Good morning. Thank you.

It is a pleasure to be here with all of you to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. That decision is important to me not only because it reaffirms the basic message of the equality of all people, but also because of its emphasis on equal opportunity—especially concerning the ability to get a quality education.

In my remarks today I want to highlight precisely why—as we near the end of the 20th century—we, as a nation, cannot afford to allow intolerance or inequity to interfere with the ability of any citizen to acquire the most critical commodity—a quality education. On this special day, I shall speak to you about civil rights. A quality education, you see, must be considered a key "civil right" for the 21st century.

I am especially delighted to be presenting my remarks at the Sumner School. This magnificent structure, so beautifully transformed into a museum and archives, served as the first permanent school for the District of Columbia's African American children and, in 1877, graduated its first African American high school class.

This building and the fine school it once housed stand as a reminder not only of the harsh realities of imposed segregation, but also of the quality education that many African American children hungered for, and in some cases achieved even in the face of tragic discrimination.

The second reason that this location is so fitting a locale for celebrating the Brown decision is in its being named for Senator Charles Sumner. Senator Sumner was, as you know, one of the leading abolitionists of his day. Before he became a Senator, Charles Sumner was a lawyer who embraced many notable causes. One of the cases he argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court—in 1849—was in behalf of a young black schoolgirl who was barred from attending one of the three white schools she had to walk past in order to get to the neglected black school she was forced to attend.

Heroes of History

That case, unsuccessful as it was, reminds us that in a democracy, we the people, have the opportunity—indeed the duty—to constantly reinvent and reshape history. It is only through the courageous efforts of principled men and women that the course of history is truly changed.

It is appropriate to note that one of the five cases that became part of Brown arose in South Carolina, where I am from. There were many individual acts of courage in my state's fight to overcome the legal segregation and inequity that existed in the public schools, as Richard Kluger has so accurately and poignantly described in his book Simple Justice.

Joseph Albert Delaine was a minister and teacher in Clarendon County, South Carolina, who was fired from his teaching job, threatened with bodily harm, sued on trumped—up charges and convicted in a kangaroo court, and had his house burned to the ground while the fire department stood around watching the flames. Kluger writes: "All of this happened because he was black and brave. And because others followed when he had decided the time had come to lead."

There were other heroes in the fight for justice as well. Thurgood Marshall and his colleagues demonstrated their own brand of courage and leadership through their persistence and skill in the courtroom.

A Decision Premised on the Value of Education In voting to cast aside an illegitimate system of segregation, the Supreme Court gave legal and moral guidance to our nation. It reinforced the independence of our least political branch of government, and it enhanced the legacy of other Americans—black and white—who had fought for justice.

But, my friends, the significance of the Court's decision today goes beyond its interpretation of the Equal Protection provision of the 14th Amendment. Nearly as important are the visionary observations the Court offered about the important role education plays in the development of young people—its recognition that the act of going to school, of learning and sharing with young people of different backgrounds—is critical to the healthy development of a child.

"Education," the Court stated, … "is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities…It is the very foundation of good citizenship." In language that may have even greater resonance today, the Court noted: "In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education."

Since Brown, there has been a wealth of new evidence confirming the important role that schools play in preparing students to live in a pluralistic society and the significant role that the diversity of a school environment plays in the healthy development of children. It is our schools that must reaffirm—both by lesson and by example—the moral correctness of equality and the value of a quality learning experience.

In the years since Brown—and especially in the more recent past—there has been real progress in the educational achievements of African Americans and other students of color. High—poverty schools are beginning to show real improvements in student performance.

More African American and Hispanic students are taking more rigorous high school core and advanced courses, as well as participating at higher levels in the Advanced Placement program. These factors contribute to higher educational achievement and increased college attendance.

Ensuring an Equal Opportunity for A Quality Education

Unfortunately, we still have a distance to go. At the core of our efforts—with Brown as our foundation—must be the establishment of the principle that equal educational opportunity means an equal opportunity for a quality education—with emphasis on the word "quality."

