Thanks to the actions of this Congress last year, we will soon have, for the very first time, a voluntary national test based on national standards in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math.
Parents have a right to know whether their children are mastering the basics. And every parent already knows the key; good teachers and small classes.
Tonight, I propose the first ever national effort to reduce class size in the early grades. My balanced budget will help to hire a hundred thousand new teachers who have passed the state competency tests. Now with these teachers--listen--with these teachers, we will actually be able to reduce class size in the first, second and third grades to an average of 18 students a class all across America.
Now, if I’ve got the math right, more teachers teaching smaller classes requires more classrooms. So I also propose a school construction tax cut to help communities modernize or build 5,000 schools.
We must also demand greater accountability. When we promote a child from grade to grade who hasn’t mastered the work, we don’t do that child any favors. It is time to end social promotion in America’s schools.
Last year, in Chicago, they made that decision--not to hold our children back, but to lift them up. Chicago stopped social promotion and started mandatory summer school to help students who are behind to catch up.
I propose to help other communities follow Chicago’s lead. Let’s say to them stop promoting children who don’t learn, and we will give you the tools to make sure they do.
I also ask this Congress to support our efforts to enlist colleges and universities to reach out to disadvantaged children starting in the sixth grade so that they can get the guidance and hope they need so they can know that they, too, will be able to go on to college.
As we enter the 21st century, the global economy requires us to seek opportunity not just at home, but in all the markets of the world. We must shape this global economy, not shrink from it.
In the last five years, we have led the way in opening new markets, with 240 trade agreements that remove foreign barriers to products bearing the proud stamp, “Made in the USA.” Today, record high exports account for fully one-third of our economic growth. I want to keep them going, because that’s the way to keep America growing and to advance a safer, more stable world.