Two centuries later, it is clear this core value has not only stood the test of time but also has grown in importance. As we move forward in this new Information Era and international economy, education is an increasingly vital commodity, a precursor of potential success and a driving force of change. It is important to recognize, however, that we approach education today differently than in the past. School and work used to be distinct worlds, in part because the kinds of jobs people had didn't require the kind of basic education and specialized training often required in the workforce today. In the 1950s for instance, only 20 percent of American jobs were classified as professional, 20 percent as skilled, and 60 percent were unskilled.

Today, our world has changed. The proportion of unskilled jobs has fallen to 20 percent, while skilled jobs now account for at least 60 percent of the workforce. Even more important, almost every job today increasingly requires a combination of academic knowledge and practical skills that require learning throughout a lifetime.

President Clinton has worked to help ensure that this new Information Age will also be an "Education Age," an age of increased educational opportunity for all Americans. He and I share the belief that education is "the way up;" that a better standard of living depends upon an educated, skilled and competent citizenry. The President has challenged Americans to help ensure that once children go to school, they are part of an exciting and challenging environment of teaching and learning that will ensure that every 8-year-old can read, every 12-year-old can log on to the Internet, every 18-year-old can go on to college, and every adult can continue to learn for a lifetime.

We know that children who are challenged to learn enjoy learning -- and generally learn more. And we know that a rigorous learning environment, in which every child masters the basics like reading and mathematics, and where parents, teachers and students know how to measure what level of achievement students are reaching, creates opportunities for future success.

In contrast, children whose minds are not stretched are likely to be bored with what goes on in their classrooms and will have generally fewer opportunities available to them for future success. For instance, a child who doesn't know how to read independently by the fourth grade and to do math, including challenging concepts like algebra and geometry by the eighth grade, will likely have fewer options for the future. These are fundamental skills that provide important gateways in secondary school for students to take a full range of core courses to prepare for college.

We are asking all students and teachers to meet high standards. We are working to ensure access to the newest learning technologies for all students. We also are working to make sure that every classroom has a quality teacher, schools are safe and drug free, and the doors of college are open to everyone who works hard and can make the grade. Finally, we are working to encourage parents, families and communities to get involved in schools to make them better.

At the heart of these efforts must be a focus on the essential building blocks like reading, math, and science. Reading, in particular, is the most basic of basics, on which so much of future opportunity depends. It is no surprise that throughout history, denying people the opportunity to read has been a goal of individuals and governments who seek to suppress a population and inhibit the intellectual growth of their citizens. The most repressive regimes have been those that have taken over the newspapers, television, and radio, closed libraries, and burned books. In contrast, a hallmark of democracy has been respect for the written word and encouragement of intellectual freedoms like reading and writing.

One way to strengthen reading skills is through our "America Reads Challenge," which seeks to mobilize all Americans to create long-term partnerships of committed educators and citizens built around every school, library and community to help strengthen schools and make sure the young people of those communities learn to read independently by the end of third grade. Among the many features of "America Reads" is the effort to encourage trained tutors to work with students and teachers to give students the extra attention and practice in the basics they need and deserve.

Although Americans today are reading as well as they ever have, it still isn't good enough. Forty percent of America's fourth graders currently don't read at the basic level as measured by the National Assessment of Education Progress [Editor's note: The NAEP test is administered to small samples of students in 43 U.S. states. Thus, it is an overall indicator, but does not provide specific information on the performance of every student. Without specific performance information parents and educators cannot take actions to [address] individual as well as group needs. That is why President Clinton has proposed voluntary national tests in 4th-grade reading. These tests would give participating schools a powerful new tool for raising reading achievement and would help parents, teachers, and principals know at what level their kids are learning and allow challenging and appropriate standards for what is being taught.

Our focus also includes a renewed emphasis on the "other" basics -- math and science. The importance of these subjects could not be clearer. The U.S. Department of Education recently released a report demonstrating the link between students who take challenging math courses and their success in attending and succeeding in college.

