    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 8, 1998]
    [Pages 720-728]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Delaware State Legislature in Dover
    May 8, 1998

        Thank you, Governor. I took good notes: No
    children on a child care waiting list; all poor 4-year-olds in Head
    Start; every classroom wired. I'll be saying that now every time I go to
    another city or another State; I'll be saying, if Delaware can do it,
    why can't you. And I thank you.
        I want to thank the Governor, and Senator
    Sharp, Speaker Spence, Lieutenant Governor Minner,
    the members of the legislature, the judiciary, the State officials who
    are here; former Governors Peterson and
    Tribbitt, and other distinguished
    citizens of this State; Mr. Mayor. I'm
    delighted to be joined today by the Secretary of Defense, who is going with me to Dover Air Base when we finish here
    to thank our air men and women there for their distinguished service,
    and who has also been a leader in education, because the Department of
    Defense runs schools all over the world for American children; by our
    wonderful Secretary of Education, Dick Riley; by Mickey Ibarra, the Director
    of our Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; and others. We are all
    delighted to be here.
        And I'd like to say a special word of appreciation to
    Congressman Castle for coming up here with
    me. He's an old friend of mine. We worked together on welfare reform
    more than a decade ago now. I have been trying to decide, when Mike and
    Tom changed jobs, which one really got the
    promotion. [Laughter]
        I am delighted to be the first President ever to speak here. The
    others did not know what they were missing. I love your capitol
    building. I like the feel of your legislature. I like the size of your
    legislature. [Laughter] I wonder if it would take a constitutional
    amendment to reduce Congress to this size. [Laughter] It's a wonderful
    idea.
        And I like the fact that the first State in the Nation is leading in
    doing the Nation's first business of educating our children. I've come
    here to talk about that work, why it is, in the States and in many
    communities around the country, and must be in Washington, the work of
    both Republicans and Democrats--why it must be a national crusade to
    give our children the world's best education.
        We have a history of putting nation above party when the Nation's
    security and future are at issue. We did it for 50 years, which is why
    the cold war turned out the way it did. The tradition was deeply honored
    by Secretary Cohen, who left a
    distinguished career in the United States Senate as a Republican Senator
    from Maine to join our administration, and he is performing well for the
    American people as Secretary of Defense.
        It is a tradition embodied by your Senators, Bill Roth and Joe Biden, who
    led the recent stunningly successful effort to expand NATO to include
    Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. And you should be very proud of
    both of them.
        And I have seen it, having had the opportunity to work for years now
    with Mike Castle and Tom Carper when they were in both jobs in succession, on welfare
    reform, on child care, on the education of our children. And you can be
    very proud of both of them.
        And Delaware, maybe because it's a small State and maybe because I
    came from a small State and was often ridiculed for it in national
    politics--my experience is that maybe because

    [[Page 721]]

