S5542 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE April 7, 1995 

more for their student loans. Who 

knows how many who cannot afford the 

higher priced loans will simply drop 

out. 

It makes it harder for poor families 

to escape welfare by blocking any increase in the minimum wage. 

The Republican agenda leaves virtually every American family at risk 

of financial ruin by refusing to reform 

health care. For some, the past 100 

days simply means that more people 

are without health insurance in South 

Dakota and a lot of people—and hoping 

they do not end up like some of their 

neighbors—the 1,200 retirees of the 

Morrell meatpacking company in 

Sioux Falls, who suddenly lost their 

health benefits 2 months ago. 

And, the contract undermines our effort to enforce laws protecting Americans from polluted air and water, from 

spoiled meat and killer toys and a 

whole host of other dangers. 

The big winners in the contract are 

the lobbyists and special interests, who 

Republicans have invited—quite literally—into committee rooms to write 

the laws as they choose. 

The big losers, of course, are working 

families, who are going to end up picking up the tab for the special interests—the same as they did in the 1980’s. 

That is wrong, too, and Democrats will 

fight it. 

The biggest problem with the contract is not simply that it threatens to 

bankrupt working families economically. It is also morally bankrupt. 

Democrats have a responsibility to 

challenge not just the details of the 

contract, but the underlying values as 

well. We need to raise our voices, particularly in the face of the extreme 

new agenda of the Republican Party. 

We need to find new ways, new technologies, to communicate our basic beliefs, and, we need to expand the debate 

to include values that matter to working families. Values like fairness and 

tolerance, genuine opportunity, and 

generational progress. 

More important, we need to make 

sure that our values shape our public 

policy. Too often, government policies 

do not reflect our nation’s values. 

Sometimes they have actually exacerbate the conditions they were created 

to eliminate. 

No matter how noble their original 

purpose, when we try to protect failed 

programs, we undermine the credibility 

of government and thus the ability of 

government to help the people who deserve help. 

So, making sure our values shape our 

public policies mean, first of all, acknowledging when something is not 

working. Making sure our values shape 

our public policies also means reforming our welfare system so that it rewards work. It means encouraging families to be strong and to stay strong. 

Making sure our values shape our public policies means we need truth-insentencing laws. We need to hold people responsible for their actions. And 

we need to protect people from crime 

in the first place. 

President Clinton and a Democratic 

Congress last year passed a tough new 

crime bill that puts 100,000 more police 

on the street, including 77 in my home 

State. Now Republicans want to gut 

that bill. That is dead wrong. And 

Democrats will fight it. 

Making sure our values shape our 

public policies means we need to listen 

to average people, not campaign contributors. In Washington and in every 

State capitol in this country, holy 

wars are being waged with unholy 

amounts of money. People don’t know 

where the buck stops anymore. They 

only know it stops the debate. 

And this is wrong. And Democrats 

will fight it—by pushing for real campaign finance reform—in this session of 

Congress. 

Making sure our values shape our 

public policies means helping workers 

learn new skills so they can keep their 

job or get a new one. Not long ago, 

Speaker GINGRICH called unemployment insurance ‘‘vacation pay for freeloaders.’’ Republicans may think that 

makes a good sound bite, but it’s small 

and insensitive. If we value work, then 

let us treat workers with dignity. Give 

them the tools and training they need 

to earn their own way, and they will 

not need unemployment insurance or 

anything else from government. 

Finally, making sure our values 

shape our public policies means helping 

middle-class pay for college with affordable loans or the sweat equity that 

comes from national service. 

In asking Congress to do these 

things, Democrats are only asking the 

Republican majority to do what the 

American people expect them to do: to 

lead. Their refusal to even discuss our 

proposals makes it clear that Republicans do not oppose the way we Democrats have done the job of fighting for 

working families and children. They 

are fundamentally opposed to the job 

being done at all. 

I said at the beginning of my remarks that the American people did 

not vote for the Republican contract 

because most had not even heard of it. 

Instead, they were voting to continue 

the original Contract With America. 

They voted to make America a place, 

once again, where people still believe 

in values like tolerance and fairness, 

and parents still have the time to 

teach those values to their children. 

