[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Pages 553-555]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Teleconference Remarks to Students on NetDay

April 19, 1997

    The President. Hi, students!
    Students. Hi, Mr. President!
    The President. Now, is that Mr. Contreras with you?
    Precious Robinson. Yes, this is Mr. Contreras.
    The President. Hello, Miguel, how are you?
    Miguel Contreras. Buenos dias, Mr. President.

[[Page 554]]

    The President. Buenos dias. Now, why don't you tell us why you're 
volunteering this weekend?
    Mr. Contreras. Well, we've got quite a number of union members here 
in Los Angeles as part of the national AFL-CIO NetDay, that are coming 
together here to help wire 38 schools and empowerment zones in Los 
Angeles. And we're going to kick it off today. We think that educational 
opportunities is equivalent to civil rights here, and we want to make 
sure that all our students have the necessary tools to bring them into 
the 21st century.
    So we're glad that you're supporting this effort. And the unions 
here--in particular, the International Brotherhood of Electrical 
Workers, Local 11; we have the CWA, Communication Workers of America, 
and the United Teachers of LA all have turned out today to ensure that 
the wiring is a success. So we're going to move forward today.
    The President. Thank you.
    And Ms. Robinson, what benefits do you expect to flow from this to 
the students at your school?
    Ms. Robinson. Well, we want to be prepared for the 21st century, and 
we want our children to be familiar and to be competent and to be ready 
to use the Internet. So we expect a great deal--great many benefits from 
this. We want the Super Information Highway--we know that is the way of 
the future, and we want all of our students to be prepared for that.
    We have a lot of our staff members here also, my teachers, my 
parents, my superintendent. And so we're all very excited about the work 
that's going to take place today.
    The President. Well, thank you.
    How many of the young people behind us know how to use a computer? 
Raise your hand if you can use a computer.
    Mr. Contreras. Quite a number of them.
    The President. Good for you. Well, good luck.
    Mr. Contreras. Don't ask the adults. [Laughter]
    The President. Well, don't ask the adults on this side of the 
screen, either. [Laughter] The Vice President can raise his hand; I'm 
not so sure about me. [Laughter]
    Have a good day. Thank you.
    Students. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Now we want to go to Hartford. There's Hartford. Good 
morning!
    Students. Good morning!
    The President. I want to thank all the young people who are there 
participating in the Youth Tech Corps. The Vice President and I just 
announced that Connecticut will be getting some more funds from the 
Department of Education to make sure that every child in Connecticut 
will have access to educational technology. So I want you to tell me 
about what the Youth Tech Corps is doing and how that relates to getting 
technology out to everybody.
    Student. The Youth Tech Corps, first of all, is a program that is 
designed to match students who have strong interests with technology 
with other students and use businesses to enhance this program.
    The President. So those of you who have good skills are helping 
those who need it, right?
    Student. All who are interested.
    The President. Yes, well, maybe you could send me a volunteer. I 
need some help down here. [Laughter]
    Student. No problem.
    The President. I see a couple of volunteers in the back of the room 
there. They're laughing. [Laughter]
    What have you done on NetDay? What does it mean for Connecticut and 
for you?
    Student. Well, basically the Youth Tech Corps is--basically, we're 
trying to continue on the process of Connect '96 and just take it the 
next step to getting the schools--all the schools connected and make 
sure that they can use the computers once they have computers and 
they're connected to the Internet.
    The President. Do you find that in your own experience that once the 
computers are there and they're hooked up to the Internet that they are 
widely used?
    Student. I think they're widely used if the people using them know 
how to. I know, like, a lot of students--there are some that probably 
don't know how to. But I think--I feel that they're widely used.
    The President. What about the teachers? Do all the teachers know how 
to make maximum use of it?

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    Student. No. [Laughter]
    The President. Some yes and some no, right? [Laughter]
    Student. Yes. Some do and some don't, you know, because some 
teachers actually put their grades on computer, not for--[inaudible]--
but those who calculate it.
    The President. So it's important that we don't let the connecting of 
the schools and the classrooms get ahead of training the teachers and 
the students about how to use the computers.
    Student. Right.
    Student. Exactly.
    The President. Because otherwise they're useless just sitting there, 
right?
    Student. Right.
    The President. Now, is everybody in the room a member of the tech 
corps?
    Student. This is the corps; this is the beginning of it. Hopefully, 
they will continue to be a part of the Youth Tech Corps.
    The President. Good for you.
    Do you want to say anything, Al?
    The Vice President. Well, I just want to congratulate all of you. 
It's an exciting day. It makes you feel good to be a part of this, 
doesn't it?
    Student. Yes.
    The Vice President. Well, congratulations, and keep up the wonderful 
work.
    Student. Thank you.
    The President. You've reminded us of something very important today 
about what you're doing, too, because we sometimes get so focused on 
making sure all the classrooms in the country are hooked up that we 
forget that the hookup is worthless unless the teachers and the students 
are trained to use it----
    Student. That's right.
    The President. ----and have the time and ability to use it.
    So I thank all of you for what you're doing, and I hope that this 
conversation we're having today will lead to some greater publicity for 
your Tech Corps so that maybe every community in the country will have 
one to make sure that the students and the teachers can use the 
computers and the hookups that we're providing.
    Thank you, God bless you, and good luck. Hang in there.
    Students. Thank you.
    The President. Bye-bye. Have a good day.

Note: The President spoke by satellite at 10:40 a.m. from the Oval 
Office at the White House to students in Los Angeles, CA, and Hartford, 
CT. In his remarks, the President referred to Precious Robinson, 
principal, Barrett Elementary School in Los Angeles.