[Budget of the United States Government]
[IV. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[1. Investing in Education and Training]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                 1.  INVESTING IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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  At the edge of a new century and an increasingly competitive global economy, we know that our children's
futures will be determined in large part by the quality of the education they receive ... Our Administration has
made education a high priority, focusing on standards, accountability and choice in public schools, and on
making a college education available to every American ... Because of these efforts, more young people have the
chance to make the most of their God-given abilities, and take their place in the high-tech world of the 21st
Century.

                                      President Clinton
                                      August 1999


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   President Clinton took office committed to providing the education 
and job training that Americans need to succeed in the new global 
economy. Investing in people and improving our Nation's educational 
system was a central element of his 1993 economic program. In the past 
seven years, the President has consistently worked to further the goal 
of a first-rate education for every child, starting with programs to 
expand learning opportunities for pre-schoolers to those that encourage 
students to attend and complete college. The President's education 
strategy is simple and straightforward--we must invest more and demand 
more in return.
   To strengthen elementary and secondary education, the Clinton 
Administration proposed, and worked with Congress, to enact new laws in 
1994 and succeeding years to help students, especially in high-poverty 
schools, meet challenging educational standards put in place by States 
and school districts. Accountability--holding schools, teachers, and 
students alike to these high standards--is essential to turning low-
performing schools into institutions of quality. To help these 
underperforming schools rise to higher standards, the Administration is 
committed to providing needed support, through programs such as:
   21st Century Community Learning Centers, first funded in 1997 
          and expanded dramatically since 1998, the ``after-school'' 
          program of grants to public schools and community-based 
          organizations to establish and expand extended learning time 
          opportunities;
   the Reading Excellence Act, enacted in 1998, to provide 
          resources to high-poverty schools to help ensure that all 
          children can read well and independently by the end of third 
          grade;
   the Class Size Reduction program, enacted in 1998, to hire 
          qualified teachers and to reduce the number of students per 
          classroom in the early grades, which, studies show, can lead 
          to improved student achievement; and,
   the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, first funded in 1997, 
          offering grants to provide computers, software, and Internet 
          access to schools and technology-related professional 
          development.
  The Administration is committed to making a postsecondary education 
both attainable and affordable for every American, from recent high 
school graduates and dropouts to adult learners and displaced workers. 
The President has proposed and supported programs that prepare students 
for postsecondary education and that help make college affordable. For 
example, in response to the President's initiative, Congress enacted and 
funded in 1999 the GEAR-UP program, which helps low-income students in 
middle and high school prepare for college. The Administration has also 
worked to increase the Pell Grant max

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imum award by 43 percent from 1993 to 2000, and proposes a $200 increase 
in 2001; established new tax credits for college costs; created the 
Direct Student Loan program to increase benefits to borrowers (including 
the option to repay the loan on an income contingent basis); and, 
proposed and saw enacted significantly lower interest rates for 
borrowers on student loans.
   In the past seven years, the Clinton Administration has significantly 
strengthened the Federal Government's commitment to education by 
increasing by nearly $12 billion, or 50 percent, Federal discretionary 
funding for the Department of Education. The 2001 Budget builds upon 
these increases, continuing the President's education agenda with new 
and sustained efforts to close the gap in educational opportunity and 
offer the tools to help all Americans take part in the Nation's 
prosperity (see Table 1-1).
   The President's initiatives in K-12 education, most of which are in 
the Administration's proposal for the reauthorization of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), include: increasing accountability 
and fixing failing schools; improving teacher quality; acquiring better 
technology and preparing teachers to use it effectively; constructing 
and repairing schools; and, encouraging innovation and excellence. Other 
initiatives specifically target efforts toward improving the educational 
outcomes of Latino students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, 
who face disproportionately high dropout rates and low enrollment trends 
in postsecondary schools, as part of the Administration's commitment to 
help all students acquire the education and skills critical to their 
success in the future. These initiatives are coupled with a significant 
expansion of Head Start and the creation of an Early Learning Fund to 
ensure pre-school aged children from low-income families have quality 
early learning experiences to prepare them effectively for school (see 
Chapter 2, ``Supporting Working Families'').
   In postsecondary education, the President's proposals maintain his 
focus on helping low-income students prepare for and pay for college and 
include a new tax program to help middle-income families afford higher 
education. In workforce development, the President proposes initiatives 
to advance opportunity by ensuring that all workers can find and hold 
good jobs with good wages, improve their skills, and work in safe and 
healthy environments.
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    TABLE 1-1.   THE BUDGET INCREASES RESOURCES FOR SELECTED EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS BY $7.8 BILLION, OR 16 PERCENT OVER 2000, AND BY A TOTAL
                                                            INCREASE OVER 1993 OF 122 PERCENT
                                                              (Dollar amounts in millions)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                        Dollar   Percent
                                                                                                             1993     2000     2001    Change:   Change:
                                                                                                            Actual  Enacted  Proposed  2000 to   1993 to
                                                                                                                                         2001     2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAX EXPENDITURES:
   Hope Scholarships Credit..............................................................................  .......    4,925     5,125     +200        NA
   Lifetime Learning Credit/College Opportunity Tax Cut..................................................  .......    2,375     2,815     +440        NA
   Student Loan Interest Deduction.......................................................................  .......      265       333      +68        NA
   School Construction...................................................................................  .......  .......        36      +36        NA
                                                                                                          ----------------------------------------------
   Total, Tax Expenditures...............................................................................  .......    7,565     8,309     +744        NA

MANDATORY OUTLAYS:
   Welfare-to-Work Grants................................................................................  .......      860       920      +60        NA
   Early Learning Fund (see Chapter 4)...................................................................  .......  .......       402     +402        NA