America can be what America was, a 

place where you can get ahead if you 

work hard. We can make America that 

kind of place again. But it’s going to 

take more than angry demagoguery 

and more than the mad dash of 100 

days. 

Americans understand that. Because 

leaders like Franklin Roosevelt taught 

us. President Roosevelt led this Nation 

through a depression and a world war. 

He knew that good government is government which unites this country, not 

divides it. It is government that offers 

hope, not fear—that proposes real solutions where there are real problems. He 

led, so others were willing to follow. 

As a former history professor, NEWT

GINGRICH should remember the words 

of his favorite President who said that 

‘‘the only limit to our realization will 

be our doubts of today.’’

While Democrats do not advocate 

going back to the programs of the New 

Deal, we believe that the values that 

shaped that agenda are as valid today 

as they have ever been. The realization 

of tomorrow must be built from the realization of strong national leadership 

today, the kind of leadership the American people have turned to throughout 

our history, and to which future generations must turn, not just for 100 

days, but for that many years, and 

more. 

f 

SCHOOL-TO-WORK: A LARGER 

VISION 

Mr. PELL. Mr. President, in November of last year, Mr. Sam Halperin of 

the American youth policy forum addressed a statewide conference in 

Rhode Island on implementation of the 

new School-to-Work Opportunities Act 

of 1994. His thoughts bear careful consideration not only as we move this act 

from legislative provision to program 

but also as we approach reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act. 

Mr. Halperin is a distinguished educator whose views merit careful consideration. He has served as Deputy Commissioner in the old Office of Education, Deputy Assistant Secretary at 

the Department of Health, Education, 

and Welfare, and the director and first 

president of the Institute for Educational Leadership. 

I would ask that the full text of Mr. 

Halperin’s remarks be placed in the 

RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

SCHOOL-TO-WORK: A LARGER VISION

(By Dr. Samuel Halperin) 

Thank you for your invitation to help develop Rhode Island’s plans for implementation of the School-to-Work Opportunities 

Act of 1994 (hereafter STWOA). I have no 

doubt that you will soon win one of the federal implementation grants, grants already 

awarded to eight other states. 

My only doubt is whether your vision will 

be as large-spirited and as bold as the federal 

Act itself. Will you seize the opportunity to 

rethink the essential nature of schooling at 

the dawn of the 21st Century? Will you construct a total quality system in which each 

of the parts supports and advances the welfare of all the other parts? That is the challenge. That is the opportunity. 

SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES ACT: 

‘‘HISTORIC, LANDMARK’’ LEGISLATION

Five features of the new Act qualify it for 

designation as ‘‘historic,’’ even ‘‘landmark,’’

legislation: 

One, previous federal legislation focussed 

mostly on the disadvantaged (Job Training 

Partnership Act, JOb Corps, ESEA Title I). 

STWOA is the most universal, non-meanstested effort to date. It is intended to help 

all students who have not yet completed 

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April 7, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE S5543 

high school, regardless of their economic 

status. 

Two, STWOA is the first federal education 

legislation to declare that preparation for 

earning a living is one of the legitimate and 

important roles of schooling for all students, 

including the college-bound. 

Three, previous federal legislation implied 

that learning is the near-exclusive province 

of the schools. STWOA affirms that learning 

takes place in families, communities, 

schools and workplaces. Employers and 

worksite learning are central in the new legislation. So are parents and communitybased organizations. All of these agencies are 

specifically recognized as major stakeholders 

and partners in every local STW partnership. 

Four, previous federal legislation (with the 

exception of Vocational Education) largely 

bypassed the high schools. (Title I compensatory education funds, the largest program, 

are concentrated largely in the early grades.) 

STWOA focusses on high school and the 

transition to postsecondary education. While 

it addresses the needs of all students, it ‘‘remembers’’ the needs of ‘‘The Forgotten Half’’

who are not going to four-year colleges immediately after high school graduation. 

Five, previous federal legislation provided 

annual funding over many years. STWOA, 

accommodating to harsh federal fiscal realities, seeks to leverage change through limited financial incentives. Federal ‘‘venture 

capital’’ over a seven-to-ten-year period is 

intended to help you form voluntary partnerships and consortia of all the stakeholders. 

STWOA also encourages you to re-assess how 

you are using other federal, state and and 

local funding streams and, possibly, combine 

them for greater impact. 

Overall, the hope is that the new ways of 

doing business that you will develop will 

produce greater student achievement and far 

greater satisfaction with the graduates of 

your community’s total educational enterprise. 

WHAT SCHOOL-TO-WORK IS NOT

Now, having told you why I think the new 

Act presents such a large historic challenge, 

I’d like to emphasize what the Act is not. 

First, it’s not another one of those small 

federal programs that soon becomes overlaid 

with reams of federal and state guidelines 

and regulations. The last thing in the world 

you need is another categorical program, another ‘‘flavor of the month!’’

STWOA is not a fancy euphemism for existing programs like vocational education or 

career exploration, although each of these 

endeavors has a vital role to play in School 

to Work. 

It’s not a way for America to beat the Japanese and Germans in international economic competition. 

It’s not another tracking device to separate winners and losers in the education race 

or to offer second-class schooling to students 

who may not see themselves as collegebound. 

WHAT SCHOOL-TO-WORK COULD BE

Now let me tell you what I think STW 

could be here in Rhode Island and around the 

country. 

Ideally, STW is a systematic, comprehensive, community-wide effort to help all 

young people (1) prepare for high-skill and 

high-wage careers, (2) receive top quality 

academic instruction, and (3) gain the foundation skills to pursue post-secondary education and lifelong learning. I stress all 

young people, including those with disabilities and those who are headed for a fouryear degree at our finest colleges and universities. 

When carried out effectively, STW offers a 

high school experience that challenges and 

motivates our youth to develop the skills, 

knowledge and behaviors they need to 

achieve economic earning power and, in 

turn, achieve the American dream. 

STW will also help to provide American 

employers with the qualified workers they 

need. Through new or expanded local partnerships, employers will work with teachers 

to develop and implement curricula that 

span both the school and work sites, setting 

high standards for student performance and 

credentialing youth for good careers. 

To the architects of STWOA, the Act is a 

way to rethink what we adults are doing to 

prepare our young people for success in life. 

It offers us the opportunity to fundamentally alter the high school experience—which 

currently is not working well for many, if 

not most, students. It brings high school into 

alignment with more effective ways of teaching and learning and promises a brighter future for far more young people. It also gives 

adults far greater personal and professional 

satisfaction from their work with young people. 

A CRITIQUE OF AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS

STWOA was created out of a widespread 

belief that most high schools are not working well, particularly for the 75 percent of 

our young people who are unlikely to earn a 

baccalaureate degree. Consider these contemporary comments on the American high 

school: 

‘‘Most employers look at the high school 

diploma as evidence of staying power, not 

academic achievement. They realized long 

ago that it is possible to graduate from high 

school in this country and still be functionally illiterate. As a result, the non-collegebound youth know that their performance in 

high school is likely to have little or no 

bearing on the type of employment they 

manage to find.’’ (Commission on the Skills 

of the American Workforce, America’s 

Choice: high skills or low wages!, 1990) 

‘‘Most kids think [academic] education 

methods are torture devices invented by 

teachers . . . they got that idea because they 

can see that no one in the workplace is doing 

these things.’’ (Stephen Hamilton, Cornell 

University Youth and Work Program.) 

‘‘It’s evident that the vast majority of kids 

in high school are not motivated. We don’t 

seem to be approaching them in ways that 

engage them in learning.’’ (John f. Jennings, 

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on 

Education and Labor.) 

‘‘Students not bound for college need the 

most help, receive the least assistance, are 

equipped with the most limited information, 

and experience the greatest risks in the job 

market.’’ (Gary Orfield and Faith Paul, High 

Hopes, Long Odds, 1994) 

Over the twenty-year period from 1967–1987, 

the percentage of jobs held by workers with 

less than a high school diploma declined 

from 40 percent to only 15 percent. Over the 

same period, inflation-adjusted incomes of 

families headed by high school graduates 

without any postsecondary education fell 

fully 30 percent. Only half of the high school 

graduates under age 20 and not in college are 

employed fulltime and worse yet, about onethird of young people fail to find stable employment by the time they reach age 30. (Bureau of Labor Statistics and Paul Osterman 

of MIT.) (For a larger discussion of these 

points, see Richard Mendel, The American 

School-to-Career Movement: A Background 

Paper for Policymakers and Foundation Officers, American Youth Policy Forum, 1994.) 

Against this dire and worsening background we know that many well-paying careers do not require a baccalaureate degree. 

We also know from research (e.g., the SCANS 

reports, 1991 and 1992, and the National Assessment of Vocational Education, 1994) that 

certain things do pay off in the labor market: (1) cognitive skills, (2) broad technical 

skills (especially computer literacy and its 

applications), (3) postsecondary education 

and, (4) human relations and workplace 

skills, like getting along with colleagues and 

supervisors, working well in teams and demonstrating reliability, responsibility and initiative. 

BASIC PREMISES OF SCHOOL-TO-WORK

Building on this knowledge base, STWOA 

offers no precise blueprint, no road map or 

rule book. Rather, the new Act is one of the 

least prescriptive laws on the statue books. 

It acts like a compass, pointing to a set of 

concepts or basic premises. These premises 

are based on recent research about how people learn best and what employers say young 

people need in order to cope with a fastchanging world. 

First, STW is a new way of looking at the 

development of young people and particularly at their needs in the critical adolescent 

transition years from high school into further education and the world of work. STW 

asserts that youth need active, not passive 

learning—in schools, in worksites, in voluntary service. Therefore, STW views the entire community as one great learning laboratory where young people grow, develop and 

find networks of support. 

Second, STW is a systematic effort to 

change the time-based assumptions on which 

most high schools are currently based. STW 

says that young people are expected to exhibit or demonstrate mastery of rigorous 

academic and behavioral skills, not be 

judged by how many years they have sat in 

classrooms or how many written tests they 

have passed by rote memorization. Actual 

demonstrations of competence will be the 

touchstone of STW. 

Third, STW builds on extensive research 

that says that one of the most critical ingredients in young people’s success is their 

close attachment to a caring and successful 

adult, a mentor, a role model, a coach, a 

youth advocate who supplements what 

teachers, neighbors and family members provide, particularly when traditional supports 

are lacking. 

When a Congressional committee asked 

Cornell University’s Urie Bronfenbrenner to 

summarize everything he had learned in a 

long and distinguished career in human development research, Bronfenbrenner replied: 

‘‘Some adult has got to be crazy about the 

kid, and truly be there for that kid, and let 

that kid know that his life is important and 

has meaning.’’

Fourth, STW also builds on powerful recent research finding that most students 

learn best in context, when they see how 

knowledge is actually used outside the 

school, especially in a work setting. Therefore, STW views the employers’ workplace as 

a learning laboratory where young people 

can experience the relevance of knowledge in 

the ‘‘real world.’’ Young people like to work. 

They blossom in the workplace if they are 

treated as respected members of a team that 

is expected to perform responsibly and productively. Generations of inquiry concerning 

European adolescents undergird these 

truths. Young people in Europe report pride 

in their workplace roles. They look forward 

to the company and the counsel of their 

adult supervisors and coworkers. And, to a 

considerable extent, they avoid the epidemic 

of pathologies which beset so many American youth. 

Fifth, because STW is outcome- or performance-centered, young people in their 

dual roles as learners and as workers can 

demonstrate their proficiency at the highest 

standards. That accomplishment is then certified by a credential that is recognized and 

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S5544 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE April 7, 1995 

honored by schools, by employers, by parents 

and by institutions of higher education. 

These, then, are five basic premises on 

which many of the new STW initiatives 

around the United States are based. To be 

sure, few existing STW efforts will articulate 

all of these premises clearly. Nor will these 

initiatives give equal weight to each of these 

premises. Let me assert my firm belief, however, that the most successful and the most 

enduring STW efforts will be those that incorporate all five of these premises. There 

simply are no short cuts to excellence. 

Now let us see if we can put these premises 

together in a comprehensive vision of a high 

school learning community based on them. I 

am indebted by my friend in the U.S. Department of Education, Deputy Assistant Secretary Patricia McNeil, for suggesting how a 

vision of STW in the context of ‘‘systemic 

school reform’’ might be portrayed. 

ANYTOWN HIGH: AN ATTAINABLE DREAM

Close your eyes for a few moments. Imagine that you are an entering freshman at 

Anytown High School. It is the first day of 

school. You are seated in the school auditorium with your new classmates. I am the 

principal, giving you a preview of what kind 

of school this is, and the kinds of experiences 

and opportunities available to you. 

‘‘Welcome to Anytown High School! All 

the adults on the stage with me this morning 

and around the room—teachers, office staff, 

counselors, food service and building staff, 

coaches, community leaders, local employers, labor union representatives, members of 

our town’s workforce development system, 

alternative schools, city government, parents and volunteers—we all welcome you. 

Not long ago, I told similar freshmen classes that half of you might not be here to complete your senior year. Today, I want to give 

you quite a different message. All of us here 

today pledge that we are here to help each of 

you get the high level skills and knowledge 

you will need to become successful citizens, 

productive workers and lifelong learners. 

When you complete your experience here or 

when you finish your secondary schooling at 

a job training program or community college 

or alternative school, you will have all you 

need to enter and complete a two- or fouryear college degree program, a registered apprenticeship program, the military, or an 

entry-level career ladder job. All the adults 

in this school an din this community are 

pledged to work together to help you succeed. That is because we accept the wisdom 

of that old African adage: ‘It takes a entire 

village to raise a child. 

Everything we do here at Anytown High 

school is based on three simple and important ideas: 

One, what we expect you to learn here is 

important in the world outside these walls, 

important to your future as citizens, neighbors, parents and workers. 

Two, we on the teaching staff and in school 

administration know that you can learn. 

Every single one of you has the ability to 

master the subject matter in our curriculum. 

This school is constructed in such a way that 

it respects your different learning styles. 

Some of you will need more time and extra 

help and, here at Anytown High, you will get 

it. Every one of you can graduate knowing, 

and being able to do, the things that assure 

success in the world of work and in life generally. 

Three, we won’t let you fail. When I say 

‘we’, I mean the entire community which is 

mobilized to ensure your success. Together, 

we will support you and provide many kinds 

of opportunities for learning, for earning and 

for fun. 

Because we in Rhode Island have restructured our entire K–12 school system, most of 

you have been hearing this message in one 

way or another from pre-school, through primary and middle school, but it bears repeating today: 

You are intelligent and capable individuals. No one is born with the knowledge and 

skills they need to succeed in this world. 

You get smart through effort. Our job as 

adults is to help you develop your skills and 

knowledge to a high level. You’ll be asked to 

work hard, and we’ll be working equally hard 

alongside you on your behalf. 

We have a wide range of opportunities for 

you at Anytown High. In elementary and 

middle school you participated in a variety 

of learning experiences; you learned about 

possible careers; you planned projects and 

worked in teams to complete them. You will 

do more of that active learning in new and 

different ways. We have a broad range of 

learning options—all designed to give you 

the skills and knowledge you need to go on 

to college and into the workplace. Some of 

you may choose to do most of your learning 

in a classroom setting; others may choose 

more interactive work-based learning options. You will work in small academic and 

career clusters with a team of teachers who, 

in some cases, will remain with you during 

your entire time in our school, All of you 

will engage in hands-on learning where academic and occupational subjects are integrated. All of you will participate in community and public service learning experiences 

where you will practice the skills and behaviors which employers highly value. We also 

have a wide range of courses and information 

available for independent study via computer and satellite hook-up, opening the entire world to your curiosity. 

As you begin to think about choosing a career major, you will learn about many aspects of particular industries, and you will 

see how knowledge and skills are actually 

used in those industries and occupations. In 

these choices, you will be supported by our 

guidance counselors and by job specialists 

who will open doors to future employers and 

show you what you need to be able to do in 

real workplaces. 

