A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         Contact:  Kathryn Kahler October 13, 1994                                        (202) 401-3026

THE CLINTON EDUCATION AGENDA

The Clinton education package promotes safer schools, better discipline, higher academic standards, improved teaching, greater family involvement, improved access to college, and community- based solutions to educational improvement.

The Washington Post recently described the "Clinton-backed education initiatives passed by Congress over the last two years" as "a major area of accomplishment that has often been ignored. . ." [Helen Dewar, Oct. 6, 1994].

The legislation, which includes the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, the Student Loan Reform Act, the Safe Schools Act, the National Service Trust Act, and the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, promises to alter the landscape of American education in important and lasting ways.

The latest bill, the Improving America's Schools Act, which President Clinton will sign next week, is a perfect example of how the administration is committed to finding the most effective ways to spend federal education dollars. The bill represents a nearly $11 billion effort -- the federal government's largest investment in K-12 education -- to better target help to poor and special needs students in the nation's schools.

"While public attention has been focused on other things, we've been hard at work getting our legislation through the 103rd Congress," said U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley, "but the work we've done over the past year and a half will significantly raise the quality of education for millions of students of all ages.

"Just about everybody agrees that the federal government must be a supportive partner with the states and communities to improve schools," Riley said. "Our first order of business in this new partnership is to bring high academic standards to all students in every classroom in the country."

The foundation of the Clinton education agenda is the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed into law March 31. The bill supports meaningful state and community school improvement efforts based on high academic and occupational standards, improving teaching, expanding the use of technology, and cutting red tape. Forty states and territories have already applied for first-year planning funds.

Goals 2000 also includes assistance to help schools reduce violence, and a section that strengthens federal education research to bring the latest and most reliable information about good teaching and effective learning to the nation's teachers, parents, administrators and policymakers.

A companion bill, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, is providing assistance to states and communities to give more young people who do not plan to go on immediately to a four-year college access to high-wage, high-skill jobs by focusing on high quality academic and work experiences in the critical years before and after high school graduation.

In the area of higher education, the Student Loan Reform Act created the direct loan program, now available at more than 100 schools and increasing to more than 1,000 next year. Borrowers can secure a student loan on campus and, through more flexible repayment options, tailor their monthly payments to match their ability to repay. The new program reduces paperwork and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in fewer loan defaults.

In addition, thousands of volunteers are now earning their way to college or paying back loans through public service under the new National Service Trust Act.

While legislation has been a key component of the Clinton education agenda, the administration also has focused on getting parents and families more involved in the education process by launching a national initiative, Strong Families; Strong Schools, to attract greater public attention on the critical role adults can play in improving student achievement. The Education Department has joined a national coalition of more than 70 organizations to promote family involvement.

"There's one bill I can't pass," Riley said. "The federal government can't require every family in this country to get involved in their children's education -- to turn off the TV, to read and discuss homework with them. But I know that family involvement is a key to the successful implementation of every one of our initiatives. For that reason, I can't talk about it enough."