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

I also want to recognize my colleagues from the U. S. Department of Education who are with us. They include Terry Dozier, who did a wonderful job of introducing the winners of the professional development awards. And I want to recognize the Secretary's Regional Representatives, Deputy SRR's, and regional staff who are with us today. They are: Beth Brinley, Dennis Bega, Sally Cain, Trini Garza, Lynn Simons, Loni Hancock, Bill Dingledein, and Carla Nuxoll.

There's someone else up here that I need to recognize. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Earl Woods, Tiger Woods's father. In a few minutes, Earl is going to take part in a very special ceremony. Right now, let me just say that it's too bad that President Clinton isn't here to chat with Earl because the President is a golf fanatic. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to join the PGA tour after he leaves the White House. So Earl, let me warn you - if Bill Clinton turns pro, I'm going to be his caddy, and you'd better tell Tiger that we're coming after him.

My friends, I just returned from a three-day trip to Ireland, Northern Ireland, and England with President Clinton.

Northern Ireland is a place where brave people are struggling to make things better. For too many years, it was a land where communities were divided against themselves.

Schools were divided by religious affiliation. There was little opportunity for young people to come together to learn how to respect one another. Right here in America, we are all too familiar with the tragic results of our own policies of legal or de-facto segregation.

That is why I am so determined to fight for strong public education in our country. And that is why I believe vouchers are such a terrible mistake. Vouchers would divide our families and communities, and weaken the public schools that teach our children good citizenship and democratic values. I am proud of the American people for voting against vouchers on Election Day. The only way to move forward in education is to work together and develop strong partnerships, and we will never achieve that if we allow vouchers to tear us apart.

So it is time for us to pull together in our communities and move forward. And now that the election is over, it is time for our nation to pull together and move forward. Most of my days as Secretary of Education are behind me, but I am looking forward, not back. And in the next few minutes, I want to talk to you about the future and some of the ways that we can join together in the days ahead to make education better.

I want to start with technology. Today, I am proud to release the U. S. Department of Education's second 5-year educational technology plan. It is entitled, "eLearning: Putting a World-Class Education at the Fingertips of All Children." I want to thank my technology advisor, Dr. Linda Roberts, and her great team for their work on this report.

Let me give you a little bit of background. It wasn't too long ago that we had a debate in our country over whether technology actually improves student performance. In my mind, the issue has been settled. The latest research and evaluation studies demonstrate that school improvement programs that use technology in the right way produce real results for students and teachers.

That's why President Clinton and Vice President Gore put technology at the top of America's education agenda. Over the past 8 years, we have made remarkable progress. In 1993, only 3 percent of our schools were connected to the Internet. Today, 65 percent of our classrooms and 95 percent of our schools are connected. Some of our poorest children still face a digital divide, but the E-rate that Vice President Gore fought for is leveling the playing field for many of them. We've made an $8 billion investment in the E-rate, and I am proud of that.

So Phase 1 of our technology effort has moved us light years ahead, but we've only scratched the surface. Now it is time to take things to next level, and really shoot for the moon. We cannot be satisfied with only marginal improvements in our tools for learning. Over the next 5 years, we can put in place the learning resources that will help us realize the full and unlimited potential of technology. But it won't happen by itself. We must have a real vision and a real plan for doing that, and the report that we are issuing today gives us that.

It identifies five major goals and offers strategies for realizing those goals. The five goals are:

• All students and teachers will have access to information technology in their classrooms, schools, communities, and homes;
• All teachers will use technology effectively to help students achieve high academic standards;
• All students will have technology and information literacy skills;
• Research and evaluation will improve the next generation of technology applications for teaching and learning; and
• Digital content and networked applications will transform teaching and learning.

These goals can truly revolutionize American education. As President Clinton has said, "[Just imagine] if all teachers had the skills to open students' eyes and minds to the possibilities of new technologies. Just imagine what America could be."

I urge each of you to study this plan and use it as a blueprint for action. Become leaders for change and build partnerships with the private sector, with the foundations, and with your local and state governments to achieve these goals.

