What a joy it is for me to be here with you tonight! No audience in America surpasses you in intelligence and compassion. No audience concentrates its attention day in and day out, all year long, on more important matters than you.
No audience deserves more respect than you. So, - thank you for allowing me to join you. Thank you for inviting me.
Your gracious invitation illustrates why I can honestly tell you that “I’m the luckiest man in America, maybe even the luckiest man alive.”
I’m married to a brilliant, even heroic woman. I have five children, all of whom are healthy, intelligent, imaginative, hard working, independent in their thinking and compassionate in their decisions. My wife and those children have created for me a totally loving and yet challenging environment, and they have supported all of my actions and decisions, even my mistakes. Moreover, my country, several. Presidents and Congresses, have given me more chances to exercise my own imagination and creativity than any American alive. No citizen has ever been given the chance to create, manage, and lead: a totally new enterprise like The Peace Corps, operating in 35 countries with no boss to give trouble; or another totally new enterprise which I called, “Headstart”, operating in 50 states and 15,000 communities; the “Job Corps” also in 50 states with a 1,000,000 teenage participants; or another, The VISTA volunteer program; or another new enterprise program, Legal Services for the poor; the Neighborhood Health Centers, more than 800 of them everywhere in America; the first nation-wide Migrant Worker Programs, and programs for American Indians giving them their very first chance for self-management and creativity since we white people came to this continent in 1492.. five hundred years ago. And far from the least important of fabulous jobs, I was elected to lead the Public School System of Chicago for five solid and successful years before I ever went to Washington. Chicago is the place where I fell in love with the PTA. That’s where I first saw your work giving life and humanity to an otherwise bureaucratic empire. That’s where I came to realize that without the PTA we could easily have a rigid, autocratic, state-controlled, domineering school system. You are the leaven in the bread. You cause our schools to rise and meet the challenges of every day and year.
Let me, publicly, thank God for you. And thank God too, for my grandchildren, - for my beautiful bright daughter-in-law Linda, who is also a lawyer and for my huge, healthy, powerful son-in-law. Arnold who is also an actor. Who says I’m not the luckiest man alive!
Today, parents and teachers working together for better schools are not enough. From 1897 when you started to 1987 - 90 years, such cooperation between parents and teachers was enough. But the 21st century has already started! The Russians call the new period - Glasnost (openness). Some Americans say it’s “The Information Age,” others “The Age of World-Wide Communication.” But, whatever one calls “it,” a new era has begun. The PTA can be at the head of it, I believe, by emphasizing in your future, not only parents and teachers and schools, but also the community or communities. We don’t need communism. We do need Communitarianism - a notion, based not just on states or cities, or politics, or economics, but on communities where citizens work together cooperatively for the benefit of all.
The PTA was a miraculous invention of the 19th and 20th century. It was a true miracle created by the genius of two women; then expanded by the genius of a third woman; now headed by a leading woman of her times, Manya Unger, and destined to be guided by another outstanding woman, Ann Lynch, into the 1990’s.
Special Olympics International is another miracle wrought by another woman, guided by that same woman till Special Olympics has become the largest, and fastest growing amateur sports program in the world!
Should I say:
Women of the World Unite
You have everything to gain
for your children; for your husbands; for your families; for your communities
FOR THE WORLD!!
In truth, I do say that, exactly that! Women of the World Unite! And in saying that I believe I adhere to - I believe I live up to your slogan for this convention
“Every Child, Our Child”
If you, and we, really believe that every child is our child then we must want to fight for the right of every child to have what your child and my children have:
--The right to health and fitness
;
--The right to play, to compete, to join a team, to develop skills that will last a lifetime;
--The right to know victory and defeat;
--The right to win a school letter;
--The right to fulfill their unique potential mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. None of these objectives can be achieved except by communities of men and women working together cooperatively at the local level.
Only by everyone working hard together can we hope to achieve the goals we all seek for every child. For example:
Everyone in the school - not just parents and teachers - must be involved: -janitors, bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, groundskeepers, everyone must make every school and its environs, a community of caring citizens.
