 Well, we got behind, we know we're running late, so maybe we can make up for it as well. Now they tell me that this is the home of the Cupid's, from the look of the trophy cases in the halls, one time or another, the Cupid's have been champs in just about everything. I've seen that, including all around, particularly, academic. You've had championships, and that's why Secretary Bennett and I are here today. If America is to be what it should be in the 21st century, then it's going to need a lot of schools, good schools. And Hickman, I'm pleased and proud to tell you, is one of the best. I appreciate Principal Kenneth Clark inviting us here and the faculty and all of you and the citizens that have made us so welcome here in Columbia. But it is true, the schools in Columbia are renowned and have been chosen and awarded honors for the progress that has been made in academic quality. And so I'm delighted to congratulate all of you on that. I think when I said that I followed the band here, I ought to tell you that I was once drum major of a band like that. But I'm not sure anyone should have followed us, because we were in a neighboring town up there in Illinois, where I grew up. And we were asked to come over and lead the parade on decoration day in this other town. And then there was a fellow and a white horse, the grand marshal of the parade, who was out in front of us to make sure we went in the right direction. And he turned and rode back down the parade line to make sure everything was coming along right. I came out in front there with the baton and the band following and playing. And I didn't know that he rode up just in time to catch the band, not me, that we're supposed to turn a corner. And I thought the music was beginning to sound fater, but I was walking down the street all by myself, the band had turned a corner. Well, again, I know that I'm supposed to move on. We've got this great conference that's waiting. And I think we've been behind schedule for quite some time. I feel that way too. Mr. President, on behalf of Hickman High School, we'd like to make you an honorary QP, which is our school mascot, and present you with this sweatshirt. Well, thank you. Thank you. I'll tell you another bad thing about my youth, too. When I was playing football, the cheerleaders were boys. I was just all the focus on the attention that one of the best meetings I've been involved in lately is when I convened a small group. But I just say one last thing. I'm taking too much time here. In East Los Angeles, I met with a group of parents, Hispanic parents. And I asked them, a group of mothers, I said, well, why couldn't you take turns volunteering to sit in the class? Gentlemen, to you, President of the United States. You've got to be good. I see just by looking at the trophy cases in the halls. Over the years, Hickman High has been an all-round champion, with basketball, swimming, tennis, and football, as well as in areas like debate, dramatic speaking, music, and mathematics, and, in particular, know something about it. Every year, 141 students from throughout the nation are named Presidential Scholars. This program began in 1964, with full recognition for IABI. What kind of country will we pass on to our children? That challenge, preparing America for the 21st century, is as great an adventure as the one that face settlers who, more than a century and a half ago, started a town along the Flat Branch. We make the best use of our science and technology so that when we're first to invent something, we're also first to bring it to market. It includes improving the climate for entrepreneurship and growth. We budget alone. Challenge of preparing for the 21st century also includes working to build a fair, open, and expanding world economy. This is where the jobs and prosperity of our future will come from. And finally, it includes making sure our young people are ready for the jobs of the 21st century. Education is the best in the world. Yes, it's a challenge for every American. The challenge of preparing America for the next century. And that reminds me of a story. When you get to be my age, everything reminds you of a story. This is the story of the old fellow who picked up some creek land, some bottom land along the creek. And it was rocky and it was covered with brush. And he started in while the minister was impressed. He said, I've never seen such an illness. God has truly blessed this land. And he said, look at this corn. How high it is. He said, the Lord has been good. And then he went on in that vein. And the old boy was getting more and more meddled about this. And finally, he interrupted me. He said, preacher, I wish you could have seen this place when the Lord was doing it by himself. Education found that high school students were scoring lower on achievement tests. And at any point in the past 25 years, that's 13% of all 17-year-olds were functionally illiterate of 19 academic tests. A nation at risk galvanized a citizen's movement for educational reform. This movement has gone ahead at every another part of the consensus is that wealth and status in a community do not guarantee good schools or their absence mean schools will be bad. Inner-city schools in poor neighborhoods, like those in East Harlem District 4 in New York City, and Charles Rice Elementary in Dallas, stand among America's best. The secret to educational quality is not in the basic fundamental values that have always been the wellspring of success, both at teachers, who lead students to do their best and keep regular tabs on progress. You need schools that teach a sense of right and wrong. And you need parents and communities that care. Basic skills, standards, discipline, work, family support, ethical principles. This is the new American consensus on the secret to quality education. And forgive me for saying so, but the only surprise here is that it's new. Plato would have recognized such secrets. So would Confucius, Matthew Arnold, and Benjamin Franklin. And yet these so-called secrets were new in most places, but not in Columbia. Last week, members of my staff came out with these. This system stuck to basics and kept high academic standards when others were turning to fads like mini courses, grade inflation, and abolishing basic requirements. And one of the worst of those down to purse with $1,000 in it. Well, the class decided that returning it with the money would be neither right nor wrong. It would just be dumb. When they asked the counselor what he thought, he said he wouldn't force his values on them. If I clubs across the country, and there's one right here at Hickman High. So I believe young people do want to hear about values and standards of right and wrong. And they want to hear about them from adults. Some adults ask would have been leaders in the return to the fundamentals of what works in education. Many states have raised education standards. Almost every state has increased either promotion, high school graduation, or college entrance standard of our programs to give states and schools more flexibility and to make the programs more effective. But we know that 93% of the money for education comes from states and cities. The federal government provides less than a few themes run through all the many changes and experiments of the last four years. And those are the common sense themes of getting good teachers and good education to be by the year 2000. Getting what America wants and needs. It's like the story of the three fellows who went into a restaurant. I wanted to tell you one last story before I finish. They were ordering their dinner and one of them ordered glass of milk. But he told the waitress that he'd been in there the week before and ordered a glass of milk. And he wanted a clean glass this time. Well, the other two also decided to order milk. When a waitress came back with the three glasses of milk, she said, now, which of you wanted the clean glass? I'm being clear about what we want and what works. We've stopped the slide in SAT scores. They're on the rise again. By 1990, let's reduce by one quarter the 40% of 13-year-olds reading below skill level by the hands. And finally, by the year 2000, let's raise literacy levels so that every American can speak, read, and write English and fully participate in the opportunities of our great country. I brought Secretary Bennett along with me today. And Bill, I'm going to give you a little homework assignment. In April 1988, it will be five years since we issued a nation at risk. That's when I'd like you to issue a new report telling us how thought still needs to be done. What reforms have worked, it's another of the model schools in this district. I saw what a fine principle like Fairview's principle, Dr. James Wells, and a dedicated and talented staff can mean to children in the early years of learning. I wasn't too surprised that Fairview was a model school. You see, one of the teachers there, and I go way back, and I know she's great, wouldn't do any good with what Congress is doing. But today, I've talked about preparing a merit for the 21st century. Well, the kindergarten spirit no longer wills from fear that we have reached our limits to run our course. It inspired us to look up again and to look ahead again. The academic performance of our students no longer declines every year because you've refocused our attention on the ultimate importance of education. You are America's number one teacher, good as I did, and occasionally thank your teacher with an apple. We want to thank you and present you with this symbol of our gratitude and remembrance of your visit. The number one teacher, President of the United States municipal office, not voluntarily. And I feel a little guilty. The bells of education reform started ringing with the nation at risk in 83, as I said earlier, and all over America, people who care about.