    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 8, 1998]
    [Pages 728-729]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation on Class-Size
    Reduction and Teacher Quality
    May 8, 1998

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and
    enactment the ``Class-Size Reduction and Teacher Quality Act of 1998.''
    This legislative proposal would help States and local school districts
    recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional well-prepared teachers in
    order to reduce the average class size to 18 in grades 1 through 3 in
    our Nation's public schools. It is an essential part of our overall
    effort to strengthen public schools throughout the Nation.
        As schools across the Nation struggle to accommodate a surge in
    enrollments, educators and parents have become increasingly concerned
    about the impact of class size on teaching and learning, particularly in
    the critically important early grades, where students learn reading and
    other basic skills. This concern is justified: rigorous research
    confirms what parents and teachers have long believed--that students in
    smaller classes, especially in the early grades, make greater
    educational gains and maintain those gains over time. These gains occur
    because teachers in small classes can provide students with more
    individualized attention, spend more time on instruction and less time
    on discipline, and cover more material effectively. Moreover, the
    benefits of smaller classes are greatest for poor, minority, and inner-
    city children, the children who often face the greatest challenges in
    meeting high educational standards.
        Smaller classes will have the greatest impact on student learning if
    the new teachers brought into the classroom are well qualified to teach
    reading and to take advantage of smaller learning environments. For this
    reason, my proposal emphasizes not just class-size reduction but also
    professional development for educators, and it will give school
    districts adequate time to recruit and train staff while phasing in
    smaller classes. Furthermore, all new teachers hired under the program
    would be required to pass a State teacher competency test and would also
    have to be certified to teach or be making satisfactory progress toward
    full certification.
        We can help all of our students learn to read independently and well
    by the third grade, get a solid foundation in basic skills, and reach
    high educational standards if we start them off with small classes and
    well-prepared teachers in the early grades.
        Under my proposal, the Department of Education would provide $20.8
    billion in mandatory appropriations over a 10-year period (beginning
    with $1.1 billion in fiscal year 1999) to States. The States would then
    distribute the funds to local school districts based on their relative
    class sizes in grades 1 through 3, as well as on their ability and
    effort to finance class-size reductions with their own resources. The
    bill would provide States with considerable flexibility in distributing
    these funds, while ensuring that the most needy school districts receive
    a fair share.

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        Moreover, because my proposal would actually appropriate the funds
    needed to carry out the program, States and local communities could
    count on these funds without the need for separate congressional
    appropriations each year. This proposal is fully paid for within my
    Fiscal Year 1999 Budget, and therefore would not reduce the budget
    surplus.
        School districts would use these funds to reduce class sizes in
    grades 1 through 3. Just as importantly, these funds would also be
    available for a variety of activities to ensure that students in the
    early grades receive sound and effective instruction, such as making
    sure that teachers know how to teach reading and other subjects
    effectively in small classes.
        This proposal includes strong accountability for results.
    Participating school districts would produce ``report cards''
    documenting reductions in class sizes and the achievement of their
    students in reading, based on rigorous assessments. Schools whose
    students fail to make gains in reading would be required to undertake
    corrective actions. In addition, the Department of Education would
    undertake a comprehensive national evaluation of this program and its
    impact on reading achievement and teaching.
        I urge the Congress to take prompt and favorable action on this
    proposal. Its enactment would help school districts reduce class sizes
    in the early grades and improve instruction and achievement in reading,
    issues that are of major importance to parents and to the Nation.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    May 8, 1998.