gov. clinton: we are going in this one? come with me. hi, what's your name? i'm governor clinton. ok. hello. how are you? hello. good to see you. can you shake hands? that's good. thank you. this looks good. i like it. i will try not to cheat. what's your name? you were in there, weren't you? you didn't get to ask your question. what's this? [indiscernible] ok, shoot. how are you? do you have any skim? thank you, what's your name? >> [indiscernible] clinton: thank you, i bill am clinton. glad to see you. good to see. how long have you worked here? nice to see you. appreciate you. thanks. hello. how are you? what is your name? >> my name is danny. gov. clinton: good to see you, i'm governor clinton. how long have you worked here? >> i worked here a long time. gov. clinton: you come with me. we will do it. i got to ask her a question. go ahead. >> what kind of political changes -- do you think it's important for our presidential candidate to have a background in foreign affairs and military defense? gov. clinton: i think it's important for presidential candidate to demonstrate a clear vision for what our national security and foreign policy ought to be to keep america safe and strong. should have toe have a lot of foreign-policy experience before, president reagan had no foreign-policy experience when he became president. president gorbachev in russia, who has been a real success in foreign policy, had no experience when he became president of russia. i the longest-serving governor am in america. i have a lot of experience in international economic relations, which will be at the center of our foreign policy in the 1990's, how we compete in the international economy. i think i should be required to demonstrate an understanding of where our country is and what it takes to keep us safe and strong, to define what foreign-policy our national security is, in the post world war era. i don't think we should only say that people with foreign-policy experience can run for president, because there is too much evidence we had very many good presidents who did not come out of the foreign-policy area. >> but you have to deal with that because the world is getting -- gov. clinton: that's not the most difficult part of the job. the most difficult part of the job is what to do at home. i think it's pretty clear what we should do when dealing with the soviets, i do think in the debates which come up, everyone will be given an opportunity to say what do you think the national interest of the country is, what do you think the foreign-policy is, when is it appropriate to use force, how do we keep america safe and strong, how can we relate to the soviet union? keep in mind, we have had many good presidents who came out of domestic politics, but who understood our country and what its interests were. just look at president reagan. he had more success in foreign-policy arguably than the policy, no experience. and president gorbachev came out of a lifetime of domestic politics and has had far more -- has been far more successful abroad than at home. >> you are relying on your -- [indiscernible] gov. clinton: not just that. when i graduated from the school of foreign service with a degree in international affairs from georgetown university, i would be the only president ever elected to actually studied foreign affairs in college. i worked for the foreign relations committee of the united states senate, and i spent 11 years working on global economic affairs. i'm very involved in a portion of this. but i think the more important thing is -- do you know what to do? do you have good judgment? and what is your policy going to be? >> thank you. gov. clinton: good question. that is an excellent question. i'm sorry you didn't get a chance to get out there. >> i would like to wish you good luck in the future. gov. clinton: what's your name? >> shane sergeant. gov. clinton: good to meet you. hello. bill clinton. what's your name? do you teach here? what do you teach? good for you. i have a daughter who wants to be a scientist. she's got a mother who is a real lawyer and a father who is a lawyer politician, and she's very interested in it, but she doesn't want a lifetime in it. she wants to be a scientist. she just started seventh-grade in the little rock public schools. they have a magnet program in math and science. she entered the math science track. i'm real proud of her. >> [inaudible] gov. clinton: i'm hoping for. >> jennifer hartshorn, librarian. gov. clinton: good to see you. do the kids make good use of the library? >> yes. i am in the middle of moving everything around. gov. clinton: thanks for letting me use the room. >> you are welcome. gov. clinton: the bookkeeper? you balance the books? this gentleman was in the meeting. >> pleased to meet you. gov. clinton: what is your name? >> john gray. gov. clinton: what do you teach? >> science teacher. anatomy. gov. clinton: good to meet you. good to see you. i want to ask you some questions. >> i thought it was supposed to be the other way around. gov. clinton: you can ask me questions too. >> i'm an english journalism teacher. i have a couple of my kids tracking you down. gov. clinton: they did a terrific job. is this is where i'm supposed to sit? ok. where am i supposed to be? where do you want me to set? all right, come on. sit down. where are you going to sit? >> [laughter] gov. clinton: oh, i see. you want me to sit facing the coke machine. >> [laughter] gov. clinton: i just do what i'm told. if you believe that, i've got some land in arizona. >> [laughter] gov. clinton: thank you. weren't you proud of your students? >> very proud of them. they are a great group of kids. they really are. [inaudible] gov. clinton: are you the only counselor here? >> no, there are two. gov. clinton: and what's the size of the school? >> [inaudible] gov. clinton: do have standards -- do you have standards on that? >> we do have state standards. gov. clinton: what are they? >> [inaudible] gov. clinton: good. do you have any elementary standards? >> yes, we do. [inaudible] when the counselor in the middle school. gov. clinton: in 1983, we rebuilt our school standards. it was the first time we ever required elementary counselors. we gotten some pretty stiff standards. we wound up hiring 1400 counselors statewide. it was a good investment. >> missouri has been doing that. i was amazed at how far the south and midwest is in the guidance program. gov. clinton: we got all these kids that have come into great schools with really troubled families, and even where parents are doing their best to a good job, they may be very poor and have no formal