George H.W. Bush: “May I simply start off by thanking you, sir, Pastor Rice. And Dr. Walker, of course, Dr. Heyman, Principal Susan King.…”

“May I simply start off by thanking you, sir, Pastor Rice. And Dr. Walker, of course, Dr. Heyman, Principal Susan King. And I understand there's a little overflow in the sanctuary; we'll greet them wherever they may be. And thank you for this warm welcome to this wonderful, wonderfully warm school environment. I know a little poster action went on over Memorial Day, and I see the tip of the iceberg. But thank you for the welcome. I would like to say to Pastor Rice, we are trying. We are trying, because we are committed to making American education the best in the world. And it's not there yet. We're not close to that yet, so we've got to keep on trying. I left the two great Bush family experts on education behind, regrettably. Barbara Bush, I think, is doing a superb job encouraging people to read to their kids, and that is fundamental. And we have an author in the family, our dog Millie. [Laughter] You may have read my tax returns, and you can tell who the breadwinner is in that family. The dog made 5 times as much as the President of the United States. [Laughter] I might point out that all of that money that Millie made in her book goes to Barbara's foundation on literacy, which I hope will benefit children across this country. I'm sure it will. Our America 2000 education crusade is not built on finding the answers in Washington, DC. It is built on encouraging a revolutionary approach to education, and that is where local communities put forward excellence. We believe that's right. We believe in parental choice. We believe that people should be free to choose public, private, religious schools. And our whole system, our whole approach to education is built on a concept of choice and actually revolution, not tinkering at the edges but revolutionizing American education at the public school level. You see, we've got the best college education in the world. When Yale's president announced his departure from Yale yesterday to go into some concepts similar to what we're talking about nationally, he pointed out that at the college level, choice makes State schools better and makes private schools better. The same thing will be true if this concept catches on nationally. Another point that we want to make is that one of the reasons I wanted to come here is to point up for the rest of the country what excellent teachers mean and what parental involvement in kids' education mean. I'm told by Dr. Walker and your able principal that parents are involved and that they care and that they read to the kids and that they see that the homework is done. So I would salute this school for some way inculcating into the parent this concept of what they do is vital to American education. The teachers, I'm told, here are excellent. I would recognize that your system here encourages that interaction between the kids and the teachers, not just in the classroom but by bringing in the parents for what some would call PTA activities or whatever. So I salute you for that, and I think you're setting a good example for other countries as well. Some parents are out there checking homework and turning off the TV. Well, that's a good thing because tomorrow there will be a new study announced by our Department of Education. And I might say I have great confidence in our Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander. But this is the NAEP, the National Assessment of Education Progress. It's coming out with conclusions that will not be a surprise to the teachers, the officials, the administration, and the parents in this school. But the point explains that American students across the board spend too little time reading for pleasure or as part of their school work, that they rarely visit the library, and that they watch television on average more than 3 hours a day. Now, I think that these conclusions in this report will resonate around the country, and people are going to begin to say, ``Wait a minute, let's try it a different way. Maybe let's try it the Mount Paran way where we're going to have less of that and a little more homework emphasis.'' But in any event, I came here to take a few questions and hopefully to get an answer or two. My dad, who was in politics many years ago, always liked the guy that got up at the forum like this and said, ``For your information, I'd like to ask this question.'' [Laughter] Well, I could use a little information, so don't be concerned if your question sounds a little bit like a lecture. So with no further ado, other than to once again say thank you from this grateful heart, I'd like to take your questions. The last point I will make, and I promise it's the last: From the minute I walked in here I get the distinct feeling that this place has a real sense of what we call family values. I think that sets a good example for the rest of the country as well. So, who's first? Vouchers for Private Schools”