A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The GOALS 2000 Partnership

I can say directly that the current partnership between federal, state and local educational institutions gives me hope for major progress. A new balance is being forged with the focus on local communities and the other levels in support roles. It is the right balance. It recognizes that no single level can succeed alone in providing the services needed for America's students. Partnerships are the model for a successful future.

--Bill Randall, Commissioner of Education in Colorado

Congress and President Clinton made a bi-partisan commitment to education on March 31, 1994, when the GOALS 2000: Educate America Act was signed into law. Educators, business and parent organizations, as well as Republican and Democratic elected leaders, agreed that this national response was needed because, despite more than a decade of education reforms since A Nation at Risk was published, students and schools were not measuring up to the high standards required to maintain a competitive economy and a strong democracy.

With GOALS 2000, the federal government pledged to form a new and supportive partnership with states and communities in an effort to improve student academic achievement across the nation, where education remains a local function and a state responsibility. The following sets forth these state and federal roles in GOALS 2000 reform:

State Leadership

1. States set challenging academic standards in core subjects for all students.

2. States develop a comprehensive approach to improving education, including developing standards and assessments; providing professional development opportunities for teachers; improving accountability for meeting the standards; and promoting parental and community involvement.

3. States accomplish these two reforms with broad-based, grassroots involvement.

Federal Support

1. The federal government provides seed money to help states launch and sustain their ongoing education reform efforts.

2. The federal government provides states with unprecedented flexibility for using GOALS 2000 funding. States and local school districts may use GOALS 2000 funds for a wide range of activities that fit within their own approaches to helping students reach higher standards. (See the article on about waivers, Ed-Flex, and other "new flexibility" advantages.)

[Year Three: States Lead School Improvement With GOALS 2000]

[GOALS 2000: Building on a Decade of Reform]