    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [May 19, 1999]
    [Pages 804-805]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 804]]

    Remarks on Proposed Legislation To Reauthorize the Elementary and
    Secondary Education Act
    May 19, 1999

        Good morning. I'm delighted to be joined this morning by the
    Secretary of Education and by my Domestic
    Policy Adviser, Bruce Reed, to discuss the
    very important issue of our children's schools.
        In my State of the Union Address this year, I said that in order to
    meet our responsibility to create 21st century schools for all our
    children, we have to do a far, far better job of spending the $15
    billion in Federal aid we send to our schools every year.
        Building these kinds of schools has been a passion for me, for the
    Vice President, for Secretary Riley, for our entire administration. We have worked with
    Members of Congress and education leaders, people in every State of the
    country, for over 6 years now. We have supported higher standards,
    better teachers, new technology, modern facilities, innovations like
    charter schools, character education, school uniforms.
        But we know fundamentally that if we are going to change the way our
    schools work, we must change the way we invest Federal aid in our
    schools.
        On the way down here, just down the walk, the Secretary of Education
    said we have been working very hard to promote school standards around
    the country; now we have to get the standards actually into the schools.
    This week I am sending legislation to Congress designed to do just that.
        First, this legislation strengthens accountability for results. It
    says that States and school districts that choose to accept Federal aid
    must take responsibility for turning around failing schools or shutting
    them down. It says they must give parents report cards not just on their
    children but on the children's schools. It says school districts must
    have strong discipline codes that are fair, consistent, and focused on
    prevention. It says they must make sure that teachers actually know the
    subjects they are teaching. It says they must stop the practice of
    social promotion, not by holding students back but by making sure they
    have the support to meet the higher standards.
        This legislation triples funding for after-school and summer school
    programs, provides for smaller classes, and requires other early
    interventions that lift students up.
        Second, this legislation will put more highly trained teachers in
    our Nation's schools. It requires that all new teachers pass subject
    matter and skills tests, that all teachers be given the support they
    need to improve their knowledge and skills. It allows Congress to finish
    the job we started last fall of hiring 100,000 new, highly trained
    teachers to reduce class size in the early grades.
        Finally, the legislation will help give all our children safe,
    healthy, and disciplined learning environments. For the first time, it
    will require schools to adopt comprehensive school safety plans, use
    proven antidrug and antiviolence prevention programs, intervene with
    troubled youth, establish security procedures for schools, and give
    parents an annual report of drug and violent incidents at their
    children's schools.
        It also expands the character education efforts the Secretary of
    Education has done so much to advance,
    promotes alternative schools for disruptive students, and strengthens
    our policy of zero tolerance for guns by requiring that any student
    expelled for bringing a gun to school receive appropriate treatment and
    counseling before being allowed back into class.
        As I said yesterday, we must do everything we can to keep guns out
    of the hands of our children. I want to commend the Senate for
    yesterday's overwhelming, bipartisan support for child safety locks. And
    I commend Speaker Hastert for his
    leadership in supporting background checks at gun shows and for raising
    the age of handgun ownership to 21. I urge the Senate to keep working on
    the justice bill--the juvenile justice bill--and to bring these
    commonsense measures to a vote.
        Now, these education ideas are not Democratic or Republican, nor
    were they dreamed up in Washington. They were invented and proven
    successful in the laboratories of democracy at the school, city, and
    State levels. They preserve and enhance the flexibility that States and
    districts need to run successful schools. If

    [[Page 805]]

    the Federal Government fails to act, the best of these practices will
    spread, but much more slowly. Just remember, it took 100 years for laws
    mandating universal education to spread from a few States to every
    State. That pace of change might have been all right in the 19th
    century; it won't do in the 21st. We do not have the luxury of waiting
    and continuing to subsidize failure.
        Nothing we can do will more surely unite our people and strengthen
    our Nation than giving all of our children a high-quality education. We
    know what works. Our schools, our educators have shown us what works. It
    is time to put that as a condition of success in the investment of
    Federal aid in every child in America. And I want to thank the Secretary
    of Education and Mr. Reed and everyone else who has worked on this program.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:40 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House, prior to his departure for New York City.