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

All of you should be proud that the people of Chicago have made education a top priority. And, Mayor Daley, I love your "Chicago Goes Back to School" effort to get more parents and businesses involved and get the new school year started off on the right foot for these wonderful students.

I am delighted to be here today at this brand-new school. I hope you're all looking forward to a great school year.

Lately, I've been hearing about a school that is not quite so new. Some of you may have read about it. The school is ancient and not very safe. It has owls flying through the building. And there are a number of students who kind of belong in an alternative program, including a fellow named Harry Potter, who is what we call an "at-risk child." So I just want to tell you that I am very happy to be here at a nice, new, safe Muggle school like New Dawes instead of at one like the Hogwarts School of Wizardry.

I have visited Chicago many times and seen the good things that are going on in your schools. I have seen that when the entire community works together to improve local schools, the entire community benefits.

In fact, our entire nation benefits from better schools, and that's why it is important that your federal government invest more in education. That investment gives you more control in dealing with important issues. We can give you the support you need to hire well-trained teachers, reduce class size, and set up after-school programs.

Students, you know it's Chicago's "Back to School" day, but how many of you know this is also "Building Better Schools Week"? President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and I are making an extra effort this week to help communities build modern schools like this one.

It is very important. Yesterday, in Las Vegas, I released a report showing that our national school enrollment is once again this year at a record level, and it's going to continue to rise for the entire next century.

This means we need to think ahead. Some of you may know of schools where children have their classes in trailers. We can't continue with this temporary, Band-Aid response to a permanent, ongoing challenge. The fact that so many schools have been using portable classrooms year after year makes it clear that we are not prepared for the constant growth the future will bring.

The message for "Building Better Schools Week" is simple: Our schools need to reflect the high value we place on citizenship, community, and learning for all Americans. Every child should be in a school like New Dawes-modern, safe, accessible to all students, including those with disabilities, and wired for modern technologies and Internet access.

Think of the message we send to children in communities that can't afford to build new facilities. If you were a child attending a run-down school, you might think: "My community doesn't care about education-why should I?"

But we do care about education. And that's why we support the Johnson-Rangel school modernization bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. A majority of Members have signed on as co-sponsors, and I think it's a great plan. It gives local communities the tools to build and modernize their own schools. And it is a bipartisan measure that would provide tax-credit bonds for more than 6,000 schools nationwide.

Kids, you know what a bipartisan measure is, don't you? That's the Washington equivalent of the boys and the girls in a classroom agreeing on something. It's a rare thing and something very special.

But right now, the bill is just sitting up on Capitol Hill, waiting to become a law, because the majority leadership won't let it come to a vote. It would be great if all the Members of Congress would catch the "Back to School" spirit I'm seeing here in Chicago.

If we get this bill passed, Illinois could issue nearly $1.2 billion in interest-free school construction bonds. Chicago would be guaranteed up to $537 million in interest-free bonds for school construction. Just think what a difference that would make for children in Chicago and in communities across the country.

We can make a difference. And we can provide an excellent education for every child in America. We don't have the magic of spells and potions and invisibility cloaks, but we do have the magic of communities like yours, where people come together to support better education.

And students, you can do your part, too. Please study hard every day, and read, read, read.

Working together, we can make a little magic and make this a great year for students at New Dawes and at schools across the country.

Thank you very much.