If there is one overriding principle that defines what we hope to accomplish, it is to end the tyranny of low expectations and raise achievement levels for all young people. To do this means providing comparable learning resources to all students and holding all students and schools&151;from pre-school on—accountable to the kinds of high expectations that are necessary to learn to high standards.

The issue of standards in our schools inherently is about quality and equality. Yes, a quality education is a key civil right for the 21st century. We must end the practice of moving our children through their school years without the challenge of learning. We must provide the resources to prepare our children to pass and not to fail.

In recent years, we have seen new legal actions in which states have been taken to court in order to ensure equality in the classroom. It is important to hold states and local school districts accountable. As the Supreme Court stated in Brown, "Education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments."

Yet, the kind of education our children get should not have to be set in the courtroom or through political battles, but by cooperative efforts in which entire communities come together to put in place solutions that really work. We need to build on the strength of our increasingly diverse society.

Surprisingly, many young people today do not understand the legacy of the Brown decision. Some of this lack of awareness, no doubt, is the result of real progress—an increasingly integrated and diverse society in which many more of us regularly interact and share experiences with others of different backgrounds and races. As Vice President Al Gore has noted, "Diversity is not an issue or an agenda item, it is a fact."

This increasing diversity has important implications for the role of education, both in terms of eliminating racism and in the context of equalizing opportunity.

It is important to consider that while the Brown decision focused on African American students, the issue of equity in education is just as significant for many other racial and ethnic minorities, including Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.

As our communities have changed as the result of greater mobility at and within our borders, the diversity of the workplace and of classrooms in many communities has shifted as well. In Fargo, North Dakota, for instance, one-third of the students at Madison Elementary School are enrolled in English as a Second Language classes. In a school with 265 students, more than a dozen different languages are spoken.

This kind of diversity will only grow across the country. If this is the case in Fargo, just imagine what is happening in the rest of this great country. Indeed, by the year 2020, it is predicted that more than 20 percent of the children in the United States will be Hispanic. Our schools—indeed all citizens—need to be prepared to embrace this challenge. It is a challenge that encompasses the moral component of equality, but increasingly also pragmatic issues concerning prosperity.

Quite simply, each of our individual successes is linked with that of everyone else's. I firmly believe that the majority of this nation's citizens do see and feel the benefits of E Pluribus Unum ("Out of many, one")—and already benefit from the strength that is our diversity.

Overcoming the Problems of Misperception and Distrust

This does not mean we are without problems. Increasingly, we need to address what the sociologist Orlando Patterson has called the "paradox of integration." We need to focus on issues that go beyond basic challenges to equality and involve more complex questions of perception and trust, which go to the very heart of how we live, work and interact with each other.

The author Alex Kotlowitz has written about a sad and revealing episode that captures the kinds of misperceptions that still infect our society. While researching a book, Kotlowitz, who is white, was walking on a virtually empty street in a Chicago housing project with two African American boys. He recalls that "A uniformed police officer, a white woman, approached us. She looked first at the two boys, neither of whom reached my shoulder, and then she looked directly at me. "Are you OK?" she asked me.

About a year later, Mr. Kotlowitz went on, he was on the city's North Side, walking with one of the same children, when a middle-aged African American man approached them. The man looked at him, and then at the boy. "Son, are you ok?" he asked the boy. As Mr. Kotlowitz explained, "Both the white police officer and middle-aged black man seemed certain of what they witnessed. The white woman saw a white man possibly in trouble; the black man saw a black boy possibly in trouble."

He concluded, "it's all about perspective—which has everything to do with our personal and collective experiences, which are consistently informed by race."

Each of us, no doubt, can think of our own examples of these kinds of behavior—some where we may have been a victim of misperception, others where we may have been an unwitting architect. As President Clinton said last year, "When we approach others with discrimination and distrust, when we demean them from the beginning … as human beings and as citizens, we pay a terrible price."

In my mind, one place where these kinds of preconceptions are especially dangerous is in education—when it concerns our underlying assumptions about who can learn, who wants to learn, what courses they will need to take, and how we will go about ensuring an important civil right for the 21st century—a quality public education for every student.

Ending the Inequity in the "Quality" of Education

This, my friends, leads me to the question that I want to focus on today. How can we build an educational system that will offer equal opportunities for learning so that every conscientious young person can reach his or her dreams?

