for all children. Administration initiatives launched in 1994 are designed to establish a framework for comprehensive reform and to help States finance their role in it. The goals include: high State standards for all children; new curriculum and teaching methods to help all children achieve those standards; teacher and administrator training to support the standards; assessments of each child's progress; and a safe, technologically up-to-date learning environment. The budget proposes to increase funds for programs that support these goals, and proposes more flexibility to enhance the success of State and community efforts.

School Construction: The General Accounting Office found that a third of all schools across the country, with 14 million students, have one or more buildings needing extensive repair. School districts also face the cost of upgrading schools to accommodate computers and modern technology, and of constructing new classrooms and schools to meet expected record enrollment levels over the next decade.

The President proposes to leverage new construction or renovation projects through a $5 billion fund for school districts with substantial need. The fund would support interest subsidies or similar assistance to cut borrowing costs for States and localities in order to reach higher levels of infrastructure investment.

Goals 2000: Enacted in 1994, this Administration initiative helps participating States establish high standards for all children and plan and implement steps to raise educational achievement. It builds on the National Education Goals, first articulated by the Nation's governors (led by then-Governor Clinton) and President Bush in 1989, which provide clear national targets but encourage States to develop their own means to achieve them. All States have now chosen to receive Goals 2000 funding.

The program is working. In Maryland, 40 percent of all students met challenging State academic standards in 1995, a 25 percent gain over 1993. Over the next two years, the Education Department seeks to

ensure that at least half of all school districts are implementing reforms based on Statedeveloped standards, and that the number of students meeting or exceeding their State's standards continues to rise. Goals 2000 also supports individual school reforms. The budget would finance aid for 4,000 more schools than in 1997-for a total of 16,000 schools. The budget provides $620 million for Goals 2000, 26 percent more than in 1997. It includes $15 million for parental information and resource centers in 42 States to help parents become more involved in their children's education and gain skills in child rearing through parent-to-parent training, hotlines, and other activities. Each center also provides information and training to parents of pre-school aged children, either through the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters or the Parents as Teachers program.

Charter Schools: One way to improve the quality of public schools is to introduce variety and competition into the system. Charter

schools are public schools that parents, teachers, and communities create-and that States free from most rules and regulations and, instead, hold accountable for raising student achievement. Begun as a grassroots movement in 1991, and supported by Federal start-up funds since 1995, charter schools now number over 400, and some are now showing results in higher student test scores and lower dropout rates. For example, in the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a Los Angeles public charter school, median scores on a 4th-grade standardized reading test rose from the 19th to 37th percentile in one year. The budget proposes $100 million for public charter schools, nearly double the 1997 level, in order to fund start-up costs for as many as 1,100 schools and to make further progress towards the President's goal of 3,000 schools by 2001.

Title 1-Education for the Disadvantaged: Title I provides funds to raise the educational achievement of disadvantaged children. In 1994, the President proposed, and Congress adopted, changes to focus Title I re

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sources more on low-income children, to set the same high standards for those children as for all others, to hold schools accountable for progress toward achieving those standards, and to give States and schools great flexibility in using Title I funds. The budget includes $8.1 billion for Title I, five percent more than in 1997.

Education Technology: Education technology can expand learning opportunities for all students, helping to raise student achievement, but many districts lack the resources to integrate technology fully into their school curricula. In February 1996, the President challenged the public and private sectors to work together to ensure that all children are technologically literate by the dawn of the 21st Century, with the communication, math, science, and critical thinking skills essential to succeed in the Information Age. The budget proposes substantial increases in two technology programs, for a total 1998 investment of $500 million.

First, the President has committed $2 billion over five years for the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. For 1998, the budget proposes $425 million, more than doubling the $200 million that Congress provided in 1997. Second, the budget proposes $75 million, 32 percent more than in 1997, for the Technology Innovation Challenge Grant program, which gives matching Federal funds to school-centered, public-private partnerships to develop and implement innovative applications of technology in the curriculum.

Teacher Training: The Eisenhower Professional Development program helps States invest in training teachers and other educators so that they can help all children reach the State's challenging academic standards. The President proposed, and Congress enacted, major improvements in 1994 to ensure that the training is of high enough quality and sufficient duration to pay off in the classroom. The budget increases funding to $360 million, 16 percent more than in 1997.

Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities: Students can reach their full potential only in safe, disciplined learning environments. The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program helps 97 percent of school districts implement anti-drug and anti

violence programs in our schools. It helps students resolve conflicts before they escalate into tragedy, teaches them the dangers of drug use, and helps schools increase security. The budget proposes to spend $620 million for the program, 12 percent over the 1997 level, and to encourage States to adopt models of proven excellence.

Special Education: States have made real progress in giving children with disabilities a "free appropriate public education," as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) calls for. The Administration will propose amendments that will help improve educational results for children with disabilities by promoting accountability for performance and focusing resources on teaching and learning. The budget provides $4.2 billion for special education, four percent more than in 1997.

