[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 9, 1992]
[Pages 1510-1514]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Norristown, Pennsylvania
September 9, 1992

    Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Holton. May I congratulate our 
superintendent for his leadership on America 2000 and on the job he's 
doing for the whole school system in this area. Good morning to 
everybody. It's great to be back in Pennsylvania on this first day of 
school. Any excuse to get out of class, I know, and here you all are. 
Thanks for greeting me. May I salute the man you heard from a minute 
ago, Secretary Alexander, Lamar Alexander. He's come to Washington after 
great experience in education and in government, and leading us all with 
this marvelous America 2000

[[Page 1511]]

program. We owe him a great vote of thanks, and I'm very pleased to have 
him with us.
    Another old friend is with us today, the Congressman from this 
district, Larry Coughlin, who is leaving the Congress after marvelous 
service. But he came in with us. Larry, do you want to stand up there?
    May I thank all involved with this visit, particularly Principal 
Barry Spencer, who has done a great job on all the arrangements and in 
making these facilities available. Josh Lippy, the president of the 
student council, I salute him as a student leader. I should add, welcome 
back to school. I hope you all had a great summer. And out here in the 
audience are not just students but members of the chamber of commerce, 
Payson Burt and others that are taking a leadership role. The class of 
2000, I salute them, all of you, these participants who got up and read 
those education goals. I thought they did a first-class job; not a 
nervous one in the bunch. And I salute all the volunteers, the 
volunteers that make it happen as we try to reform education. I'll get 
to the teachers in a minute.
    I'm told that many of you were nervous this week, tensions rising 
about the big event, wondering how you'll handle all the attention. 
Well, I'm here to put your fears at rest. I know you'll do great against 
North Penn Friday night.
    You know, I want to just give a serious talk this morning. You know, 
our world has been through a lot of change in the past few years. When 
my kids were the age of the kids in this room today, they used to 
practice nuclear disaster drills. The alarms would go off, and they 
would all crawl under the desks and wait. This happened all across the 
country, all across many countries. That doesn't happen anymore. As a 
parent and as a grandparent, I am glad that American kids can grow up in 
the sunshine of peace. We ought to be grateful for that as a nation.
    But now that the cold war is over, the challenge before our Nation 
is to win the peace, to guarantee that America in the 21st century will 
be not just a military superpower but also an export superpower, an 
economic superpower. That's just a fancy way of saying that when you 
grow up, you deserve the chance to have a good job and live a better 
life than your parents and grandparents. You should live the American 
dream.
    That's why I'm here this morning, to talk about how we can build 
what you need and deserve, the very best schools in the entire world.
    Now, I admit, education is not usually found on the front page of 
the newspaper or at the top of the evening news, but it is the solution 
for most of what you do see there. As a President and as a grandparent, 
my loyalty lies with young people, kids like these fifth graders who did 
such a fantastic job laying out these national education goals this 
morning. In the year 2000, these fifth graders will graduate from high 
school. They will have changed so much, we will barely be able to 
recognize them. I want the schools from which they graduate to have 
changed so much, that we won't be able to recognize them either.
    Four years ago, I said I wanted to lead a revolution in American 
education. And today, I come before you to report: The revolution is 
underway.
    As President, my job is to set the agenda and mobilize the Nation. 
I'm proud that the goals the students read this morning are the very 
first education goals in our Nation's history. They were created by all 
the Governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, and are being embraced 
by parents, by teachers, by business and community leaders in town after 
town, city after city, all across America. Politics is being laid aside. 
A revolution in education is taking place. If he were here today, I'd 
shake his hand and salute the Governor of this State, who is holding out 
his hand to all who want to see America 2000 succeed. He's been a real 
leader, and we are grateful to him for that, Governor Casey.
    I have come to Norristown because you accepted my challenge to 
reinvent American schools. And again, I salute the principal and the 
superintendent. Norristown is in the lead, but you're not alone. Today, 
1,700 communities in every single State have adopted the vision of what 
we call America 2000. Seventeen hundred communities have drawn lines in 
the sand of the

