1999 White House Education Press Releases and Statements
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release November 11, 1999
November 11, 1999
AGREEMENT PRESERVES PRESIDENT'S PLAN TO HIRE 100,000 TEACHERS OVER 6 YEARS TO REDUCE CLASS SIZE
- Yesterday, Congressional leaders and the White House reached an agreement in principle that will preserve the President's plan to hire 100,000 teachers over the next 6 years to reduce class size in the early grades.
- The agreement provides at least $1.3 billion in FY 2000, a 10% increase from $1.2 billion in FY 1999.
- The Education Department estimates that communities are using the funds from last year's agreement to hire more than 29,000 teachers and reduce the average class size for 1.7 million children from 23 down to 18. With this new agreement, communities will be able to keep those 29,000 teachers and hire more; and stay on track to hire 100,000 teachers to reduce class size in the early grades to a nationwide average of 18 by the year 2005.
AGREEMENT PROVIDES FOR MORE TEACHERS AND BETTER TEACHERS
- The agreement ensures that all teachers hired under the class size program must be fully qualified. Teachers must be certified in their state or have completed an alternative route to certification, must have a baccalaureate degree; and must know the subjects they're teaching and demonstrate the skills to teach them.
- School districts can spend up to 25% of the funds on training existing teachers, testing new teachers, and providing high-quality professional development to ensure that all teachers have the knowledge and skills to teach effectively.
- School districts with an exceptionally high percentage (more than 10%) of uncertified elementary school teachers have the flexibility to use additional funds to help those teachers meet certification standards in time for the 2001-02 school year.
AGREEMENT PROVIDES LOCAL FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHER TRAINING, NOT BLOCK GRANTS AND VOUCHERS
- Republicans abandoned their plan to turn the President's class size reduction program into a block grant. The agreement guarantees that funds must be used primarily to recruit, hire, and train teachers to reduce class size in the early grades.
- The bill the President vetoed did not guarantee a single dollar for class size reduction, and would even have allowed school districts to use the money for vouchers. Under the agreement, taxpayer dollars will go for smaller classes in public schools, not vouchers to private schools.
- Because the purpose of the program is smaller classes with qualified teachers, the agreement gives school districts the option to spend up to 25% of the funds on teacher training and testing of new teachers. This is an increase from 15% last year.
AGREEMENT PRESERVES OTHER KEY ELEMENTS OF PRESIDENT'S PLAN
- The agreement preserves existing provisions to target funds to high-poverty communities, with 80% of funds allocated on the basis of poverty and 20% on the basis of population. This will ensure that children who stand to gain the most from smaller classes and better teachers will get them.
- The agreement continues to provide communities with flexibility to tailor class size reduction efforts to meet local needs and priorities.
- The agreement strengthens provisions to hold schools and districts accountable for results by reporting to parents on progress in reducing class size with fully qualified teachers.
END