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| DECADE OF DREAMS--Republican Reply to Education Secretary Richard Riley’s State of Education Address |
February 22, 2000 |
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“You and I are so lucky today to live in this great land and to share in such a remarkable legacy. Let us resolve, here and now, that we will set aside our small differences and work together to build a Decade of Dreams for every child, in every neighborhood, in every school across America -- to give every child wings for their dreams.”
—Congresswoman Heather Wilson
You may remember when all a kid needed to get ready for a new school year was a Big Chief tablet, a couple Number 2 pencils, and a fresh box of crayons. Then in high school, a slide rule, a protractor, and a three-ring notebook.
America grew from an agrarian economy early in the twentieth century which required at most a grade school education for a lot of its children, to an industrial economy which got along fine with some who didn’t finish high school, to a prosperous service economy in which college degrees are common.
At the end of the First World War, American leaders recognized that society was changing and we made the commitment as a nation to universal high school education.
Now, we stand with our children at the dawn of a new century, and the dawn of a challenging new world in which information is a commodity. A global economy with instant communication and opportunities for learning and sharing knowledge unmatched in all of human history. An economy in which technology advances a generation every 18 months and business moves at the speed of thought.
America is much more than a place. It’s the best idea human beings ever had. We’ve been entrusted with a legacy of freedom and opportunity. For every person able and willing to work at it, an equal place at the starting line, and the chance to dream.
What gives wings to our dreams is a quality education. And it’s true that America built a university system that is the envy of the world. It’s true that we continue to spend billions of dollars on our primary and secondary schools.
In fact, the Republican Congress increased our investment in education by 26 per cent in the last five years. Last year, Congress added $200 million over the previous year, a total of $1 billion more than the President requested. Congress focused on the needs of special education students, investing an additional $700 million in them, and adding another $200 million for disadvantaged kids. Congress also provided millions more to reduce class sizes, improve teacher training, and assist local school districts in meeting other critical needs.
But we’re not satisfied to do the same thing in the same old way. We’re moving your tax dollars out of the Washington bureaucracy and requiring that they be spent in the classroom in your neighborhood schools. We’ve passed landmark legislation to give states and school districts freedom from federal red tape while demanding accountability for results.
We don’t believe that Washington has magic answers. And like you, we want education decisions made by somebody that knows your child’s name.
But for all that we have invested, the results are often are disappointing. High school graduates who need remedial classes before they start a job or go to college. American high school students rank 19th out of 21 countries in mathematics. Despite federal programs for poor students, in many areas the gap between rich and poor, Anglo and minority has widened. As many as one third of our minority students don’t graduate from High School. They are losing out on a dream, and America can’t afford it.
The truth is, what was good enough for us and our generation is nowhere near good enough for our kids. If we’re going to give them the tools it takes to succeed in the twenty first century -- if our kids are going to get wings for their dreams -- we’re all going to have to work a lot harder and pledge ourselves to a Decade of Dreams for America’s schools.
I am a product of our public school system, and my son attends a fine public school in Albuquerque. I believe in the value of our public schools, and I want to make them better.
So, what do we want for American education in this Decade of Dreams?
We want a great public school in your neighborhood for your kids.
We want to eliminate the gaps between rich and poor, black, white, and brown. There are enough high achieving schools in poor and minority neighborhoods all over this country to tell us that where children come from is no limitation on who they can become.
And while discrimination is not the intent, there is nothing worse than the tyranny of low expectations.
We want our kids to be safe at school so they can focus all their energy on learning -- building the wings they’ll need to achieve their dreams.
We want our kids to be taught by great teachers whom we know, trust, and can work with as partners. Teachers who know their stuff, who genuinely care about kids, and who understand the power of dreams.
We want a system of education for the first 12 grades which is just as much the envy of the world as our university system. We want at least 95 per cent of our kids graduating from high school, and at least 3 of 4 succeeding in college, technical school, or the military.
We want a public school system where no child is left behind, that puts every child on the glide path to being their best and achieving their dreams.
To make that happen, parents must make the time to get directly involved in their kids’ education...read with your children, stay in touch with the teacher, monitor the homework, listen to what your kid is telling you about school...and expect excellence from them and their school.
We need great teachers in every classroom, giving them the training and support they need to do the job.
It’s time, too, for the nation’s Schools of Education to set higher standards for admission, do a better job of recruiting the best we can into the profession of teaching, and make sure their graduates are competent in the subject areas they’ll be teaching. Schools of Education must be willing to change what doesn’t work, and reach out to non-traditional students and second career teachers to train them for the classroom.
We need options for kids who have different or special skills, so parents can make choices. Any parent with more than one child knows that what works for one kid doesn’t work for another. And that’s okay. Charter schools with the freedom to be different offer exciting opportunities for our kids.
We need far stronger math and science curricula if America is to continue its world leadership in science and technology -- the key to maintaining a strong post-industrial economy.
We need teachers and administrators who will welcome the chance to be held accountable for the results of our investment in education. And kids need to know that they, too, are accountable for the way they use the opportunities their school provides. And parents must accept responsibility for the critical role they play in helping their child succeed in school. This will be a team effort, and each of us owes all our kids our very best effort.
Yesterday was Presidents’ Day, and on school bulletin boards everywhere are portraits of our two greatest Presidents.
General George Washington who, against all the odds, kept liberty’s flame alive...kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge in the golden light to pray...crossing the Delaware, risking everything to make the
dream of a New Nation come true...forging the Republic which became the “shining city on a hill” to all who cherish freedom...
Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator, the gentle, thoughtful man who captured the biggest ideas in the simplest words and enlightened the soul of a nation. Lincoln was the iron-willed leader who preserved the Union and died for the Union.
You and I are so lucky today to live in this great land and to share in such a remarkable legacy. Let us resolve, here and now, that we will set aside our small differences and work together to build a Decade of Dreams for every child, in every neighborhood, in every school across America -- to give every child wings for their dreams.
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