education. and then you got a lot of kids coming out from single-parent households. it's really good when we can get more counselors in the earlier grades. because it really enriches the kind of interactions these kids can have. >> how are the schools finance in arkansas? gov. clinton: almost the reverse of new hampshire. there's a 50 state continuum. let's look at it like this. on one end is new hampshire, and on the other end is hawaii. new hampshire, over 90% of the public school costs are paid at the local level. in hawaii, 100% of the public school costs except for whatever they get in federal money is paid for at the state level. hawaii has one school district and the property taxes estate tax. it's interesting, about two thirds of the kids in hawaii go to public schools. there's a huge network of church schools in hawaii, mostly set up by mormon missionaries in times past. so you got new hampshire, which is almost completely local, hawaii, which is completely state. all others are in between. my state is up here close to hawaii, probably 62% state finance now. maybe slightly more than that. and about 8% federal and the rest local. and we are probably in the top -- before the last funding increase, we were 13th from the top in state funding. now we are probably ninth, eight, something like that. most of the southern states are fairly high, for two reasons. one is that there's a historical aversion to property taxes in the south. two is the south has a much higher percentage of kids living below the poverty line. and a lot of them tend to be concentrated. if you don't have a high proportion of state funding, you don't get anything like school equalization. you don't even get close. even though we have the majority state funding and we are continuing to change our school funding formula, we just tried to equalize it again last time. it's a never-ending struggle. because the movement of student populations and wide disparities of wealth. as you get closer if you have a high percentage of it coming from the state. >> what are your taxes in arkansas? do you have sales tax? gov. clinton: we have sales tax, we have income tax. the sales tax, the sales taxes 4.5% state with local option. the income tax maxes out at 7%. but the property tax is 49th in the country. not only in dollars, but as a percentage of income. >> what percentage of your budget goes to education? gov. clinton: state? >> state budget. gov. clinton: over 70%. if you count higher ed. >> [laughter] public schools alone in arkansas take about half the state budget. of what we minimum call the public school funds, what we send back to school in either direct aid of transportation aid or vocational aid. it's a little under half. when you add the cost of department of education costs of the school in the public network, you were over half budget. we spend between vocational and community college and for your -- four year college education, probably another 22%. i haven't run the numbers since the latest funding, but it was 70% before, so it is probably about 73% now. >> [indiscernible] [laughter] gov. clinton: it's interesting, because in the 1980's, we were fact thatired by the we had two school tax increases road tax increases. we were, according to the last study, still one of the bottom 10 stage and overall state spending increases. the last numbers i saw, which were 89% or 90% numbers, we still were in the bottom five states in the percentage of income going state and local taxes. we just have the reverse, you have high local taxes and low state taxes, we have relatively high state taxes below local taxes. you have to look at them both together to see how a state really stacks up. >> we have a state setting standards for local people expecting to pay. the cities with a small property base pay a higher tax rate and don't get equalized schools as a result. gov. clinton: even if you pay a higher tax rate, you may not not have -- you may not have as much money for kids. you are people paying higher taxes. >> can you maintain approval of the schools and accreditation? an equalization of foundation aid is 7%. that leaves us at the whim of the batters. our community in the top five cities and towns tax wise in the state, and we are down at the bottom in teachers for student. gov. clinton: you think you could build public support in an -- in new hampshire for greater state aid to schools, given the historic aversion to the minnesota state tax? >> [indiscernible] i really don't know. i think the fear is, and it is justified fear, that if you add another layer of taxation, it doesn't give you some immediate release, then you perhaps just increase the taxes. gov. clinton: good to see you, thanks. are we going to play? what? what? are we playing a game? what? who's on what side? senior citizens against the kids? no, i missed, come on. let them have it. >> this guy's on the varsity team. gov. clinton: i'll cover him. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] gov. clinton: take him up. take him up. be careful. [indiscernible] [cheering] [indiscernible] gov. clinton: aww! they won. >> these guys are going to the state tournament. ♪ >> as part of his tour of franklin high school in new hampshire this past week, governor clinton met with students for a question and answer session. franklin high school is located in a committee of about 8500 residents. ♪ if i could have your attention? it is a great pleasure today that franklin high school is able to host a democratic presidential candidate. ouruld like to thank principal for arranging this visit in our class time. governor clinton was born in arkansas, he was educated at the georgetown school of foreign services. he was a very distinctive rhodes scholars at oxford university. he received his law degree from yale university. he is married and has one daughter, and we are very privileged to have the governor here today. before the governor speaks, however, i would like to introduce the president of franklin's student council, our friend jaime hernandez. jaime? [applause] >> on behalf of the franklin high school student body, i would like to welcome governor clinton here to our school today. i believe this is a great opportunity for the students of franklin to meet and hear the views of a presidential candidate. i would like to thank governor clinton for taking the time to come speak to us today, and i wish him the best of luck. gov. clinton: thank you. [applause] gov. clinton: thank you very much. thank you very much. i'd like to thank your principal and my friend the mayor for accompanying me here. i want to say a word to jaime