[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[June 25, 1992]
[Pages 1012-1014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Announcing Proposed Legislation To Establish a ``GI Bill'' for 
Children

June 25, 1992
    Welcome, all. Hey, we're glad you guys are here. Welcome, welcome, 
and please be seated. All you kids, welcome to the South Lawn of the 
White House. And to the Vice President and Mrs. Quayle and Secretary 
Alexander, a warm welcome. A particularly warm welcome to the Members of 
Congress, both House and Senate, that are with us today. Welcome to all 
of you, our very special guests, on this special occasion.
    I have just come from a working session in the White House, working 
with some of the great experts on school choice. The parents, I think, 
made the most significant contribution to our working session because 
their dreams for their kids are the same dreams that all of us have. 
They want their kids to have a first-class education. They know from 
practical experience that a good education is absolutely essential to 
making a good living and to making a good life.
    So let me just share a little from that meeting. Janette Williams 
told me about her son, Javon. The Williamses are here with us somewhere 
here today--whoops, here she is over here. Her kid starred on ``60 
Minutes,'' and that says something about the guy, if you go on that 
program and come off in one piece. [Laughter] He must be doing real 
well. But here's what she said, and this is serious. She said, ``At his 
old school that was crowded, he used to get so bored that he would walk 
out. And thanks to the choice program in Milwaukee, he's at a new 
school. He's not doing those things anymore. He's doing his homework; 
he's even helping clean up the classroom after school. They took the 
energy and turned it around.''
    Now, the Governor here, Tommy Thompson, the Governor of Wisconsin, 
is here with us today. I'm sorry that Polly Williams, who's been at the 
forefront of the school choice movement, couldn't be here, but she's at 
home looking after her mother. I would salute her values. But we miss 
her very, very much. Together, Polly and Tommy Thompson, the Governor, 
have taken the lead in helping parents like Janette Williams realize her 
dreams for her son Javon, creating scholarships for 1,000 Milwaukee 
children from low-income families so that they can attend private 
schools. Now, theirs is a bold experiment, to give low-income families 
more of the same choices of schools already available to wealthier 
families.
    Mike Joyce of the Bradley Foundation was also in our meeting. And 
Bradley recently joined with other foundations and Milwaukee businesses 
to raise $3 million so that Milwaukee's low-income families will be able 
to choose their family's schools, including the religious schools. Mike 
told us this morning that parents picked up every one of the 4,500 
scholarship applications the day after the scholarships were announced, 
4,500, that fast. And don't let anybody tell you that the people of 
Milwaukee don't care about their kids' education.
    No one should underestimate what's at stake here. A revolution is 
underway in Milwaukee and across this country, a revolution to make 
American schools the best in

[[Page 1013]]

the world. I salute our Secretary of Education who is helping lead that 
revolution, Lamar Alexander.
    Together with the Nation's Governors, we've set six ambitious 
national education goals. And I might say that this wasn't a partisan 
move; Democrats and Republicans alike of the Governors coming together 
to set six ambitious national education goals. In 44 States and 1,400 
communities, we've already launched America 2000 to meet these goals.
    Even earlier still, in January 1989, just before I was sworn in as 
President, we helped organize the White House Conference on Choice in 
Education. We believed then and we believe today a few fundamental 
truths. We believe that parents are their children's first teachers. 
Parents, not bureaucrats, know what's best for their kids.
    At this point I would like to salute one of the two in purple, 
Barbara Bush--[laughter]--for her pointing this out to parents, that 
it's what they do, what happens in their home. Barbara's done a lot of 
that here and around the country. I might say that Marilyn Quayle's 
taking that same message of parental involvement all across our country, 
and we're very grateful to her.
    So, it is our belief then that parents, not the Government, should 
choose their children's schools. So today I am proposing that we take 
another giant step forward in this revolution. I am sending to Congress 
legislation that would authorize an ambitious demonstration program, 
half a billion new Federal dollars to help communities all across 
America give $1,000 scholarships to children of middle- and low-income 
families so they can choose which schools their kids will attend.
    This revolution is in the greatest American tradition. We've done it 
before, and it's worked. Forty-eight years ago this very week, President 
Roosevelt signed the GI bill, creating scholarships that veterans could 
use at any college, any college of their choice. The GI bill created 
opportunity for Americans who never would have had it, and in doing so 
it helped create the best system of colleges and universities in the 
world.
    Now we can do that again, this time by helping State and local 
governments--and we're delighted the Mayor of Milwaukee is with us here 
today--this time by helping State and local governments create the best 
elementary and secondary schools in the world. The ``GI bill'' for 
children will help. It'll provide that help to these families. These 
dollars to spend at the schools of their choice will become the muscle 
that parents need to create the best schools for their kids.
    Let me say to those who will attack our school choice initiative on 
the ground that it permits Government money to go to religious schools, 
you're wrong. I believe those critics are wrong. This is aid to the 
families, not aid to institutions. And again, if you set the clock back 
to the creation of that original GI bill, no one told the GI's that they 
couldn't go to S.M.U. or Notre Dame or Yeshiva or Howard. I haven't 
heard Members of Congress suggest that students stop using Pell grants 
and guaranteed student loans at Baptist colleges or Presbyterian 
seminaries. I don't hear an outcry because poor children at Catholic 
schools get their lunch paid for by Federal taxpayers. In the same way, 
parents must be free to use this money at the school they believe will 
best teach their child, whether the school is public, private, or 
religious. Let me try to be clear on this point: Accepting students with 
vouchers does not mean a school must sacrifice school prayer.
    And let me say this to those who stand against extending school 
choice to low- and middle-income families: I simply do not buy the idea 
that someone cannot make a good decision just because that person is 
poor. We heard the same argument when we proposed child care vouchers 
for low-income families or when we proposed help for public housing 
tenants to own their own homes. So it's my belief that we ought to let 
families own their own home and choose their own schools regardless of 
their income level and give them help. Give them a shot at the American 
dream, if you will.
    Finally, to those who claim that school choice will hurt the public 
schools, let me underscore this point: All of this new money can go to 
public schools if that's where the child chooses to go, where the family 

