 She tried to be the best student. She tried to be the best lawyer. She tried to be the best wife She tried to be the best mother and She tried to be the best judge and here she is a Justice of the United States Supreme Court and when I look out at these students I really want to congratulate you because you've made that first step. You were the best in your class So now maybe we're looking out at a Supreme Court justice or maybe We're even looking at a future president gentleman the president of the United States of America Barbara thank you for those very kind words and If you forgive me though, there were times when I was more concerned with just remaining eligible for the football team then the scholastic achievement, but I'm delighted to be here and to welcome you the best of the classes of 83 and You are that now it makes me remember back to my own graduation which Wasn't too long ago as a matter of fact. It was exactly through to my years ago But We're Your parents are proud of you Obviously general motors and the television stations are proud of you and that's why they're sponsoring these events But you might be interested to know I think that The nation is proud of you You know, we've had a commission studying the educational system and they have just come in with their report And it's an alarming report about overall education one of the figures in this report Indicates that compared to the students of other nations on the average We are way below the students of those other nations, but Applying directly to you here Who are the leaders? the top nine percent of American students Rank equal to or above the top nine percent in all those other countries It is only the overall average that reflects what we think has been a decline in education And you're in that top nine percent So one of these days you're going to be the leaders that will turn the country over to and Anytime I've had an opportunity to meet with students like yourselves. I find myself coming home reassured that The country is going to be in good hands When it is turned over to you for your leadership now Rather than my going on with a monologue that'll sound like a graduation speech And you have to listen to one of those I think that we could have a dialogue rather than a monologue and with the limited time that we have and I see that there's already a lineup and Since there's more on the right than there are on the left I'll start with on the right and then exchange microphones here. Yes, mr. President My name is Arthur Fuller from Roosevelt senior high school in Washington, DC And I would like to know dealing with Employment do you feel the graduating class of 1983 has any more advantages than the previous ones? Well, when you say the previous ones do you mean Previous graduation classes, but but I mean through how many years back in the past ten years. Well You have the one disadvantage in that there is an unemployment problem That is we've been talking about it here at this table that is due in part to the recession and due in part to a structural change going on in our country of new industries coming up and Some older industries that will not require the same number of employees But I think that you have a great opportunity because of that structural fact and the new industries coming up That's why we're emphasizing in government now retraining rather than government programs of for just make work to give people an income through the hard times to Retrain for these new industries and the high technology industries and so forth that are coming along the communications industries and I Would say that you and I know that most of you will probably continue your education on But those who don't there is a great opportunity now to take training for jobs in these new upcoming and growing industries and back there in that period so long ago in which I Kind of ignored the number of years It happened to me. There was a brand new industry then called radio and I made up my mind that's what I wanted to be in and that's where I started my career and wound up Broadcasting major league baseball and big-time football and so forth but it was a brand new industry and Brand new industries like that are seeking young people that they can Bring them in on the ground floor and train them and bring them up believing in the future of their industry Good afternoon, Mr. President. I am Bertie Ray the third a senior at Dunbar senior high school Here in Washington, DC As you know the American technological industry has had a drastic setback Is there any possibility of private industry and government uniting in order to solve this dilemma? Yes, as a matter of fact it has already taken place There are training programs going on at the private sector our government job training program which I asked for Quite some considerable spending even in these hard times when we're trying to hold government spending down is One in which the training will take place with local officials government officials and private business at the local communities training people for the jobs There are available in that community and that area Rather than just some general from Washington ordered job training program that ignores what might be the particular needs in any community I Could suggest one thing For all of you if you want a little encouragement Next Sunday Because it's the Sunday paper that has all the help wanted ads In the classified ad section Take a look at the help wanted ads Because what you will learn from those in all this time of great unemployment You say well, how can there be this many employers? There'll be page after page of them advertising for employees it isn't that The unemployed aren't Looking for work and ready to take a job if they can get it. It's that this reflects the new type of jobs the new technology That I was just mentioning a moment ago in which they're advertising for