Bilingual and Immigrant Education: The Bilingual Education program helps schools improve the quality of instructional services for limited English proficient (LEP) students, teaching them English and preparing them to meet the same challenging academic standards as all other students. The Immigrant Education program helps States with large concentrations of immigrant students who have recently arrived, helping to offset their financial impact on school systems. The budget proposes $199 million for Bilingual Education and $150 million for Immigrant Education, 27 percent and 50 percent more than in 1997, respectively.

Postsecondary Education and Training

Education beyond high school is increasingly a prerequisite for success in the rapidly changing job market. The rising rate of college attendance over the last half-century was fueled by State efforts to expand the public college system, and Federal efforts to help families pay for college. The postWorld War II GI Bill Bill was a watershed event in Federal investment in higher education, greatly increasing benefits for returning servicemen. Since then, through the Higher Education Act of 1965 and subsequent amendments, the Federal Government has vastly expanded grant and work-study aid to all low- and middle-income students, and made it possible for every American to borrow

enough money to attend college. The President wants to ensure that financial barriers to higher education continue to fall for all Americans. The budget provides substantial new support to low- and middle-income families through a new tax credit and tax deduction for education costs (see Chart 2-3).

HOPE Scholarships: More than ever, today's employers look for job applicants with more than a high school diploma. HOPE scholarships would make the 13th and 14th years of education the norm for students by offering, to most working families, up to a $1,500 per student tuition tax credit for postsecondary education or training. Students would have to maintain at least a B average to receive the credit in the second year.

Tuition Deduction: To encourage Americans to pursue higher education and to promote lifelong learning, the budget proposes to give families a tax deduction for postsecondary tuition and fees of up to $5,000 in 1997 and 1998, and $10,000 starting in 1999. Together, the tuition deduction and HOPE scholarship

would put over $36 billion back in the hands of Americans for education and training between 1997 and 2002.

Pell Grants: The President proposes to raise the maximum Pell Grant award by $300, to $3,000, marking the largest increase in two decades. The Administration's changes also would bring at least 348,000 more students into the program, reaching a total of over four million low- and middle-income undergraduates. Such help is particularly important to raise participation and graduation rates of lowincome students. With Pell Grants, they are as likely to stay in school and earn a degree as middle-income students without grants.

Student Loans: An estimated 5.5 million individuals will borrow $37 billion through the Federal student loan programs in 1998. Families at any income level can receive loans, but students who show greater financial need receive greater interest subsidies. The loans finance study toward undergraduate or graduate degrees, or short-term vocational training programs. The annual maximum loan amount

varies from $2,625 for a first-year student financially dependent on his or her parents, to $18,500 for a graduate or professional program student. Under this Administration, the rate of student loan defaults within the first two years after borrowers leave college has reached an all-time low.

Before 1993, students and parents paid fees of up to eight percent of their loan proceeds. The Student Loan Reform Act of 1993, which the President initiated, cut the fees to four percent and has already saved families nearly $2 billion. The 1993 reforms also created the simpler, less costly, and more accountable Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP), and gave borrowers a way to afford payments on their student loans based on their actual post-college incomewhich the existing guaranteed loan program could not do.

The budget proposes to cut the loan fees again-by half for needy students, and by a quarter for other students and parents. The budget also would continue to allow schools to choose to participate in either the FDLP or the guaranteed loan programthe Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). In addition, it would reform FFELP to improve Federal management and give lenders and intermediaries financial incentives to prevent defaults. It also would ensure that all borrowers receive a variety of repayment options.

Presidential Honors Scholarships: The President proposes an achievement-based scholarship program, rewarding the best and the brightest of high school students. It would grant $1,000 honors awards to the top five

percent of graduating students in every secondary school in the Nation, making clear the Government's commitment to excellence. The budget requests $132 million for this program.

College Work-Study: Work-study gives students additional aid through subsidized jobs, including an increasing number of community service positions. The budget proposes $857 million for Work-study, three percent more than in 1997, and continues the President's commitment to raise the number of Workstudy recipients to a million by the year 2000, including 100,000 reading tutors to support America Reads.

G.I. Bill for America's Workers

For the past two years, the President has sought to dramatically overhaul the complex, inefficient structure of Federal job training programs through his proposed G.I. Bill for America's Workers. It would consolidate multiple programs into a single, integrated work force development system and provide Skill Grants (i.e., vouchers) to adults who need training so that they, not bureaucracies, choose where to get it. It also would streamline program administration, while improving accountability by freeing States and localities to focus on results, not process.

Although Congress did not enact these essential reforms, the Administration has pressed ahead to reform the job training system under current law. The Administration is making grants to establish One-Stop Career Center systems and School-to-Work systems; developing America's Labor Market Information System; expanding America's Job Bank to help match workers to jobs across the

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