    we're smaller, people learn to treat each other as people. They learn to
    listen to people on opposite sides of the aisle. They learn that they
    don't have all the answers and that everybody's got a valuable
    perspective and that in the end, we all have to get together and do
    something that moves our country or our State or our community forward.
    And for all of that, I am very grateful to the State of Delaware.
        Thomas Jefferson once said of your State that ``Delaware is like a
    diamond, small, but having within it inherent value.'' If he were today
    here giving this speech, he might say, being as he was a modern thinker,
    Delaware is like a silicon chip--[laughter]--small, but having within it
    enormous inherent value; namely, the power to shape the future.
        You have always looked to the future, from the time you did become
    the first State to ratify the Constitution. It was the beginning of many
    firsts: Delaware was the first State to produce a transatlantic iron
    steamship; then there was the first commercial telephone call between an
    airplane and a moving car, 100 years later--some of us would probably
    like it if telephone calls on airplanes and cars were not possible--
    [laughter]--all the way to the remarkable innovations now being dreamed
    up in the DuPont labs.
        All of this is dramatically changing the world. The Chairman of the
    Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, came by the
    White House for one of our periodic meetings a few days ago, and we were
    talking about this incredible economy. And he said, you know, we really
    are living in an economy of ideas. He said there is a measure of a
    nation's output in wealth compared to its physical output, the literal
    physical density of all the goods that are produced. He said the measure
    is more skewed now than ever before; there is hardly any increase in the
    mass of what we're producing, but the wealth of what we're producing is
    exploding. Why? Because ideas are driving the increase in the wealth of
    the Nation.
        Today we learned that our unemployment rate has dropped to 4.3
    percent, the lowest since 1970. That is particularly impressive in light
    of the fact that inflation now is the lowest in more than 30 years;
    homeownership is at an all-time high; the welfare rolls are the lowest
    in 27 years; the crime rate is the lowest in 24 years.
        Our social fabric is mending. We saw that teen pregnancy had had a
    substantial drop for the second year in a row, something I know that the
    Governor has been passionately committed to. Our leadership in the world
    is still unrivaled, although we seem sometimes to be in some doubt about
    it here at home.
        In Delaware, your unemployment is all the way down to 3.4 percent.
    You've had tens of thousands of new jobs, twice the rate of new business
    growth as 5 years ago.
        The thing I would like to say about all this is, no one can claim
    full responsibility for it, there was not a totally coordinated
    strategy, but it did not happen by accident. America has been on the
    same page, from our strategy in Washington to balance the budget, invest
    in our people, and expand trade, to the entrepreneurs, to the scientists
    and technicians, to the teachers in our schools and the people who run
    our business and the folks who work in our factories. We have been on
    the same page. Good things don't happen by accident, even when
    millions--even hundreds of millions of people are responsible.
        And we must be on the same page when it comes to education. Before I
    get into what I want to say about education, I want to make a point I
    tried to make in the State of the Union. I've had a lot of people--
    people who are primarily political people, good people but people who
    normally think about things in political terms--say to me, ``Well, you
    know, why don't you just relax and start playing golf three times a
    week? I mean, you've got low unemployment, low inflation; people are
    suspicious of Government; why don't--just don't do much and everybody
    will be happy.''
        There is an answer to that. And the answer is that that might be a
    decent prescription for a static time, but in a dynamic time where
    things are changing very rapidly, the fact that things are good in the
    moment does not guarantee they will be good 5 months or 5 years from
    now, because they're changing. So you have to keep working to stay ahead
    of the curve. And those of us in public life have to work no less than
    entrepreneurs do. If you go to Silicon Valley, you don't see anybody out
    there sort of laying down on the job just because the stock prices are
    high, because they know how dynamic the world is.
        And there is a second answer, which is that we still have some very
    profound challenges that, if left unmet, will come back to haunt

    [[Page 722]]

    us in the 21st century. What are they? I can only tell you what I think
    they are.
        I think, first of all, in Washington we have to reform our major
    programs of social cohesion, Social Security and Medicare, for the needs
    of the 21st century and for the reality that the baby boomers are going
    to retire, and when they do, there will only be about two people working
    for every one person drawing Social Security. The present systems are
    unsustainable as they are. We have to change them, consistent with our
    values and the real facts.
        Two, we have to prove that you can grow the economy without
    destroying the environment. And we have to convince people in developing
    countries that they can and to embrace new technologies to do that. Just
    a few days ago, I was out in California at a low-income/moderate-income
    housing development which is cutting by 40 percent the energy usage on
    low-income housing, using solar panels that are not now those big, heavy
    things you've seen on the roof but that look just like ordinary
    shingles, using windows that keep over half the heat in in the
    wintertime and over half the heat out in the summertime and still let
    more light in, and other basic things like that. We have to prove that
    we can make environmental preservation and economic growth go hand in
    hand.
        The third thing we've got to do is to bring the spark of enterprise
    to poor inner-city communities and rural communities, including Native
    American ones, that haven't felt it.
        The fourth thing we have to do is to prove that we can live together
    as one America in an increasingly diverse society.
        The fifth thing we have to do, I would argue, is to prove that we
    can lead the world after the cold war in a consistent, firm way toward
    peace and prosperity and freedom and democracy.
        But none of that will matter if we don't save our children. And
    that's what I want to talk about today--only one aspect of it, but in
    some ways the most important one. And Delaware, again, is leading the
    Nation. So I may be preaching to the choir, but that's not all bad. I'll
    polish the sermon and see if I do better in other places.
        The condition of education in America and the importance of it and
    the impact it's going to have on all our futures, as well as all our
    children, demands action from all of us, in Washington, in State
    capitals, in communities all across the country. Many of our greatest
    challenges don't fall under the authority of Washington, nor should
    they. I have supported giving States more authority in the area of
    welfare reform and in many other areas. Secretary Riley has cut by two-thirds the burden of regulations coming out
    of Federal education aid. We started two new programs, Goals 2000 and
    School-to-Work, without a single new Federal regulation.
        The Federal Government can't do all this. Some of our major
    challenges don't even fall primarily under State government, nor should
    they. The power and the responsibility of America to meet the challenges
    of the 21st century rests with all levels of government and with all
    sectors of society--sometimes more with the private sector; sometimes
    more with its most fundamental unit, the American family. And that is as
    it should be.
        But just because responsibility and power are dispersed doesn't mean
    that we don't all have to ask ourselves, what power do we have to have a
    positive impact? What is our responsibility? And then we have to move,
    because a revolution in education will not occur by accident any more
    than the revolution in the American economy has occurred by accident,
    even though there will be millions of people working on it and we may
    not all be calling each other on the phone every day.
        Yesterday I talked to mayors from all over the country; I received
    their report on what they think should be done. Their agenda is very
    much like yours and very much like mine.
        I suppose that I've spent more time on education than any other
    thing in my 20 years and more in public life now. Nearly 10 years ago,
    when I was a Governor of my State, I stayed up almost all night down at
    the University of Virginia at President Bush's Education Summit, working
    with Republican Governors to write goals for education for the year
    2000. It was clear then, it was clear way back in 1983 when the ``Nation
    At Risk'' report was issued, and it is certainly clear today that if we
    are going to prepare our children for the 21st century, we cannot hope
    to do it unless we can say with a straight face, ``We are giving them
    the best education in the world, not just a few of them but all of
    them.''
        And we can all say, ``Well, we can't be responsible for every
    teacher. We can't be responsible for every principal. We can't be
    responsible for every home. We can't be responsible for every

