Proclamation 4409—American Education Week, 1975

Our schools are no better than we make them. They can provide a solid educational foundation for our children. They can provide a training ground for leadership development. They can offer an opportunity for expanded technical knowledge and cultural enrichment through continued education. They can become a center for community involvement. But the future our schools provide is in large measure dependent upon our involvement.

We must be concerned for our sake, for our children's sake and for the future of our Republic. This Nation's greatness depends upon the enlightenment of. each generation.

Although we can be justly proud of our system of American education, we must not become complacent. What we teach our children in school and what adults continue to learn through advanced courses and community educational opportunities will affect our own future-and our Nation's future.

It is particularly appropriate, therefore, as we celebrate our 200 years of history, to emphasize the importance of American education in the lives of every American.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning November 16, 1975, as American Education Week.

I urge parents to visit their children's schools, to learn what their children are learning and to join with teachers and administrators in providing an enriching environment for their children's educational experience.

I urge all students to recognize the unique opportunity they have in this great Republic to reach out for greater knowledge and deeper understanding of man and his environment.

I urge students, teachers and administrators to plan appropriate activities which encourage participation in student government.

I urge everyone, either informally or in the classroom setting, to take advantage of the growing opportunities for adult education in technical skills, employment skills and cultural and intellectual pursuits.

During American Education Week, I urge every American to recommit himself to the process of continuing education for every man, woman and child.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundredth.

GERALD R. FORD