DISCRETIONARY PROGRAM LEVELS:
   Preschool: Head Start (see Chapter 4).................................................................    2,776    5,267     6,267   +1,000     +126%
   Elementary and Secondary Education:
     School renovation loans and grants..................................................................  .......  .......     1,300   +1,300        NA
     Education Technology................................................................................       23      769       903     +134   +3,826%
     Class Size Reduction................................................................................  .......    1,300     1,750     +450        NA
     Title I--Education for the Disadvantaged/Accountability.............................................    6,709    8,701     9,150     +449      +36%
     21st Century Community Learning Centers.............................................................  .......      453     1,000     +547        NA
     Teacher Recruitment and Training....................................................................      435      793     1,000     +207     +130%
     Bilingual and Immigrant Education...................................................................      237      406       460      +54      +94%
     Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities..........................................................      598      600       650      +50       +9%
     Charter Schools.....................................................................................  .......      145       175      +30        NA
     Indian Education....................................................................................       81       77       116      +39      +43%
     Special Education...................................................................................    2,966    6,036     6,369     +333     +115%
     High School Reform/Small Schools....................................................................  .......       45       120      +75        NA
   Postsecondary Education:
     Pell Grants.........................................................................................    6,462    7,640     8,356     +716      +29%
     Pell Grant maximum award (non-add, in dollars)......................................................    2,300    3,300     3,500     +200      +52%
     Federal Work-Study..................................................................................      617      934     1,011      +77      +64%
     Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.........................................................      583      631       691      +60      +19%
     GEAR-UP.............................................................................................       NA      200       325     +125        NA
     TRIO................................................................................................      388      645       725      +80      +87%
  Workforce Development:
     Dislocated Worker Assistance........................................................................      517    1,589     1,771     +181     +243%
     Fathers Work/Families Win...........................................................................  .......  .......       255     +255        NA
     Responsible Reintegration for Young Offenders.......................................................  .......  .......        75      +75        NA
     Youth Opportunity Grants............................................................................  .......      250       375     +125        NA
     Job Corps...........................................................................................      966    1,358     1,393      +35      +44%
     Adult Education.....................................................................................      305      470       556      +86      +82%
     Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants..............................................................    1,880    2,339     2,400      +61      +28%
                                                                                                          ----------------------------------------------
   Total, Discretionary Program Levels...................................................................   25,543   40,648    47,192   +6,544      +85%

TOTAL RESOURCES FOR SELECTED PROGRAMS (tax expenditures, mandatory outlays, and discretionary program       25,543   49,073    56,823   +7,750     +122%
 levels).................................................................................................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STUDENT LOANS (face value of loans issued):
  Direct Loans...........................................................................................  .......   10,605    11,211     +606        NA
  Guaranteed Loans.......................................................................................   15,993   20,959    22,157   +1,198     +139%
  Consolidated Loans.....................................................................................    1,487    8,831     9,148     +317     +615%
                                                                                                          ----------------------------------------------
     Total, Student Loans................................................................................   17,480   40,395    42,516   +2,121     +243%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
  Discretionary Program Level............................................................................   23,851   35,605    40,088   +4,483      +68%

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR:
   Discretionary Budget Authority........................................................................    9,920   11,224    12,263   +1,039      +24%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NA = Not applicable.

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                   ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

Ensuring Accountability and Fixing Failing Schools

   The cornerstone principle of the Administration's education 
initiatives since 1993 has been to give States and districts increased 
flexibility to coordinate and combine program activities in exchange for 
greater accountability for school and student performance. Today, all 50 
States and many school districts have begun to put in place 
accountability systems that identify schools in which students are not 
meeting challenging State academic standards and establish consequences, 
holding schools accountable for improving their performance.
   These reforms--integrating established academic standards, tests to 
reflect these standards, teacher training, and consequences for failing 
to meet standards--are beginning to show results, as measured by 
improved student test scores and other factors. But while the 
achievement of even the most disadvantaged students is improving, the 
learning gap between the less and the more fortunate is closing at too 
slow a pace. We cannot afford to leave any child behind. Nationwide, 
there are currently about 8,000 schools in dire need of improvement, in 
which a majority of students struggle to achieve to high academic 
standards. The Administration's budget proposes a package of programs 
that will help turn around failing schools and ensure that all students 
have the opportunities to succeed academically.

   Title I Accountability Fund: It is essential that States and 
localities identify and turn around schools that are not helping 
children reach rigorous academic standards. The budget provides $250 
million in the Title I (Education for the Disadvantaged) program to help 
States hold districts and schools accountable for raising student 
achievement. States will use funds

