Part Two: Closing the Opportunity Gaps

Encouraging school reform. The President has proposed designating about 50 high-poverty, low-achieving urban and rural school districts as Education Opportunity Zones if they adopt reforms that hold schools accountable for improving quality, expanding public school choice, ending social promotion, and showing real improvements in school achievement. The $1.5 billion proposed for Zones over the next 5 years would fund reforms in the designated districts for 3 years. Districts that show significant learning gains could get an additional 2 years of funding.

Another 3,500 high-poverty schools will adopt effective, research-based school improvement models with help from the $175 million requested in the U.S. Department of Education's FY 1999 Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration.

Linking schools and universities. President Clinton has proposed enlisting America's colleges and universities in partnerships with middle schools. High Hopes for America's Youth will fund school/university partnerships involving 2,500 middle schools nationwide. Over a 5-year period, starting as early as 6th grade and running through high school, almost 1 million middle-school students would learn what it takes to go to college through mentoring, tutoring, after-school and summer programs, college visits, access to rigorous college prep classes in core subjects, and other activities. Unlike similar programs tested on a smaller scale, High Hopes would work with all students -- and not a handpicked few in each grade.

Improving school facilities through expanded School Modernization Bonds. In order for students to learn and to compete in the global economy, schools must be well equipped and they must be able to accommodate smaller class sizes. Almost 40 percent of central city schools need major repairs. To address these and other critical needs, the FY 1999 budget proposes Federal tax credits to pay interest on nearly $22 billion in bonds to build and renovate public schools -- more than double last year's level. The new proposal provides tax credits for two types of School Modernization Bonds -- School Construction Bonds and Zone Academy Bonds -- that were first created through the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

Accessing the information superhighway. The new $2.25 billion E-rate fund administered by the Federal Communications Commission will cut the cost of Internet and telecommunications services for every public, private, and parochial school by an average of 60 percent. For the poorest schools, access will be almost free. The Technology Literacy Challenge Fund is one of several Federal programs that pumped almost $600 million in Federal dollars into educational technology -- computers, software, and the training to ensure that teachers can use them effectively.

Reducing class sizes. President Clinton has proposed that the Federal Government help schools attract and pay 100,000 public school teachers over the next 7 years. These teachers would be concentrated in grades 1 through 3, allowing children to attend smaller classes with fully qualified teachers. This investment in human capital can make a real difference in urban areas. Research shows that reducing class size to 15 to 18 students in the early grades improves student achievement, particularly among low-income and minority students in inner cities.

Attracting teachers to inner-city schools. Some $350 million in funding proposed by President Clinton over the next 5 years would be used to alleviate a shortage of inner-city teachers by recruiting and training teachers to take up posts in high-poverty areas. The Federal money would fund scholarships for approximately 35,000 aspiring public school teachers and provide seed money for innovative partnerships between school districts that need teachers and the colleges and universities that train them.

Expanding before- and after-school opportunities. To ensure that young people learn in a safe and drug-free environment, the President has asked Congress to authorize a total of $1 billion over 5 years to keep schools open before and after hours as 21st Century Community Learning Centers. These startup funds, combined with local matching dollars, will establish or expand 4,000 after-school programs, providing 500,000 children with safe havens that offer a wealth of positive learning opportunities.

Expanding lifelong learning. The Clinton-Gore Administration has developed a number of incentives that encourage people to invest in post-secondary academic, professional, and technical education. These include HOPE Scholarship Tax Credits, which will make the first 2 years of college universally available, and Lifetime Learning Credits, which would allow students beyond the first 2 years of college, as well as those taking classes part-time to improve or upgrade their job skills, to take a 20-percent tax credit on the first $5,000 of tuition and fees incurred each year through 2002.