During his 1998 State of the Union Address, President Clinton challenged America to begin encouraging all of our children toward college in the sixth grade. Last Monday, Maryland's Senators, Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, Congressman Ben Cardin and I were able to make a down payment on the President's promise.

Maryland successfully competed for a $15 million federal grant, and we were at Baltimore's Rognel Heights Elementary and Middle School to deliver the first annual installment of those "GEAR UP" funds to the 6th grade class.

We know from national research surveys that high-achieving students from low-income families are five times less likely to attend college than those with higher incomes. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a new national initiative which overcomes that disparity by encouraging the high expectations, hard work and tough academic courses which prepare young people for college.

Building upon the compassion, insight and personal experience of my colleague and friend, Congressman Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania, GEAR UP combines federal, state and private resources to give "disadvantaged" students the same academic and social advantages, practical information and financial help which more affluent, college-bound children receive as a matter of course.

At Rognel Heights, we were honest with the young people, as we always must be. The 6th graders realize that we have a fight on our hands in the Congress to sustain the GEAR UP program in the face of Republican opposition on the House Appropriations Committee. Although the President and Senate have proposed funding increases for GEAR UP, opponents in both the House and Senate are seeking to kill the program.

When we looked into the children's alert eyes and smiling, hope-filled faces, however, we knew that the promise of college now lives, real and unconditional, in their hearts. If they prepare themselves for college by mastering tough academic subjects, we must provide the opportunity. That has always been the social contract between children and their elders.

Somehow, we will find a way to convince the Republican skeptics that America must deliver on her promise to our children by funding the GEAR UP initiative.

When Republicans are asked to consider proposals based upon social equity, their eyes tend to glaze over as if suddenly afflicted with ideological cataracts.

GEAR UP, however, is as much an investment in the nation's self-interest as it is an expression of national social conscience. "Investment" and "self-interest" are concepts which Republicans understand and respect; and I am convinced that our 74 Rognel Heights 6th graders will be able to make a strong case for GEAR UP in those very Republican terms.

I am confident because their principal, Dr. Deborah Wortham, is a remarkable educator and inspirational leader. Morale, motivation and test scores are all on the rise at Rognel Heights since Dr. Wortham took the helm in 1997.

High expectations, good attendance and demonstrated abilities have replaced disabling uncertainty. Students are learning to believe in themselves and the uplifting power of hard work. All they need is opportunity - that final prerequisite to success which only we can provide.

If we give Rognel Heights students the opportunity, Dijuana Kearney says she will become a surgeon - or the first female African American President of the United States. Jazma Robinson plans to become a veterinarian; and Sirlilar Stokes a fire fighter or artist. Ciera Coleman has the potential to become an accomplished contralto.

What better investment could there be for America's future than our children's education? Children, after all, are the living messages we send to a time we may never see.