We can create a system that guarantees that every student has a quality education at high standards that is built on the strength of our diversity. But it will require us to put an end to the stark inequities that continue to exist in the quality and quantity of educational opportunities as a result of racial, ethnic, and economic status.

What is so striking is how many different forms this inequity takes—from the number and quality of guidance counselors in a school, to the availability of Advanced Placement courses or the capacity of some students to pay for test-preparation services, to the availability of computers, to the size of classes and the quality and safety of a school building itself.

We are pushing hard again this year for Congress to approve funding for our school construction initiative. Last year we came close to enacting this important legislation, which would help move kids out of leaky schools and trailer classrooms.

If the federal government can build high-quality prisons and spend billions for beach erosion projects then surely we can make an investment in building high-quality schools. It's time for Congress to pass the School Construction Bill.

Another major inequity involves one of the essential tools for learning in this information age—computers and the Internet.

Unfortunately, there is a vast gap—a digital divide—between those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who do not. And it is a divide centered largely on racial and economic lines.

With Vice President Gore's leadership, this administration developed the E-Rate, which is already helping to eradicate the digital divide by providing access to advanced telecommunications and the Internet for all students. Unfortunately, some still challenge this sensible policy.

I was dismayed by a recent attack on the E-Rate by the Wall Street Journal. It serves as a reminder of just how many people who already own computers fail to grasp how important the E-Rate is to poor students who don't have computers in their home. In today's information society, this is a critical resource for learning.

Let me mention one more resource that can make all the difference in the world—a qualified, well-prepared and fully engaged teacher. Studies indicate that the most at-risk students—poor and minority children—will achieve at the same high level as other students if they are taught at those levels by a high-quality teacher. Equally impressive is that the impact an effective teacher can have is significantly greater for those students who are disadvantaged or at risk.

Unfortunately, while there are many talented, dedicated teachers in high-poverty and minority communities, these communities include a disproportionately high share of teachers who are teaching out of field, without even a major or minor in their subject area.

This administration has championed a variety of measures to bring about greater opportunities for all students to learn to high standards. For instance, we are requesting an almost fivefold increase for Teacher Recruitment Grants, which will support state and local efforts to recruit and prepare the kinds of teachers that are most needed (such as math, science, bilingual, and minority teachers) for high-need schools.

The president has also proposed $10 million to begin training and recruiting 1,000 new teachers for areas with high concentrations of American Indian and Alaska Native students. And our Hispanic Education Initiative will increase efforts to reach out and help Hispanic families and communities connect to schools and school improvement.

Using Personal Connections to Enhance Student Success

But even more important than these federal initiatives are the kinds of personal connections that come from parent and community involvement in a school and through mentoring, tutoring, and counseling by volunteers from civic and religious organizations.

Across the country, too many young people—particularly low-income and minority youth—never make it to the next level of education.

The reason is not because they are uninterested in pursuing a quality education. It is not because they are not up to the task or do not have strong minds. Many fall by the wayside because of predetermined low expectations of young minority children. Thus, they are not given the encouragement and critical information they need early on to pave the road to a quality education that includes college.

Too many students from low-income schools are not told which courses are the right ones to take to prepare for a life of academic achievement and professional success. Too many are not told how to meet the costs of college through financial aid. And too many do not accept that learning is a sign of strength, not weakness. Let me tell you, this is the kind of information and support that makes a difference.

Research shows, for instance, that young people who have taken gateway courses like algebra I, geometry, and chemistry go on to college at nearly twice the rate of those who do not. And the difference is particularly stark for low-income students. These students are almost three times as likely to attend college if they take this rigorous series of courses early.

New research by our Office of Educational Research and Improvement demonstrates that taking a challenging set of courses in middle and high school also plays an enormously significant role—particularly so for minority students—in the rates of college completion. Indeed, it shows a challenging curriculum is a more significant indicator of success in college than is high school class rank or grade point average.

A Message to Communities and Colleges

There are several important conclusions we can draw from these numbers. First, our K-12 public schools can—and must—provide a quality education to all students. And parents and communities have a strong role in bringing this about.

