[House Document 106-68]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





106th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 
106-68


 
                 REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND
                    SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

HIS ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL FOR REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND 
                    SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965




    May 24, 1999.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
 Committee on Education and the Workforce, Armed Services, and Banking 
            and Financial Services and ordered to be printed
                           ______________

                  U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
56-875                    WASHINGTON : 1999


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To the Congress of the United States:
    I am pleased to transmit for your immediate consideration 
the ``Educational Excellence for All Children Act of 1999,'' my 
Administration's proposal for reauthorization of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and other elementary 
and secondary education programs.
    My proposal builds on the positive trends achieved under 
current law. The ``Improving America's Schools Act of 1994,'' 
which reauthorized the ESEA 5 years ago, and the ``Goals 2000: 
Educate America Act'' gave States and school districts a 
framework for integrating Federal resources in support of State 
and local reforms based on high academic standards. In 
response, 48 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico 
have adopted State-level standards. Recent results of the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show 
improved performance for the economically disadvantaged and 
other at-risk students who are the primary focus of ESEA 
programs. NAEP reading scores for 9-year olds in high-poverty 
schools have improved significantly since 1992, while 
mathematics achievement has also increased nationally. Students 
in high-poverty schools and the lowest-performing students--the 
specific target populations for the ESEA Title I program--have 
registered gains in both reading and math achievement.
    I am encouraged by these positive trends, but educational 
results for many children remain far below what they should be. 
My proposal to reauthorize the ESEA is based on four themes 
reflecting lessons from research and the experience of 
implementing the 1994 Act.
    First, we would continue to focus on high academic 
standards for all children. The underlying purposes of every 
program within the ESEA is to help all children reach 
challenging State and local academic standards. States have 
largely completed the first stage of standards-based reform by 
developing content standards for all children. My bill would 
support the next stage of reform by helping States, schools 
districts, schools, and teachers use these standards to guide 
classroom instruction and assessment.
    My proposal for reauthorizing Title I, for example, would 
require States to hold school districts and schools accountable 
for student performance against State standards, including 
helping the lowest-performing students continually to improve. 
The bill also would continue to target Federal elementary and 
secondary education resources on those students furthest from 
meeting State and local standards, with a particular emphasis 
on narrowing the gap in achievement between disadvantaged 
students and their more affluent peers. In this regard, my 
proposal would phase in equal treatment of Puerto Rico in ESEA 
funding formulas, so that poor children in Puerto Rico are 
treated similarly to those in the rest of the country for the 
purpose of formula allocations.
    Second, my proposal responds to research showing that while 
qualified teachers are critical to improving student 
achievement, far too many teachers are not prepared to teach to 
high standards. Teacher quality is a particular problem in 
high-poverty schools, and the problem is often exacerbated by 
the use of paraprofessionals in instructional roles.
    My bill addresses teacher quality by holding States 
accountable for stronger enforcement of their own certification 
and licensure requirements, while at the same time providing 
substantial support for State and local professional 
development efforts. The Teaching to High Standards initiative 
in Title II would help move challenging educational standards 
into every classroom by providing teachers with sustained and 
intensive high-quality professional development in core 
academic subjects, supporting new teachers during their first 3 
years in the classroom, and ensuring that all teachers are 
proficient in relevant content knowledge and teaching skills.
    The Technology for Education initiative under Title III 
would expand the availability of educational technology as a 
tool to help teachers implement high standards in the 
classroom, particularly in high-poverty schools. My bill also 
would extend, over the next 7 years, the Class-Size Reduction 
initiative, which aims to reduce class sizes in the early 
grades by helping districts to hire and train 100,000 teachers. 
And the Title VII Bilingual Education proposal would help 
ensure that all teachers are well trained to teach students 
with limited English proficiency, who are found in more and 
more classrooms with each passing year.
    Third, my bill would increase support for safe, healthy, 
disciplined, and drug-free learning environments where all 
children feel connected, motivated, and challenged to learn and 
where parents are welcomed and involved. The recent tragedy at 
Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, reminds us that 
we must be ever vigilant against the risks of violence and 
other dangerous behaviors in our schools. Our reauthorization 
bill includes several measures to help mitigate these risks.
    We would strengthen the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities Act by concentrating funds on districts with the 
greatest need for drug- and violence-prevention programs, and 
by emphasizing the use of research-based programs of proven 
effectiveness. Moreover, with respect to students who bring 
weapons to school, this proposal would require schools to refer 
such students to a mental health professional for assessment 
and require counseling for those who pose an imminent threat to 
themselves or others; allow funding for programs that educate 
students about the risks associated with guns; expand character 
education programs; and promote alternative schools and second 
chance programs. A new School Emergency Response to Violence 
program would provide rapid assistance to school districts that 
have experienced violence or other trauma that disrupts the 
learning environment.
    My High School Reform initiative would support innovative 
reforms to improve student achievement in high schools, such as 
expanding the connections between adults and students that are 
necessary for effective learning and healthy personal 
development. This new initiative would provide resources to 
help transform 5,000 high schools into places where students 
receive individual attention, are motivated to learn, are 
provided with challenging courses, and are encouraged to 
develop and pursue long-term educational and career goals.
    Fourth, in response to clear evidence that standards-based 
reforms work best when States have strong accountability 
systems in place, my proposal would encourage each State to 
establish a single, rigorous accountability system for all 
schools. The bill also would require States to end social 
promotion and traditional retention practices; phase out the 
use of teachers with emergency certificates and the practice of 
assigning teachers ``out-of-field;'' and implement sound 
discipline polices in every school. Finally, the bill would 
give parents an important new accountability tool by requiring 
State, district, and school-level report cards that will help 
them evaluate the quality of the schools their children attend.
    Based on high standards for all students, high-quality 
professional development for teachers, safe and disciplined 
learning environments, and accountability to parents and 
taxpayers, the Educational Excellence for All Children Act of 
1999 provides a solid foundation for raising student 
achievement and narrowing the achievement gap between 
disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers. More 
important, it will help prepare all of our children, and thus 
the Nation, for the challenges of the 21st century. I urge the 
Congress to take prompt and favorable action on this proposal.
                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, May 21, 1999.
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