The president and I have tried to do our part as well. We asked Congress for over $7 billion in new resources for you and your schools. That would have been the biggest single-year increase in education ever. We were able to get more than $6 billion in the tentative agreement that we reached earlier this week. It wasn't everything that we wanted, but it moves us forward, and that's important.

Now I want to briefly discuss some other things we can do to improve education in the future. I wouldn't call what I'm about to suggest "Riley's Commandments," but I would call them "Riley's Really Strong Recommendations."

First, we ought to have universally available pre-school for all 4-year-olds and for 3-year-olds where appropriate. Early childhood education should be the "next big thing" in education. Earlier means smarter---it's as simple as that.

Second, we must continue to raise standards in the right way. Setting high standards does not mean setting them so high that only a few can reach them. It is far better to ratchet up standards one step at a time. The key is to emphasize steady improvement, not overnight success.

And our efforts to raise standards shouldn't be reduced to one multiple-choice test. I'm a big believer in testing, because if we don't measure progress we'll never know if we're going in the right direction. But it we force teachers to teach only to the test, we will lose their creativity. Teachers should be able to use essays, extended responses, portfolios, and performance assessments as well as multiple-choice tests. Let's inspire teachers, not straitjacket them.

On the subject of testing, let me also say that they must be used in ways that are legally appropriate and do not discriminate against any of our students. In my May 17, 1999, speech commemorating the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic decision in Brown v. Board of Education, I asked Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Norma Cant? to develop a testing guide that would assist educators and policymakers in their efforts to use tests wisely and fairly, in support of the joint goals of educational excellence and equity. I am pleased to announce the release earlier today of that guide, entitled "The Use of Tests as Part of Making High-Stakes Decision-Making for Students: A Resource Guide for Educators and Policy-Makers."

Third, we must reduce class size in the early grades and focus like a laser beam on reading. There are eight magic words in education. They are: "Shut off the television - I'm trying to read." When we hear children say those words, most of our education problems will go away by themselves.

Fourth, let's end the "reading wars" between between phonics and whole language. Research shows that a combination of the two is the best way to go. So let's stop fighting about reading and start teaching reading.

Fifth, the arts must become a part of every student's basic education. The arts have the power to get children excited about going to school. A good music or art teacher is the best drop-out prevention program any school can have.

Sixth, we cannot get good teachers on the cheap. Let's think about offering teachers year-round contracts instead of nine-month contracts, and paying them accordingly. And let's improve working conditions. At a time when everybody's walking around with cell phones glued to their ears, it's outrageous that some teachers don't have easy access to telephones in their schools.

Seventh, we must put a certified teacher into every classroom. The "TIMSS-R" study recently ranked our students against their international peers in math and science. American students would do a lot better in these comparisons if we had a certified math and science teacher in every classroom.

America's leadership in the world will be threatened if our geometry students are taught by physical education teachers, and our chemistry students are taught by French teachers. It's not the teachers' fault. It's our fault for not recruiting, preparing, and paying enough good math and science teachers.

Eighth, we need more quality after-school programs. Children's minds don't close down at 3 p.m., and neither should their schools. I could go on, but as I said, I only have five more weeks to go as Secretary of Education, and I don't want to still be talking after the new Secretary takes over.

So let me conclude my remarks as I began them, by talking about Ireland. One of my favorite books is Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt. I've had the chance to meet with and chat with Frank, and it's one of those experiences you never forget. Angela's Ashes is a sensitive memoir of Frank's childhood, which was scarred by poverty. But it includes uplifting passages about the importance of education. In one of those passages, Frank's teacher, Mr. O'Halloran, says to his class:

"You have to study and learn, so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else. But you can't make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. It is your house of treasure, and no one in the world can interfere with it. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace."

I want to thank you all for everything you do to enrich our children's minds. And I want you to know that serving you for the past eight years has been the greatest honor of my life. Thank you all very much.