FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Thank you Thomas for that kind introduction. Let me also extend my warm thanks to James Malloy, Rodney Spinks, and Sergeant Jamesim Kearney for your invaluable workthe invaluable work that you are doing to help schools integrate digital technology into the classroom. Many children have benefited from your contribution to this critical your efforts to help integrate digital technology to train and equip schools with new technology into the classroom.so that children can have the best education available

Today we honor the Treasury volunteers that have given up so much of their personal time to make the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's Computers for Learning initiative such a success. And we also honor the principals of the three schools that have had the courage and the vision to participate in this important initiative.

In that regard, I would like for a few moments to talk about the importance of education in the new economy and to highlight the vital role that initiatives such as Partnership in Education (PIE) and Computers for Learning can play in bridging the digital divide in America.

There have been few trends in the American labor market in recent years that have been more pronounced than the rise in the returns to education. Twenty Twenty years ago, a high school graduate earned one third more, on average, one third more than someone without a high-school degree. Today, the ratio is more than two to one.

high-school graduates earn more than twice as much as non-high school graduates. The same is true at higher levels of education:

The same trend applies to those with college degrees. The average college graduate now earns nearly twice as much as the average high school graduate. On average a bachelor's degree is worth some $17,000 more a year in the workplace than a high school diploma. Over a lifetime, that is a difference in earnings of This difference equals approximatelyan estimated $600,000. And the gap is widening over a lifetime. And that differential is widening all the time.

What is driving these changes?

One large part of the explanation has to be that

There is much that is new about the new economy. But if there is one overriding difference between the new economy and the old it must be the we are moving move from an economy based on the production of physical goods to one based on the production and application of knowledge.

As Chairman Greenspan has so often emphasized, in such a world, goods are increasingly valued for the knowledge that is embodied in them rather than for their physical weight; and the amount we can contribute to our economy, and what : it is prepared to compensate us for our efforts, depends your economic potential is determined by increasingly on what weyou know, not how much weyou can lift.

What is true for individual incomes is also true at the national level. In a new economy, If knowledge is increasingly important, then it stands to reason that investment in knowledge will be more and more crucial ay become a more central feature of to promoting and sustaining our national prosperity.economic well-being , quite aside from its obvious role in promoting individual prosperity.

Research shows that children perform better when classroom conditions meet high standards: that is to say, kids are most likely to learn what they are taught in classrooms rather than in renovated closets. In the richest, most powerful country there has ever been, there shouldn't be kids who start the school day at four in the afternoon because the school works on three shifts due to overcongested conditions. And there shouldn't be in the United States today any school cafeteria that begins to serve lunch at 9:45 in the morning so that it can accommodate all the children that need to eat there.

Research shows that children perform better when classroom conditions meet high standards: that is to say, kids are most likely to learn what they are taught in classrooms rather than in renovated closets. Moreover, children are less likely to learn effectively in schools that operate on three shifts where their school day begins at 4pm or ends at 9.45am.

At such a fortunate moment in America's economic history, fixing our schools so that children can take their lessons in modern schools with modern facilities is surely not beyond our ability to deliver. As President Clinton said recently: "Today the sun is shining on America, and the roofs that need most fixing in America are the roofs of our nation's schools."

• That is why major public investment in school construction and modernization is so high on the Administration's agenda.
• And that is why we are working hard on a bipartisan basis to support putting more teachers in classrooms, allowing better teachers to go into education, and reduce class sizes.

II. Reaching out to Our Communities.

But we can do much more.

When De Tocqueville came to the U.S. in the 1800s, he stressed that one of the greatest strengths of America was that we come together to solve common problems. It is the civic attitude demonstrated by those we are honoring today that De Tocqueville so admired.

By reaching out to schools in our communities, you have created new opportunities and provided new resources for kids that badly need them. That is why it is a priority of this Administration to encourage government employees to channel their skills and energy towards initiatives such as Computers for Learning so that classrooms can benefit from new teaching software and from the educational resources available on the Internet.

By your example, you have shown what can be accomplished by the spirit of volunteerism:

• The efforts of BEP employees have resulted in the establishment of five computer laboratory classrooms in schools in this area including the donation of 120 computers.
• Under the Partnership in Education initiative, Treasury volunteers are helping to establish two Homework Help Centers within an after-school assignment program where children can complete homework assignments.
• And, in partnership with the National Academy Foundation, Treasury staff who have volunteered to be detailed to the PIE program for a year or two have helped establish school-to-career academies that equip students for the jobs market beyond school. Treasury now sponsors eight career academies in DC and New York City with an enrollment of almost 1,000 students.

In conclusion, let me say that this is as fortunate a time as any in our history to be American. We must do all that we can both at the public level and as individuals to ensure that we prolong this moment of prosperity.

Investing more resources and committing more energy to our public schools is a national priority not only because it is morally right to equip our children with the resources they need to succeed in life but because it is also in our economic self-interest to do so. In an economy where jobs are looking for people as much as people for jobs, it is critical that we expand the supply of skilled labor in the new economy.

Through your commitment and dedication, you have shown that an enormous amount can be accomplished by individuals who care about our children's future. Let me commend your efforts and encourage others to follow your example. Thank you.