Proclamation 6273—National Education First Week, 1991

Labor and learning precede every inch of human progress. That is why improving our Nation's educational system must be a priority for all Americans. If our citizens are to have the knowledge and skills needed to enjoy full, productive lives, our schools must achieve excellence.

Recognizing our responsibility to nourish the young minds that enter the Nation's classrooms, and knowing that this country cannot have a first-class economy without a world-class education system, the Nation's Governors and I have established six National Education Goals for the year 2000. They include: ensuring that every child starts school ready to learn; raising the graduation rate to at least 90 percent; ensuring that our students demonstrate competency in five core subjects in grades 4, 8, and 12; ranking first in the world in science and math; ensuring that every American adult is literate and possesses the skills, including the technical skills, needed to compete in the global economy; and, finally, making all of our schools safe, disciplined, and drug free. Achieving these goals will require the sustained cooperation of parents, educators, public officials, and the community at large.

While the Federal Government can and will serve as a catalyst for excellence, pointing the way forward and helping schools to meet higher standards, success will require the concerted efforts of parents, educators, and local government leaders. Because competition breeds quality, we can begin by expanding choice and accountability in education. Parents have primary responsibility for the education of their children, and they should have a genuine say in what, where, and how their children learn. Teachers should be able to enjoy greater flexibility in the classroom, and local school systems should act to utilize the talent and experience of persons who want to teach but are prohibited by cumbersome regulations. However, since the best measure of our schools is not how many resources we put into them but what outcomes are achieved, we must hold ourselves accountable for results, verifying what works and what does not.

We must also work together to ensure that our children dwell in an environment that is conducive to learning. Such an environment includes schools that are safe, disciplined, and drug free. However, because what goes on in school is only part of a child's educational experience, we must also maintain in our homes and neighborhoods an atmosphere that encourages learning and rewards diligent effort. Parents are their children's first and most influential teachers, and they can help to make ours a more literate Nation by reading to and with their little ones; by taking an active interest in their youngsters' homework and academic progress; and by demonstrating through example the joys of lifelong learning.

Local libraries and museums, business and civic groups, and members of the media can assist parents by offering high-quality educational programs and activities designed to ignite the natural curiosity of children. Indeed, by sparking the imaginations of our students, by ensuring that our schools tend the light of learning with utmost care and expertise, we can build a brighter future for all Americans.

The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 197, has designated the week of April 15 through April 21, 1991, as "National Education First Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of April 15 through April 21, 1991, as National Education First Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth.

GEORGE BUSH