PL 94-142-- Federal law, of course, mandates that every child, no matter how severely handicapped, had the right to an equal education in the least restrictive environment. This should mean the end of segregation and separation; it should mean the opening of classrooms, gymnasiums, swimming pools and play-grounds to millions of children who -- for more than a century have been on the outside, looking in.
And so today in Your schools, in your PTA’s, special children and their families are struggling to make PL 94-142 a reality; to create programs and carry out activities that are equal to those open to every other student. And that includes not only the work of the classroom, but the play of the gymnasium, the track and the swimming pool. For we have learned in these 20 years, that for children with mental retardation-- even more than most -a healthy body is absolutely indispensable to a sound mind. Yet, in most communities in the United States, and throughout the world -- the only program that offers the training, the practice, and the competition necessary for the development of a healthy body for persons with mental retardation is Special Olympics.
It would be wonderful to be able to say that the spirit and the letter of PL 94-142 are alive and well in every school in the United States. But that would not be true. The great wave of “Mainstreaming” has had ambiguous results. In many schools’ it has led to the disappearance of labels such as “Mentally Retarded” or “Learning Disabled.” That is Good. But at the same time it has led to the elimination of programs and services that children with special needs require. In too many places PL 94-142 has been used to justify cutting out the special classes and the specially trained faculty that children with handicaps need. And nowhere has this elimination of services in the name of “Mainstreaming” had a more serious impact than in the realm of sports and physical education... a realm of paramount importance for persons with mental retardation.
According to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports more than 50% of all children are overweight, 25% are obese, and far too many are showing signs of the cardiovascular and respiratory problems that will cripple them as adults.
Most schools offer only minimal opportunities for the regular, vigorous physical activity that all children need. Only 1/3 of our students have some form of physical education daily! Only 50% in grades 11 - 12 have any physical education at all! Most physical education teachers rely on competitive sports to keep their students active -- sports in which, without very specialized skill development -- students with mental retardation, for example, are unable to compete.
Compared with the average of 3 Hours a week of physical education in the school, students spend 13 hours in sports, games and exercise, outside of school. Here, too, unless such activities are organized and supervised, youngsters with mental retardation can’t compete, aren’t chosen for the team; they stand on the sidelines waiting to be called. And most are never called. Never chosen. So PL 94-142 has not worked successfully for them. I am happy to say, however, that hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers, administrators, coaches and students themselves are fighting for these equal rights in schools all across America. In fact, today, “Special Olympics” has spread to about 50% of the nation’s 15,744 school systems -particularly at the elementary level. In these schools, Special Olympics training and competition are provided in one of two ways: as an integral part of the regular physical education curriculum or as an optional extra-curricular activity.
This means that about 250,000 students are getting some form of Special Olympics Experience at school as part of their total education. But this is only a beginning. For it means that over 1 million students with special needs are not receiving the Special Olympics experience. They are not enjoying the exhilaration and benefit of sports that for them -- as for every child -- are their rights.
For a few moments, let us visit in our imaginations, two high schools. They are in two very different school systems. Which one is yours?
The first school is aware of Special Olympics, but it has decided it doesn’t need to involve its students. Let the regular twice a week gym classes, (the principal believes), are enough. And so the 50 students with mental retardation get dressed twice a week in gym clothes. For about 40 minutes they do laps around the track, or shoot baskets, or jog when the weather is good. Once in a while a physical education teacher comes over to see how they are doing. But he’s got his hands full with the regular phys-ed program and hasn’t the time for the special attention these students need.
After school, when pick-up games are organized, these students are never chosen. When their school teams play other schools, they are expected to sit in the stands and cheer. Of course they can’t be expected to make the team. When varsity letters are given out, they can only applaud. The rich and varied sports experience of high school passes them completely by.
Now come with me to another high school. Its 50 special students also get the same physical education program as every other student receives. But, that’s only the beginning of their sports experience.
Both during and after school, they get special training in their individual Special Olympics sports activities. Special Olympics has trained their teachers to work with them during school hours and provided volunteer coaches for the after school program. To assure the best training, in the most sports, Special Olympics has produced Sports Skills Training Guides for each of the 22 sports! Throughout the year, Special Olympics offers several chances for competition in these sports with other students of their own age and ability.
And there’s more!
There’s a Partner’s Club in the school that brings Special Olympians and their classmates together for joint training sessions; talk about sports; coaching and friendship. In fact, this spring they organized a “Unified” softball team with half of the players volunteers from the student body, and half, Special Olympians. This summer, they’ll play in a town-wide, Unified Softball League!
And, that’s still not all!
At the Annual Sports Assembly, the Special Olympians were called to the platform to receive their “varsity letters” for excellence in their Special Olympics events. They were applauded -- as athletes -- by the rest of the student body. In the 1989 year book, they have a whole double-page spread with their names and pictures and stories of their accomplishments!
Which of these schools are your children attending? Which school is doing the best job of demonstrating the belief that “Every child is our child?”
Think beyond that one school, or those fortunate 50 students. Think what that total, integrating experience means not only to them and their families, but to every other student in the school! Not just now, or until graduation, but for the rest of their lives. To quote from one of your early PTA leaders, “Even the most carefully protected child, must, once grown, live in the world.”
That is the greatest gift Special Olympics, gives to all of us. It gives every student -- regardless of differences in intellect or skill -the training, the experience, the compassion, the wisdom “to live in this world” as citizens together, in a community that cares.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Even in our amazing democracy, the person with mental retardation is not going to find an easy welcome and automatic acceptance into our world of work, of play, of community life, of full participation in justice and equality.
If our schools don’t provide a laboratory of understanding and community acceptance -- it will never happen in later life! There are too many obstacles, too many stereotypes, and prejudices to overcome when the “Unified School” becomes the “segregated community!!!!”
Nor can we take refuge in our noble traditions or in the idealized language of our founding documents. For the fact is that persons with mental retardation can’t make the same claims to equality as other groups. They can’t claim to have the same learning capacity, the same level of conceptual thought or the same long range goals. No! Equal opportunity for persons with mental retardation will not remove the differences that separate them as people. Differences will remain, differences that are visible, and sometimes painful. But, Special Olympics can do much to reduce the distance that separates us and make our differences count for much less. And so can community schools where “every child is our child.”
My son, Timothy, who teaches in the New Haven, Connecticut Public School System and is, himself, a Special Olympics volunteer has put it this way, “I believe Special Olympics sends each of us a message that our differences and handicaps need not divide us; that our handicaps need not remain hidden; and that we can each be accepted for what we are. I believe that the example of Special Olympics becomes a “liberating experience”, sending a message deep into our hearts -- I’m o.k. and believe it or not, you’re o.k., too!!”
If you had the choice, which school would you want your sons and daughters to be in? Which school is truly educating for “citizenship in a democracy?” Which is helping to create a community in which each of us -- regardless of race or religion or culture or sex or age or intelligence or physical ability -- can call across to our brother, or sister, or neighbor, or the stranger who is, in some way, different from us -- and say, “I’m o.k., and believe it or not, you’re o.k. too!!!!!”
By this time I hope I’ve got you interested enough or curious enough, or maybe even excited enough so that you are bursting to ask, “What can I do? What can my PTA do -- to make Special Olympics a part of our school program.”
That’s easy. You, as an individual, as a parent, as a member of a PTA, can do much just by supporting the Special Olympics program in your community. You can find out from the superintendent of schools just what your school system is doing about physical education and sports training and competition for its special students. And then you can work with the parents of the special students to put Special Olympics and your school system together -for the benefit of both.
Many school systems are already in the vanguard of this important movement. Those of you from New York City should be proud of the model program in your city. There, Special Olympics is a regular part of the adaptive physical education curriculum for all students with mental retardation. It offers, each year, over 90 different in-school activities modeled on Special Olympics. It provides the ribbons, medals, cheers, school letters, praise and recognition that bring pride and dignity to the 25,000 special students and their families. Beyond the hours of the school day, the New York City program makes it possible for students to take part in community-wide Special Olympics meets and tournaments -- and provides Unified Sports Training and Competition for both handicapped and non-handicapped students.
In Philadelphia, Special Olympics is an integral part of the curriculum at both elementary and secondary school level. “Teachers” are given “released time” to attend Special Olympics competition with their athletes. Sports facilities are provided free-of charge. School buses transport athletes, families and volunteers, to training clinics and games.
In Milwaukee, about 3,000 Special Olympians are involved in Special Olympics Sports Training and Competition both during and after school, through a program mandated by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
In Chicago, the birth place of Special Olympics, the Mayor’s Office, the school system and the park district collaborate to bring Special Olympics Sports Training and Competition to both children and adults with mental retardation.
Here’s what a principal of a high school in Oregon has to say: “Our school has no intramural sports program so participation in sports is all based on “Making the team.” Without Special Olympics, our students would be limited to after school activity or fitness classes once a week. With Special Olympics they can play competitively and win acceptance for their efforts.”
And what happens in schools that don’t have Special Olympics? One teacher said, “I just don’t know what to do with these kids. So they end up standing around a lot in gym class, or sitting on the bench, or chasing balls for the others.” Fortunately, that teacher refused to let this situation continue Now, her school offers Special Olympics and no one just stands around!
I could give you many more examples of system-wide Special Olympics programs. But I really want you to focus on those school systems which are not involved. Even the greatest miracles need help -- and that’s true of the miracle of Special Olympics. To continue to grow, to expand, to bring health and fitness to children with mental retardation and pride to their families -- Special Olympics needs the active support of every PTA in America!
“But wait a minute,” you may say. “Why should we be concerned with that handful of students in my school who have disabilities? Aren’t they getting enough special services to take of their needs?”
Let me be very blunt about it. If we don’t educate all our children for full participation in the adult world; if we perpetuate their dependency; the cost in wasted lives, as well as tax dollars, is immense.
This is where Special Olympics comes in.
Through the total development -- intellectual, physical, emotional and social -- that comes from their participation in sports, the dependency of people with mental retardation is dramatically reduced. They learn teamwork, coordination, following rules, by their peers and by adult volunteers who help them learn the ways of the greater world; the world of productive citizenship; of community living; the world of work.
This means an average savings of $29,000 a year in support payments for each person who does not have to remain in an institution!
For the great majority who can do productive work, it means an average yearly tax payment of $530.00 from each worker!!
It means a repayment of all money spent on specialized training within 4 years!!!!
It means a net gain to the community in faithful, honest, dependable hard-working citizens. The kind of citizens every parent would be proud to have raised; the kind of graduates every school would be proud to acknowledge.
As a result of their Special Olympics experience, people with mental retardation are far better prepared to meet the world on its own terms; to break down stereotypes and misconceptions; and to cast a magic spell over people’s hearts and minds that makes them forget the disabilities and recognize the strengths and gifts of our special friends.
To bring millions of people from dependency to independence; from disability to success; from handicaps to health; from hopelessness to achievement -- is this not a miracle? If not -- I don’t know what a miracle is.
But, even more important for us, this evening, if we can combine our Special Olympics miracle with the miracle of your PTA there is nothing we can’t accomplish!!
“Every Child -- Our Child.” That is the spirit we are celebrating tonight. It’s the spirit of America. And, if there are places where it is not yet a reality, the PTA’s and Special Olympics -- together can make it happen.
A long time ago in this speech I talked briefly about Communities, and Communitarianism. Not Communism, Communitarianism! I did so because working together to create communities based on mutual respect and responsibility for everyone and by everybody is the only way we shall build a new America for the new era of Glasnost or “Openness.” We must be open to one another to the mentally retarded and the poor as well as the bright and the beautiful.
Two-hundred years ago we created on this continent a United States of America. In this next century which is opening before us even now, today, we need to create a “United Peoples of America.” Rich and poor, strong and weak, intellectually bright and mentally retarded, women and men, old and young, black and white and yellow and brown, all dedicated to a new awareness of an old truth - that God created us all, that he loves us all, and calls us all to live with him forever, in love.
May our work and our life here on earth be just the beginning of that eternal life and love we seek. For every child is truly ours!