    [[Page 723]]

    unmotivated child.'' That's all true, but we can play the odds.
    Secretary Cohen runs, arguably, the most
    effective organization in the entire United States. Not every soldier,
    not every airman, not every marine, not every sailor is a stunning
    success, but they've got a pretty good system. And it didn't happen by
    accident. And we should take that as our responsibility.
        It seems to me the keys are high expectations, high standards, and
    high performance, fueled by more opportunity, more accountability, and
    more choice. Secretary Riley and I have
    worked at this for more than 5 years. In one area, we have been
    especially successful and widely supported across partisan lines and in
    States and local communities. We've opened the doors to higher education
    wider than ever before.
        The Balanced Budget Act I signed last year represented the greatest
    expansion of college opportunity since the GI bill was passed 50 years
    ago, with college tuition tax credits, including the $1500-a-year HOPE
    scholarship for the first 2 years of college, education IRA's, expanded
    Pell grants, deductibility of interest on student loans, 300,000 more
    work-study slots, another 100,000 young people earning education credits
    by serving in the national service program, AmeriCorps, and lifetime
    learning credits for adults who have to go back to school.
        All of these things together mean that any American who is willing
    to study and work hard can get an education in college, and that is very
    important. It will change the face and the future of America. We learned
    in the 1990 census that Americans--younger American workers who were
    high school dropouts, high school graduates, or who had less than 2
    years of post-high-school education were likely to get jobs where their
    incomes went down over time, compared to inflation. Those that had at
    least 2 years of post-high-school training were likely to get and keep
    jobs where their incomes went up. So that was fundamentally important,
    and we can all be proud of it. And many States have done more to try to
    give scholarships and make college more affordable, and that's
    important.
        The Senate just this week--and I want to compliment them--passed 91
    to 7 what I have called the ``GI bill'' for workers. It basically
    consolidates this incredible tangle of Federal training programs into a
    skills grant, so that if a person is unemployed or underemployed and
    eligible, you just get basically the skills grant and then you decide
    where to take it. Since nearly every American lives within driving
    distance of a community college or some other very efficient
    institution, we no longer need the Federal Government micromanaging the
    definition of all these training programs, and we don't need anybody in
    the way of it.
        Now, we have some provision, particularly that the Governors wanted
    who live in rural areas--who have lots of people in rural areas that may
    not have readily available services, but this is very important. And
    we've got to resolve the differences now in the House and the Senate
    bill and pass it. This is a huge thing. And the Congress can be proud of
    it, and the country can be proud of it.
        But with all that said and done, I don't think there is a person
    here who would dispute the following two statements: We have the best
    system of higher education in the world; we do not have the best system
    of elementary and secondary education in the world. You don't have to
    criticize your favorite teacher. You can honor the PTA leaders and the
    school board members. No one believes it's the best in the world. And
    until it is, we can't rest. That is the bottom line.
        The budget that I have presented, which is a balanced budget, has
    the biggest commitment in history from the Federal Government to K-
    through-12 education. But we all know that's less than 10 percent of the
    total. Still, I think it's important that the National Government focus
    on results, because things don't happen by accident. I think we should
    focus on high standards, real accountability, more choice, and finally
    I'd like to say a word about safe schools, because that is a problem in
    some parts of our country.
        First, there's no substitute for standards. I want to compliment
    Delaware for what you're doing. This week, 3d, 5th, 8th, and 10th
    graders all over the State are participating in your new assessment
    process to see how well they're doing in reading, writing, and math. And
    you're going to add other subjects, the Governor told me, in the next
    couple of years. You also have done something that may give us a key to
    how to solve the national issue, which is that about a quarter of your
    exam questions are apparently taken from the National Assessment of
    Education Progress, which is a national test most States participate in,
    but by definition it's only given to a representative sample of
    students,

