Bill Clinton: “I think it's important for two reasons. First of all, a lot of the young people we're trying to reach may have had…”

“I think it's important for two reasons. First of all, a lot of the young people we're trying to reach may have had trouble adjusting to school and learning. And while we want them to have a good experience with a real job, we also want them to continue to learn during the summer because we know from a lot of research that a lot of kids that have trouble learning in school may forget as much as 30 percent of what they learned the previous year over the summertime. And that is a very unproductive thing for schools, to have to take up a lot of time teaching what they already taught before. Secondly, we want to help these young people progress, not only in terms of work but in terms of learning. We want to abolish the artificial dividing line between what is work and what is learning because we think that the best and most productive workers will have to be lifetime learners. And we think that this experience could maybe drive that point home and prepare these young people to succeed in school or at work or in college as they go on. [Secretary Riley and Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich discussed the importance of on-the-job experience combined with education. Secretary Riley then asked the President to discuss his apprenticeship proposal.]”