ATLANTA February 18, 1997--The state of American public education is pretty good--and will get better if Congress approves President Clinton's education agenda, Education Secretary Richard Riley said here today.

Riley, giving his fourth and most optimistic report on education, says he finds "the excitement and the determination of the American people to expect more from their schools" very high around the country.

The secretary reiterated the Clinton Administration proposals, selecting as a priority the need for American students to learn the "basics." These include being able to read with comprehension by the end of the third grade and able to do world-class math by the end of the eighth grade, including algebra. The President has proposed voluntary national exams, in reading at grade four and in math at grade eight. Most commentators believe this national testing system would piggyback on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Most of the Administration's agenda depends more upon rhetoric at the national level and investments/policies at the state level. For example, Riley was quite firm in saying that failing schools need to be fixed. "If a school is bad and can't be changed," he said, "reconstitute it or close it down. If a principal is slow to get the message, find strength in a new leader. If teachers are burned out, counsel them to improve or leave the profession. If laws need to be changed, get on with it." Those are all local or state decisions.

Riley also was adamant about a better teaching force. But, he said, the country will never have "A" students as long as it rates only a "C" in the preparation of tomorrow's teachers. He noted that rigorous pre-med and pre-engineering courses are the norm, "but the same cannot be said for the courses being taken by students who look forward to careers in teaching."

"America is on the move," Riley concluded. "And every school, college and university can be a bastion of hope, creativity and learning. For education is much more than getting a degree or learning a new skill. There is joy to learning, and the freedom of the intellect that brings with it new discovery and new thinking."