Bill Clinton: “Good morning. As the autumn leaves begin to reach the height of their color, students all across our country are hard at…”

“Good morning. As the autumn leaves begin to reach the height of their color, students all across our country are hard at work preparing for math tests and spelling bees, history papers and midterm exams. Their knowledge and skills are being tested. Their report cards will be a measure of their success. Well, just like those students, America is also being tested. We're facing difficult questions about how we should guide our children in today's world and whether we'll prepare them for the challenges they'll meet. It's not an easy test, perhaps one of the most difficult we have ever undertaken. But the right answers are before us, and our children will be the measure of our success. We've found a number of right answers already. Our national report card shows some exciting progress. When I became President, I knew the only way we could continue to lead the world would be if we developed the learning capacities of as many of our citizens as possible. That's why the progress we've made on our lifelong learning agenda is so vital to the long-term strength of the United States. In all our education proposals, we've tried to make a fundamental change in the way the Federal Government helps students to meet their goals.…”