A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

United States Department of Education

Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meeting

"Learning on-Line: Education and the Information Superhighway"

Opening Remarks by Deputy Secretary Madeleine M. Kunin

This is the Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meeting, produced by the United States Department of Education in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Now, in Washington, D.C., here is your host, United States Deputy Secretary of Education, Madeleine Kunin.

Remarks by Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin

This has been a very important time for our nation's schools and our school children. Just two weeks ago the Congress passed the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and, with the Secretary's leadership and the President's leadership and with strong bipartisan support in the Congress and from a lot of you folks at home, support for educational improvement, we have been able to pass nine significant education bills. Now we have got the tools to help you at the State and community level keep the momentum going for educational improvement. And strong partnerships amongst State, local, and national groups help shape these new laws. Now these same groups, including, of course, teachers, parents, administrators, business people, can join hands at the State and local level and translate this legislation into action.

Now, some of these tools include Goals 2000, which sets the voluntary national achievement standards and supports innovation. We passed an overhaul of the student loan program. We have got a new School-to-Work initiative, an expanded Head Start Program, and a new National Service Program.

Now, today we know that schools can't raise their academic standards, we can't do all these good things if we don't simultaneously recognize the importance of discipline and safety in the schools. And that is why we have a new crime law, with more than $4 billion for prevention and the new Safe and Drug- Free Schools Act.

But the passage of the $12 billion Elementary and Secondary Education Act is especially good news for students, teachers, families, and the communities across the country. It represents a real commitment to world-class standards of academic achievement for all students and a greater investment in professional development for teachers. It brings added help to the schools most in need and offers new flexibility to States and local communities so you can use the money in the way you know best how to use it.

Now, the new ESEA also encourages parental involvement in the education of our children. It puts the Federal Government squarely on the side of innovation in the public schools by supporting public school choice, charter schools, and magnet schools. And most importantly for tonight, we have a new Technology for Education Act to assist teachers in their efforts to bring telecommunication tools and skills right into the classroom.

So it is very fitting that tonight our discussion will focus on the National Information Infrastructure or, as it is more commonly known, the Information Superhighway.

The Superhighway is a powerful technological tool for students, teachers, and parents. It is a seamless web of communications networks, computers, databases, consumer electronics. All that can greatly enhance our ability to communicate with one another, and it puts vast amounts of information at our fingertips.

But the Superhighway is even more than that. It is an essential tool for achieving the national education goals and an integral part of our future education system. Besides, it makes learning fun. On-line technology opens up new worlds of learning, virtual field trips to museums and libraries around the world, improving connections between parents, teachers, and schools, the sharing of information and lessons plans amongst teachers across the country, new learning opportunities for students with disabilities, and collaborative projects with students in other nations, and the ability to learn by doing, using modeling and simulation, to name just a few of the applications.

It also helps students learn the skills they need for the jobs they are going to hold in the 21st century, analytical skills, research skills, and teamwork. And we have a number of students and teachers in our studio audience this evening, and later on in the program they will tell us about some of their experiences.

Tonight's discussion is also available to Internet users right now. Thanks to a project of Cornell University called CU- SeeMe, the town meeting is being cybercast live in multimedia format, including audio and video. It is a technological first for us.

Participants Conversation with Mr. Wood and Ms. Hyatt