    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [March 16, 1998]
    [Pages 378-380]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Opening Remarks at a Roundtable Discussion on Education and an Exchange
    With Reporters in Silver Spring, Maryland
    March 16, 1998

        The President. First of all, let me welcome you all here. Let me
    thank you for coming. Many have made an extraordinary effort to come
    from a long way away, and I thank you so much for that. I want to make
    some brief opening remarks and ask Secretary Riley and Mr. Schmidt
    to make some remarks, and then we'll

    [[Page 379]]

    just begin the roundtable. And I want to hear from everyone before we
    go.
        Earlier this month, our country received a wakeup call. Our high
    school seniors ranked near the bottom in math and science achievement
    when compared with their peers around the world, according to the TIMSS
    test results. This must be a call to action for all of us. That's why
    I've asked some of America's top educators, advocates, political and
    business leaders here today, to mobilize our schools to raise standards,
    demand accountability, and specifically, to strengthen math and science
    education and performance all across America.
        A little over 40 years ago--a lot of us are old enough to remember
    when America got another wakeup call--when the Soviets had just launched
    Sputnik and beat us into space. Then President Eisenhower said, if we
    were going to conquer the heavens, we had to strengthen math and science
    education here on Earth. Because we answered the call, in the years
    since, we have landed on the Moon, roved the surface of Mars, launched
    countless satellites that have revolutionized the way we live, work, and
    play here on Earth, and we're preparing to put the international space
    station into work.
        The young people Eisenhower inspired are now fueling America's new
    economy. They work at NASA, at NIH, in high-tech labs in Silicon Valley,
    in Wall Street boardrooms, in classrooms all across our Nation. Now we
    have to strengthen math and science education for a new generation of
    Americans in the 21st century. We know that for our time we need a
    revolution in high standards, accountability, and rising expectations.
    We know the revolution works. A report released just today by the
    University of Minnesota has found that charter schools are meeting and
    sometimes exceeding their promises to raise academic achievement. Now we
    have to spread these lessons throughout the educational system.
        In our balanced budget, I proposed a comprehensive strategy to help
    make our schools the best in the world: to have high national standards
    of academic achievement, national tests in fourth grade reading and
    eighth grade math, strengthening math instruction in middle school,
    providing smaller classes in the early grades so that teachers can give
    students the attention they deserve, working to hire more well-prepared
    and nationally certified teachers, modernizing our schools for the 21st
    century, supporting more charter schools, encouraging public school
    choice, ending social promotion, demanding greater accountability from
    students and teachers, principals and parents.
        And we have to bring more mentors into our middle schools to inspire
    our students to prepare for college early. I am pleased that this
    strategy is already moving forward in many, many States, that our
    Nation's Governors and State legislators of both parties are choosing to
    make a solid commitment to boost education, to advocate high standards,
    and to take advantage of this era of budget surpluses and good times to
    make our schools better so that we'll have even better times in the
    future. We'll work hard with Congress to make sure this plan becomes a
    reality. I urge the Senate to take the first step by passing the
    proposals to modernize schools this week.
        In this era of fiscal discipline, we have to recognize that
    Government alone cannot do the job. We also have to mobilize all other
    Americans in a concerted effort especially, let me say, on the topic
    we're here today--math and science education. States have to make sure
    that every math and science teacher is qualified to do the job. We have
    to insist that they've majored in their subjects in college.
        Today, nearly one of every five science teachers, more than a
    quarter of all math teachers, more than half of all physics teachers has
    neither majored in nor minored in the subjects they teach. The typical
    elementary and middle school teacher has taken just three undergraduate
    math courses. We can and we must do better.
        So I call on the States to require new math and science teachers to
    pass high-level competency tests in their subjects before getting
    licensed. The requirements must be vigorously enforced. School districts
    simply mustn't continue to hire people who don't meet the standards.
    Students must challenge themselves and take the most advanced math and
    science courses they can. Again, this is a big problem. Among college-
    bound seniors, half have not taken physics or trigonometry; three-
    quarters have not taken calculus. Around the world, middle students are
    learning algebra and geometry. Here at home, just a quarter of all
    students take algebra before high school. Our children must not glide
    through school without gaining these important skills. Business has to
    help us get the message out, too, so that they will hear

    [[Page 380]]

    that young people who study and do well will do better in the future.
        Today I want to say that later this year I intend to convene a group
    of business leaders specifically to discuss ways that they can
    contribute to raising student performance across our country.
    Universities can also help by strengthening their programs in math and
    science teaching so that more students will consider teaching as a
    career, and so that our newest teachers will be better prepared than
    ever for the classrooms of the 21st century.
        Finally, we need help from our parents, who should encourage and
    insist on teachers and students who do their best. I think it is
    profoundly important that parents keep up not only with the progress of
    their children in the courses they're taking but also in whether they're
    taking the right courses.
        If we all do our part, I'm convinced this is a challenge that we can
    clearly meet.
        Secretary Riley.

    [At this point, Secretary of Education
    Richard W. Riley and William Schmidt,
    national research coordinator, Third International Math and Science
    Study (TIMSS), made brief remarks.]

    Deposition in Paula Jones Civil Lawsuit

        Q. Mr. President, Kathleen Willey says that you made unwanted sexual
    advances toward her, and that directly contradicts your testimony. You
    can't both be telling the truth, can you?
        The President. Well, I don't know what she said, because I didn't see the interview last night. But I
    can tell you this: Ever since this story came out months ago--and as you
    know, the story has been in three different incarnations--I have said
    that nothing improper happened. I told the truth then. I told the truth
    in the deposition.
        I am mystified and disappointed by this turn of events. But it's
    been out there for several months, as well as conflicting stories from
    people who have discussed it with her. You'll have to find the answer to
    that riddle somewhere else. But I can just tell you that I have done
    everything I could do to clarify the situation. I have a very clear
    memory of the meeting, and I told the truth.
        Q. Mr. President, do you stand by your full deposition--
    [inaudible]--in the Paula Jones case? And should that serve as your
    explanation to the American people of what went on--[inaudible]?
        The President. I certainly stand by the deposition.
        Q. Will you make a further explanation to the American people, as
    you suggested you would when this story first broke?
        The President. Well, I did suggest that, but that was before the
    deposition was illegally released, and it basically states my position.
    Whether and what else will be said I think is something that we'll have
    to deal with in the future, depending on how circumstances unfold.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:26 a.m. in the Media Center at
    Springbrook High School. In his remarks, he referred to Kathleen E.
    Willey, former White House volunteer who gave testimony in both the
    Paula Jones civil lawsuit and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's
    investigation, and who was interviewed on the CBS News program ``60
    Minutes'' on March 15.