Of course, you can change your career clusters in this school. Since you’ll all be learning the same core of essential skills and 

knowledge, you won’t be locked into one 

cluster or one narrow job, either here or 

after you graduate. 

An essential part of your experience in this 

school is the worksite placements which we 

offer in your junior and senior years and 

which in some cases, like Tech Prep, will 

continue beyond high school. Some of you 

will choose co-op education and internships 

with local employers for part of the school 

year. Some of you, as part of your Tech Prep 

or youth apprenticeship experience, will be 

working part-time in industries based on the 

technologies you will be studying in school. 

Some of you will be paid for your part-time 

work with employers after school and in the 

summers. Some of you will find your work 

opportunities in hospitals, libraries and 

other non-profit community services. 

Others of you will choose to enroll in our 

Career Academies, the small mini-schools on 

this campus which specialize in careers with 

good prospects for future professional employment. For example, we have a Financial 

Services Academy where you can learn about 

banking, insurance, real estate, investments 

and tourism. We have an Environmental and 

Maritime Academy where you can learn 

about everything connected with earning a 

living from the sea and how to protect that 

fragile resource. We have a Health and Bioscience Acadmeny based on modern health 

care, hospital and laboratory management 

and exciting new careers in biotechnology. 

And we have other academies as well. Regardless of which one you choose, you will 

receive high quality instruction and be able 

to form close associations with your fellow 

students and with employers in your career 

field. 

Regardless of the kind of worksite placement you have chosen, you will graduate 

well prepared to continue your studies in 

higher education or to win an entry-level position with an employer. Above all, you will 

have experienced the joy of learning and you 

will excel, no matter how radically the world 

may change in the future. 

Even though your elementary and middle 

school experience was set up so that you 

would not fall behind, every year presents 

different challenges. If you are having trouble keeping up or understanding something, 

we have extra help available in many 

forms—after-school, on weekends and in the 

summer. Team sports, clubs, community 

service and one-on-one help are after-school 

options from which you can choose. 

You will wonder how your teachers are so 

sharp, how they keep up with rapidly changing knowledge. Well, first of all, your teachers see themselves as lifelong learners, constantly striving to know more and to discover more effective ways to help you learn. 

This school offers many opportunities for 

professional development on and off this 

campus. Most important, we build in ample 

time for your teachers to meet together, to 

plan your studies, to learn from each other, 

from your worksite mentors, and from experts around the country, in person and 

through interactive television, video and satellite sessions. 

During the summer and at various times in 

the school year, some of your teachers and 

counselors will be working alongside you in 

the plants and offices of our employer partners. They will be learning about the latest 

changes in technology and management so 

that your curricula can be kept relevant and 

so that they understand what you are learning in the worksite. (Incidentally, your 

teachers will simultaneously be helping to 

upgrade the basic academic skills of the 

adult workers you will be working with in 

your worksite placements.) 

If you change schools, the skills and 

knowledge you have demonstrated here will 

be transferable electronically to your new 

school. You will also have your portfolio of 

work and skills/knowledge inventory to take 

with you. If you want to find another learning experience, we will help you. We work 

closely with a wide range of alternative 

schools, with community colleges, with the 

Job Corps, with youth service and conservation corps, with the new National Civilian 

Community Corps and others. We also work 

closely with the local workforce development system which operates career advancement centers where you can get referrals to 

further training or qualify for a grant or 

loan package to help you complete secondary school training on your own 

Whenever and wherever you complete your 

secondary experience, you will receive a high 

school diploma signifying mastery of a high 

level of skills and knowledge. That diploma 

will be accepted by two- and four-year colleges, by employers, by the military and the 

registered apprenticeship system. Depending 

on your course of study, you may also receive a certificate of mastery in some advanced level academic or occupational skills. 

Some of you may take advance placement or 

other studies in this school that will qualify 

you to receive college credits. Some of you 

may graduate in less than four years because 

you have demonstrated mastery of our core 

curriculum. 

