NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS

WHEREAS, the 1989 Education Summit in Charlottesville, Va., marked the first time in U.S. history that the president and the nation's governors mutually recognized the vital role of education in a strong democracy and healthy economy and agreed to establish national goals; and

WHEREAS, the president and the governors honored that commitment and established, with the advice of education and other groups, six ambitious and important national education goals for the year 2000, goals that span the preschool years through adulthood; and

WHEREAS, the joint statement by the president and the governors recognizes that these goals cannot be achieved through the efforts of educators alone but will also require the commitment of political leaders at all levels of government, business and civic groups, parents and students; and

WHEREAS, that statement recognizes the strong impact of non-school factors, such as maternal and child health and nutrition, on school readiness and urges increased governmental commitment to prevention and care, as well as to programs like Head Start and Chapter 1; and

WHEREAS, that statement supports school restructuring, freeing schools to focus more on student results than on complying with procedures, increasing the decision-making authority of school staffs and using incentives to stimulate restructuring; and

WHEREAS, that statement recognizes the need for coordinated, flexible, lifelong education and training op­portunities so that adults will qualify for and be able to adjust to the rapidly changing skill requirements of work and in order for America to have the kind of first rate workforce vital to a productive economy; and

WHEREAS, the national education goals and supporting statement are committed in each particular to equity and furthering equality of educational opportunity:

RESOLVED, that the AFT commend the president and the governors for transcending their political differences on behalf of American education and establishing important national education goals; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support these goals and pledge the efforts of every sector of the union, from preschool to higher education professionals, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, nurses and health professionals and public employees¾for we each have a role to play--to achieving these goals; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT urge the president and the governors, as well as political leaders from other branches and levels of government, to build on their initial recognition of the non-school factor involved in educational achievement by pledging to eradicate the disgracefully high incidence of childhood poverty in America; and

RESOLVED, that, much as we are willing to make the effort and accept being held accountable for helping to achieve the nation's education goals, we expect the nation's political leaders to support and speak out for these goals and the investments necessary to reach them, and we intend to hold them accountable for doing so; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT closely monitor the use and existing indicators and the development of new measures to assess progress toward meeting the goals to ensure that they are appropriate, valid, reliable, fair and nonpolitical.