A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    Contact:  Kathryn Kahler    March 26, 1994                                     (202) 401-3026

STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RICHARD W. RILEY REGARDING FINAL PASSAGE OF THE GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Today will be remembered as the day the United States got serious about education. Three times in the last six years, Congress has attempted to pass education reform legislation and each time it has been unable to resolve its differences. We have finally broken the gridlock. The strong bipartisan support for the Goals 2000: Educate America Act demonstrates that we are ready to move from a nation at risk to a nation on the move.

Goals 2000 is all about higher academic standards, better teachers, using new technology to improve learning, and making parents equal partners in the process of education. Equally important in this time of increasing violence among our young people, Goals 2000 will, for the first time, target federal funding to make schools safer for more children.

The American people have said they are ready to move from the old assembly line version of education to a better way of educating their children. They want their children to be part of the new, emerging high-tech, high-knowledge economy of the 21st century. Goals 2000 moves us in this direction by aiding in the establishment of world-class academic and occupational skill standards. These voluntary national standards in the core academic subjects of English, civics, geography, history, math, science, foreign languages and the arts will give parents, educators and business a clear indication of what constitutes a world-class education.

This is an historic change in how the federal government has viewed its role in the American education process. Goals 2000 puts the federal government in a position to support community and state education reform efforts by placing a new emphasis on flexibility rather than mandates, on results rather than compliance, on comprehensive reform rather than narrow programs, and on fundamental improvement rather than the status quo.

At its core, Goals 2000 is the first, critical step in President Clinton's effort to create a system of life-long learning and it serves as a framework for additional education legislation. Goals 2000 connects up with the School-to-Work Opportunities legislation by including the occupational skill standards. Additionally, many of the reforms included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are linked to the higher standards, teacher development, and improved use of technology established in Goals 2000.

I am encouraged and want to thank the broad coalition of supporters who have worked to pass this important legislation particularly the business community, the PTA, state legislatures, teachers, school board members, school administrators, and the arts community and the many education associations that have worked hard for final passage. I also want to thank the leadership in both the House and the Senate for their tireless work on behalf of education and the children of this country.

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