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    February 8, 1994                                   (202) 401-3026 

Today is an important step forward for education in America, for children, parents, families, and our nation.

It has been nearly three decades since this nation has seen the kind of push for reform in education that the United States Senate has contributed to with its votes today. These votes reflect a strong national yearning for change ... a desire that our children will be guaranteed a quality education that is free from danger, that is based on high standards, and that allows them to become full and contributing members of society.

Today's passage by the Senate of these vital pieces of education legislation will quickly help to move our nation toward greater educational and economic progress and away from the low expectations which have too often held our children hostage and restrained our nation from achieving its full potential. It will encourage community-based educational improvement so that each neighborhood school and each student at that school will be able to achieve at world-class levels.

GOALS 2000 calls for every child in this nation to receive a world-class education through strengthened curriculum, raised academic and skill standards, improved teacher training, and increased cooperation and partnerships among parents, schools and communities.

The School-to-Work Opportunities Act will work hand-in-hand with the skill standards of GOALS 2000 to help train the majority of today's young people for high-skill, high-wage jobs. Fully 75 percent of today's youth do not graduate from a four-year college.

Educational research and dissemination capabilities available to educators, parents and policy makers will be improved through the reauthorized OERI.

And we will now have increased opportunities to make our schools and our children safe as a result of the Safe Schools Act.

Today's success is a tribute to the bipartisan spirit of the Congress and its desire to reflect the change that our nation so desperately wants and needs. In particular, I want to thank Senators Kennedy, Mitchell, Pell, Simon, Jeffords, and Kassebaum who helped make this historic day possible.

Also, I want to thank the House leadership for its contribution in passing these important measures earlier.

We look forward to a quick resolution of the differences between the House and Senate on these critical bills. We then can celebrate these legislative achievements which go a long way toward readying our nation and our children for the 21st century and the global economic era that is already upon us.