 
 | Head Start: President Clinton has made
expanding and improving preschooling a priority for helping families give their
children a good start on the right course. The President has increased Head
Start funding to provide early education to tens of thousands of additional
children in need and is committed to funding 1 million Head Start opportunities
for preschool children by 2002. Based on recommendations by the Head Start
Advisory Commission, Head Start was reauthorized in 1994 with major quality
improvements. |
| Supported the development of
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
students achieve their full potential.
(Improving America’s Schools Act)
|
| Proposed a $2 million 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. |
| Direct Lending for College: President Clinton
reformed the student loan program, making college more affordable this year for
2.8 million students in the Direct Lending program who will have access to
flexible repayment options, including pay-as-you-earn plans. Over 1,750 schools,
representing 50% of the total amount of loans, are expected to participate
in the Direct Lending program this year.
|
| Enabled 45,000 volunteers to earn money
for college by serving their communities and their country
in the AmeriCorps program. (National Service Act)
|
| Challenged Congress to make $10,000 of
college tuition tax-deductible each year; expand work-study
to help 1 million young Americans work their way through college by
the year 2000; provide
$1,000 merit scholarships for the top 5% of graduates in every
high school; and increase the
number of Pell Grants for students who need financial help.
|
| Proposed America’s Hope Scholarships to make
access to two years of college universal by providing students with a $1,500
refundable tax credit for full-time tuition in their first year of college and
another $1,500 credit in their second year if they work hard, stay off drugs
and earn at least a B average in their first year. This $1,500 tax credit will
pay for more than the full cost of tuition at America’s average-priced community colleges.
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