Early-Childhood Education | Reading | After-School Aid
ACCOUNTABILITY | |
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SCHOOL CHOICE/VOUCHERS | |
| Opposes publicly funded school vouchers. Would help triple the number of charter schools by 2005 by increasing funding for the existing federal charter schools program and creating an “incubator” fund to help provide temporary space for charters until they obtained permanent facilities. Would create competitive-grant program to help bring public school choice to 100 of the lowest-performing districts nationwide. |
TEACHER QUALITY | |
| Would spend $8 billion over 10 years to help recruit new teachers to high-need schools, with plans to provide college aid, loan forgiveness, and signing bonuses. Would spend another $8 billion to provide salary increases of up to $5,000 each to teachers in high-need districts that adopted aggressive plans to improve teacher quality, and up to $10,000 to teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Would require states to ensure that all new teachers pass rigorous assessments. Would require that schools receiving federal Title I aid guarantee that all of their teachers were fully certified by 2004. |
EARLY-CHILDHOOD EDUCATION | |
| Proposes spending $50 billion over 10 years for a new grant program that would provide incentive funds to states that guaranteed access to preschool for all 4-year-olds. Would increase Head Start funding. Would spend $8 billion over 10 years for grants to improve the quality of child care and ensure that such programs emphasized learning. Would offer expanded tax breaks estimated to cost $30 billion over 10 years to make child care more affordable. |
READING | |
| Would continue support for the $260 million Reading Excellence Act, which issues competitive grants to states for reading initiatives aimed at ensuring student literacy by the 3rd grade. His campaign also links reading improvement to other initiatives, such as universal preschool. |
AFTER-SCHOOL AID | |
| Would dramatically increase federal spending on the 21st Century Learning Centers program, doubling President Clinton’s $1 billion request this year to $2 billion for the after-school initiative. Would create a new tax credit to help middle-and low-income families defray after-school child-care costs. Would provide grants to help recruit and train staff members to assure high-quality after-school programs. |