1992-07-09
My education strategy, called America 2000, is based on the premise that if we are going to change our country we must change our schools, community by community. As part of that strategy, last year I invited leaders from the private sector to forge a path in designing new schools. They responded swiftly and generously, first by forming the New American Schools Development Corporation, then by initiating a nationwide competition for the best school designs imaginable. Their initiative generated an enormous response: Nearly 700 proposals were submitted.
Today, just over a year since its inception, the New American Schools Development Corporation has selected 11 design proposals to create the best schools in the world. But every one of the design teams that competed to create the best schools in the world is also a winner. These New American School design teams are in the forefront of a movement that will, by the end of the 1990's, create revolutionary new schools. I know that America 2000 communities in every State will be anxious to study and to use these new school designs to help create their own new American schools.
The success of the New American Schools competition demonstrates that Americans welcome the opportunity for revolutionary change in the Nation's education system. That is why I am delighted by the announcement today and extend my hearty congratulations to the winning design teams.
