Following are proposed education initiatives from President Clinton’s State of the Union Address last week:
- Provide federal funds to help schools hire 100,000 new teachers who have passed state competency tests.
- Help schools reduce class sizes in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades to an average of 18 students per class.
- Provide tax breaks on interest on school construction loans to help communities build or renovate 5,000 schools.
- Encourage colleges and universities to reach out to disadvantaged children as early as 6th grade to help guide them toward higher education.
- Raise the price of cigarettes by $1.50 a pack over the next 10 years to help deter young people from smoking.
- Broaden the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover time off for parents to meet with their children’s teachers.
- Offer scholarships and background checks for child-care workers, with an emphasis on early learning.
- Provide a larger child-care tax credit for working families and help families pay for child care for 1 million more children.
- Pass a juvenile-crime bill that increases the number of prosecutors and probation officers working with juvenile offenders.
- Expand support for after-school programs.