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    not all students. I compliment you on that. I think that is a brilliant
    reform.
        And I think it's important that we find a way to have national
    standards and exams at least in the basics. It is very important.
    Secretary Riley and I were talking on the
    way out; he was talking about South Carolina still having quite an old
    State test. We had some old State tests when I was Governor of Arkansas.
    Our kids just knocked the top off of them, the same test we'd been
    giving for years. And then when we took a national test that was
    current, we didn't do so well. So without in any way undermining local
    control of the schools or the constitutional responsibility of the
    States for education, we need to have a set of national standards and an
    accountability system which tells us all honestly how we're doing.
        We're working hard now with an independent nonpartisan board--the
    acronym known to all the education experts in the audience is the NAGB
    Board. We've got Republicans and Democrats on the board and people I
    don't even have any idea what their political affiliation is, all of
    whom are simply committed to educational excellence. And we want to find
    ways to coordinate with the States and the State tests to avoid
    unnecessary costs and burdens. You may have found a way to do it in
    Delaware, by having a test that is both rooted in your State standards
    and encompassing national questions. But it's a very good start.
        The second thing we have to do--and I understand the Governor said
    you were debating that--that may be tougher is figure out what the
    accountability system is. Now, a lot of these questions should
    definitely be decided by people at the State and the local level. But
    let me, first of all, say that no test is worth a flip unless there is
    some consequences, not just negative ones but positive, not just what
    you do to the students but what the rest of us have to do for the
    education system based on the consequences of the test.
        We have to start by demanding accountability from the students, and
    I strongly believe that we should end the practice of so-called social
    promotion everywhere in the country. For many years there was a current
    theory in America that, well, it hurt a child's self-esteem too much to
    be held back and the child could maybe pick it up next year. And besides
    that, children do learn at different paces. That is absolutely true,
    especially in the early years, the dramatically different learning
    patterns of children in the early years.
        Then sooner or later, somehow, parents figured out that one reason
    kids dropped out of school in the 9th or 10th grade is because the
    material was going over their heads. It didn't mean anything to them, so
    why should they sit around, because they weren't able to do the work.
    And then even the kids figured out that being 20 years old and not being
    able to fill out an employment application and not being able to even
    read your high school diploma was far more destructive of self-esteem
    than spending another year in some grade along the way.
        Then, school districts began to figure out that they didn't
    necessarily have to hold people back if they had proper after-school
    help and a little help in the summer, where a lot of kids having
    learning problems forget huge chunks of what they learned the year
    before.
        So we're now kind of coming to grips with this. I have often talked
    about the Chicago system; it probably had the most widely condemned
    school system in the country because they had a strike every year
    whether they needed it or not, for one thing, and because they weren't
    producing results. Now, the Chicago summer school system--they've ended
    social promotion. You have to go to summer school if you fail the test
    and you want to go on to the next grade. Their summer school is the
    fifth biggest school district in America--the summer school. They have
    thousands of children going to school after school so many hours that
    thousands of them actually take three hot meals a day in the schools, in
    an inner-city environment where they're safe, they're not getting in
    trouble, and nobody's hurting them.
        Now, if a place that has those kinds of challenges can take them on,
    every place in America can take them on. I've asked Congress to pass
    what we call education opportunity zone legislation, that will basically
    give extra resources to schools in poor communities if they will insist
    on high standards in social promotion, demand performance from students
    and teachers, and actually support the kids that are in trouble and give
    them the extra help they need. I hope Congress will pass it.
        Again, I say, in many ways we're following your lead. And I urge you
    to have a big vigorous debate on this--what are the consequences of this
    exam. And I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do, but I can make two
    observations

