History
Appropriations Bill Signed into Law
(Legacy of the Clinton Years)
Subject:
ED Appropriations Bill Signed into Law
From:
Kirk_Winters@ed.gov (Kirk Winters)
Date:
Sat, 15 Nov 1997 12:59:50 -0500
YESTERDAY, the President signed into law a bill that funds the U.S. Department of Education through September 30, 1998.
Below is a letter describing highlights of the bill. The letter is addressed to Department employees, from Secretary Richard Riley & Acting Deputy Secretary Marshall Smith; however, we thought many of you might want to see it. The President's remarks at the signing ceremony are available
at: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/11-1997/bill.html At the bottom of this message are directions for locating the full text of the bill (H.R. 2264) at the Library of Congress's "Thomas" website.
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Letter From Secretary Richard Riley & Acting Deputy Secretary Marshall Smith
To Department of Education Employees, November 14, 1997
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On November 13, President Clinton signed into law P.L. 105-78, the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year 1998. The President noted that he was "signing into the record books what is plainly the best year for American education in more than a generation."
The Department's 1998 appropriations bill is an important milestone in the President's effort to ensure that every 8- year-old can read, every 12-year-old can log on to the Internet, every 18-year-old can go on to college, and every adult can continue to learn for a lifetime. The bill is also an enormous vote of confidence in the work that all of you are doing here at the Department of Education, and we want to describe some of its highlights for you.
First, the bill provides a total of $29.4 billion in discretionary funds for the Department. That's an increase of $3.1 billion, or almost 12 percent over the 1997 level of $26.3 billion. Even more important than the dollar totals, however, is the support the bill provides for the President's key initiatives:
VOLUNTARY
NATIONAL TESTS.
The bill provides full funding to proceed with immediate development
of the first-ever voluntary national tests in 4th grade reading and
8th grade math, based on the widely accepted National Assessment of
Educational Progress. The National Assessment Governing Board will oversee
policies and development of the tests. The bill also permits pilot testing
to begin in Fall 1998.
THE
AMERICA READS CHALLENGE.
The bill provides nearly $300 million in new funding for the Department
and other agencies to implement the President's comprehensive strategy
for involving teachers, families and communities in ensuring that all
children learn to read well and independently by the end of third grade.
The $300 million includes $210 million in advance funding for pending
child literacy legislation, $25 million in new funding for Eisenhower
Professional Development State Grants that is earmarked for professional
development in reading, and a $16 million
increase for the Even Start family literacy program.
BRINGING
TECHNOLOGY TO THE CLASSROOM.
Funding for the President's Technology Literacy Challenge Fund is more
thandoubled, from $200 million in 1997 to $425 million in 1998, to help
schools pay for computers and software connected to the Internet, provide
professional development in the integration of technology into the curriculum,
and apply technology to support school reform efforts. The bill also
includes an 86 percent increase for Technology Innovation Challenge
Grants -- from $57 million to $106 million -- to support a wide range
of innovative strategies for improving teaching and learning and increasing student
access to technology.
CHARTER
SCHOOLS.
An $80 million appropriation -- up $29 million or 57 percent -- will
accelerate progress toward the President's goal of developing 3,000
new charter schools. Up to 500 new charter schools will be funded in
1998, for a total of almost 1,000 federally supported, locally designed
schools that enhance choice,
excellence, and accountability in public education.
PELL
GRANTS.
Congress provided a $1.4 billion (24 percent) increase for Pell Grants
that supports the President's proposal to increase the maximum Pell
Grant to $3,000 and raises the number of Pell recipients by 220,000.
The $300 increase in the Pell maximum award is the largest in two decades.
COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL REFORM. This new $150 million program will provide competitive awards of $50,000 to help almost 3,000 schools implement successful whole school reform approaches or develop their own research-based reforms aimed at helping all children meet challenging state standards.
SPECIAL
EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES.
The bill appropriates $3.8 billion for Special Education Grants to States,
an increase of $700 million that will raise the federal share of serving
about 6 million children with disabilities by 19 percent. This increase
will help states and school districts improve educational results for
children with disabilities and help these children meet high standards,
as called for by the recently enacted Individuals with Disabilities
Act Amendments of 1997.
AFTER-SCHOOL
LEARNING CENTERS.
The bill dramatically expands this program, providing $40 million to
support hundreds of after-school centers in rural and urban schools
across the country. The centers will provide academic enrichment, tutoring,
and other learning opportunities while giving students a safe haven
during the often-dangerous after-school hours.
BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT EDUCATION.
The $199 million appropriated for bilingual education will help school districts teach English to more than a million limited English proficient children, as well as provide some 4,000 teachers with the training. The bill also includes $150 million -- a 50 percent increase -- for the Immigrant Education program to help more than a thousand school districts provide supplemental instructional services to 875,000 recent immigrant students.
The following table highlights significant increases in the Department's 1998 appropriations bill:
($ in millions) Program 1997 1998 Increase
~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Technology Literacy Challenge Fund $200.0 $425.0 $225.0
Technology Innovation Challenge Grants 57.0 106.0 49.0
Comprehensive School Reform -150.0 150.0
Eisenhower State Grants 310.0 335.0 25.0
Charter Schools 51.0 80.0 29.0
America Reads Challenge 210.0 * 210.0
Bilingual and Immigrant Education 261.7 354.0 92.3
Special Education Grants to States 3,107.5 3,801.0 693.5
Pell Grants 5,919.0 7,344.9 1,425.9
After-School Learning Centers 1.0 40.0 39.0
* Funds become available on October 1, 1998 if pending child literacy legislation is approved by July 1, 1998.
We join the President in noting the historic importance of the 1998 appropriations bill for the Department. We know you will continue to work hard to carry out the President's education reform strategy, and we are excited about the prospects for real improvements in American education at every level in the coming years.
Marshall S. Smith Richard W. Riley
Acting Deputy Secretary Secretary
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Directions for Locating the Full Text of the "Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998," (H.R. 2264) at the Library of Congress's "Thomas" Website
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1) Go to http://thomas.loc.gov
2) Go to Bills
3) Go to Major Legislation
4) Go to 105th
5) Click on Enacted into Law
6) Scroll down to item #21 "H.R. 2264"
7) Click on H.R. 2264
8) Scroll down to Law Text at the bottom of the page
9) Click on Law Text