 to succeed, we've got to think
    anew, as Lincoln said. We've got to do it in a way that approaches these
    problems with no fixed conclusions as to how to solve them, but with
    innovative ideas. And that is why I am so delighted with the
    participation of the Governors. That's why I'm so delighted with what
    you referred to, sir, as the Points of Light approach where communities
    and public media and everybody are involved in innovating, in putting
    the focus where it needs to be put--and that is on getting this country
    better educated.
        And we can do it. This isn't just a lot of hot air rhetoric out of
    Washington. Believe me, as I go around this country, I sense a
    determination in the communities to get the job done, to improve our
    educational system. And it's not simply a desire of Americans to be
    number one again, although I think we've got an awful lot that lends
    that description to us right now. It's a desire to see--it's an
    understanding--put it this way--that a better educated young people
    guarantees the future of this country.
        So, look, thanks for letting me drop in on you from about 22,000
    miles out there in space by satellite. And thank you all for all that
    you are doing to make America smarter. Thank you all, and I hope you
    have a wonderful meeting there.

                        Note: The President spoke at 9:39 a.m. in Room 459
                            of the Old Executive Office Building via a two-
                            way video and audio hookup with the meeting in
                            Orlando. In his remarks, he referred to Rae
                            Ellen McKee, a teacher at Slanesville Elementary
                            School, Slanesville, WV; Secretary of Education
                            Lamar Alexander; and Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado.