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

FOR RELEASE: November 16, 2000	Contact:         Roberta Heine (202) 401-3026

RILEY HAILS "NEW CONSENSUS" ON EDUCATION

Speech
Webcast of Speech

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today said the recent elections are evidence of growing public agreement about education. He called it a "new consensus, built on partnership, not partisanship."

Citing the defeat of voucher initiatives in California and Michigan, Riley said he is pleased by "a consensus that moves away from the divisiveness of vouchers and toward support for partnership and investment in our public schools and helping families pay for college."

Riley noted that this is both American Education Week and International Education Week. "Sometimes people forget," he said, "that an emphasis on international education helps strengthen other aspects of domestic education. For example, American math teachers are using videos to learn from successful teachers in high-performing countries. And many nations are learning about and emulating our higher education system."

Before his remarks at the National Press Club, Riley joined Danish Education Minister Margarethe Vestager in signing an agreement to expand exchanges in vocational-technical education. He praised Denmark as having "the best technical and vocational training system in the world. And America's community colleges are also very highly regarded. So this partnership should be very productive."

Vestager said, "The highest quality learning opportunities around the world should ultimately be extended to all. That is true lifelong learning for each and every one of us."

Riley called on American students to ""develop a broad understanding of the world, including languages and cultures." He said the administration has been "a world leader in connecting schools, classrooms, and libraries to vast Internet resources. I hope every school in the U.S. will use technology to share information with a school from another country. This would encourage children to learn a second language and invite teachers to work together to meet the challenges that arise in every classroom."

Continuing on his theme of partnership, Riley urged Congress to pass the bipartisan budget agreement that he said was only "inches away" before the election. "Negotiators from both parties, working in partnership, believed they had reached consensus. They had agreed to a $7.5 billion increase - the largest one-year investment in history - that would have allocated $1.75 billion for class size reduction and doubled funding for after-school programs. It would have also made significant investments in helping local communities repair and renovate their schools, recruit and train quality teachers, and turn around low-performing schools. In addition, this bipartisan agreement would have helped millions of low-income middle and high school students get the extra mentoring and financial assistance they need to prepare and go to college."

"The future doesn't belong to Democrats or Republicans or Independents. It belongs to students in millions of classrooms in schools and colleges across the country."

"I am confident that America will weather this close election. In fact, I hope it will make us stronger and help us to see the wisdom of working together and forming partnerships. Congress can help - by passing the strong education budget they agreed to, and they should do it as soon as possible."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Copies of the agreement with Denmark are available on request.

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