[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[July 21, 1998]
[Pages 1292-1293]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval 
Education Savings Legislation
July 21, 1998

To the House of Representatives:
    I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2646, the 
``Education Savings and School Excellence Act of 1998.''
    As I have said before, we must prepare our children for the 21st 
century by providing them with the best education in the world. To help 
meet this goal, I have sent the Congress a comprehensive agenda for 
strengthening our public schools, which enroll almost 90 percent of our 
students. My plan calls for raising standards, strengthening 
accountability, and promoting charter schools and other forms of public 
school choice. It calls for reducing class size in the early grades, so 
our students get a solid foundation in the basic skills, modernizing our 
schools for the 21st century, and linking them with the Internet. And we 
must strengthen teaching and provide students who need additional help 
with tutoring, mentoring, and after-school programs. We must take these 
steps now.
    By sending me this bill, the Congress has instead chosen to weaken 
public education and shortchange our children. The modifications to the 
Education IRAs that the bill would authorize are bad education policy 
and bad tax policy. The bill would divert limited Federal resources away 
from public schools by spending more than $3 billion on tax benefits 
that would do virtually nothing for average families and would 
disproportionately benefit the most affluent families. More than 70 
percent of the benefits would flow to families in the top 20 percent of 
income distribution, and families struggling to make ends meet would 
never see a penny of the benefits. Moreover, the bill would not create a 
meaningful incentive for families to increase their savings for 
educational purposes; it would instead reward families, particularly 
those with substantial incomes, for what they already do.
    The way to improve education for all our children is to increase 
standards, accountability, and choice within the public schools. Just as 
we have an obligation to repair our Nation's roads and bridges and 
invest in the infrastructure of our transportation system, we also have 
an obligation to invest in the infrastructure needs of our public 
schools. I urge the Congress to meet that obligation and to send me 
instead the legislation I have proposed to reduce class size; improve 
the quality of teaching; modernize our schools; end social promotions; 
raise academic standards;

[[Page 1293]]

and hold school districts, schools, and staff accountable for results.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

July 21, 1998.