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

(Budget Fact Sheet)

Good afternoon. Earlier this morning President Clinton released the federal budget. I am pleased to announce the details of his fiscal year 2001 budget request for education. This is a good-news budget for parents and teachers, a budget that is investing in the future of this nation for all of our people.

This budget represents the largest jump in discretionary spending in the history of the Department. We are requesting $40.1 billion, an increase of $4.5 billion or 12.6 percent over FY2000 spending. This is the right time to be making these large investments.

Seven years ago, when we first made the push for high standards, we told the Congress that this was a two-step process. First, raise standards and put accountability measures in place, and then invest wisely to make sure that all children have the opportunity to achieve more. Higher standards are now in place in all 50 states. We are working hard to improve accountability. So now is the time to be making critical investments to raise achievement levels. We need to demand more, invest more and, yes, reward success as well. We are at a critical juncture in getting standards into the classroom. There is a right way and a wrong way to approach standards. We need to make sure that children and teachers are getting the support they need to reach for high standards and that is why the investments in this budget are so important.

Some argue that the federal budget surplus should be used for broad-based tax cuts. I don't see or hear any groundswell of opinion for those types of cuts when I visit with parents. What I hear is very different-pay down the national debt and build for the future by investing in the education of our children.

This is what this budget is about-investing in programs that will make a difference in the years ahead and using the tax code wisely to modernize our schools and help families pay for college. This budget continues our strong emphasis on improving Title I, reducing class size, improving teacher quality, modernizing our schools, increasing after-school opportunities, and expanding access to and paying for college. This budget includes 20 new proposals and terminates 19 other programs.

We are requesting $8.4 billion for Title I grants, and that includes $250 million for accountability grants, an increase of $116 million over the 2000 level. Reducing class size makes a powerful difference. Parents are very tuned in to the success of this effort. We are proposing to add $450 million to the Class Size Reduction program, for a total of $1.75 billion. To help make sure that every child is reading well by third grade if not earlier, we propose a $26 million increase for the Reading Excellence Act.

We also know that extending the learning day is very helpful and that there is an enormous demand for quality after-school opportunities. This is why we are proposing a $547 million increase for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, doubling the funding to a total of $1 billion. With this new support we will be able to reach nearly 2.5 million children.

Teacher quality is always high on our agenda. This budget includes $1 billion to support better teaching with a strong emphasis on recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers. There is no one way to get the job done and that is why we are coming at this issue from many angles.

Our largest investment is $690 million to help states raise standards and this is the very heart of our ESEA proposal. We are requesting $75 million for a new Hometown Teachers proposal to help school districts grow their own teachers. We have set aside $50 million to help high-poverty districts establish peer review programs

We propose to reward high-poverty school districts that make the effort to get more fully certified teachers into the classroom. That's a critical step in raising achievement. We are asking for $50 million.

We propose to set aside $25 million to encourage career-changing professionals to become teachers and $30 million to improve early childhood education. All the research tells us that if we do a better job at the pre-K level, many more children will come to school ready to learn. You are also going to hear me talk a lot this year about preparing the next generation of principals. We've got to do a better job around this issue and we are asking for $40 million.

As I travel around the country I continue to see over-crowded schools. Some teachers are teaching in closets. That's not right. We have more children in our schools than ever before and more on the way. Congress needs to get on the ball and pass very needed school modernization legislation. Our proposal now comes in two distinct parts. First, we seek to provide $25 billion in tax credit bonds over two years to modernize up to 6,000 schools. Second, we request $1.3 billion for urgently needed renovation on the discretionary side of the budget. This discretionary funding is new and will support renovation work in 5,000 schools.

Getting technology into our schools is also a very important part of our school modernization efforts. We have doubled the funding to help teachers gain the skills they need-setting aside $150 million for the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers effort. We are also requesting a strong increase for our Community Technology Centers-an increase of $67.5 million. There are a lot of ways to overcome the digital divide and this is one of them.

I believe that this Department is an effective clearinghouse for good ideas. We seek to find what's working out there-best practices as they say-and give school districts the opportunity to build on solid research and success. This is why we are proposing $190 million for our Comprehensive School Reform effort, which will help an additional 1,900 schools.

