[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[April 7, 1992]
[Pages 543-546]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the National Teacher of the 
Year Award

April 7, 1992
    Thank you, Lamar, and welcome, everybody, to the Rose Garden. In 
addition to our outstanding Secretary Lamar Alexander, we have with us 
Gordon Ambach of the Council of Chief State School Officers; 
Superintendent Schiller and Michael Emlaw from Michigan; the kids here 
from Jefferson Junior High and St. Rita's School; and of course, the 
folks that I just had the pleasure of meeting in the Oval Office, Tom, 
Diane, and Malcolm Fleming and Diane's mother, Josephine Rosinski. Why 
don't you all just stand up so they can officially welcome you. Thank 
you.
    Well, we're all here today to salute and thank the thousands of 
outstanding men and women who educate this Nation's children. There's no 
calling greater than a

[[Page 544]]

teacher's because there is nothing more precious than what they touch: 
the minds of our youth. The Talmud says teachers are our protectors, and 
that's true. By teaching our kids what we've learned and by teaching 
them to dream, teachers protect the treasures of our past and the 
promise of our future.
    Today I want to share a story about a Detroit kid brought up by his 
grandparents, Gordon and Carrie Bell Starks. He struggled in school, was 
labeled a slow learner, and when he dropped out of high school, he 
couldn't read or write or spell. He didn't think that mattered, but one 
day it did. His faith became tremendously important to him. And he 
wanted to read the Bible, but he couldn't, didn't know how. From that 
moment, he thought about what it would really mean to take charge of his 
life. And that moment changed his life. And 5 years later, after he 
dropped out, he enrolled in night school to learn how to read his Bible 
and earn his high school diploma. He went on to Bible college while 
working as a minister to kids like himself in northwest Detroit. And 
here he found he had the power to touch and to change lives.
    He decided to become a teacher and worked with forgotten kids at a 
State institution for juvenile offenders. And there's an old saying, 
``Whoever would be a teacher of men, let him begin by teaching himself 
before teaching others, and let him set an example before teaching by 
word.'' And that's exactly what the young man of this story did. And 
we're here today to honor him as the 1992 Teacher of the Year, Thomas 
Fleming.
    He's a hero, a man of great strength, of courage and great heart. 
And for the last 20 years, as lead teacher in the Washtenaw County 
Juvenile Detention Program, he's taught history, government, and also 
geography to kids in the 12-to-16 age bracket. But he teaches much, much 
more. To kids who've had hope drained out of them by a vicious cycle of 
abuse, neglect, failure, drugs, crime, he gives life training. And 
here's what he says to them, ``Knowledge is power. The more you know, 
the more you're worth.'' In these throwaway kids he installs pride.
    Tom doesn't want the moon for his kids; he wants something more 
important, a future. And in his classroom it will be a future forged out 
of new personal responsibility, enthusiasm, and learning, and yes, hope.
    Some of his kids have gone on to respected civic and religious 
positions. One even rebuilt Tom's original youth club as a ministry of 
his own. And one of his kids, ``Saturday Night Live'' comedian A. 
Whitney Brown, is here with us today. Whitney, please stand up, and 
welcome. And I'm glad you didn't bring Dana Carvey. [Laughter]
    No, but this guy spoke for many of Tom's kids when, more than 20 
years after being taught in his classroom, he dedicated his book, ``The 
Big Picture,'' to Tom and to his colleague Anne Klein, who is also here 
today. And he called them ``two teachers who made a difference.''
    Well, I have a feeling this crystal apple over here isn't as 
important to Tom as his other rewards: seeing the first spark of light 
in a kid's eye or even just having a kid who never before had been able 
to read ask him for a book from the public library. But the apple does 
symbolize the respect with which Tom's country views him. And the apple 
reminds us of Tom's message: Education is important because every life 
can be redeemed, every life counts.
    Whether you're concerned about the big issues that shape our world 
or about the values close to home, education is a fundamental part of 
the three precious legacies Americans take to heart: strong families, 
good jobs, a world at peace. Every day on the most intense and personal 
level, Tom Fleming sees the heart of the problems we face: the breakdown 
of families, the loss of traditional values, the lure of crime and 
substance abuse, the dead end of unemployment, and hopelessness. But he 
knows that good teachers will help us find a solution. For with every 
student you teach, you shape a future and you touch a lifetime.
    But teachers cannot exist in isolation. Our tremendous respect for 
them and our utter conviction that education is the key to our country's 
future led us to develop America 2000, a revolutionary blueprint for 
educational reform. It will lead us to achieve our six national 
education goals, adopted, as you

