Senator Gary Hart, from a speech at a high school in Jackson, Miss., on Feb. 18, after announcing he would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for President:
We should be preparing now, by investing more heavily than ever in the education of our children. Your action in passing the Mississippi Education Reform Act of 1982 underscores the importance of education as a priority of our society and as a crucial link to real economic growth and progress.
We must reaffirm our commitment to quality public education ..., modernize our education system ..., [and] recommit ourselves to the aim of meeting the educational needs of every child.
Walter Mondale, from the announcement of his Presidential candidacy on Feb. 21, in St. Paul, Minn.:
We must become an America whose children master basic skills again; whose parents are partners with schools again; whose teachers are rewarded and raise standards again; whose students get the financial aid they need again; whose graduates have tools for a lifetime of learning; whose employers invest in a lifetime of training; and whose educators steer this generation toward excellence.
Presidential candidate Senator Alan Cranston, from a policy statement issued last month:
We cannot expect our economy to improve while we cut education funding nearly in half; while schools across the country are closing and others are reducing hours of instruction.
The new growth industries demand workers skilled in technology, but our schools are not preparing students for this future. We have half the number of science and math teachers we need; half of our high school graduates have no science or math beyond tenth grade. Two-thirds of our school districts allow graduation with no more than one science or math course.
