President Clinton's continuing call for a new "ethic of learning" should have broad political support, Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said yesterday, because Americans believe "education is the open door to success, the American way to achievement for all people."
The recent election displayed a "show me mood" among Americans, Mr. Riley told educators attending a national convention in Baltimore, "But I don't see it as hostile to education if we handle it right. People are demanding efficiency and effectiveness from institutions. If we respond to those concerns, we can build public support in this period."
The former two-term governor of South Carolina said he has encountered some concern since the election that a new Republican majority in Congress will be less supportive of Mr. Clinton's education agenda. Such a posture would not be
politically smart, he suggested during his speech at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Americans may be "anti-incumbent, anti-Washington, anti-state capital, anti-whatever," but they are pro-education, he said.
"I think the constituency for education is really all Americans," he said. "We ought to be able to shape the dynamics to meet the circumstances. . . . This is an era of information, an era of education."
Changes in the political realm will "come and go," Mr. Riley said in a brief interview after his speech. "We have to hold education above all that. We have to make education work."
He told convention delegates that the continued health of American society, as well as the future of individuals, depends on good education.
An angry, semi-literate 19-year-old is not likely to find a happy place in the world, he said, and the world will share his or her pain. Those who care about the nation's young people must "lift expectations, especially for poor children."
A controversial new book called "The Bell Curve" sends "the wrong message for American children and their families," Mr. Riley said to great applause. It helps to propagate "the pernicious belief that poor children do not have what it takes to learn at a high level. This is a fallacy, and it is destructive."
Educators already find themselves coping with the view among some young people that "excellence is for someone else, that using your mind is a sign of weakness." Those views "are as destructive as any single chapter in 'The Bell Curve.' "
Mr. Riley praised his audience for its commitment to teaching and for recognizing that quick fixes are no answer. Teachers know that teaching demands great effort every day, he said, and he urged America's families to reconnect with schools.
"Ultimately you must lead," he told the administrators, educators and teachers. "You must build the connections."
The three-day conference drew about 2,000 participants. It was geared to "Improving America's Schools: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations." Participants discussed the challenges of new education technology, improved teaching practices, parent involvement and the importance of safety in schools.