PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:
PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND EXCELLENCE
President Bill Clinton
May 19, 1999
Today, at the White House, President Clinton announced that this week he will send to Congress his proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This proposal will strengthen accountability, improve teacher quality, increase school safety, expand public school choice, promote secondary school reform, and reauthorize programs such as Title I (aid to disadvantaged students), bilingual education, magnet schools, and programs that support technology in schools.
Accountability for Results. The President’s ESEA proposal includes accountability measures he announced in his State of the Union Address. Under the President’s plan, school districts and states will be held accountable for real results for the first time. The federal government spends about $15 billion a year on our public schools -- the President’s proposal will fundamentally change the way we spend that money, to support what works and stop supporting what doesn’t. The legislation will require states and school districts to:
Ensuring Teacher Quality. The President’s proposal includes several measures to improve teacher quality and put more highly trained teachers into America’s public schools, including:
Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools. The President has challenged states, communities, and schools to take steps to restore order and safety, such as adopting school uniforms, enforcing truancy laws, and imposing curfews, and has sent Congress common-sense legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and young people. This proposal would take additional steps, including:
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