At the same time that our emphasis on these basics needs to become standard fare, we also must work to make sure that our schools teach, use, and apply the newest technologies for learning to supplement the traditional basics. Computers and other forms of telecommunications technology are a vital part of a sound education future and offer tremendous potential to help students learn basic and advanced skills and even complete academic programs and graduate degrees. The education budget President Clinton recently signed into law includes dramatic new investments in educational technology that will help increase the power of students to learn and teachers to teach with computers and other learning technologies.

With the touch of a keyboard or a trip on the Internet, students and teachers have access to an immense assortment of learning resources, admission to world-class libraries and museums, exposure to new and engaging methods of teaching, and specific information and answers about almost any subject. Most important is that we ensure that these technologies are available to all, and that they work to eliminate, rather than accentuate the learning divide between rich and poor. That is why I am so pleased that this Administration was able to help develop the so-called E-rate (for Education), which will soon begin to provide deeply discounted rates for telecommunications services like the Internet in libraries and schools.

This Administration has worked diligently to strengthen and support quality teaching in our nation's classrooms, especially in light of the ongoing record influx of students into our schools and the need for teachers in the most vulnerable communities. No profession is more vital to securing a strong and successful future for our nation than teaching.

The President recently pledged to provide funds to help 100,000 teachers become certified "master teachers" -- one in every school in America -- to serve as an inspiration and a model for others in the profession. But in addition to encouraging the best minds to come into teaching, we need to make sure that those who are already here want to be in the profession. In this regard, we need to counsel those teachers who are burned out to leave the profession through a speedy and fair process. Similarly, we must work to make sure that every school is up to the challenge of educating at these high quality levels. If a school is failing, we should be willing to close it down or reconstitute it. If a principal is slow to get the message, superintendents and school boards should be willing to replace him or her. We know what works -- we've seen proven reform like the New American Schools Corporation, which seeks to provide proven designs of successful schools to communities in order to revitalize their own local schools.

Even as we work to try and increase our national investment in education, it is not, and should not be enough to focus on the financial side of the equation. The most important ingredient for building strong schools requires an investment of people. That is why this Administration has worked to make sure that parents, families, businesses, and communities are an essential part of education. We've worked hard to encourage private businesses to become family friendly -- to invest in schools in their communities so they can become stronger places for learning, and help their employees become more involved in their children's education. And we have tried, through voluntary efforts like our Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, to bring together families, teachers, businesses, religious and community based groups for better education.

This kind of involvement can include everything from entire businesses helping schools and communities physically wire classrooms to the Internet to older citizens volunteering their time to read with a student or to tutor. I've seen businesses adopt classes and get paired up with students to mentor them and show them the opportunities that come with a good education. Quite simply, when students and families and schools come together, they open doors and create new challenges and learning opportunities.

There are real signs of progress and achievement in education today. In math and science, for instance, two areas where we have focused our attention over the past decade, student achievement is up significantly. Another sign of progress is the great increase in the number of secondary schools students who are taking the core academic courses. This shows that we are finally getting serious about education in this country.

And perhaps most importantly, public education is beginning to turn the corner. We are not where we want to be, but we are headed in the right direction. Communities and families and businesses are getting involved with their schools and working to strengthen them. We must make sure, however, that we are not sidetracked by "magic-bullet" solutions that aren't really solutions at all, but political gimmicks that work only to divide us.

Recently, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future released a report entitled "What Matters Most." It noted that "there has been no previous time in history when the success, indeed the survival of nations and people has been tied so tightly to their ability to learn. Today's society has little room for those who cannot read, write, and compute proficiently, find and use resources, frame and solve problems, and continually learn new technologies, skills, and occupations."

As much as any president before him, President Clinton understands the critical role that education will play in our nation's continuing success and the achievements of every citizen in this great nation. By working to ensure that our nation's historic emphasis on education not only continues, but also is enhanced, we can help to ensure that our nation and every person in it has a brighter future.

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Richard W. Riley is a life-long resident of South Carolina, and served as an elected official and governor of that state before being selected by President Clinton as Secretary of Education in 1992. As South Carolina governor, Riley worked actively with Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton to make important strides in education in their states; these programs helped shape the current national education agenda.