[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 177 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 49261-49262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24756]



[[Page 49259]]

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Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 7118--America Goes Back to School, 1998
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  Federal Register  / Vol. 63, No. 177 / Monday, September 14, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 49261]]

                Proclamation 7118 of September 9, 1998

                
America Goes Back to School, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Across America, millions of children are beginning a 
                new school year with a sense of excitement and 
                anticipation, taking another important step toward 
                their future. As caring parents and responsible 
                citizens, we must work together to nurture their love 
                of learning and to ensure that the education they 
                receive provides them with the knowledge and skills 
                they need to succeed in the 21st century.

                The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education is 
                taking a leadership role in this important endeavor. 
                The partners in this effort include the Department of 
                Education and more than 4,000 schools, colleges, and 
                universities; community, cultural, and religious 
                groups; businesses; elected officials; policymakers; 
                and the men and women of our Armed Forces. They have 
                pledged to support our initiative, entitled ``America 
                Goes Back to School: Get Involved! Stay Involved!'' 
                Across the country, the Partnership is working to 
                encourage family and community involvement in 
                children's learning and to create innovative solutions 
                to education issues at the grassroots level.

                I have set ambitious goals for America's educational 
                system, and we must pursue them with vigor if we are to 
                prepare our Nation for the challenges and possibilities 
                of the next century. We must have strong standards of 
                achievement and discipline and well-trained, dedicated 
                teachers in every classroom. We must work to reduce 
                class size so all our children get the individual 
                attention they need, especially in the critical early 
                grades. We must build new schools, modernize existing 
                ones, and expand public school choice by strengthening 
                Federal support for charter schools. We must bring 
                computers, communications technology, and the latest 
                educational software into the classroom so that every 
                American student is technologically literate and can 
                take advantage of today's information revolution.

                My Administration is also committed to making our 
                schools safe and orderly places where teachers can 
                teach and children can learn. With the Safe and Drug-
                Free Schools program, we have supported schools and 
                communities that offer antitruancy, curfew, school 
                uniform, and dress code policies. We have strictly 
                enforced the policy of zero tolerance for guns. Last 
                year alone, more than 6,000 students had guns taken 
                from them and were sent home. This month, we will begin 
                distributing a guide--Early Warning, Timely Response: A 
                Guide to Safe Schools--to help all schools prevent 
                violence before it starts. At my direction, the 
                Secretary of Education and the Attorney General 
                developed this guide to help school officials recognize 
                and respond to the early signs of student violence. 
                Later this fall, we will hold the first ever White 
                House Conference on School Safety to develop effective 
                strategies to keep our schools safe, disciplined, and 
                drug-free.

                My Administration also supports legislative initiatives 
                that encourage literacy and learning at every age--from 
                expanding the Head Start program for preschoolers to 
                providing trained reading tutors to elementary school 
                children to offering college aid for low-income 
                students. We are working with the Congress to fund the 
                Administration's proposal to strengthen teacher 
                training programs and provide scholarships to 35,000 
                well-prepared teachers who commit to teaching in 
                underserved urban or rural schools.

[[Page 49262]]

                The quality of America's educational system will 
                determine the shape of our children's future and the 
                success of our Nation. As America's students go back to 
                school this year, let us renew our commitment to 
                ensuring that the doors of every classroom open onto a 
                future bright with possibility for every child.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim September 6 through 
                September 12, 1998, as a time when America Goes Back to 
                School. I encourage parents, schools, community and 
                State leaders, businesses, civic and religious 
                organizations, and the people of the United States to 
                observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and 
                activities expressing support for high academic 
                standards and meaningful involvement in schools and 
                colleges and the students and families they serve.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 98-24756
Filed 9-11-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P