[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.