While we will do everything to support 

your learning, there may be personal and 

family problems that come up in your life so 

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April 7, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE S5545 

that you need some outside help. As a member of the Anytown Partnership for Families, 

Anytown High’s Human Services Mall hosts 

a broad array of community agencies that 

will assist you and your families with nonacademic problems. Many of these social 

services were available to you throughout 

primary and middle school, so you are familiar with them. You can get information 

about other services from the computer files 

in your academic cluster, in the library or 

the cafeteria. Each of you will also have opportunities to have an adult mentor or 

coach. It may be an employee at your worksite, a community service volunteer or a parent in the community. Here at Anytown 

High, we have almost as many community 

partners as students. Each brings their expertise and their caring into the school and 

the worksite. 

Your teachers have worked hard to design 

the curriculum—in school, at the worksite 

and in your community service experiences—

to support your learning in every way we 

know. Your guidance counselors and job specialists are working with your teachers and 

employers in the community to make sure 

you have access to information about postsecondary schools and careers and that you 

can use it effectively to plan your further 

education and careers. 

The basic message I want to leave with you 

today is this: you are capable and intelligent 

young people in transition to adulthood and 

each adult here is on your side. We are committed to helping you get the skills and 

knowledge you need to be successful learners, workers and citizens. You can do it; we 

are here to help; and you can count on us. 

Welcome to Anytown High!’’

Our opening day assembly is now over. 

Those of you who haven’t been put to sleep 

by the principal’s long oration may open you 

eyes * * * 

It’s true, of course, that most of the students in the auditorium probably did not absorb the full promise of what awaits them at 

Anytown High. Yet, I think few of them will 

fail to grasp the central message: That they 

are important and that they are going to be 

successful in life. 

All of the adults in the community, too, 

should now clearly understand that this description of a radically different kind of 

learning community requires their fullest 

participation. Education at Anytown High is 

a serious full-time partnership of the entire 

community. Its objective is simple and 

straightforward: success in work, success in 

life for each and every young person who enters our schools. 

Undoubtedly, some of you are thinking: 

‘‘What a nice, Utopian dream. Halperin is 

just a dreamer.’’ Yes, I do have a dream! 

However, there is not one element in my 

dream that is not a living reality someplace 

in this country. Everything in this dream is 

being practiced somewhere * * * now, today. 

All that Patricia McNeil and I have done is 

put it all together to meet our personal vision. I hope you will do the same with your 

own ideas about education, youth development and the world of work. 

So, I end where I began. The challenge before the people of Rhode Island is to dream 

your own dream for the State and for your 

own communities. Rethink the essential nature of schooling at the dawn of the 21st Century. Construct a total quality system in 

which all the parts of your dream come together to produce success for all of Rhode Island’s young people. 

f 

SISTER CAROL MCGOVERN—LET’S 

CELEBRATE HER LIFE 

Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I ask that 

the Senate join in celebrating the life 

of Sister Carol McGovern, RSM. Often 

we find that life gains meaning 

through our service to others, and our 

greatest personal ambition seems 

empty and illusory compared to such 

service. 

Sister Carol McGovern, who died 

Wednesday of breast cancer, was executive director of Amos House, a soup 

kitchen and social service center in the 

poorest neighborhood of Providence, 

Rhode Island’s capital city. To this position she brought tremendous energy 

and great vision. Her vision arose from 

spiritual commitment and was informed by an extraordinarily active 

life. 

Sister Carol was involved: She served 

on many boards of directors, working 

with Sunrise House, the Rhode Island 

Rape Crisis Center, the Campaign To 

Eliminate Childhood Poverty, and the 

Rhode Island Right to Housing Now. 

When one first meets a person such 

as Sister Carol, an initial elation often 

gives way to the question: Where will 

the energy come from to sustain such 

commitment? 

The problems of humanity, even at a 

local level, seem so vast, complex, and 

intractable that they would quickly 

consume one entirely. Yet, year after 

year, on issue after issue, Sister Carol 

was there. 

Her energy never diminished, but 

grew deeper. Service that one would 

have thought to be all consuming, revealed itself to be vitalizing. In the 

end, she was a force. The name Sister 

Carol McGovern resounds with meaning unattainable by pursuit of individual interest. 

