AllPolitics - Text Of Engler's Speech On Education

Prepared text of Michigan Gov. John Engler's speech to the Republican National Convention in San Diego on Tuesday night.

My fellow parents, I'm here tonight to celebrate what makes the American dream possible, education.

Our friend, Bill Bennett, likes to say that not every teacher is a parent, but every parent is a teacher.

Karla Boynton is a teacher, a parent, and an American hero. She holds in her heart a dream, a dream that every child will be loved and have the chance to learn.

Karla knows that every child is gifted, for every child is a gift from God.

She proves what every optimistic American believes, that one woman, one man or one child can make a difference.

Karla and her courageous colleagues are making a difference for children in her northeast Detroit neighborhood.

Helping each one of those children has been a battle -- a fight against special interests, who want to maintain the status quo and hold our kids hostage in a high-stakes battle for control of our local schools.

In that battle, Bob Dole is on our side for children, for parents, for local control, and for choice.

And be sure of this: President Dole will have lots of help to get the job done, because America's 32 Republican governors stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

We believe parents are a child's first and best teachers and that parents should choose their children's schools.

We believe that teachers have a right to maintain order and discipline in their classrooms, and that classrooms must be safe havens, free from guns and drugs.

We believe that parents and employers have a right to know how their local schools measure up and to expect that a diploma matters.

And we believe that Bob Dole has the vision and the leadership America needs to restore excellence to our public schools. In Michigan, we make cars the best in the world.

And if we've learned one thing over the last 20 years, it's that competition improves quality.

My fellow Americans, we must not tolerate a system of public education that gives most Americans the choice of only one model. Here's what one of our nation's most innovative governors has to say about the need for educational choice from Minnesota, Gov. Arne Carlson.

(Break for video remarks by Carlson.)

In Minnesota, choice is not a partisan issue. Support has come from across the political spectrum.

The same holds true in neighboring Wisconsin -- where Gov. Tommy Thompson has launched a landmark choice initiative to help at-risk children in Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods.

Opponents of parental choice say that parents already have the right to choose. They can choose where they live. That's not fair to our kids.

It's time for those who oppose parental choice to move out of the way.

Let's hear from the former governor of Tennessee, a former Education Secretary and one of America's foremost proponents of education reform, Lamar Alexander.

(Break for video remarks by Alexander.)

Thank you, Lamar.

There is no doubt in my mind that Bob Dole is the man to open the doors of opportunity for America's children and their families. Throughout our history, education has been a way up from hardship for millions of Americans.

No child is born a failure. But the current system is failing our children and it must be changed. Bob Dole has a plan to fix what's broken, strengthen what works, and build a new model for public education.

We must give him the chance to do the job.

My fellow Americans, we live in the greatest nation on earth. Americans have always dreamed great dreams. We dreamed of freedom and we built a nation.

We dreamed of walking on the moon and we took that giant leap for mankind.

We dreamed of living in a world free from the tyranny of communism and the walls came tumbling down.

But there is no greater dream than the dreams parents have for their children to be happy, to share God's blessings, and to know that the future will always be better than the past.

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