[[Page 1512]]

future that read, our children must be number one.
    The Federal Government should do more than offer congratulations, 
and we are matching our words with action as we promised.
    You've heard about our first goal, making sure every student arrives 
at school ready to learn. For the first time, every eligible 4-year-old 
who wants a Head Start on kindergarten can get one. We have asked for 
record increases in investment for math and science education, to help 
train teachers. That is consistent with goal number four that was read 
here, math and science excellence. And I bet you were proud to watch the 
Olympics and see Jordan and Ewing and Malone slam-dunk the opposition. 
By the year 2000, I want you, our young people, to be able to slam-dunk 
the rest of the world in math and science. And we can do it.
    Goal number five is to guarantee a skilled, literate work force. My 
opponent accuses me of cutting education spending. That's just flat 
wrong. I have proposed record increases in education funding, and during 
my 4 years, Federal investments in education have increased at a more 
rapid rate than State and local funding.
    But if you think that money alone will reinvent our schools, think 
again. As a nation, only Switzerland, only Switzerland spends more per 
student on elementary and secondary education. This doesn't mean we 
should not make new investments; it means we cannot spend our money on 
the old way of doing things.
    Our schools were basically designed for another age, 100 years ago: 
a world of Model T cars, in which toasters and flashlights were a big 
deal; a world in which most clothes were made at home. Imagine, a world 
without the King of Prussia Mall! [Laughter] Hard to believe.
    But today, if you apply for a summer job in a car factory, they'll 
ask you if you can handle mathematics, estimation, and spatial 
relations, things your mom and dad just didn't have to know. And other 
things have changed. It's tougher being a parent, tougher being a 
teacher, and my grandkids tell me it's pretty tough being a kid these 
days. The world has changed, and so must our schools.
    You don't have to look far for new ideas. Teachers, school board 
members, parents, business leaders, all are fountains of innovation. 
They represent the true genius of America, and we must encourage them. 
Right now, as we gather today, America is responding to this charge. 
Really, four revolutions are underway.
    First, we are in the process of creating hundreds of what we call 
break-the-mold schools, schools that reject the status quo; for example, 
a school where students attend all year round. Now, I challenged America 
to come up with ideas for these schools, and Norristown was one of 700 
communities that responded. I applaud you for your energy. I applaud you 
for your creativity.
    Revolution number two has to do with what we teach in our schools. 
We must demand more of you, so that you can compete in the world 
economy. Your math teachers are already relying on new, world-class 
standards, and you are learning more than your older brothers and 
sisters. By the time today's fifth graders enter high school, we will 
have new standards in science, history, English, geography, civics, and 
the arts. And to support these standards, we will have a national 
examination system, and I call it the American achievement tests, so 
that parents can know how our kids and our schools are doing.
    The third revolution involves a very important person, your teacher. 
If I can ask a favor, since this is the first day of school, I assume 
none of you have received any tests back yet. So let's take advantage of 
the good feeling and say thanks to all the teachers in this room. They 
are making a difference in your life, and we should applaud them. I'd 
like to ask them to stand up, all the teachers here. [Applause] Thank 
you all very much.
    Let me make this point to the students: When your teachers chose 
their career, they did it because they love learning and they love 
helping you to live up to your potential. They certainly didn't do it 
for self-gain. They did it to help someone else.
    Not long ago, as part of my America 2000 effort, I met with some 
teachers up in Lehigh Valley, and I asked them what was