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    based on 20 years of working, and hours and hours and hours spent in
    classrooms listening to teachers and watching things unfold.
        One is, nobody will take your system seriously unless there are
    consequences. Two is, if there are consequences, whatever you decide
    they are, they cannot be exclusively negative ones; they must also be
    positive, because you have to believe that--in order to believe in
    democracy, you have to believe that almost everybody can learn almost
    everything they need to know to make this country run right, which means
    almost everybody in the world can succeed in school. And if they're not,
    it's probably not entirely their fault. So there should be consequences;
    some of them should be negative. But there must be positive ones as
    well. And I wish you well, and I can assure you the rest of us are going
    to be watching.
        The next thing I think we have to do is to develop and demand
    accountability and performance from teachers but also support them. I
    had the great pleasure this week--or last week--of hosting the Teachers
    of the Year at the White House. And that's one of the happiest days of
    the year. You'll never find 50 more upbeat people than the teachers that
    are selected Teachers of the Year. And you talk to these people, and you
    can't imagine that there's ever been a problem in American education.
        The man who was named National Teacher of the Year is a teacher from Virginia who teaches history and
    social studies and who makes his kids role-play. So they play ancient
    Athenians and Spartans debating the Greek wars. They play Jefferson and
    Adams debating each other about fundamental questions of what the real
    notion of the Union that we all belong to is. I mean, it was
    exhilarating.
        Those are the kind of teachers that we wish all our children had all
    the time. And I think we need to do more to reward teachers who strive
    for excellence. One of the things that we can do at the national level
    that I hope you will support, that Tom and Mike's former colleague
    Governor Jim Hunt has worked his whole
    career on, is to support the master teacher program, the National Board
    for Professional Teacher Certification. It's a completely voluntary
    thing which qualifies teachers based on, number one, their complete
    academic preparation for the course they're teaching, and number two,
    their success in teaching, and thirdly, I might add, their ability to
    help other teachers improve their teaching skills.
        Now, today there are only a few hundred master teachers in America.
    My balanced budget contains enough funds to certify 100,000 master
    teachers. When we get one of these teachers in every school building in
    America--every school building in America--going to the teachers'
    lounge, going to the faculty meetings, talking to the principals, it
    will change the culture of education in America. Every other profession
    in the country, just about, has national board certification. And
    believe me, this is a good thing that is a worthy investment.
        Finally, let me say, I believe that if teachers don't measure up
    after getting all the support and help they need, there ought to be a
    swift process, fair but swift--it should not be endless--to resolve the
    matter in a satisfactory way. Because you're not doing anybody any
    favors--no one--fundamentally, nobody is happy doing something they're
    not good at. You can never make me believe anybody is really happy when
    they know deep down inside they're not doing the job. So there has to be
    some system that is perfectly fair to every teacher but doesn't take
    from now to kingdom come to resolve the matter in a way that allows the
    education system to go forward.
        Now, I also think as we demand responsibility for results from the
    schools, we have to give the tools they need to the students and the
    teachers. I've said that, and I will say it again. Let me just mention
    one or two things. First, smaller class sizes. Children in some classes
    in America are in classes that are so big and crowded, there is no way
    any teacher--I don't care how good he or she is--can deal with all the
    challenges that are presented, where classes are so big where the
    students are barely known by name to the teacher, much less the
    particular circumstances of their lives. Given the fact that so many
    kids have so many troubles today, it's very, very important. In
    classrooms like this, teachers are often forced to teach to the middle,
    leaving both the best kids and the most troubled kids behind.
        The Department of Education and Secretary Riley today are releasing a report on class size and learning,
    basically reaffirming what Hillary and I have long believed. We adopted
    very rigorous class sizes for our State 15 years ago. When class sizes
    go down enough, learning goes up--that's what the report shows--
    especially in