[[Page 545]]

may remember, more than 2 years ago in an extraordinary nonpartisan 
Federal-State partnership by the Nation's Governors and by this 
administration. And let me remind you just briefly of these six goals 
which will propel this Nation forward into excellence:
    By the year 2000 our children will start school ready to learn. 
America's students will achieve at least a 90-percent high school 
graduation rate. They will demonstrate competence in five core subjects 
measured against world-class standards. And by the year 2000 our 
children will be the first in science and math. Our adults will be 
literate and able to compete in the work force. And sixth, finally, our 
schools will be safe, disciplined, and drug-free.
    We'll achieve these goals by advancing four transforming ideas at 
the heart of America 2000:
    First, flexibility for teachers and principals, freedom from the web 
of Federal regulations that impose a one-size-fits-all solution to our 
schools;
    Second, a generation of new American schools. Teachers are critical 
to this exciting break-the-mold experiment in what education can be;
    Third, world-class standards and voluntary national exams. Again, 
teachers are leading the way in defining standards, creating curriculum 
frameworks, developing exams to help us raise our sights and measure our 
performance;
    And fourth and finally, parental choice of schools, public, private, 
religious.
    Now, our plan is innovative. It is exciting. It is uniting this 
country. And it will work. Changing our schools is too important to wait 
or to waste a generation. And that's why education is one of the five 
urgent reform challenges that I've been talking about. We know we've got 
to be competitive in a changing world. We can't go on sending our 
children into the working world undereducated and ill-equipped and 
expect the business community to spend billions teaching new workers 
what they should have learned in school. Status quo schools simply will 
not carry us into the next century.
    We set our goals for the year 2000 because we know our economic 
health, our economic survival depend on how we educate ourselves to face 
the challenges a new century will bring. Tom and the thousands of men 
and women like him will help us meet those challenges.
    Teachers know that real excellence demands commitment from everyone 
in every community as we work to create communities where learning can 
happen. It demands that talented men and women give time to become 
tutors and mentors. It demands that businesses, churches and synagogues, 
and civic groups join together to support local schools. It demands that 
every citizen help his community develop a plan of action based on 
America 2000 and help the Nation reach these national education goals. 
Together, we literally will reinvent the American school, community by 
community, neighborhood by neighborhood, all across this country. And at 
the heart of this shining new school will be, as always, the teacher.
    Last week at the Oscars, George Lucas, filmmaker, might have 
captured it best when he thanked the teachers of his childhood. And he 
said, ``All of us are teachers, teachers with very loud voices. But we 
will never match the power of the teacher who is able to whisper in a 
student's ear.''
    And so, Tom, on behalf of all Americans who have had the rare and 
priceless privilege of having a fine teacher whisper in their ear, 
congratulations. You teach the one lesson that matters the most. There's 
no distinction between who you are and what you do. You've woven the 
values of your life into your work. And thank you, sir. And may God 
bless you.
    And now I have something special for you. This apple is the 
traditional symbol of teaching, and crystal represents the clarity of 
vision and commitment that the great teachers possess. And so, on behalf 
of a grateful Nation, an admiring Nation, with great pride in you, sir, 
congratulations. Now, may I hand you this apple.

                    Note: The President spoke at 11:22 a.m. in the Rose 
                        Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Robert Schiller, superintendent of 
                        public instruction for the

[[Page 546]]

                        Michigan Department of Education, and Michael O. 
                        Emlaw, superintendent of Washtenaw Intermediate 
                        School District, MI.