President Bush and the nation鈥檚 governors walked away from last week鈥檚 education summit with an unprecedented agreement to establish national performance goals and to engineer a radical restructuring of America鈥檚 educational system.
Said Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, one of a handful of governors who negotiated directly with White House officials on the two-day summit and its product:
鈥淭his is the first time a President and governors have ever stood before the American people and said: 鈥楴ot only are we going to set national performance goals, which are ambitious, not only are we going to develop strategies to achieve them, but we stand here before you and tell you we expect to be held personally accountable for the progress we make in moving this country to a brighter future.鈥濃��
鈥淚f that doesn鈥檛 make this a happy day, I don鈥檛 know what does,鈥� he said.
President Bush promised that he and his Administration would 鈥渇ollow up in every way possible鈥� on the commitments made last week, and he called on the American people to join the crusade.
鈥淎 social compact begins today in Charlottesville, a compact between parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, state legislators, governors, and the Administration,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur compact is founded not on promises, but on challenges鈥攅ach one a radical departure from tradition.鈥�'
鈥淭he American people are ready for radical reforms,鈥� the President said. 鈥淲e must not disappoint them.鈥�
The National Governors鈥� Association鈥檚 education task force, led by Mr. Clinton, a Democrat, and Carroll A. Campbell, South Carolina鈥檚 Republican governor, will work with Administration officials to hammer out specific goals and strategies.
The process, which will include consultation with such 鈥渟takeholders鈥� as educators, parents, and lawmakers, is to culminate in an announcement at an NGA meeting in February. Mr. Bush promised he would attend.
The joint statement released at the close of the summit said the goals will focus on ensuring that all young children are ready to start school; improving American students鈥� performance in international assessments; reducing dropout rates; increasing adult literacy; ensuring a supply of qualified teachers by improving training and their working environment; ensuring that workers are trained for today鈥檚 high-tech jobs; and establishing safe, drug-free schools.
In addition to beginning a goal-setting process, the summiteers agreed on the spot to launch several specific initiatives. They agreed:
To seek to change federal laws and regulations to give state agencies and school districts greater latitude in their use of federal education funds, in exchange for commitments to meet performance standards.
A similar effort is to occur at the state level.
To pursue higher funding for federal programs, such as Head Start, that support early-childhood education and the health of disadvantaged children.
To work toward 鈥渞estructuring鈥� schools by moving more authority to the school level, toughening the curriculum, promoting parental and community involvement, and giving teachers responsibility and flexibility in exchange for accountability for results.
To establish 鈥渃lear measures of performance鈥� and issue annual report cards measuring performance by 鈥渟tudents, schools, the states, and the federal government.鈥�
The agreement was forged in a session late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning that included John Sununu, the White House chief of staff; Roger B. Porter, the Administration鈥檚 domestic-policy adviser; Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, the chairman of the NGA; and Governors Clinton and Campbell.
Mr. Branstad and Mr. Clinton recounted how they worked until about 2 A.M. Thursday, then circulated a draft agreement later in the morning. It was revised during the day Thursday, and approved by the governors and Administration officials, who met in historic buildings at the University of Virginia.
Mr. Clinton said the most difficult part of the negotiation was persuading the White House officials to agree to channel more federal funding into programs serving young children.
The joint statement does not explicitly promise an increase for any particular program. But it states that the federal government must play 鈥渁 leading role鈥� in ensuring extra help for disadvantaged and handicapped children, increasing accessibility to higher education, and conducting research.
It also states that 鈥減riority for any further funding increases be given to prepare young children to succeed in school.鈥�
This 鈥減uts the Administration on the record鈥� as supporting such programs, Mr. Clinton said.
The governors鈥� other major task, he said, was to make the goals statement more specific.
鈥淲hen we came into this, it was going to be a discussion with no commitment and no written agreement,鈥� Mr. Clinton said. 鈥淲e had to work hard to get an agreement on general goals.鈥�
By agreeing to make a public statement, he said, the President 鈥渉as taken on some measure of political risk just like the rest of us.鈥�
The agreement was unveiled at a ceremonious closing session on the Lawn, a large courtyard surrounded by the original buildings Thomas Jefferson designed for the university in the early 19th century.
The President, Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos, and key governors walked down the steps of Jefferson鈥檚 Rotunda between ranks of colonial-costumed students bearing state flags and presented the document under picture-perfect skies.