In 1959, she joined the Sisters of 

Mercy, in 1967 she took her final vows. 

She earned her bachelor’s degree from 

Salve Regina College and her master’s 

degree from St. Michael’s College. 

She was given awards for her work, 

the John Kiffney Award from the Providence Newspaper Guild, an honorary 

doctorate from Rhode Island College, 

to name two. For anyone this would be 

a record of outstanding accomplishment and well deserved recognition, 

but this record never defined her. 

Her essence was her commitment to 

service, her real presence was to be 

found among those most in need. Her 

life was claimed by an illness that afflicts many women, she faced it bravely, and again she set a fine example. 

My office and I were deeply fortunate 

to be able to work with her over the 

years. Many times she enlightened us 

and gave us courage to address difficult 

issues squarely. 

She didn’t ask for answers, only effort. We shall miss her greatly. I am 

truly saddened by her passing. Yet it is 

her life of service that I ask this body 

to celebrate and commemorate. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Providence Journal of April 6, 1995, entitled 

‘‘Sister Carol McGovern, 53, Champion 

of the Poor, Dies,’’ be inserted into the 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD as if read. 

There being no objection, the article 

was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

SISTER CAROL MCGOVERN, 53, CHAMPION OF

THE POOR, DIES

(By S. Robert Chiappinelli and Thomas J. 

Morgan) 

PAWTUCKET.—Sister Carol McGovern, 

RSM, executive director of Amos House in 

Providence and one of Rhode Island’s best 

known advocates for the poor, died yesterday 

at her home on Blodgett Avenue. 

Sister Carol, 53, has been ill with breast 

cancer for the past year and a half. The disease had seemed to be in remission, but then 

spread to her liver. 

Experimental treatment allowed her to resume an active outdoor life and to continue 

her 12-hour work days until her health failed 

less than a month ago. 

Henry Shelton, another longtime activist, 

said, ‘‘Carol lived her life to the fullest with 

a smile that signaled joy and love, and faced 

death with more courage than anyone I ever 

knew. 

‘‘My prayer is that her life and death will 

inspire in Rhode Island’s religious and political leaders a commitment similar to hers to 

support the effort of Rhode Island’s powerless to help each other out of poverty.’’

‘‘What does one say about so remarkable a 

woman?’’ said Richard J. Walton, former 

president of the board of Amos House, a soup 

kitchen and social service center in South 

Providence. 

‘‘She was a woman who cared very deeply 

and worked with passion, I guess you could 

say, and with humor. And I’ve never seen 

anyone bear up under what she’s borne up 

under these last few months. She seemed to 

be more concerned about making people feel 

okay about her illness. She kept such a 

brave front that unless you knew she was 

sick, you couldn’t know.’’

Born in Providence, she was a daughter of 

Eleanor V. (Peterson) of Cranston and the 

late James V. McGovern. 

Sister Carol arrived at Amos House along a 

curious path. 

She spent her early years teaching but in 

the 1970s she joined four other Sisters of 

Mercy knocking on doors in Woonsocket and 

meeting struggling residents. 

The nuns taught residents, particularly 

women alone with young children, about 

available resources, and in a few years 

turned their jobs over to neighborhood people they had trained. 

So by 1983, Sister Carol was out of a job 

and decided to take some time to refocus. 

She got a job as manager of the Yarney, one 

of the stores in the then-new Davol Square 

shopping center in Providence. 

Using skills from her early years, she 

taught customers how to knit, and often 

chatted with Sister Eileen Murphy the Amos 

House founder who regularly strolled 

through Davol Square. 

After Sister Eileen died unexpectedly in 

December 1983, Sister Carol decided to apply 

as part of a team at Amos House. Eventually 

she became co-director with Jim Tull. (Tull 

stepped down earlier this year.) 

Despite her illness, Sister Carol continued 

her Amos House work and was showered with 

love and concern by those who used its services. 

‘‘I have a real passion for the people who 

come here,’’ she said. ‘‘They are my family, 

they truly are my family.’’

Despite setbacks inherent in fighting for 

the needy, Sister Carol said, she drew sustenance from the example of her widowed 

mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS