On Monday, at a convention for the American Federation of Teachers in New Orleans, President Clinton proposed serious measures to stop truancy, mandatory student uniforms and curfews for the nation’s young people.

“Wherever there is chaos where there should be calm, wherever there is disorder where there should be discipline, make no mistake about it, it’s not just a threat to our classrooms and to your mission, it is a threat to the strength and vitality of America,” Clinton stated in his speech, addressing the problems of crime and violence in the public school system.

Wherever there is lack of decisive action, make no mistake about it, there’s more promising rhetoric.

His speech included an announcement that a conference on school safety involving educators, law enforcement officials and families will be held at the White House in October.

Perhaps the participants will gather to sit around and talk about how someone should probably do something, and they’ll actually use this conference to plan an entire series of similar conferences to be scheduled during the next century when the new Republican in office can postpone them.

Clinton’s concerns about school discipline have been heightened by some (Get this!) disturbing new statistics: Three out of four students say they have trouble with disruptive classmates, and 81 percent of teachers say undisciplined students use up most of their time.

Disruptive classmates?! Undisciplined students?! When did all of this start happening?

Clinton stated that he was especially impressed by the success of a policy in Milwaukee allowing police to detain and question young people on the streets during school hours. Since this policy was put in place, daytime burglary has sharply decreased by 33 percent, and daytime aggravated battery has decreased by 29 percent.

These statistics come as no great surprise to anyone, and Clinton’s ideas are highly predictable in light of the recent rash of shootings in high schools across America.

What should surprise people is that the president’s response to the problems in our school system has been so slow. Schools have been in trouble for a very long time.

Why does it take a bloody explosion of violence to draw attention to the issue of discipline in our schools?

Teachers have been pleading with the powers-that-be for decades to do something, but their cries have fallen on deaf ears.

Why is it that the people with whom America entrusts its children are never heard?

Believe in disciplinary reforms for the public school system when they’re finally enforced.

In the meantime, don’t hold your breath.

It probably will take an explosion bigger and bloodier than the bombing in Oklahoma City to accelerate any action toward resolving the problems in our troubled schools.

Tom Owings is a graduate student in English from Ames. He is the opinion editor of the Daily.