Statement by Members of the Learning First Alliance

For Immediate Release

Contact: Judy Wurtzel, 202-296-5220 x 12

1999 National Education Summit

The Learning First Alliance is pleased to co-sponsor the 1999 National Education Summit. This Summit comes at an important time in American education. Our nation is focused more sharply than ever on the need to improve student learning in every classroom. The historic partnership of educators, governors and business leaders at this Summit represents a commitment to forge a consensus on improving our nation’s schools.

Improvements in American education are already paying off. Test scores are up; dropout rates are down. More high school graduates are going to college. But improvement is not rapid enough to meet 21st century challenges. Accelerating progress requires sustained commitments by governors, business leaders, and educators to assure standards, assessments and other improvements reach every classroom and all students.

While high standards, assessments, and accountability are critical elements in school improvement, the new challenges for high performance will be met only if we invest in increasing the skills and knowledge of teachers and school leaders to teach to high standards and the opportunities for all students to reach those standards.

We enter this Summit ready to continue to redefine the role of educators in improving student learning. The nation’s governors and business leaders stepped forward with the resources, know-how, and sustained commitment to make the U.S. economy the best in the world. Given the essential role of public schools in the health of our democracy and economy, our public schools and our children deserve the same.

The time for talk is over. As educators, we participate in this Summit in order to join with governors and business leaders to improve American student learning, student by student, school by school, district by district, state by state.