    [[Page 726]]

    the early years. And when children come from disadvantaged backgrounds,
    small classes can make an even greater difference.
        Let me just give you a few examples from the study. In Tennessee,
    test scores were consistently higher among students that were in classes
    of fewer than 20 students. These children kept the edge even when they
    moved into larger classes in their later years of schooling. From
    Wisconsin, North Carolina, and classrooms across the country, other
    studies confirm the same findings.
        Governor Carper and many of you here today
    are trying to reduce class size. I just want to encourage you and tell
    you that I have presented to the Congress a plan to do the same thing,
    which would not in any way conflict with what you're doing, but will
    enable you to get some funds to support it.
        Today I'm sending legislation to Congress cosponsored by
    Senators Murray and Kennedy and Congressman Clay that
    will make class size reduction a national goal and, if enacted, would
    help school districts to hire another 100,000 teachers, which is about
    the number necessary, properly distributed across the country, to give
    us average class size of 18 in the first 3 grades. It would also require
    the new teachers to pass competency exams to make sure they have the
    training and preparation they need. Many States now require this anyway.
        The second thing I'd like to say is, Delaware may be the only State
    now where every classroom is wired, but every classroom should be wired.
    You remember, I'm sure, a few years ago, the Vice President and I went to San Francisco and got with a lot of
    people from the big computer companies and said that we wanted to try to
    wire every classroom and library by the year 2000. And we are making
    great headway. We've got more than twice as many classrooms and
    libraries wired today as we did just 3\1/2\ years ago when we did that.
    We have in the budget now funds to continue this urgent national
    priority. I hope that will pass.
        But finally, let me say, believe it or not, we've got--an enormous
    percentage of the school buildings in this country are ill-equipped to
    take the wiring because they're so old. We have cities in this country
    with average school buildings--average school buildings--over 65 years
    old and in terrible shape. I was in a small, growing district in Florida
    the other day where there were not 1, not 5 but 17 trailers outside the
    main school building there for the kids.
        Now, when you come to work here every day in this capitol, it makes
    you feel good, doesn't it? It's a beautiful building, and you've
    obviously put a lot of funds into restoring it. And it makes you feel
    good; it says you're important. It matters to be a member of the
    Delaware Legislature. One of the ways you know without anybody telling
    you is, you come into this nice building. And it's important. And if
    grownups are affected by their surroundings, children are even more so.
        What does it say to an inner-city kid from a poor family if they go
    to a school building every day and one of the whole floors is closed for
    want of repair? What does it say about how important those children are
    if every day they walk through the front door and they look up and see
    three or four broken windows? What does it say if the blackboard is only
    half there because it's been cracked? What about the kids in the crowded
    school districts? You know, the first year or two, if you show up and
    there are a lot of housetrailers, it's kind of exciting because it means
    you've got a growing district and a lot of stuff going on. After 5 or 6
    years, it means things aren't getting better. It's a very different
    message. And the important thing is not whether the buildings are old or
    not, it is whether they are safe, clean, light, whether they send the
    message that this is a place where learning can occur and this is a
    place where children are important.
        Now, I think education is a part of the national infrastructure.
    That's why I wanted the Federal Government to help places who need it
    wire all the classrooms and libraries. And I have proposed for the first
    time that we help with the infrastructure needs of school districts--
    again, not in any way that would conflict with what any State or local
    school district is doing but, instead, to reinforce it.
        This budget contains funds that would help us to modernize 5,000
    schools and build 1,000 new ones. It would be a very good start on the
    incredible infrastructure needs of America's schools. And for people who
    say it doesn't matter, just think how you feel when you come through
    these doors every day. It does matter, and I hope we can pass it.
        The third thing I'd like to emphasize very briefly is that we need
    greater choice in our schools. We do need more competition. You

