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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a real pleasure to see all of you here, especially because I have some good news to report to you today--good news for the Department and, more importantly, good news for America's children and our efforts to reach the National Education Goals.
I think all of you know that President Clinton is committed to education as a critical investment in the American people and a key to ensuring our continued prosperity in the global economy. He also believes that the federal government has a pivotal role to play in partnership with communities and states as they seek to reform education.
The budget that we announce today is truly a reflection of this commitment: for fiscal year 1995 the President is requesting $26.1 billion in discretionary funds for the Department, an increase of $1.7 billion, or 7 percent over the 1994 level. This is one of the largest increases provided to any agency in the President's 1995 budget, and we believe it is a sound investment in America's future.
Before explaining how the Department of Education will use these new resources, let me say that President Clinton's overall budget proposal emphasizes continued fiscal discipline and spending cuts, to follow through on deficit reduction and to finance targeted public investments in areas of long-term economic growth. Last year, the President laid a foundation for long-term growth and prosperity. This budget builds on that foundation.
The budget deficit, which was $290 billion in 1992, was $254.7 billion in 1993 and is projected to fall to $234.8 billion in 1994 and $176.1 in 1995. That would be three declines in a row -- for the first time since Harry Truman was President. This shows that President Clinton's plan is working.
Let me briefly highlight just a few of the ways in which we plan to use these new resources to improve opportunity at all levels of the American education system.
We are proposing significant increases in funding to support four important pieces of legislation that we submitted to Congress last year: the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the reauthorization of elementary and secondary education programs through the Improving America's Schools Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the Safe Schools Act.
As most of you know, Goals 2000 has passed the House and is close to passage in the Senate. By pressing Congress to bring Goals 2000 to the top of its agenda, President Clinton has said to America's schoolchildren and their parents that bringing about real change in our schools is one of the most important things we can do. I'm pleased the Senate has moved quickly on this legislation, and I look forward to early conference action and final passage of a bill that I believe will get our schools moving in the right direction.
The Senate also has helped move along other important education legislation by attaching to its version of Goals 2000 the Safe Schools Act and the reauthorization of programs in the Department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The Safe Schools Act would create the first federal program specifically designed to help prevent violence in schools, and unfortunately the almost daily headlines in your newspapers demonstrate all too well the need for this program.
Unlike earlier reform proposals, Goals 2000 is the first federal effort aimed at upgrading the quality of education for all students in all 85,000 public schools in America's 15,000 school districts. The President's budget includes $700 million for Goals 2000 in 1995, and calls for $1 billion a year beginning in 1996.
Most of this funding will support grants to communities and states to develop and implement comprehensive improvement plans. If Congress supports the President's request, we estimate that nearly all school districts and schools will be actively engaged in school reform within the next few years.
Our proposals seek to accomplish this goal by setting high academic standards for all children; improving professional development for teachers and principals; giving schools and teachers the flexibility to make needed changes in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance; building strong partnerships among parents, teachers, communities, and business; and targeting federal resources to the highest-poverty schools that face the greatest challenges in educating their students to high standards.
The President's 1995 budget provides $10.5 billion for our reauthorization of the ESEA, an increase of $1 billion over the 1994 appropriation.
This amount includes $7 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, an increase of $664 million or 10.5 percent over the 1994 level. Under our reauthorization proposal, 50 percent of these funds would be allocated through a revised concentration grant formula designed to shift funds to the highest poverty schools. The reauthorized program also would require high standards in state plans for educating Title I students, expand the schoolwide program approach, emphasize intensive and sustained professional development, and increase parental involvement.
Our emphasis on the critical role of teachers in education reform is demonstrated by our $800 million request -- an increase of $145 million or 22 percent -- for the proposed Eisenhower Professional Development program that would be expanded to include all core academic subjects. This initiative would support high-quality, intensive training that will enable teachers to teach to high standards in these academic areas.
Our budget also provides $660 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs, an increase of $188 million or 40 percent, to help promote comprehensive drug and violence prevention strategies in support of the sixth National Education Goal.
In addition, we are seeking $50 million for a new educational technology initiative that would accelerate the use of advanced information technologies to help all learners reach high standards. This initiative would support state and local efforts to integrate technology into the curriculum, provide technical assistance to schools and school districts, and develop new models for professional development. This Administration is working hard to help build the new "information superhighway," and teachers and students alike must be prepared to take advantage of the educational benefits that will flow from this new technology.
Our budget supports the reauthorization of programs in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement by providing $191 million for research, statistics, and assessment, an increase of $35 million or 23 percent. This level of funding would help OERI provide the latest information on teaching and learning that teachers, administrators, parents, and policymakers need to improve their schools.
States and communities will have greater flexibility in developing their systems, but each school-to-work program will include both school-based learning tied to the high academic and skill standards of Goals 2000 as well as work-based learning that offers work experience and mentoring in an occupational area.
Our budget also provides a $10 million increase for Tech-Prep education, which helps to improve the school-to-work transition by combining academic instruction and vocational training during the last two years of high school and the first two years of postsecondary education.
We will expand the Direct Student Loan program from 5 percent to 40 percent of overall student loan volume. The Department has moved quickly and effectively to implement the new system of direct lending, which will simplify student loan delivery, provide new flexible repayment options, and significantly reduce the cost to taxpayers of federal student loans.
To make the Direct Loan program a success and to better manage our other student aid programs, we will be hiring additional staff to strengthen financial management and improve our monitoring of postsecondary institutions. President Clinton recognizes the need for additional resources if we are to run these programs well and prevent fraud, and he has agreed to a waiver from his executive orders that will allow us to hire the people we need to get the job done.
We have some more good news in the Pell Grant program. When I arrived here at the Department one year ago, I discovered a $2 billion shortfall in Pell Grant funding that created a tremendous strain not just on this vital student aid program but on our entire discretionary budget. Now I am happy to report that in 1995 we will not only pay off the entire estimated remaining shortfall, but we will also be able to raise the maximum award by $100 to $2,400.
In addition, we are asking for a $100 million increase in funding for the Work-Study program, or 16 percent over the 1994 level. This will provide an additional 116,000 awards and will support increased opportunities for college students to perform community-service.
Let me conclude by adding that while I have focused on the very substantial increases in our budget for 1995, we also have been careful to heed the recommendations of the National Performance Review in setting our priorities and working to manage taxpayer dollars prudently. This budget eliminates $639 million in funding for 33 programs that have accomplished their purpose, that duplicate other activities, or are more appropriately carried out with non-federal resources.
But clearly the overall message today is the high priority that the President has placed on education in his 1995 budget. If Congress gives education the same priority -- as I believe it will -- we will have both the legislation and the level of resources needed to begin making the changes that will provide a world-class education for all of our students.
Thank you.