1992
October 2: Republican senators filibuster a school reform bill written by Democrats. The heart of the bill is a block grant for states, with most of the money to be distributed for school-level restructuring. Republicans object to the bill because it includes no tuition vouchers or demonstrations of model schools, as President Bush proposed in his America 2000 program.
1993
April 22: The Clinton administration unveils its Goals 2000: Educate America Act. To receive a grant, states must adopt their own standards and assessments. The administration requests $420 million for the first year of the program.
October 13: The House passes its Goals 2000 bill. In addition to the standards requirement, the bill calls for creating a National Education Standards and Improvement Council, known as NESIC, to set model academic standards and assessments.
1994
February 8: The Senate passes its version of the bill, which recommends—but does not require—that states adopt standards and assessments with Goals 2000 money. Democrats agree to the change to win Republican support for the bill.
March 31: President Clinton signs the compromise version of Goals 2000. The new law includes the House version of NESIC, and requires states to adopt their own standards and tests. It authorizes five years of funding, from fiscal 1994 through fiscal 1998. Congress previously appropriated $105 million for the program in fiscal 1994.
July 1: The fiscal 1994 money becomes available to states. Hawaii is the first to claim its share.
1995
July 1: Forty-eight states apply for the second year of money. Only Virginia and New Hampshire reject the money.
July 12: House Republicans, now in the majority, make their first move to abolish Goals 2000 when a subcommittee votes to eliminate the program’s funding in fiscal 1996. The proposal passes the full House, but stalls in the Senate.
1996
April 26: President Clinton signs a fiscal 1996 appropriations bill with $350 million for Goals 2000. To appease conservative critics, the law strikes a requirement that states submit their content standards to the U.S. Department of Education for review; allows districts in nonparticipating states to apply, with their state’s permission, for money on their own; and formally eliminates NESIC, whose members were never appointed.
July 1: Forty-nine states participate in the program. New Hampshire, Montana, and Oklahoma allow districts to compete for their share of money in applications to the Education Department. Only Virginia refuses to take money.
1997
January 10: Virginia becomes the final state to accept Goals 2000 money.
