[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 37 (Monday, September 18, 1995)]
[Pages 1533-1534]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6819--America Goes Back to School, 1995

September 8, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The beginning of a new school year is a time of renewal and 
anticipation for families, educators, and communities across America. 
Teachers ready their classrooms and curricula; law enforcement officers 
redouble their efforts to keep neighborhoods safe and drug-free; 
businesses work with schools to create stronger partnerships; and 
parents everywhere encourage their children to look forward to the 
challenges ahead.
    This time of year also provides us with an occasion to renew our 
faith in the promise of education--the spark that lights our ambitions 
and gives us the tools to grow and succeed. To ensure America's 
continued leadership in the coming century, we must empower every 
citizen with the knowledge and training necessary to meet new and varied 
challenges. The generation of young people in school today deserves our 
Nation's pledge to help them get on the right course and make the most 
of their lives.
    Improving education means strengthening families and schools. 
Families are responsible for raising children, and parents are their 
first and most important teachers. Schools are responsible for providing 
children with quality education and meaningful guidance. But schools and 
families cannot do it alone. Instead, religious organizations, community 
leaders, older Americans, volunteer groups, service agencies, 
industries, and every caring individual must work together, realizing 
that the complexity of our diverse and changing society demands 
innovative and effective solutions for helping our children embrace the 
values of good citizenship.
    In March 1994 I signed into law the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, 
which supports grassroots efforts to help schoolchildren meet high 
standards for achievement and discipline. School-to-Work programs are 
uniting businesses, community colleges, and high schools to provide 
work-study experience and technical expertise, and a new system of 
direct loans is making a college education more affordable and 
accessible. This year the Department of Education is deepening its 
commitment to parent and community involvement by joining the Family 
Involvement Partnership for Learning to sponsor America Goes Back to 
School: A Place for Families and the Community. This initiative 
encourages all Americans to take part in the drive for excellence in 
education. I am proud that the Department has acted boldly to foster 
support for America's families and students.
    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 
11 through September 18, 1995, as a time when ``America Goes Back to 
School.'' I call upon parents, community and State leaders, businesses, 
civic and religious organizations, and all our citizens to observe this 
period with appropriate ceremonies and activities expressing support for 
schools and colleges, children and families, and to continue their 
active involvement on behalf of America's students throughout the year.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of 
September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:46 a.m., September 
11, 1995]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on September 11, and it was published in the Federal Register 
on September 12.

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