President Bush reached out a long distance to touch Gov. Norm Bangerter with a message of congratulations Tuesday afternoon.
Aboard Air Force 1 and ready to leave Chicago for Washington, D.C., the president called Bangerter to commend Utah's education restructuring efforts. The governor was in the Little America Hotel, hosting a gathering of state leaders to launch Utah's America 2000 program. The guest of honor was U.S. Education Secretary LaMar Alexander, whom the president charged to monitor Utah's progress and keep him informed."Congratulations," Bush told Bangerter. "You're making a terrific contribution to the momentum of educational reform . . . . Utah is showing the country how educational reform can happen at the local level.
O "We want to be with you on this one. We're proud of you," the president said.
Utah joins about 30 other states and a growing number of communities that are espousing the president's six education goals and the America 2000 objectives developed as a vehicle for implementing the goals.
In his own remarks, Bangerter said Utah is making progress on several fronts, including a strong core curriculum, restructuring of high schools through the nine-district consortium program, statewide testing and development of a strategic plan to see the state through the next few years.
"We still have a great deal to do," Bangerter said. "The America 2000 strategies will see the removal of traditional walls that have held some teachers and students captive for too long."
Alexander also had congratulations for Utah's educational effort. He said America's children can no longer be educated to live and compete in isolation. "We are playing in a bigger league," he said. "We have to make changes and adjust."
Earlier in the day, speaking to the Republican Governors Association conference, Alexander repeated some of his warnings.
If the country fails to address the educational needs of young Americans, he said, "We are sowing 1,000 land mines in the desert; we'll pay an enormous price in the years to come.
"At a time of urgency and radical change (in education), the U.S. Congress is slow to move and partisan as usual. The president says we need more flexibility in education grants. The Democrats in Congress say no. The president says we need more parental choice in schools. Congress says no. The president says we need the new American School program. Congress says no. The president says we need to keep the governors at the forefront of education reform. Congress says no. And the president says we need some kind of national standards and testing. And Congress says no, again.
"There is a clear difference of opinion on how education in this country should be handled. On one side is the president, the governors - Democrats and Republicans - and the American people - all on the side of change. On the other side is Congress, dedicated to business as usual," Alexander said.
During the afternoon meeting in the Little America, Alexander made reference to the penchant of many Utahns for genealogy. He recounted his grandfather's educational experience in a small Tennessee community, his own attendance at a somewhat larger school, also in Tennessee, then compared that to a Japanese school that has located in that state. The Japanese students, who attend school many more days a year, out-perform their American counterparts in Tennessee, he said.
Several Utahns who already are deeply involved in the America 2000 concepts described their efforts.
Sevier Superintendent Brent Rock described a total community project that is involving everyone from educators to parents to businessmen to government and community leaders.
"We want to be the first (America 2000) community in Utah," he said. "We have a vision that by the year 2000 we will be turning out kids ready for their world. You have to quit dreaming and wake up to make these dreams come true."