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their biggest problem. I thought they might talk about a lack of money 
or discipline or the drug problem. But they instead talked about all the 
paperwork and regulations, about getting State government off their 
back.
    I cannot do much about Harrisburg, but this week Congress will 
consider my legislation to give teachers more flexibility in using 
Federal funds, as long as they achieve results. Congress wants to give 
flexibility to just 300 schools. I want to give it to all 110,000 
schools. We've got to relieve these teachers of federally mandated 
paperwork requirements. I trust the teachers, not the Government, to do 
what's right for our students.
    There's one final revolution underway. I think every parent should 
have the right to choose the school they want for their children.
    Not long ago, I was talking with a Milwaukee parent--she and her kid 
came to the Roosevelt Room right outside of the Oval Office in the White 
House--her name, Janette Williams. She told me her son Javon went to a 
crowded school; teachers couldn't pay attention to him. He was so bored, 
he'd just go home halfway through the day. Then Milwaukee gave some 
parents the right to choose new schools for their kids. And today, this 
kid Javon is doing his homework, attending all his classes, even helping 
clean up around the classroom.
    I want to hear more stories like that. My ``GI bill'' for kids would 
give thousand-dollar scholarships to children of middle- and low-income 
families that they can use to spend on any school of their choice. Most 
parents would choose public schools, but every parent should be able to 
choose any school, public, private, or religious. Right here in 
Norristown, almost 6,000 kids, about two-thirds of the school 
population, would be eligible for this thousand-dollar scholarship. 
Norristown would receive another $6 million in new Federal funds, not 
controlled by bureaucrats but parents and teachers. When it comes to 
choosing schools, I trust parents, not the Government, to do the right 
thing.
    So these are the four revolutions in American education: break-the-
mold schools, new standards, getting Government off the teachers' backs, 
and giving parents real choice. Together these revolutions will change 
our schools. When these fifth graders come back to visit Miss Ritter and 
Mrs. Bieler in 8 years from now, they will marvel at how small the desks 
are and how they have to stoop way over to use the water fountain. But 
as they look and listen to the school around them, they will say, 
``Everything else has changed.''
    Now, as some of you may have heard, there's an election in about 55 
days. So before I leave you this morning, I want to take just a moment 
and contrast my education vision with the opponent's. I want to be fair. 
When I convened the national education summit--I mentioned it earlier in 
this speech about--with the Governors present, most of the Governors 
attended. Governor Clinton's role was constructive. He helped to set 
these national education goals, and I commend him for that.
    However, the facts tell the story about his own record. In 1980, 
Arkansas ranked 47th in the percentage of adults with high school 
diplomas, now 48th. Today, they're dead last in the percentage of adults 
with college degrees.
    But that's not the real issue. The real issue is what kind of 
education President would my opponent be. And in this campaign, Governor 
Clinton has spent a lot of time courting the education establishment, 
teachers unions' leaders and the liberal Congress. These people fear 
change. Look at the education before Congress today. They really don't 
want to spend more money on education. They want to spend it on the same 
old system. I wish fixing our schools was that easy; it is not.
    A President's job is to set a path and insist that the Nation sticks 
to it. But Governor Clinton is in with the crowd who say no to break-
the-mold schools, no to higher standards, no to less regulation, and no 
to my ``GI bill'' for kids. Here's the difference between me and my 
opponent: He has told the education establishment what they want to 
hear. And I will continue to tell them what America needs to hear.
    You hear a lot of talk about change in this election. But 
ultimately, change isn't what you say; it is what you do. With your help

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and the help of millions of other Americans, we have set the forces in 
motion to literally revolutionize the way we prepare our young people. 
And I hope you will give me the opportunity to finish that revolution.
    To the parents, teachers, community leaders, and students 
participating in Norristown 2000, I say thank you. You are writing a 
better chapter in the history of America's next generation.
    Thanks for listening. And may God bless each and every one of you, 
the State of Pennsylvania, and the United States of America. Thank you 
very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at noon at Norristown High 
                        School. In his remarks, he referred to James N. 
                        Holton, superintendent, Norristown Area School 
                        District; Barry Spencer, principal, Norristown 
                        High School; and Payson Burt, president, Central 
                        Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.