As recent studies confirm—such as the one released this month by the Education Trust—students in low-income, high-minority schools are making significant academic gains as the result of educational strategies that focus on high standards, personal instruction, teacher accountability, and parent involvement. Clearly, when parents and educators have higher expectations of children, when schools have the necessary resources, and when opportunities for quality learning exist, students will seize those opportunities.

At the same time, silver bullet solutions like private school vouchers—do not offer a real option. They are bad public policy—they divide our communities, and they detract from real solutions like all parts of the school system working in tandem for high standards.

Why is it that so many of the proponents of vouchers fall strangely silent when the conversation turns to recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers, building or modernizing schools, or the importance of taking the right courses to prepare for college? That's where our focus needs to be.

The second conclusion we can reach concerns our colleges and universities. Specifically, it involves who gets in, how colleges and universities make these determinations, and how they can bring more qualified young people into the college-bound pipeline earlier.

If tomorrow's college graduates are going to work with people in a broad range of racial and ethnic groups—or teach in diverse communities—then today's college students must be able to study, talk with and learn from students of different backgrounds, nationalities, races and religions.

Just as you can't learn chemistry in college without observing and participating in chemistry experiments, you can't learn about life in America if you don't have the opportunity to discuss, study, and live with people of different races and backgrounds. More and more social scientists are confirming, and more and more Americans understand, that a school's diversity is an important means of enhancing opportunities for, and increasing high standards of learning.

As Harvard University President Neil Rudenstine has written: "Diversity is .. .the substance from which much human learning, understanding and wisdom derive. It offers one of the most powerful ways of creating the intellectual energy and robustness that lead to greater knowledge."

What this means for our nation's institutions of higher education is that they need to focus on developing new and creative ways to enlarge the pool of eligible minority applicants.

Who is "qualified" for college admission can and should be determined based on more than the traditional factors that are used in deciding to offer admission to an individual student. Standardized test scores, for instance, which are important and can reflect particular skills and levels of achievement, should be used only in ways that are consistent with their design and limited purpose.

Alternatives to Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been, and should remain an important part of achieving the goal of bringing qualified minority students into higher education. But it is only a partial remedy. It should be just one strategy among many that helps to ensure that every child has the opportunity to achieve at high standards—that every child's right to a quality education is protected. Judge John Minor Wisdom, a Fifth Circuit Judge, who died in New Orleans this weekend at the age of 93, was one of those courageous people I spoke about earlier, who literally risked their lives to bring justice to the South. Judge Wisdom wrote: "Correcting segregation's wrongs calls for 'much more than allowing a few Negro children to attend formerly white schools. It calls for … the organized undoing of the effects of past segregation.'" In 1993, President Clinton presented Judge Wisdom with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

To achieve what Judge Wisdom suggests means trying out new ideas. Some colleges have already made positive changes in their application processes. These include greater emphasis on individualized review of student applications, which can include considering factors of perseverance or success in overcoming personal hardship.

In addition, some schools are granting more personal interviews and reassessing the appropriate weight for test scores within the context of grades in school and other academic indicators.

A number of states and schools are working to develop efforts to reach out to students who otherwise might be lost in the shuffle. At the University of California at Berkeley, for instance, the school engages in an intensive recruitment effort using alumni, financial aid supplements and other efforts to heighten the sense of welcome for minority applicants.

And some states are pursuing plans that will expand the pool of qualified applicants and students by attracting top graduates from every high school.

Other promising practices currently being used or put into place include partnerships between four-year colleges and local elementary and secondary schools or community colleges. Some universities are even creating and operating public charter schools that are designed specifically to prepare mostly minority students for college through a rigorous academic program.

President Clinton and Vice President Gore have developed, with the leadership of Congressman Chaka Fattah, an initiative that supports the principle behind these plans. The GEAR UP Partnership links up colleges with middle school and high school students to help them make the critical decisions they need to prepare for college.

GEAR UP builds on, complements and enhances the positive effects of the TRIO program. While TRIO focuses on individual disadvantaged students, primarily in high school and college, GEAR UP builds partnerships with entire schools in low-income communities, with an emphasis on middle school.

