[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 10 (Monday, March 15, 1999)]
[Pages 377-378]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 6, 1999

    Good morning. This week we learned the good news that our efforts to 
raise academic standards for our children are beginning to pay off. The 
National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, released State test 
scores on Thursday that show that our children's reading scores have 
risen, with some of the greatest gains in States that once scored below 
the national average.
    Today I want to talk to you about what I think we must do to build 
on our progress, by putting more teachers in the classroom and reducing 
class size in schools around our country.
    We all agree that to build a stronger nation we must build up our 
Nation's public schools. I have proposed a comprehensive education 
agenda to strengthen and improve our schools with more accountability, 
higher standards, more volunteer reading tutors for young children, and 
mentors for teenagers, with Internet connections in every classroom, and 
with more well-trained teachers in smaller classes.
    As any parent, teacher, or school principal can tell you, smaller 
classes make a huge difference in our children's lives. Studies show 
that teachers in smaller classes spend less time on discipline and more 
time teaching.

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Students spend less time competing for attention and more time learning. 
Students in smaller classes out-perform their peers.
    For children in struggling communities, from remote rural areas to 
inner-city neighborhoods, small class size is even more critical. And 
with school enrollments at record highs and expected to keep rising, we 
must act now to reduce class size in all our Nation's public schools.
    Across the country, more and more communities are recognizing the 
importance of smaller class size and trying to do something about it. To 
help them meet this challenge I called on Congress early last year to 
pass my initiative to reduce class size by helping school districts hire 
100,000 highly trained teachers. I'm pleased that Republican Members of 
Congress joined with Democrats and did the right thing in making a big 
downpayment toward meeting our goal.
    Today the Department of Education is releasing guidelines that will 
let every school district in our Nation know how much money they will 
receive and how best to use the funds to reduce class size in time for 
school this fall. But communities deciding now whether to hire and train 
new teachers for next year need to know whether they can count on the 
commitment Congress made last year to help them reduce class size for 
years to come. It is time to finish the job.
    Now, this week the Senate and House will vote on a bill that gives 
States the flexibility they need to improve their public schools in 
spending Federal aid they receive. I support this bill. But I also 
strongly support efforts by Senators Murray and Kennedy, and 
Representatives Clay and Wu, to add an amendment to it that will fully 
fund 100,000 well-trained teachers over the next 6 years.
    Unfortunately, Republican leaders are trying to shut down debate on 
the ed-flex bill before this important amendment on more teachers and 
smaller classes can even be voted on. Now, last October, just before the 
election, Republicans joined us in promising the American people more 
teachers and smaller classes. Less than 5 months later, we now have the 
first big test of whether this Congress is really willing to work 
together across party lines and with the White House to get things done 
for the American people, whether the Congress is serious about giving 
our children the education they need and deserve.
    The choice is simple: Are we going to give Americans smaller classes 
or more partisanship? Are we going to put politics ahead of progress or 
put 100,000 teachers in our Nation's classrooms? I call on the Senate to 
allow an up-or-down vote on the Murray-Kennedy class size amendment, and 
I urge every Senator to vote for it. When it comes to our children's 
future, politics must stop at the schoolhouse door.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:08 p.m. on March 5 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 6. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 5 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.