people and there aren't enough people trained in those Occupations yet to fill those jobs So we are working and we've had a task force working for a year called the private initiatives task force and They have been working with the private sector and with other levels of government local and so forth throughout the country on what can be done to meet some of the problems utilizing the power of the private sector and The response is wonderful and is amazing My name is Kurt Hirsch from Walt Whitman High School, and it's good to see you here today honoring the excellence of public education I want to ask you about the impression that people have the your administration has done more to tear apart the public school system through Such programs as tuition tax credits Demolishing the Department of Education and cutbacks and federal funding for education could you comment on those please well in the first place There haven't been cutbacks in funding for public education This year it'll be a total Spend an education is a hundred and sixteen point nine billion dollars and that's seven percent more than last year And that's double what was spent just ten years ago on education now My belief in the tuition tax credit is a belief in competition and We know that there are and particularly in the inner cities there are many parochial schools independent schools and The parents of children who are going to those schools and paying tuition Are also paying their full share of taxes to support the public schools now some of them may want their children to go to one of these schools because of the Religious connotation whatever it might be but I feel that it's only fair That these people be given Some break for the fact that they're supporting two school systems granted They're supporting one by choice the other they're compelled to but as long as we're compelling them to Then this break of tuition tax credits would not only Not only serve to help the parents who are sending their children to these schools and incidentally Those parents are not all loaded as a matter of fact in the inner city schools parochial schools the actual financial level The average level of the families of those students is Lower than the average level of those attending public schools, and it isn't going to hurt the public schools There's nothing going to be torn away from them. They're getting still that same full amount of tax money and You have to ask yourself part of this help will also go to the schools Some of these independent schools can afford then with tuition tax credits to raise the tuition without penalizing the parents because it will in effect Come out of what would have otherwise been tax dollars and They will there's been a great attrition rate Many of those schools are closing and in this respect they will be able to stay open now Ask yourself. What would the burden be on the public sector in the public schools? If suddenly all of the students were attending those other schools were dumped on the public school market so Now I know that there's been a a lot of information and and everyone keeps talking budget cuts because we're trying To reduce the rate of increase in federal spending, but today There has been no such thing as a budget cut The government is spending more today than it has ever spent in its history We're trying to reduce the in rate of increase in spending, which was 17 percent when we came here We have it down to about half of that now We're trying to get it down to where the taxpayers can keep up with it. That's why we have the deficits We're increasing spending faster than the rate of increase in government's revenues My name is The last question. Oh dear I'm sorry My name is three stole and I'm from Langley High School. Mr. President Bearing in mind our history and foundation in the separation of church and state. How can you advocate school prayer? I Advocate this on a voluntary basis. No student would be compelled to join in this Suppose you had a moment of silent meditation in which you could do whatever your nature informs you to do but there has been a tendency in recent years to Indicate that the Constitution in a separation of church and state That this really meant separation from religion The Constitution says that the Congress shall make no laws That interfere with the practice of religion now If What my feeling has been is that by ruling that this was Outright not permitted in schools We have in effect diminished the importance of religion and thus of morality in the minds of Students and of people and young people growing up by saying well We just won't allow it in the schools and as I say it's not a compulsory prayer It wouldn't be one particular church's prayer In fact for those who didn't want to pray it wouldn't even be a prayer They could just take the minute and think about what they were going to do when the minute was over Or whatever they wanted to think about what they did last night, but a moment of silent meditation I think is in keeping with a country That has on its coins in God we trust That has a chaplain for the Congress when the Congress meets I know there was one young person with his parents who was up in the gallery one day at the Congress and Asked who the chaplain was and his father said well, that's the chaplain He prays and his child said for the Congress and he said no for the country But I don't know. I I just feel very strongly I don't know of anyone that was ever hurt by it and I do believe that if you look back speaking again of history If you look back to the collapse of great civilizations like the Greek and the Roman and all You will find that one of the characteristics of those civilizations was They began to desert and abandon their gods That was one of the first signs of decline and I think we have to keep in mind We are a nation under God and if we ever forget that we'll be just a nation under