chooses to have the kid go. That de-

[[Page 1014]]

cision will be in the hands of families, where it belongs.
    There are several points to make about money. First, I want to make 
it clear that we're not talking here about a new Federal entitlement 
program. The Federal Government cannot afford one more entitlement, even 
for education. I've said many times that money alone isn't the answer. 
The United States already spends more per student for schools than any 
country in the world except Switzerland. I don't have to tell you where 
we stand in the international rankings of educational performance at the 
level we're talking about here today. Our universities and colleges are 
respected and have achieved the highest levels of achievement. But that, 
unfortunately, is not true as we talk about K through 12. So we need a 
revolution in American education, not more money to do it the same old 
way.
    Investment in our schools will remain a primarily State and local 
responsibility. But Federal support for State and local scholarships can 
be a catalyst. For schools that attract choice students, it will give 
teachers and principals a welcome source of new funds. For our children, 
choice can help open up opportunities, create genuine change in our 
schools.
    For too long, we've shielded schools from competition, allowed our 
schools a damaging monopoly power over our children. This monopoly turns 
students into statistics and turns parents into pawns. It is time we 
began thinking of a system of public education in which many providers 
offer a marketplace of opportunities, opportunities that give all of our 
children choices and access to the best education in the world. And so 
it is our firm belief, it is our firm belief that this ``GI bill'' for 
children will move America inevitably in that direction.
    Abraham Lincoln once said, ``Revolutions do not go backward.'' 
Milwaukee is not the only place in America that our revolution is 
underway. Last year in Indianapolis, Pat Rooney and the Educational 
CHOICE Charitable Trust began to offer tuition vouchers to Indianapolis 
students. I understand a bus-load of parents and students drove all 
night to be here today. If you're still awake, welcome, a special 
welcome to all of you. In San Antonio, the CEO Foundation has earmarked 
$1.5 million in vouchers for children in their community. California: 
Joe Alibrandi and thousands of supporters are pushing for a ballot 
initiative to provide voucher scholarships for every school-age child in 
the State. Overall in 1991, 10 States approved some form of new choice 
legislation, and 37 States had choice legislation pending in one form or 
another.
    I've been told that there may just be a few folks here from 
Pennsylvania. [Applause] We're outnumbered. Well, it may take a few 
tries, but I never underestimate the persistence of parents: The 
children of Pennsylvania will have school choice.
    From California to East Harlem, from coast to coast, the leaders of 
the school choice movement are sparking a revolution in American 
education. They're the true heroes of this education reform, and some of 
them are here with us today. They aren't afraid to stand up to the 
status quo, to say loud and clear that when it comes to educating our 
kids, business-as-usual simply isn't good enough. Let there be no 
mistake: Barbara and I and the Vice President and Marilyn, and certainly 
our Secretary, are very proud to stand with you.
    You see, this revolution will succeed. It will succeed because it 
draws its strength from the very heart of the American creed. We have no 
truth more enduring than the idea that every American should have the 
opportunity for a first-class education. We have no principles more 
important than freedom, opportunity, and choice.
    So thank you very, very much. And look at it this way, you're doing 
the Lord's work for our Nation's future, and you're doing it for the 
young people of this country. We are grateful to all of you. And may God 
bless the United States. And now I will sign this legislation.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. on the South 
                        Lawn at the White House. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Polly Williams, Wisconsin State 
                        legislator.