President Bill Clinton:
Meeting America's Challenge of Providing
Educational Opportunities for the New Century

"People who work hard still need support to get ahead in the new economy. They need education and training for a lifetime. . .More and more Americans are finding that the education of their childhood simply doesn t last a lifetime."

President Clinton, State of the Union Address
January 23, 1996

A Record of Accomplishment:

Making the Necessary Investments in Education

Increased Head Start funding by almost $800 million to provide early education to tens of thousands of additional children in need.
Supported the development of the nation's first system of voluntary standards of excellence for students while encouraging grassroots reforms to improve our schools. (Goals 2000: Educate America Act)
Encouraged schools, colleges and employers to join in creating school-to-work opportunities, providing students with work-based learning and giving them new pathways from high school to good jobs and post-secondary education. (School-to-Work Opportunities Act)
Gave schools greater flexibility to use federal aid and develop effective teaching innovations to help economically disadvantaged students achieve their full potential. (Improving America s Schools Act)

Preparing Our Schools for the 21st Century

Proposed a $2 billion Technology Literacy Challenge Fund to help communities and the private sector ensure that every student is equipped with the computer literacy skills needed for the 21st century.
Launched an Educational Technology Initiative to connect every classroom to the Information Superhighway and provide all students with access to computers by the dawn of the next century.
Challenged the technology industry to connect 20% of California's public schools to the Information Superhighway by the end of this school year. This challenge became a reality in March during Net Day '96.

Opening the Door to College

Reformed the student loan program, making college more affordable this year for 5.5 million students and saving taxpayers billions of dollars by cutting red tape and providing loans with flexible repayment options, including pay-as-you-earn plans. (Student Loan Reform Act)
Enabled 45,000 volunteers to earn money for college by serving their communities and their country in the AmeriCorps program. (National Service Act)

The Challenges ahead:

President Clinton will continue to lead the effort to reform education and training to prepare every American for the new economy and our schools for the new century. That is why the President has challenged Congress to open the doors to college to more Americans by:

Making $10,000 of college tuition tax-deductible each year; expanding work-study to help 1 million young Americans work their way through college by the year 2000; providing $1,000 merit scholarships for the top 5% of graduates in every high school; and increasing the number of Pell Grants for students who need financial help.

Perhaps no challenge is more central to ensuring America s competitive strength in the 21st century than renewing our schools. In response, President Clinton has challenged:

Every state, community and school to adopt national standards of excellence; cut red tape; and give schools and teachers more flexibility for grassroots reform.
Each state to give parents the right to choose the public school their children will attend and to allow parents, teachers and administrators to form new charter schools.
All parents to become more involved in their children s education.