    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 18, 1991]
    [Pages 392-394]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters on the National Education Strategy Prior to a
    Meeting With the Nation's Governors
    April 18, 1991

        The President. You don't need to position these because I'm not
    going to say anything.
        Q. Are all these Governors supportive of your education plan? Have
    they seen it?
        The President. Well, I'd--maybe Governor Ashcroft could address
    himself to that, because I don't take questions in here in the Oval
    Office, as we all know now. [Laughter] But it's nice, though, when we
    have distinguished visitors to say something.
        Governor Ashcroft. Well, I'm very supportive of it. And each
    Governor, of course, will see how the plan fits with his State. But I
    think the key to this is that the plan reinforces a number of things
    that Governors have been trying to do. One, it's performance oriented.
    Two, it really is designed to reinforce innovation and creativity. And
    those are two things that Governors have really been eager to support on
    both sides of the political aisle. And we're thrilled to have the kind
    of leadership on this--at least I am, and I think you'll find that to be
    the opinion of Governors generally.
        Q. Do you think the Federal Government's doing enough?
        Governor Ashcroft. I think this is very much needed and appreciated
    leadership. And we're all trying to find ways to improve our performance
    and do a better job of elevating the capacity of the best and most
    resource we have: young people. And the debate about how much is done is
    different in every community, but we're trying not only to do more but
    to do better.

    [[Page 393]]

        My primary objective is for us to be more productive in the
    education process in Missouri. And productivity there is as essential to
    our national survival as it is in the industry because, ultimately, as
    competitors on the world scene, we've got to have cost-effective and
    productive components in our national output, and education is one of
    the components we have. So, we want to be more productive, and that
    means we want students to do better as a result of our educational
    effort.
        Governor Romer. Let me speak--I'd like to speak to that as a
    Democratic Governor. Everybody in this room cares deeply about
    education. We've all got a role to play. The President is coming to the
    table with a lot more aggressive action, and we welcome it. It's good. I
    think 92 percent of the education of the youngsters in America is the
    job of Governors. We need the President's help. And I think that his
    commitment to spend more time and more energy and more effort on this is
    very welcomed. We really have a job to do.
        Secondly, this plan has some new and good ideas. And we in America,
    I think, need to respond--everybody in every community. Because if we
    don't improve our skill levels, we're not going to be competitive. But I
    think what we ought to remember is, we not only need to have these new
    ideas explored--and they're good ideas--but we've got a basic job of
    supporting education out there.
        There's 110,000 schools. They all need to have--everybody's
    suffering. And I think what we're saying here is we've got a
    partnership. We need to be a partner.
        The President. It started back in Charlottesville----
        Governor Romer. That's right.
        The President. Well, not started, but it was focused back there.
        Governor Romer. And as the Governor who is, at this present time,
    chairman of this goals panel, I think that we've got a partnership with
    the President and with Congress and with Governors and with State
    legislators and school leaders throughout the country. And so, I think
    what we ought to do today is to look at this as a very encouraging new
    emphasis. And I want to compliment Lamar Alexander for adding some
    leadership as a part of the Cabinet that I think, personally, was very
    much needed.
        Q. So there's no politics involved?
        Governor Romer. You know, look--good government is good politics.
    Good education is good politics. And I think I speak for every Governor
    in this room: We're going to go and do the very best job we can to
    educate both the young and the adults of America. And I think those of
    us that do the best job are going to get the political benefit. You
    know, the competition ought to be, who can do the best job? And who can
    deliver? And I just want to say, you know, as a Democrat I come here
    today saying education is more important than partisan politics. And we
    ought to try to work in a bipartisan way. The country ought to judge us
    by what we do, not by what we say.
        The President. Good point.
        Governor Branstad. And I would add that the Governors, you know, the
    Governors of this country--and I think a lot of credit goes to Lamar
    Alexander when he was Governor of Tennessee--have been at the forefront
    of promoting education reform for a long period of time. Charlottesville
    was an outstanding example of the Governors and the President coming
    together to reach a consensus on education policy. We now have six
    national goals. We know we've got a long ways to go to achieve those by
    the year 2000. And we're all going to have to work very diligently with
    the support of the business community and those people that are actively
    involved in education. The classroom teachers and the parents are very
    important players in this as well.
        We certainly welcome the leadership that the President is providing
    by getting personally involved in this. Nobody can give it the
    visibility that the President of the United States can give it. Each
    Governor, in his or her own State, certainly tries to do what they can
    to give it visibility. But I think this is a great boost for American
    education.
        The President: Thank you all very much. Thank you.
        Q. Thank you.
        Q. Well, they sang for their supper, didn't they?

    [[Page 394]]

        The President. They said what they think; that's what Governors do.

                        Note: The exchange began at 10:05 a.m. in the Oval
                            Office at the White House. Governors John
                            Ashcroft of Missouri, Roy Romer of Colorado, and
                            Terry E. Branstad of Iowa participated in the
                            exchange. Lamar Alexander was Secretary of
                            Education.