All of these efforts-public and private-hold great promise. But we have much more to do. Today, as we celebrate a decision that emphasizes the critical value of equal opportunity in the classroom, I want to challenge educators, businesses, and private citizens to reach out to those at risk and low-income middle and high school students.

Businesses, for example, can support family-friendly practices so that working parents can be more involved in their children's schools. Individuals can become a mentor or a tutor to help students learn about critical opportunities that occur at key points in their lives and to help young people appreciate that working to achieve excellence is something to be proud of—not embarrassed by.

Providing Federal Leadership and Support

In this spirit, I want to announce several steps that I believe will both act as a catalyst for, and lend support to, these efforts to strengthen the quality of all schools.

On Wednesday, the President will offer his proposal on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This critical piece of legislation will benefit our nation's K-12 students by reinforcing and enhancing the importance of high standards and of providing every child the opportunity for a quality education. It will ensure that students meet high expectations and that schools provide real accountability.

The bill will place special emphasis on helping at-risk students achieve educational and career goals through efforts to raise student achievement, lower dropout rates, pass state exit exams, and offer extended learning opportunities.

I want to focus on one section in particular that is designed to guarantee resource comparability in the use of state and local funds between high-poverty schools and other schools within a school district. This portion of the law will address many of those factors about which I spoke earlier—factors that can hinder even the most diligent students.

Under this section, schools in districts that receive Title I funding—and a vast majority of school districts receive at least some Title I funds—must have equivalent pupil-teacher ratios, their teachers have equal qualifications, and the curriculum, instructional materials, range of courses, and conditions of safety of school facilities be comparable. This, my friends, is basic American fairness.

Also, all states receiving ESEA funds must ensure that within four years at least 95 percent of the teachers are fully certified and are teaching in the field in which they were trained or have demonstrated competency to teach. This provision will ensure that there is not a disproportionate concentration of uncertified teachers or teachers teaching out-of-field in a particular school district.

These are important proposed changes in the law, which, if passed by Congress, will go a long way toward helping all students achieve high standards.

Finally, I want to note that our emphasis on higher expectations, high standards and serious accountability for all students in the ESEA proposal and in many of our other education initiatives involves an increasing focus on tests as measures of student performance and achievement.

Tests are important tools for educators to assess and assist students as they strive to meet high standards. It is my belief that any test given to a child should have the purpose of helping the child meet his or her potential and certainly not unfairly harming the child. It is important that we ensure that tests are used appropriately, and that decisions based on tests do not discriminate against any of our students.

To this end, I have asked my Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights, Norma Cantu, to issue by this fall a resource guide for policymakers and educators for making decisions about how to appropriately use tests that have individual consequences for students. In outlining the settled legal and measurement standards, this guide can be a helpful tool for these decision makers—much as our well-received guide on religion in public schools has been.

Education as a Means of Addressing the Last Vestiges of Racism

Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed the importance of education in the development of our young people and established that no person could be denied equal access to education because of the color of his or her skin. It was a decision that makes a real difference in the lives of many, many young people.

Today, it is time to address and remove the last vestiges of racism. We need to move with purpose to affirm not only the holding of Brown, but also the importance of equality in our society, particularly as it relates to the promise of a quality education for all Americans.

We need to have candid conversations with each other, like those begun in the President's Race Initiative, and continuing this fall with events like the campus day of dialogue. We need to focus on raising expectations, changing perceptions, overcoming fears, and transcending race.

In different parts of the world today, hatred and suspicion are so deeply ingrained that even the children have little chance to get out from under it. In our nation, as we strive toward a more perfect union, and as we rededicate ourselves to be "One America," we are aiming higher.

We aim for the time when all our children can stand together with their hands over their hearts and say that they are proud to be part of our "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice, and a quality education for all."

We aim to build on the strength that comes from diversity and the values of our democracy—educational opportunity and excellence for all. These are the hallmarks of real freedom. It is incumbent upon us to build upon the legacy of Brown, to establish a national community that is not divided by race and to see that in the coming century, access to quality education will be a civil right that is guaranteed for all Americans. Let us all redouble our efforts as we go forward together in this mission.