Clinton Supports State Educational Standards

PALISADES, N.Y. (AllPolitics, March 27) -- President Bill Clinton said today states need to set higher educational standards, hold teachers accountable and require youngsters to pass achievement tests to graduate to middle and high school.

Clinton, appearing at an education summit of the nation's governors and business leaders, said it's important to have high expectations for students and work to make them believe they can learn. (180K AIFF or WAV sound)

"If you want the standards movement to work, first you have to do the hard work in what it is you expect children to learn," Clinton said. "But then you have to have an assessment system -- and however you design it in your own best judgment at the state level -- that says no more social promotions, no more free passes. If you want people to learn, learning has to mean something." (112K AIFF or WAV sound)

Business leaders at the conference complain that they have to teach remedial skills to workers who graduate from the public schools without without core skills, including reading, writing, basic math and logical thinking.

A 1994 American Management survey found 20 percent of firms provide remedial training, up from 4 percent only five years earlier.

New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said it was good to hear Clinton talking about the need for states to set standards, a process that already is underway in her state.

But Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said what Clinton was saying was hardly new. "He thinks everything is fine and all you have to do is test a few folks," Ridge told the Associated Press. "Testing is hardly revolutionary, hardly a leadership item."

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