[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 9, 1992]
[Page 1105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the New American Schools Design Competition

July 9, 1992
    My education strategy, called America 2000, is based on the premise 
that if we are going to change our country we must change our schools, 
community by community. As part of that strategy, last year I invited 
leaders from the private sector to forge a path in designing new 
schools. They responded swiftly and generously, first by forming the New 
American Schools Development Corporation, then by initiating a 
nationwide competition for the best school designs imaginable. Their 
initiative generated an enormous response: Nearly 700 proposals were 
submitted.
    Today, just over a year since its inception, the New American 
Schools Development Corporation has selected 11 design proposals to 
create the best schools in the world. But every one of the design teams 
that competed to create the best schools in the world is also a winner. 
These New American School design teams are in the forefront of a 
movement that will, by the end of the 1990's, create revolutionary new 
schools. I know that America 2000 communities in every State will be 
anxious to study and to use these new school designs to help create 
their own new American schools.
    The success of the New American Schools competition demonstrates 
that Americans welcome the opportunity for revolutionary change in the 
Nation's education system. That is why I am delighted by the 
announcement today and extend my hearty congratulations to the winning 
design teams.