George H.W. Bush: “Well, State Governors and legislatures, along with local school districts, are absolutely crucial to the success of our…”

“Well, State Governors and legislatures, along with local school districts, are absolutely crucial to the success of our America 2000 strategy. Those who think that education problems can be solved in Washington ought to know better, because the American people know better. The Federal Government provides roughly 7 percent--7 percent--of the total dollars spent on education; State and local governments provide 93 percent. At the national level, we can set goals and standards that every community, every school, and every student can try to achieve. That was the beauty of the Charlottesville conference with the Governors. But it is in our States, it's in our communities that we must become part of the crusade to invent a new generation of American schools, to figure out better ways of teaching and learning. The States will have to agree to hold themselves and their schools to much higher standards. This simply cannot be done from Washington. I am not anti- Washington, but that can't be done from Washington. The Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander, and I are committed to lead--to exhort everyone to a higher standard and to travel this country and highlight models of what works. Next week we'll join Governor Romer, for example, the Governor of Colorado, who's very active in education. I might say here, look, this is a totally nonpartisan effort. And Governor Romer, we'll be with him when he kicks off Colorado 2000, the first statewide effort to adopt the national education goals and develop the strategies to meet them. The State role is crucial as communities across the Nation compete to be America 2000 communities. Our new breed of education Governors--and they are fantastic--is essential to the success of our revolutionary new program, America 2000.”