    [[Page 727]]

    mentioned the Charter School of Wilmington, Governor, and other charter
    schools in your State. When I was elected President in 1992, there was
    only one charter school in the entire country, public schools that
    tailor their programs to meet the needs and demands of their customers,
    the students and their parents. Since then, I've done everything I could
    to support them.
        Today, there are 800 charter schools; 32 of our 50 States authorize
    them. Just last week in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, California
    voted in the legislature to create another 100 charter schools a year in
    our largest State. That's great, great news--100 a year. They had a 150
    cap, I think, on the whole State. They blew off the cap and said, ``This
    is working''--and I've been in some of them out there, they are
    working--``We want 100 a year.''
        Now, my goal is to have 3,000 by the year 2000 in the whole country,
    and I have presented a budget to Congress which would give communities
    around the country any start-up funds they need to do this. It's not so
    easy to do if you've never thought about it and never done the work and
    if you come from a place with limited resources. So I did present some
    money in the budget to do that. But I hope you will support that.
        Delaware has been at the forefront of the charter school movement.
    It is a good, good thing to do, along with having statewide public
    school choice plans. And I applaud you for yours.
        The fourth thing I'd like to talk just a little about is school
    safety. You know, it's pretty hard to learn if you feel insecure. One of
    the main reasons that I supported the school uniform movement, not as a
    mandatory thing but where people needed it, was that I thought it would
    make our schools safer. And I've been around the country and seen a lot
    of schools that had terrible discipline problems. And we're worried
    about the safety of the kids going to and from school. And in every case
    where they had a terrible problem and adopted a uniform policy, it made
    a big difference. We want to do more to ensure our children's safety. We
    want to make sure that our children are exposed to teachers and team
    leaders, not drug dealers and gang leaders.
        There are a lot of things we can do. Let me just mention one thing.
    We are trying in this budget to give States and communities more funds
    to support even wider and more extensive after-school programs, not only
    because they're important educationally--which they are, and that's
    their primary mission--but because almost all kids get in trouble after
    school lets out and before the folks get home from work. A huge
    percentage of juvenile crime is committed between 3 and 6 or 7 at night.
    And if we can have extensive after-school programs, we can make our
    children safer and our schools safer. Let me also--even one hand is good
    on that. [Laughter]
        Today the Department of Education is releasing a report which also
    shows we're doing a better job as a country in detecting guns in the
    schools. That's really good--that's the good news. The bad news is there
    are a lot of guns in the schools and other weapons. In 1997 more than
    6,000 students were expelled for bringing firearms to school. But I
    think that means we must continue and bear down on this policy of zero
    tolerance for guns in our schools.
        And again, it works to prevent problems. The superintendent of the
    Alexandria, Virginia, schools--which, by the way, is now the most
    diverse school district in America; Fairfax County has kids from 180
    different racial and ethnic groups, speaking over 100 native languages.
    But because they have a rigorous zero tolerance program, they have cut
    suspendable offenses over the past couple of years by more than 40
    percent. It works. And we can have those results all over the country.
        But let me say, going back to an issue you're debating,
    Secretary Riley asked all these school
    security experts what they thought we could do as a people, not just the
    Federal Government, to make the schools safer. And they said,
    interestingly enough, one of the most important things we could do is to
    create the smallest possible classes in the early grades, because the
    kids with problems would be found by the teachers. And then the teachers
    and the families and the counselors could work together to try to
    prevent these kids from getting in trouble in the first place. I thought
    it was a stunning thing, amazing.
        So Delaware is leading the Nation, and the Nation must follow. And
    we must, Republicans and Democrats together, all Americans, make a
    commitment to a revolution in standards and accountability, in choice
    and safety, based on high expectations, accountability, and performance.
    It will take all of our commitment to do

    [[Page 728]]

    the job, but the challenge must be met because America can't become what
    it ought to be if we don't.
        We can do this. This is not rocket science. This is an affair of the
    mind which most of us can comprehend. Fundamentally, it is also an
    affair of the heart. We know--we know--that the best days of this
    country are still ahead. You may be the oldest State, but you still want
    to have the longest future. And the only way we can do it is with this.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:50 p.m. in the Senate Chamber. In his
    remarks, he referred to Gov. Tom Carper and Lt. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner of
    Delaware; President Pro Tempore Thomas B. Sharp, Delaware State Senate;
    Speaker Terry R. Spence, Delaware State House of Representatives;
    Russell W. Peterson and Sherman W. Tribbitt, former Delaware Governors;
    Mayor James L. Hutchinson of Dover; Philip Bigler, 1998 National Teacher
    of the Year; and Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr., of North Carolina.