The federal government must help to meet this urgent need. I have been disappointed to learn that reducing class sizes and providing funds for school modernization are not priorities of the Administration's efforts to improve public education. As a former public school superintendent certainly you understand the value of smaller class sizes and an adequate learning environment in improving student achievement. I urge you to use your considerable influence with President Bush and ensure continued Administration support for the Class Size Reduction Initiative launched by Congress in 1998. I also urge you and the President to help local communities meet their obligations to our nation's children by supporting a federal infusion of funds to build and modernize our nation's classrooms.
Vouchers represent a direct threat to the success of our public schools.
It is simply wrong to take taxpayer money and use it to finance private school tuition. More than ninety percent of the children in this country attend public schools, and the last thing we should do is to take funds out of public schools and give them to private schools. Finally, we in North Carolina take a great deal of pride in our successes in improving our schools and raising academic achievement. From school safety to character education to early childhood development to technology education and standards-based accountability, North Carolina has emerged as the model for successful education reform. I look forward to working with you in the years to come to build on what we know will work and to defeat that which would take us in the wrong direction.