[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 37 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[Pages 1747-1748]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7118--America Goes Back to School, 1998

September 9, 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

[[Page 1748]]

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.
    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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 11, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
September 14.