here, since he is semi-nervous standing up here. he's a better politician than i am, i think. but he reminded me that this is homecoming week. i reminded him that if he makes a few more touchdowns, he might get another term, even after he leaves the high school. give him a hand, i think you did a great job. [applause] gov. clinton: thank you. let me tell you first of all, i want to talk for a few minutes and then allow as much time as we have for questions. if you have any questions, you might be thinking of them. when i am home in arkansas, i spend a lot of time in schools like this. i come from a family like most of your families, an average middle-class family. i came up through the public schools. if it weren't for the public schools i wouldn't be standing here today is a candidate for president. i decided to run in large measure because i worked for 11 years in my state to try and improve the economy and to try and improve educational opportunities for people like you. and i believe there are limits to how much any governor can do without national leadership, national vision, and a national partnership to open up economic opportunities for you. i grew up in a very different time than you did, and i want you to think about this. when i was your age, we were in the middle of the cold war. the war between the soviet union and the united states for the hearts and minds of people in the world. the contest between democracy and communism, which was symbolized by huge arsenals of nuclear weapons. when i was a young boy, we used to go school assemblies and watch movies about what it would be like if an atomic fell on us. -- if atomic bombs fell on us. we used to have people come around all the time saying you got to make sure you have a bomb shelter near you, so if there is a nuclear war, you can run to a bomb shelters or you will be under a lot of concrete if the bombs drop. you don't think about that much, do you? i hope you never have to think about it. president gorbachev and president bush have announced they are going to reduce more nuclear weapons. we are in a disarmament race. it is wonderful. you will probably be able to raise your children in a world in which you never have to think about that. on the other hand, the world i grew up in had one thing that everybody took for granted, america's economic supremacy. when i graduated from high school in 1964, we had virtually no unemployment in america. we had a very high rate of economic growth. everybody who want to work at a -- had a job. and every year, you could look forward to making a little more money at your job than you did the year before. we had only 6% of the world's people, we controlled about 40% of the world's wealth. today, we have a little less than 5% of the world's people, we still have over 20% of the world's wealth, but it's melting -- but it's dropping fast. the german economy growing more rapidly than ours, the japanese economy growing more rapidly than ours. our most urgent task, and you can see it in new hampshire with all your economic problems, is to restore the economic leadership of the united states. so you are not the first generation of young americans to grow up into a world in which you don't do as well as your parents did. that's the number one job of the next president. but even if we create new economic opportunities, they can only be seized by young people who are educated to do it. the main thing i want to say to you today is to ask you to believe a few basic things. you are growing up into a world in which what you can earn depends on what you can learn. in which just graduating from high school will not be enough. we need 100% of the people who -- 100% of the people to get a high school diploma, and then if you don't go to college, you must get two years of education and training if you want to be competitive in the world we're living in. the average 18-year-old will change work seven or eight times in a lifetime. even if you never change employer. so that it's not only important what you learn in high school, it's important that you take out of here the ability to continue to learn in your lifetime. our job, those of us in politics and government, is to create a structure of opportunity for you. to give you good schools and good teachers, and to give you some way of keeping score, so you know if you're learning we need to know. -- if you're learning what you need to know. and when you leave high school, i think we need a national apprenticeship system, so those of you don't want to go college can get continuing training programs. all the countries we compete with do that. if you want to get a college education, i think our country owes you. every one of you, no matter what your family background, the right to borrow money to go to college. if you will pay it back, either as a small percentage of your income over several years after you get out of college, or with a couple of years of service to your country here at home in areas where we need your help , more teachers, more policemen, that is what we need. other things that need to be done. that's what we know you. you will something to yourselves and your families and your futures. one of the biggest problems we have in american education today is that there are too many students and parents who don't believe that all children can learn. there are too many students and parents who believe that how much you learn in school is basically determined by what iq you were born with, and what your family income is. the people we are competing with for the future believe that what you learn in school depends on how hard you work. i don't mean that hard work has to be boring. there are lots of exciting things going on education today that should make learning fun. but what i hope you believe is that you have a responsibility to yourselves and your future to learn more, and no matter how much opportunity we put out here, the efforts you make will determine as much as anything else what you learn. let me just close with this example. a few years ago, in 1987, a representative group of korean and american high school seniors took a math test. and the koreans did much better than the americans. that should not surprise you, because they go to school about about 220 days a year. go to school about 180 days. by the time they are high school seniors, they have been to school two years longer. they should win the math test. unless you believe we are inherently superior to them, which is not true. they have been there longer. the real interesting thing was before the kids took the test, the koreans were asked are you go