We strongly support public school choice. We are requesting $175 million for Charter Schools and $20 million for something we call OPTIONS. This flexible new authority would support 40 grants to states and school districts to implement and test new approaches to public school choice, including inter-district programs and public schools at work sites and on college campuses. Funding for educational research would increase by $30 million.

School safety and discipline are issues we all care and worry about. We don't need another Columbine. High school students need to have a sense of connection, and research tells us that small schools make a difference. We propose to scale up our Small, Safe and Successful High Schools initiative by providing $120 million to help 700 high schools create schools-within-schools.

We are also asking for $650 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs. This $50 million increase would be devoted primarily to expansion of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative.

Funding for Special Education would rise to $6.4 billion with Grants to States increasing by $290 million. We recognize the very strong role that parents play in helping children who have disabilities. This is why we are proposing a $7.5 million increase for Parent Information Centers.

Our 2001 request includes more than $800 million in increases intended to help Hispanic Americans, the fastest growing group in our student population.

In particular, we seek a $54 million increase for bilingual, foreign language and immigrant education. We need to make sure every child has a good grasp of the English language within three years.

Indian Education programs would receive $116 million, an increase of 50 percent. Let me cite several other increases worth noting before turning to higher education. You will see a major $200 million expansion for Tech Prep, which basically is a shift of funds from Vocational Education state grants. We simply have to do a better job of preparing more of our young people for this high-tech world. Our initiative will support Tech-Prep programs that make preparing for college a core part of the curriculum and give students increased opportunities to learn about high tech careers.

Another smart way to raise expectations is to make sure all high schools offer some Advanced Placement courses. We are asking for $20 million. My goal is to make sure that every high school in the nation, including those in high-poverty areas, is offering AP courses within the next two years. This week, we will be hosting an important conference on this very subject with teams coming in from over 40 states. I am also pleased that we doubled the funding for the arts to $23 million.

Let me now turn to higher education. We have a record number of Americans in our nation's colleges and universities-14.9 million students-and more on the way. This budget would expand student financial aid to $54.2 billion to help more than 8.6 million Americans go to college.

We are proposing a maximum Pell Grant award of $3,500, a $200 increase over the FY2000 level and up more than 50 percent since FY1994. A $60 million increase for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants would provide a total of $875 million to an estimated 1.2 million undergraduate students, or 64,000 more than in FY2000. And a $77 million increase for Work-Study would continue the president's commitment to give one million students the opportunity to work their way through college.

I remain very excited about the president's new $30 billion College Opportunities Tax Cut. This proposal builds on the current Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, which is helping five million families.

Under this proposal families would have the option of taking a tax deduction or claiming a 28 percent tax credit on up to $5,000 in annual postsecondary education tuition and fees. The limit would rise to $10,000 in FY2003.

We also want to expand our efforts to create new pathways to college. We are asking for $725 million for the very successful TRIO program. GEAR-UP's budget would increase by $125 million to reach a total of $325 million. The TRIO request includes $35 million for something we call College Completion Challenge Grants-a new effort to help reduce the college dropout rate.

I want to highlight a new $40 million dual-degree program for Minority Serving Institutions and our increased support for our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and colleges that serve Native Americans. We are also asking for a long overdue increase in the Fulbright Scholarship program.

This budget is a fitting start for a new century-the Education Era-and reaffirms President Clinton's long-standing commitment to improving education. I ask the Congress to pass this budget. Please recognize that the American people have made it very clear that they want action when it comes to improving education. Now, I will be happy to answer a few questions.

PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FY2001 EDUCATION BUDGET

" This is a good news budget for parents and teachers, a budget that is investing in the future of this nation."
- U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley
February 7, 2000

RIGHT INVESTMENT. While maintaining the fiscally responsible approach that has led to the longest and strongest economic expansion in U.S. history, creating the most new jobs ever under a single administration, 20.8 million, and continuing to pay down the national debt, the President has proposed the right investment - a request of $40.1 billion for discretionary spending in education. This is an increase of $4.5 billion or 12.6% over the last budget - and the largest increase in the history of the department.

MOVE STANDARDS INTO THE CLASSROOM. Under this administration, standards have taken root in all 50 states. This year, the President calls for increases in funding to improve accountability and raise student achievement levels.