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to fix their lowest-performing schools through a variety of approaches, 
including bringing in new curriculum, management, or teachers. Funds 
will also be used to provide public school choice options to students in 
failing schools. In total, the budget includes $8.36 billion for Title I 
grants to support the Administration's ESEA reauthorization proposal to 
help students in low-income schools meet high academic standards.
   Small, Safe, and Successful High Schools: Research confirms what many 
parents intuitively believe: that smaller schools are safer and more 
productive because students feel they are in a community more connected 
to caring adults, and teachers feel that they have more opportunity to 
get to know and support their students. Smaller schools also have better 
attendance records, lower dropout rates, and fewer discipline problems. 
The Administration proposes $120 million for a high school reform 
initiative, an expansion of the Small Schools program funded in 2000 at 
$45 million, to create smaller and safer learning environments in which 
all students can achieve to higher academic standards. The program will 
offer competitive grants to school districts to create smaller schools 
or to break up larger schools by funding innovative strategies such as 
autonomous schools-within-schools, career academies, restructured school 
days, and other reforms to ensure that every student receives personal 
attention and academic support.
   Rewards for High Performance and Closing the Achievement Gap: The 
budget includes a $50 million initiative to build on the President's 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization proposal and 
reward States that make significant statewide progress in improving 
student performance and closing the achievement gap between different 
demographic groups of students. States would be eligible for high 
performance bonuses based on substantial overall improvements in student 
performance tests and significant narrowing of the achievement gap as 
indicated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. States 
receiving the bonuses could use the funds for educational purposes 
allowed under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act but not to 
supplant current efforts.
   Class Size Reduction: The budget provides $1.75 billion, $450 million 
over 2000, for the third installment of the President's initiative that 
began in 1999 to reduce class size in the primary grades. Research 
suggests that children, particularly those from disadvantaged 
backgrounds, benefit from the additional attention they receive in small 
classes. The program's goal is to hire 100,000 qualified teachers by 
2005, and reduce class size in the early grades to an average of 18 
students. The budget increase will support an expansion that attains 
almost half of the 100,000 goal. Every State and nearly all school 
districts participate in the program. In schools that received funds 
under this program, primary grades have been reduced by an average of 
five students per classroom. In addition, to improve the conditions and 
students' ability to learn while at school, the budget supports new tax 
incentives and spending to construct, repair, and improve classrooms and 
schools. (For more information, see the discussion under ``Acquiring 
Better Technology and Constructing and Repairing Schools,'' later in 
this chapter.)
  21st Century Community Learning Centers: The budget includes $1 
billion, more than double the 2000 level, for the ``after-school'' 
program of grants to public schools and community-based organizations to 
establish or expand after-school and other extended learning time 
opportunities. These centers are part of a comprehensive approach to fix 
failing schools by providing low-achieving students the extra help they 
need to meet challenging academic standards. From a $1 million 
demonstration program in 1997, this program grew to $453 million in 
2000, serving over 850,000 students. The budget expands this program 
dramatically to provide more high quality extended learning 
opportunities for all children and to make after- or summer-school 
programs universally available to help turn around all Title I schools 
identified as low-performing.
  Special Education: The budget includes $6.4 billion for Special 
Education, an increase of $333 million, to expand on the President's 
commitment to improving educational results for children with 
disabilities. Included in this total is an additional $290 million for 
grants to States to help ensure that all students with disabilities 
receive a free appropriate public education, and a $9 million increase 
for grants

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to infants and families to provide essential intervention services to 
children with disabilities as early as possible. The budget also 
includes $8 million for States to help schools comply with special 
education laws and correct deficiencies found through Federal and State 
monitoring, and $10 million to help schools implement research-based 
practices to serve young children with disabilities who have reading 
problems and/or exhibit behaviors that may lead to discipline problems 
as they get older.

Enhancing Teacher Quality

   Because trained and skilled classroom teachers are essential to a 
child's success in school, high-quality professional development is 
crucial to improving public schools. In the next decade, 2.2 million new 
teachers will be needed to fill the shortage created by teacher 
retirement and population growth, with high-poverty schools facing the 
greatest shortages. In the budget, the President builds on his 
commitment to teacher recruitment and training programs to ensure 
schools have the highly qualified teachers needed to improve student 
performance.

   Title II: Teacher Quality and Recruitment: The budget requests $1 
billion for the new Title II program, a component of the 
Administration's Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 
reauthorization proposal, that consolidates the Goals 2000 and 
Eisenhower Professional Development programs. The State grant program 
will assist States and districts in coordinating and developing 
sustained, content rich teacher professional development with 
challenging standards. The budget also proposes several new initiatives 
under Title II to address the most pressing teacher quality needs.
   Hometown teachers: In order to increase the number of skilled 
          teachers serving high-poverty school districts, the budget 
          proposes $75 million in competitive grants. These grants would 
          fund comprehensive teacher recruitment strategies that 
          incorporate both long-term, pipeline-style programs as well as 
          short-term strategies. Hometown Teachers would encourage 
          districts to create programs to cultivate students' interest 
          in teaching beginning as early as middle school.
   Early childhood educator professional development: Research 
          has demonstrated that effective early childhood education 
          programs can help eliminate reading problems, as well as 
          improve cognitive and social competence. The budget provides 
          $30 million to offer competitive grants to partnerships, 
          including school districts, institutions of higher education, 
          Head Start programs, and child care programs. Approximately 
          15,000 early childhood educators would receive training in 
          literacy development, English language instruction, and 
          instructional methods for students with disabilities.
   School leadership: The budget includes $40 million for 
          competitive grants to non-profit, public-private partnerships 
          to develop State and regional School Leadership Centers for 
          principals, superintendents, and other school leaders. These 
          training centers will help school leaders develop critical 
          skills to improve school performance and will help attract 
          qualified candidates into school leadership positions.
   Transition to Teaching: Troops to Teachers: The budget 
          proposes $25 million to build on the Troops to Teachers 
          program in high need areas to recruit and train retiring 
          military personnel and other mid-career professionals to serve 
          as new teachers in public schools.
   Teacher quality incentives: This $50 million initiative would 
          reward districts for making exceptional progress toward 
          teacher quality improvement goals set forth in the 
          Administration's Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
          reauthorization bill, such as increasing certification rates 
          and the percentage of teachers working in-field.
   Higher standards and higher pay for teachers: The budget 
          includes a $50 million teacher peer review initiative to 
          encourage school districts to pay teachers more and increase 
          the quality of their teaching force. Peer review programs, by 
          which expert teachers evaluate other

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          teachers and help them improve, have proven to help improve 
          teacher quality by rewarding excellence, helping low-
          performing teachers become more effective, and when necessary, 
          removing low-quality teachers from the classroom.

   Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology: While many schools 
have access to technology, some teachers are not prepared to use this 
technology effectively. The budget includes $150 million, double the 
2000 level, to provide pre-service teacher training for 400,000 teachers 
in technology so that teachers can help students make the most of tools 
that are critical to their education and their future.
   Teacher Quality Enhancement: The budget provides $98 million for the 
Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants program. Created in 1999, this 
program supports: State grants to improve teacher licensing and 
certification; partnerships of exemplary teaching colleges and 
universities with urban and rural schools; and recruitment grants, 
including scholarships, to help attract teachers to high priority areas.
  Teachers Serving Special Populations: To meet professional development 
needs of teachers serving populations with special needs, the budget 
proposes $100 million for Bilingual Education Professional Development, 
$116 million for Special Education professional development, $10 million 
for the American Indian Teacher Corps, and $5 million to create a new 
American Indian Administrator Corps.

 Acquiring Better Technology and Constructing and Repairing Schools

   Many of the Nation's schools need to be brought into the 21st 
Century, both by equipping them with new and modern technology, and by 
making essential repairs to fix the inevitable problems in aging and 
neglected buildings.
   The Administration's commitment to educational technology has greatly 
increased the percentage of schools connected to the Internet. Since 
1993, the number has almost tripled so that nearly 90 percent of the 
Nation's schools are connected; however, some high-poverty schools still 
lack Internet access.
   At the same time, about one-third of our Nation's schools have 
critical renovation needs, including repairs to roofs, climate control 
systems, and plumbing. School districts also face the cost of upgrading 
schools to accommodate computers and modern technology, and of 
constructing new classrooms and schools to meet expected record 
enrollments over the next decade.
   The budget proposes a set of new initiatives and program increases to 
help States and school districts meet the need for better technology and 
adequate learning facilities. These will complement existing activities 
put in place under this Administration, including the E-rate established 
by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide discounts to schools 
and libraries for high-speed Internet access, internal wiring, and 
telecommunications services, and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds, which 
encourage investors to make school modernization capital available to 
certain communities in need.

   School Construction and Modernization Bonds: The President's budget 
reaffirms his support for creation of a new tax incentive that would 
support $22.4 billion in new bonds for school modernization, and $2.4 
billion in additional Qualified Zone Academy Bonds.
   Urgent School Renovation: To ensure that the school districts with 
great need have access to low-cost financing for essential repairs, the 
budget requests $1.3 billion for a new school renovation program that 
would provide loans and grants to school districts. Within this total, 
$50 million in grants will be directed to schools with high 
concentrations of Native American students.
   Community Technology Centers: As part of a broad initiative to 
address the ``digital divide'' between wealthy communities where access 
to technology is common and poorer communities that lack such access, 
the budget requests $100 million for Community Technology Centers, an 
increase of $68 million over 2000 (see Chapter 7, ``Strengthening the 
American Community''). Grants will help low-income communities establish 
computer centers available to those who cannot afford home computers. 
Begun in 1999, this program supports activities including technology-
based adult education, after-school activities, literacy

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training, and ESL instruction in community centers. The budget level 
would provide support to approximately 1,000 centers in low-income 
communities.
  Technology Literacy Challenge Fund: Enacted in 1997, this program 
offers grants to States to fund technology-related professional 
development, provide multimedia computers to schools, and provide 
software and Internet access to students. The budget requests $450 
million, an increase of $25 million over 2000.
   Next Generation Technology Innovation: The budget requests $170 
million for Next Generation Technology Innovation, which consolidates 
the Technology Innovation Challenge Grants and Star Schools programs, to 
support technological innovation for education. Included in this program 
is funding to develop and field-test state-of-the-art education 
technology applications and $10 million for a new initiative to support 
development of challenging courses such as AP courses and ESL courses 
for use online.

Other Programs Supporting Innovation and Excellence

   Throughout his Administration, President Clinton has aimed to ensure 
that every child is provided with the highest quality education and 
challenged to achieve to his or her full potential. The President 
continues that commitment with several important investments for 2001.

   Public School Choice: The Administration supports expanding public 
school choice through charter schools and other public school options. 
These efforts strengthen the public education system by giving it the 
support it needs to fulfill its mission of providing equal educational 
opportunities for all while providing children a choice of schools to 
best meet their needs.
   When the President first took office, there was but one charter 
school in the Nation, and citizens who wanted to create new charter 
schools faced considerable financial barriers. First funded in 1995, the 
Public Charter Schools program addresses this problem by providing 
startup funding. The budget includes $175 million for this program, an 
increase of $30 million, to support the start-up of 1,700 charter 
schools in 2001. By 2001, this program will have helped nearly 2,400 
charter schools since its inception, supporting the President's goal of 
creating 3,000 charter schools by 2002. The budget also includes $20 
million for Opportunities to Improve Our Nation's Schools (OPTIONS), a 
new ESEA initiative that will spur further innovation by supporting new 
approaches, such as locating public schools at work sites and college 
campuses and interdistrict choice programs.

   Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities: In 1999, as part of the 
Government-wide Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative, 54 communities 
received over $100 million in competitive grants from the Departments of 
Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to implement 
comprehensive, research-based, drug and violence prevention programs. In 
2001, these agencies will combine resources with the Department of Labor 
and expand Safe Schools/Healthy Students to nearly $250 million, vastly 
increasing funding for community-wide interventions that address 
education, mental health, juvenile justice, and public safety, and 
expanding services to include out-of-school youth. The budget also 
includes $10 million for a new activity, Project SERV (School Emergency 
Response to Violence), to help schools and communities address violent 
deaths or other crises.
   Safe Schools/Healthy Students and Project SERV represent just a 
sampling of the Administration's broad efforts to address youth 
violence. The budget includes roughly $8.9 billion, an increase of more 
than $900 million over the 2000 level, for programs that specifically 
target youth violence or generally support the healthy development of 
young people. Other notable initiatives include: $1 billion in the 
Department of Education for after-school and summer-school programs; $75 
million in the Department of Labor to reintegrate young offenders into 
society; and, $70 million in the Department of the Treasury to expand 
efforts to crack down against those supplying guns to youths. To 
coordinate youth violence prevention programs across the Federal 
Government, President Clinton established a White House Council on Youth 
Violence, which will also seek to make these programs

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more accessible to American families and examine best practices in 
addressing the problem.

   America Reads/Reading Excellence Act: In response to the President's 
America Reads Challenge, the Reading Excellence Act was enacted in 1998 
to provide resources to high poverty schools to help ensure that all 
children can read well and independently by the end of third grade. The 
budget requests $286 million for this program, an increase of $26 
million, to support literacy services to an estimated 1.1 million 
students.
   Arts in Education: The budget doubles funding for this program to $23 
million, including $11.5 million in new funds to supplement teaching 
resources, integrate arts into the regular curriculum, and provide 
intensive professional development to teachers. The Department of 
Education and the National Endowment for the Arts will continue and 
expand upon the collaboration formed in 2000 to make competitive grants 
to local arts education programs and undertake additional activities to 
address issues of youth at risk.
   Indian Education: The budget includes $116 million for the Indian 
Education program, an increase of $39 million over 2000. This total 
includes $93 million to the Grants to Local Educational Agencies 
program, an increase of $31 million, to address significant growth in 
the Indian student population and ensure that Indian students have the 
resources to succeed academically. The budget also includes $50 million 
for the urgent school renovation program in public schools with high 
concentrations of Native American students, as part of the 
Administration's $1.3 billion urgent school renovation initiative. The 
budget includes $300 million ($167 million over 2000 enacted) for the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs to fund the replacement of at least six 
elementary and secondary schools and for numerous repair, improvement, 
and maintenance projects.

Improving Educational Outcomes for Hispanic-Americans

   Raising the educational achievement of Latino students continues as a 
high priority. The high school dropout rate for Latinos is very high: in 
1996, 29 percent of Latinos aged 16 to 24 were high school dropouts, 
compared to seven percent of non-Hispanic whites and 13 percent of non-
Hispanic blacks. About 32 percent, or 3.6 million, of the students 
served by Title I are Latino. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of 
our Nation's population.
   For the third year in a row, the budget targets new funding to 
programs that are part of the Administration's Hispanic Education Action 
Plan. The budget proposes $823 million in funding increases, including:
   $416 million for Title I Grants to Local Educational 
          Agencies;
   $85.5 million for Adult Education, of which $75 million is 
          for the President's English as a Second Language (ESL)/Civics. 
          Civics initiative to help recent immigrants learn English, 
          fully navigate public institutions, and be involved in their 
          communities;
   $125 million for GEAR-UP;
   $80 million for TRIO;
   $25 million for Title I Migrant Education;
   $48 million for Bilingual Education;
   $20 million for Hispanic Serving Institutions;
   $5 million for the Labor Department's Migrant and Seasonal 
          Farmworker Youth Opportunities Program;
   $10 million for research on the education of language 
          minority children; and,
   $8 million for the High School Equivalency Program and 
          College Assistance Migrant Program.

                         POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Preparing for College

   As our economy depends increasingly on workers with analytical and 
reasoning skills, access to a quality education beyond high school 
becomes even more important to maintaining and increasing income, 
productivity, and the Nation's competitiveness. The opportunity to 
attend college is also crucial in encouraging hardworking families and 
low-income children to aspire to improve their

[[Page 49]]

lives through education. This budget provides significant increases to 
student financial assistance programs to help low- and middle-income 
students pay for college; however, not all of the barriers to college 
are financial. Too many young people reach college age without the 
skills, knowledge, and preparation they need to apply for, enroll in, 
and succeed in college. The Administration is committed to making a 
postsecondary education both attainable and affordable for every 
American, from recent high school graduates and dropouts to adult 
learners and displaced workers.

   GEAR-UP: The budget provides $325 million, an increase of $125 
million, for the early intervention program first funded in 1999 that is 
based on an initiative proposed by the President. This program provides 
funds for States and local partnerships to help low-income students 
prepare for college, starting in the 7th grade. In 2001, 1.4 million 
students would receive services, 644,000 more than in 2000.
   TRIO: The budget includes $725 million, an increase of $80 million, 
for TRIO programs, which fund postsecondary education outreach and 
support services to prepare disadvantaged students to enter and complete 
college and doctoral study. Nearly half of the increase would be 
dedicated to strengthening the Student Support Services (SSS) program, 
while another $35 million would establish a new College Completion 
Challenge Grant (CCCG) component within SSS. Under CCCG, competitive 
grants to institutions of higher education would support grant aid and 
summer orientation programs for low-income students in their first years 
of college, with the goal of increasing college completion rates.
   SAT/ACT Preparation: The budget provides $10 million in competitive 
grants to create partnerships to offer test preparation services to low-
income students preparing for the SAT and ACT college admissions tests. 
Grantees would offer rigorous and sustained preparation based on program 
curriculum.
   Minority-Serving Institutions Dual-Degree Program: The budget 
provides $40 million for a new program to promote dual-degree programs 
between minority-serving institutions--including Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal 
Colleges and Universities, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving 
Institutions--and partner institutions such as major research 
universities. The program would allow students at minority-serving 
institutions to earn two degrees in five years: one from their home 
institution, and the other from a partner institution in a subject area 
that is not offered by the home institution and in which minorities are 
traditionally underrepresented. The program will increase academic 
opportunities for students at minority-serving institutions, improve 
their postgraduate access, and promote their workforce participation in 
fields in which minorities are underrepresented.

Paying for College

   The economic returns to a college education have never been higher. 
But at a time when the dividends of a college education make college 
essential, the cost of education has been rising dramatically. In 
addition to helping every child prepare for college, this budget 
maintains the Administration's commitment to ensuring financial access 
to higher education by requesting significant increases for core student 
aid programs and providing tax incentives to make higher education more 
affordable.

   Tax Incentives: The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 included the 
President's Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits, the 
largest investment in higher education since the G.I. Bill, to help make 
college more affordable for about 13 million Americans. Hope 
Scholarships provide tax credits of up to $1,500 for tuition and fees 
during the first two years of postsecondary training. Under the Lifetime 
Learning tax credits, students beyond the first two years of college, or 
those taking classes part-time to improve or upgrade their job skills, 
receive up to a 20 percent tax credit for the first $5,000 of tuition 
and fees each year through 2002, and for the first $10,000 thereafter.
  The budget expands the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit with a 10-year, 
$30 billion College Opportunity tax cut that will, when fully phased in, 
provide up to $2,800 in tax relief for millions of families struggling 
to pay for college. The President's proposal would give families the 
option of taking a tax

[[Page 50]]

deduction or claiming a 28 percent credit for tuition and fees to pay 
for college and other higher education. The proposal would cover up to 
$5,000 of educational expenses in 2001 and 2002 and $10,000 of 
educational expenses from 2003 forward.
  In addition, the budget provides tax-free treatment for employer-
provided graduate education and increases deductibility of student loan 
interest.

   Pell Grants: The President proposes to increase the maximum Pell 
Grant by $200 to $3,500. Nearly four million needy undergraduates will 
receive Pell Grants in 2001. When President Clinton took office in 1993, 
the Pell Grant maximum award was $2,300--the same as it was when 
President Bush took office in 1989. Under President Clinton's 
leadership, the maximum award increased $1,000, or 43 percent, by 2000. 
With the 2001 request, the Pell maximum award will have increased by 52 
percent during this Administration.
   Work-Study: The budget provides $1.011 billion for Work-Study, an 
increase of $77 million over 2000, to maintain the President's promise 
to give one million students the opportunity to work their way through 
college. Funding for Work-Study increased 51 percent from 1993 to 2000; 
this request would bring the increase since 1993 to 64 percent.
   Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants: The budget requests a 
total of $691 million, $60 million over 2000, for Supplemental 
Educational Opportunity Grants to provide more low-income undergraduate 
students with need-based grant aid.
   Federal Student Loan Programs: An estimated 6.5 million people will 
borrow almost $43 billion through the Federal student loan programs in 
2001. In the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, the President's 
proposal to significantly lower interest rates for borrowers on student 
loans was adopted, easing the burden of repayment for borrowers. The 
budget also proposes net savings of $3.8 billion over five years from 
reforms to the guaranteed loan system.
   D.C. College Access: In response to the President's 2000 proposal, 
Congress approved a $17 million initiative to equalize postsecondary 
education opportunities for residents of the District of Columbia by 
providing tuition benefits to D.C. residents attending public colleges 
in Maryland, Virginia, and other States under certain circumstances, and 
private colleges in the D.C. area. The budget requests $17 million for 
D.C. College Access in 2001.

                          WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

  Building on accomplishments made since 1993, the Administration seeks 
to advance opportunity by ensuring that all workers have the opportunity 
to find and hold secure jobs with good wages, improve their skills, and 
work in safe and healthful places.

Promoting the New Opportunity Agenda for America's Workforce

  Committed to ensuring that America's workforce has the education and 
training necessary to compete in the 21st Century, the Administration 
has been working to reform the Nation's workforce development system and 
increase education, training, and job skills development. Specifically, 
this Administration has accomplished the following:
   In 1998, the President signed the bipartisan Workforce 
          Investment Act (WIA)--reforming America's job training system 
          to empower individuals, streamline services through One Stop 
          Career Centers, enhance accountability, and increase 
          flexibility.
   Tripled funding for dislocated workers--more than tripling 
          program enrollment as part of a universal program that will 
          help every displaced worker who wants and needs training or 
          reemployment services.
   Increased the number of Job Corps centers from 109 to 122, 
          increasing year-round training opportunities by over 10 
          percent.
   Developed and authorized the Youth Opportunity Grants 
          program.
   Signed the historic Ticket to Work and Work Incentives 
          Improvement Act of 1999 that removes barriers to work for 
          people with disabilities.

[[Page 51]]

  Increasing Opportunities for Youth: The budget provides enhanced 
support to help low-income, at-risk youth prepare for college and 
careers.
  Youth Opportunity Grants: Youth Opportunity Grants address the special 
problems of out-of-school youth, especially in inner cities and other 
areas with high jobless rates. This program is consistent with the 
Administration's New Markets Initiative to provide resources to 
communities with potential. The budget includes $375 million for Youth 
Opportunity Grants to fund the third year of competitive grants to 25 to 
30 high-poverty areas and the first year of competitive grants to 12 to 
15 additional communities. Included in this funding is $20 million for 
Rewarding Achievement in Youth, a program that provides comprehensive 
employment training, counseling and education services to over 9,000 
academically high-achieving, low-income youth. The program encourages 
school completion by providing students who excel academically with 
extended summer employment opportunities.
  Job Corps: The Job Corps provides intensive vocational skills 
training, integrated with academic and social education, and support 
services to severely disadvantaged young people in a structured 
residential setting. The budget proposes $1.4 billion, a $35 million 
increase over the 2000 level.
  Youth Activity Formula Grants: The WIA consolidated the funding 
streams of DOL's year-round and summer jobs programs--providing 
increased flexibility to local Youth Councils and enabling them to 
develop pathways for career opportunities. Funded at $1 billion, $22 
million above the 2000 level, this program will continue to provide 
essential job and learning opportunities to roughly 612,000 
disadvantaged youth.
  Responsible Reintegration for Young Offenders: The budget includes $75 
million for a new DOL initiative to link offenders under age 35 with 
essential services that can help make the difference to their choices in 
the future, such as education, training, job placement, drug counseling, 
and mentoring. Through competitive grants, this program would establish 
partnerships between the criminal justice system and workforce 
investment systems created under the WIA to reintegrate offenders into 
the mainstream economy, complementing a similar program in the 
Department of Justice (DOJ) focused on community supervision of ex-
offenders. To maximize the impact of these initiatives, the DOL and DOJ 
funds will be targeted to the same communities and populations served, 
while improving public safety. At the same time, DOJ also will earmark 
$5 million of its funds to focus on aftercare programs for juvenile 
offenders to build on existing collaborations between DOL and DOJ.

  Preparing Workers for the 21st Century: The budget provides resources 
to help workers succeed in a changing economy.
  Reemployment Services for All Who Need Them: In 2000, the President 
proposed a major initiative to help working and laid-off Americans get 
the information and training they need to succeed in a rapidly changing 
labor market. The 2001 Budget continues progress toward the goals of: 
providing all dislocated workers who need and want them with the 
resources to train for or find new jobs; expanding and improving the 
employment services available to all job seekers and enhancing them for 
individuals receiving unemployment compensation; and ensuring that One-
Stop services are universally available, either in person or 
electronically. The budget includes increases totaling $285 million to 
build on last year's achievements toward the goal of a ``universal 
system.''
   Dislocated worker training: The budget proposes $1.8 
          billion--an increase of $181 million and over three times the 
          amount available when the President took office--to provide 
          readjustment services, job search assistance, training, and 
          related services to help dislocated workers find new jobs 
          quickly. Among the workers assisted by the program, and the 
          proposed increase, are those displaced by trade, technology, 
          defense downsizing, and other causes.
  Reemployment services: The budget proposes $50 million to 
          expand services to ensure that Unemployment Insurance 
          beneficiaries receive help finding new jobs. Total funding for 
          grants to the State Employment Service, operating within the

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          One-Stop system recently expanded in the WIA, is $856 million.
   One-Stop Career Centers: The budget includes $174 million--an 
          increase of $54 million--for new methods of providing 
          employment and related information through America's Labor 
          Market Information System, including America's Job Bank, 
          America's Talent Bank, and America's Learning Exchange under 
          the One-Stop system. Efforts to improve access to One-Stop 
          information and services include mobile service centers for 
          rural areas, a toll-free number for easier access to 
          information on services and locations, and enhanced technology 
          for serving individuals with disabilities. Included in the 
          proposal is $10 million for the new America's Agricultural 
          Labor Network, an information system that connects growers 
          seeking workers with workers seeking employment. Also included 
          is $20 million to help individuals with disabilities return to 
          work (discussed later in this chapter).
  Incumbent Workers: To boost the skills and wages of the U.S. 
workforce, the budget includes $30 million for competitive grants to 
States to train and upgrade the skills of incumbent workers. Applicants 
would be required to provide non-Federal matching resources, and 
employers that received grant assistance would be expected to 
demonstrate that training increased participants' earnings.
  Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA): The budget proposes to consolidate, 
reform, and extend the TAA and NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance 
(NAFTA-TAA) programs for workers who lose their jobs due to trade. The 
proposal would expand eligibility for TAA benefits to cover workers who 
lose jobs when plants or production shifts abroad; raise the statutory 
cap on training expenses; and add a contingency provision to ensure that 
the Federal Government has sufficient funds to finance any unexpected 
increase in benefit costs for eligible workers. The budget proposes to 
increase funding for the TAA programs by $31 million in 2001, for a 
total of $459 million over five years.
  Unemployment Insurance: These programs are the major source of 
temporary income support for laid-off workers. An estimated 7.8 million 
people will draw benefits in 2001. The Administration is working with 
the States, employers, and workers' representatives to reform these 
programs to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of a dynamic 
American economy. The Administration is committed to working with 
stakeholders and the Congress to develop a comprehensive legislative 
proposal of system reforms, developed with the overarching goal of 
budget neutrality and based on the following principles: expanding 
coverage and eligibility for benefits, streamlining filing and reducing 
tax burden where possible, emphasizing reemployment, combating fraud and 
abuse, and improving administration.
  Removal of Barriers to Employment: To advance the ability of all 
people to reap the benefits of a growing economy, the budget builds on 
recent successes in providing enhanced work incentives, while proposing 
innovative ways to tap our Nation's human resources.
  Assistance For Individuals to Move From Welfare to Work:  To help 
reach the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program's employment 
goal for severely disadvantaged welfare recipients, the Administration 
sought, and Congress provided to DOL, a total of $3 billion in 1998 and 
1999 for the Welfare-to-Work program (WTW). The budget provides for a 
two-year extension of the time period WTW grantees have to spend their 
funds to continue their efforts and provide long-term recipients and 
non-custodial parents of children on welfare the work and employment 
services they need to help support their children. (For further 
discussion of the Administration's efforts to help low-income families, 
including the new Fathers Work/Families Win initiative, see Chapter 2, 
``Supporting Working Families.'')
  Employment of Individuals with Disabilities: Although unemployment is 
at a 29-year low, the unemployment rate among working-age adults with 
disabilities remains unacceptably high. The budget builds on the 
Administration's commitment to ensuring that individuals with 
disabilities have full opportunity to participate in, contribute to, and 
reap the benefits of a growing economy. The budget accomplishes this by 
establishing a new office

[[Page 53]]

for disability policy within the Department of Labor; improving 
individuals with disabilities' access to employment and training 
programs; and, enhancing current programs for individuals with 
disabilities.
  Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act: In 1999, the 
President signed the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, 
landmark legislation that begins reducing the institutional barriers 
that have limited the employment opportunities of individuals with 
disabilities.
   Health insurance protections for working people with 
          disabilities: People with disabilities who want to return to 
          work may face the loss of Medicaid or Medicare coverage or 
          incur prohibitive work-related costs, such as personal 
          assistance and assistive technology. The Act seeks to remove 
          these barriers by creating new options and incentives for 
          States to offer a Medicaid buy-in for disabled workers and 
          extending Medicare coverage for Disability Insurance 
          beneficiaries who return to work.
   Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency: The Act establishes a 
          new program to enhance employment-related services to help 
          Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income disabled 
          beneficiaries re-enter the workforce, giving individuals more 
          choice in their selection of vocational rehabilitation service 
          providers.
  Office on Disability Policy, Evaluation, and Technical Assistance: The 
budget reconstitutes the President's Committee on Employment of People 
with Disabilities as the Office on Disability Policy, Evaluation, and 
Technical Assistance (ODPET). Headed by an Assistant Secretary, this new 
office will bring a permanent focus to the significant employment 
obstacles faced by individuals with disabilities and provide a forum for 
addressing those obstacles. The Presidential Task Force on Employment of 
Adults with Disabilities will work with the ODPET to ensure interagency 
policy coordination.
  Assistive Technology: To help individuals with disabilities overcome 
obstacles to employment, the budget also provides $41 million for the 
Department of Education's Assistive Technology program to help make 
assistive technology devices and services available. Within this total 
is $15 million to help States establish low-interest loan programs to 
help individuals with disabilities purchase assistive technology. In 
addition, the budget includes $18 million in the National Institute of 
Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the National Science 
Foundation for research, demonstrations, and technical assistance on how 
to make technology more accessible. Lastly, to increase employment of 
people with disabilities in the Federal Government, the budget also 
includes $3.5 million for the General Services Administration to make 
assistive technology available to Federal employees.
  Work Incentive Grants: The budget continues competitive grants enacted 
in 2000 (totaling $20 million a year) to be awarded by DOL to 
partnerships of organizations in every State, including organizations of 
people with disabilities, to help One-Stop Career Centers and Workforce 
Investment Boards provide a range of high-quality services to people 
with disabilities working or returning to work.
  Limit on Medicare Coverage in the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives 
Improvement Act: In the compromise on the Act, its Medicare benefit was 
limited to an additional four and a half years. Because of this limit, 
the provision postpones rather than eliminates the disincentive to work 
since Medicare provides the necessary coverage that is often unavailable 
or unaffordable on the job. The budget proposes to remove this limit and 
extend Medicare coverage indefinitely.
  Tax Credit for Workers with Disabilities: The budget proposes a $1,000 
tax credit for workers with disabilities or their spouses to defray 
additional work-related costs such as personal assistance services.
  In addition, the budget continues to invest in other programs which 
help disabled individuals prepare for the workforce, including $6.4 
billion for Special Education programs, described earlier in this 
chapter, which serve individuals with disabilities up to age 21; and 
$2.8 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation. The budget also supports 
other important disability programs, including the Committee for 
Purchase From People Who are Blind

[[Page 54]]

or Severely Disabled, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, 
Gallaudet University, and programs to encourage the development of 
technology that is accessible to people with disabilities.

  Improving Labor Standards for All Workers: In addition to expanding 
employment opportunities, the budget affirms the Administration's 
commitment to improving labor standards for all workers. Here at home, 
the Administration's commitment has helped to produce the lowest 
occupational fatality and injury and illness levels in the United States 
on record. Abroad, the Administration's commitment has made the United 
States a world leader in efforts to ensure that globalization helps to 
raise up labor conditions around the world.
  International Child Labor: In his 1999 Budget, the President proposed 
to increase the U.S.'s annual support for the International Labor 
Organization's International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor 
(IPEC) tenfold, resulting in a five-year investment of $150 million 
dollars. However, in order to respond to the need for IPEC's 
comprehensive strategies to eliminate abusive and exploitative child 
labor, this budget increases the U.S. annual contribution another 50 
percent to $45 million per year, enabling IPEC to expand its work to 
more countries and industries. In addition, the budget includes a new 
initiative designed to help eliminate child labor by expanding access to 
basic education. Evidence suggests that poor access to affordable, 
effective, basic education is a major contributor to child labor and 
that effective strategies to combat child labor include increasing 
access, lower costs, and improving the quality of basic education. The 
President's budget includes $55 million a year to help developing 
countries with high levels of abusive child labor to enroll and retain 
these children in basic education as part of a comprehensive strategy to 
eliminate child labor. The President also seeks to double, from $5 
million to $10 million, U.S. Customs resources to enforce the ban on the 
importation of goods made with forced or indentured child labor.
  Domestic Child Labor Activities: The budget continues $13 million for 
DOL, including $8 million to help eliminate violations of domestic child 
labor laws, particularly in the agriculture sector, and $5 million for 
demonstration programs to provide alternatives to field work for migrant 
youth. In addition, the budget includes $5 million for a new program in 
the Department of Agriculture to teach farm safety to children who work 
on farms, including migrant youth. The budget also proposes $2 million 
for DOL to implement targeted enforcement tools, including ``strike 
teams,'' in the agriculture and garment industries to increase 
compliance with labor standards, including child labor.
  International Labor Standards: The budget sustains $20 million for the 
International Labor Organization's (ILO's) multilateral technical 
assistance program to help developing countries implement ILO core labor 
standards and $20 million, an increase of $10 million, for DOL to help 
countries with which the U.S. has important bilateral relationships 
develop and administer labor standards and strengthen social safety net 
programs. The budget includes $10 million for a joint State Department, 
DOL, and Environmental Protection Agency initiative to improve our 
ability to assess the institutional capacity of developing countries to 
administer labor and environmental laws as part of an effort to improve 
the mobilization and targeting of U.S. and international technical 
assistance. In addition, the budget provides $10 million for a new 
Global HIV/AIDS Workplace Initiative targeted at providing multilateral 
assistance through the ILO to support health education and HIV 
prevention in the workplace. The budget also provides $7 million for 
State Department support of innovative partnerships aimed at eliminating 
sweatshops around the world. The budget also includes $1 million for an 
independent evaluation unit to ensure that the array of DOL programs 
aimed at promoting core labor standards, increasing global AIDS 
awareness, and eliminating the worst forms of child labor achieve their 
intended results.

[[Page 55]]

  Workplace Safety and Health: The budget includes approximately $670 
million to promote safe and healthful conditions for over 100 million 
workers through DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and 
Mine Safety and Health Administration. Through a combination of targeted 
enforcement, compliance assistance, and regulatory approaches, these 
agencies protect workers from illness, injury, and death caused by 
occupational exposure to hazardous substances and conditions.
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