For Immediate Release
October 24, 2000
Contact: Rusty Cheuvront or Gwenda Bond (502)564-2611 

President Clinton Praises Governor Patton and Kentucky’s Efforts in Education Reform

Washington, DC     At a tribute luncheon for retiring North Carolina Governor, Jim Hunt, President Clinton praised Governor Patton and the state of Kentucky for being a model in its continuing efforts to improve accountability and in reforming failing schools.

“I have personally never seen anybody learn so much so fast and have such an impact as Governor Patton did in Kentucky,” President Clinton said as he opened his remarks.

The President also talked about his visit to a Daviess County elementary school in May of this year. The  President highlighted the remarkable progress of the school, noting the  increase from 12%  to 60% of the students reading at or above grade level within three years of participating in Kentucky’s school accountability program.

President Clinton said, “ We actually know that you can identify failing schools and turn them around and nobody, no state has done that any more systematically than he (the governor) has. That school that was an abject failure is now one of the top twenty schools in the state of Kentucky.”

“Anytime the President of the United States singles out our state as being a national leader in education, it makes me proud of the students, teachers and parents that have truly made education reform in Kentucky a success,” said Governor Patton. “And I am personally honored and inspired to redouble my efforts to make our education system the best in the nation, bar none.”

Governor Patton also attended a “Modernizing American Schools” event at the White House where the President again singled out Kentucky’s accomplishments and urged Congress to pass his school reform package, an integral component of which concerns school accountability and was unveiled during his May visit to Daviess County in Western Kentucky.

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