• The administration has offered measures to strengthen accountability for school and student performance under the President's ESEA reauthorization proposal. The largest education investment in the budget is to help states raise standards.
• $8.4 billion total for Title I grants, including $250 million for accountability grants. In addition, the budget provides a new $50 million in financial rewards to states that make significant achievement gains and narrow the student achievement gap.

STRONG EMPHASIS ON WHAT WORKS. The FY2001 budget builds on educational reforms currently sought by parents and communities by increasing funds for programs that are working and in great demand: Improving Title I, reducing class size, improving teacher quality, modernizing our schools and increasing after-school opportunities.

BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY. While we include 20 new proposals, we terminate 19 other programs. Under this administration, regulatory burdens on states have been reduced by the elimination of about one-third of regulations. The FY2001 budget increases funding for programs that meet a critical national priority while offering the flexibility to be implemented to meet local needs. Research on programs like Class Size Reduction and 21st Century Community Learning Centers during the first years of implementation shows that a broad variety of approaches are being used locally to meet intended national goals.

STUDENTS LEARN BEST WITH QUALITY TEACHERS AND SMALLER CLASSROOMS. Research shows that with more individual attention from qualified teachers, students learn best. The FY 2001 budget contains:

• A $1.75 billion investment, an increase of $450 million towards the effort to reduce class sizes by helping states hire 100,000 quality teachers
• $1 billion to support better teaching by recruiting and retaining high quality teachers, including $690 million in funds to help teachers teach to high standards, $75 million for a new Hometown Teachers proposal to help school districts grow their own teachers, $100 million total to review and reward quality teachers - fully-certified teachers - in high poverty districts, new funds to encourage mid-career professionals to become teachers, new funds to help train early childhood educators, and new support for the recruitment and training of school leaders, especially in high-poverty and low-performing districts.

SAFE, DISCIPLINED, AND MODERN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. The FY 2001 budget includes:

• Double the funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers to a total of $1 billion - after-school programs would serve 2.5 million children.
• Small schools make a difference - the President calls for $120 million for smaller schools and $650 million total for Safe and Drug-Free Schools, including greater support for communities to coordinate work to make schools safe.
• School buildings received an "F" when graded by the American Society of Civil Engineers in comparison to other national infrastructures. Schools are crumbling down in too many places - and the problem has gotten worse while Congress has failed to act. The FY 2001 budget contains needed school modernization legislation to support school districts in addressing this problem: $2.4 billion over five years would authorize nearly $25 billion for School Modernization Bonds to help build and modernize 6,000 schools, and a new initiative of $1.3 billion a year for interest-free federal loans and grants would leverage state and local funds to support nearly $6.7 billion in emergency school renovations.
• All schools need the technology and training to develop students who can compete in the modern economy. The budget proposes to double funding to train teachers with technology and calls for a strong increase for our Community Technology Centers.

GREATER PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE FOR PARENTS.

• To continue opening up quality public school opportunities, the President proposes $175 million total, $30 million over last year, in funds for public charter schools, plus $20 million in new funds to develop innovative public school choice programs such as inter-district programs and public schools at work sites and on college campuses.

ALL STUDENTS CAN REACH HIGH STANDARDS.

• Technical education programs that infuse the skills needed for college and high-tech careers would receive an additional $200 million
• To help students with disabilities, the President proposes an increase to $6.4 billion in funding for special education.
• Hispanic American students, the fastest growing part of the student population, will benefit from more than $800 million in funding increases in programs like Bilingual education, foreign language and immigrant education
• Research has shown that arts education helps engage students in learning - the budget doubles funding for the arts to $23 million.

OPEN THE DOORS TO COLLEGE MORE WIDELY. This administration has doubled financial aid available for students - but too many are still struggling to pay for college. We propose $54.2 billion to help more than 8.6 million Americans go to college through:

• More than 5 million families have already benefited from taking the HOPE and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits to help pay for college. We propose a new College Opportunity Tax Cut of $30 billion over 10 years for college - with the choice of either a deduction or a credit. The budget also includes larger maximum Pell Grant awards, an $60 million increase in Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants for an estimated 1.2 million undergraduate students, a $77 million increase for Work-Study, and increased support in programs like Gear Up and TRIO to help minorities to get to college and graduate from college.
• On the road to college, nothing matters more than the courses students take - new funds support the administration's goal of every American high school offering Advanced Placement courses in the next two years.

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