Thursday, May 04, 2000
Clinton: 'Income is not destiny'
President stumps for school funds
By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OWENSBORO, Ky. — President Bill Clinton became an ad hoc reading teacher in an Owensboro classroom Wednesday, sharing a few chapters of the fable Charlotte's Web with some third and fourth graders at Audubon Elementary School.
President Clinton reinforces a point during his speech at Audubon Elementary in Owensboro, Ky.
(AP photo)
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Then he took on the presidential mantle again to speak with adults, calling on the nation to look at Audubon and at the state of Kentucky as examples of how to turn around education and help students succeed, regardless of their families' income.
“Don't tell me all children can't learn,” he said. “They can learn. Income is not destiny.”
Mr. Clinton's visit to this Ohio River town, about 200 miles downstream from Cincinnati, kicked off a four-city, two-day tour in the Midwest that will end today in Columbus.
The president is trying to drum up support in the Republican-controlled Congress for an education budget that includes a $250 million Education Accountability Fund, to provide resources for states and local districts to turn around failing schools. Mr. Clinton also has visited schools in Davenport, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minn.
Audubon Elementary was his example Wednesday of what a school can achieve with greater federal and state support, he said.
A high percentage of Audubon's 450 students are poor enough to qualify for federally funded lunches. Yet the public school ranks second statewide in writing proficiency.
Mr. Clinton said Audu bon's success proves that all public schools can succeed.
In front of the large crowd of anxious elementary school children and officials, Mr. Clinton asked Congress to increase spending on after-school and summer-school programs and on programs to ensure that teachers are trained properly in the subjects they teach.
Mr. Clinton also wants to begin providing an annual report on low-performing schools nationwide and to ensure that states get federal help to move their problem schools back up to par.
“To make this strategy work we've got to have the courage to do what Kentucky is doing,” he said.
Some of Kentucky's initiatives began 10 years ago with the Kentucky Education Reform Act, or KERA. It includes setting high standards for schools, holding schools accountable for student performance, and providing investment and support to programs geared toward student achievement.
Gov. Paul Patton, who attended the event, said the state still has a long way to go, but Mr. Clinton's visit is “validation of the fact that the people of Kentucky are doing what's right.”
Audubon benefited from state reforms that routed resources into schools in high poverty areas. It also used federal funds to hire more teachers and pare class sizes to 15 to 22 students per teacher.
“The results have been truly extraordinary here,” Mr. Clinton said.
At Audubon, 57 percent of students are identified as highly skilled at writing, up from 12 percent in 1994. Similarly, 70 percent of students are proficient at reading, up from 5 percent in 1994. And 64 percent are performing well at sci ence, an area none were able to master six years ago.
The district has received awards for its Graduation 2010 program, which introduces art, music and foreign languages to children at an early age.
Crystal Davidson, the teacher whose students visited with the president, is affectionately known around the school as the “Clinton teacher” because she was brought in with federal money earmarked to reduce class size.
The president told her, “I didn't think of you as a Clinton teacher, but I'll take that any day of the week.”
Ms. Davidson and other school officials worked until the wee hours getting her classroom ready. When the 20 or so pupils heard Mr. Clinton walking down the hallway, the class was abuzz.
After the president arrived, they opened up Charlotte's Web. Mr. Clinton sat on a stool in front of the class and said, “Why don't I read a couple paragraphs and then you can read some. Deal?”
He followed along in his copy and asked questions such as, “Do you know what exertion is? Exertion is another word for effort. It's just a fancy word for effort.”
And then, “What does bewilderment mean, anybody got an idea? It's a little like wonder.”
After his classroom visit, Mr. Clinton addressed school leaders and others in the gymnasium. He reminded them that now is the best time to put in place these effective education strategies, which have long been known to work. He said the economy has never been better, and the federal budget has a surplus.
“If we don't do it now, when in the wide world are we going to do it?” he said.
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