Governors who stayed to meet with reporters after Mr. Bush departed spoke glowingly of the agreement.
鈥淭he thing that encourages me the most is that all the nation鈥檚 governors have agreed to this,鈥� said Gov. Guy Hunt of Alabama. 鈥淕overnors all the way from Gov. [Michael S.] Dukakis [of Massachusetts] and Gov. [Mario] Cuomo [of New York] to Governor Campbell, myself, and other conservatives were able to agree.鈥�
Educators were not invited to the summit, but some came anyway. And those who were on the scene were pleased with the outcome.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 terrific,鈥� said Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers. 鈥淚f we do get a consensus on national goals and a better way of measuring performance and reporting to the American people, we鈥檒l be on our way.鈥�
鈥淭hree months ago, you wouldn鈥檛 have been able to talk about national goals,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he governors came to a position they didn鈥檛 have a few weeks ago.鈥�
鈥淣ow we must prod them to set some goals and do it quickly,鈥� said Keith Geiger, president of the National Education Association.
Frank Newman, executive director of the Education Commission of the States, said the summit鈥檚 most important contribution was to raise national awareness.
鈥淚n the U.S., once you get an issue to be an accepted issue, after you get it up on the agenda, then things start happening,鈥� he said.
But some of the initiatives in the joint plan are likely to prove controversial.
Relaxing federal regulations, for example, may not be embraced by the Congress that drafted them.
Democratic leaders were lukewarm about the idea when it was raised at a news conference Sept. 20. And efforts by Representative Peter P. Smith, Republican of Vermont, to push legislation in that area has been received cautiously by the Education and Labor Committee.
Some educators said last week that they fear 鈥渄eregulation鈥� could allow school districts to ignore the special populations for whom federal funding is intended.
鈥淚 think we want to be careful about removing all oversight,鈥� Mr. Geiger said.
A move to create assessment tools that allow specific comparisons between schools or states is almost certain to be controversial, as such proposals have been historically.
Extended negotiations were necessary just to include a trial state-by-state survey in the National Assessment of Educational Progress in last year鈥檚 omnibus education law. And the law specifically prohibits district-level comparisons.
Many educators argue that comparisons between dissimilar districts are unfair.
鈥淲e need a commitment to equity, and until there is equity, I don鈥檛 want to be compared to the districts in the richer suburbs,鈥� said Constance E. Clayton, an officer of the Council of the Great City Schools and superintendent of the Philadelphia schools.
Several governors addressed the issue, albeit indirectly.
Gov. Wallace G. Wilkinson of Kentucky, for example, said that national goals cannot be achieved by all without 鈥渟ufficient funding for national equity.鈥�
鈥淭his is one Democratic governor who鈥檚 not going to take a dive on this issue,鈥� he said.
Samuel B. Husk, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, said he also fears the envisioned 鈥渞eport card鈥� will lean too heavily on standardized tests, which he said are unfair to inner-city students.
The agreement may also find resistance at the local level when educators realize that they are being held to new standards.
Decisions on such issues as school structure are made locally, and for an agreement between governors and federal officials to be effective, they must persuade鈥攐r force鈥攍ocal cooperation.
Mr. Husk, who praised the summit鈥檚 outcome, agreed that 鈥渢here will be pressure from the states on locals to respond.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of this is persuasion,鈥� Mr. Clinton said. 鈥淵ou have to be willing to give them flexibility and hold them accountable for results.鈥�
Gov. Garrey E. Carruthers of New Mexico, chairman of the ECS, acknowledged more specifically that state officials might have to crack the whip.
鈥淭here are all kinds of penalties, like states taking over school systems,鈥� he said.
Will the summit agreement spur more states to consider such drastic moves?
鈥淚f governors have any influence in states, absolutely,鈥� Mr. Carruthers said.
Finally, while summit participants said repeatedly that increased federal funding was not a major issue, it was raised during the summit and is likely to become part of the post-summit debate.
Administration officials have said that they have no plans to increase federal education spending drastically.
Mr. Sununu talked at presummit meetings of redistributing existing funds, and governors said Mr. Bush spoke of having all Cabinet members report on the portions of their budgets spent on educational efforts.
But the governors persuaded Mr. Bush to make at least an indirect promise to increase funding for preschool education and child-nutrition programs, a promise Congressional Democrats are likely to remind him of.
And education advocates have said they hope to use the attention created by the summit to push for more federal education spending.
