Education Reform

Goals 2000

In Spring of 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Goals 2000 was based on Governor Clinton’s educational reforms in Arkansas, Secretary of Education Riley’s gubernatorial efforts in South Carolina, and lessons from other state and local educational reforms. The Goals 2000 legislation codified the National Education Goals and offered grants to states that committed themselves to specific plans for systematic reform of K-12 education. Goals 2000 included testing of reading and mathematics skills to ensure such students met these standards.

The Clinton Administration listed achievements regarding Education Reform on the White House website. The now archived White House web page states that President Clinton’s enactment of Goals 2000 helped states establish standards of excellence for all children, implemented steps to meet these standards, and raised educational achievement. Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, 49 states implemented standards in core subjects and the proportion of graduating high schools seniors completing a core curriculum rose to 55 percent.

Watch the Goals 2000 White House Event

President Clinton addresses a Goals 2000 Education event on the South Lawn at the White House. He is joined on the dais by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Tipper Gore, Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, May 16, 1994, Photographer: Ralph Alswang.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

In parallel with Goals 2000, President Clinton proposed the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). President Clinton signed the Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA) in October 1994. This Act reauthorized the ESEA and also modified Title I of the ESEA. In addition to providing funding for teacher training, IASA also provided for testing on the state level and raised the standards for the schools educating these students. IASA also provided educational opportunities for disadvantaged students.

The archived White House web page states that low-income students benefited from extra support to meet high expectations and challenging standards. This was credited to both increased funding for the Title I program and reforms proposed and signed into law by President Clinton in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

First page of a memorandum for the President from Bruce Reed and Mike Cohen concerning the ESEA Reauthorization Proposal. The memo includes President Clinton's handwritten not that reads "This is very good-should be a major part of SOU," December 28 1998. Records of the White House Office of Records Management. Subject Files on Education. 288484SS.

2009-0886-F: In 2016, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library released a Freedom of Information Act collection regarding education reform during the Clinton Administration. The collection focuses on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Goals 2000, the Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA), national standards, and test initiatives. The over 16,000 pages of archival material in this FOIA collection primarily consists of correspondence and background material. Correspondence regarding these educational reforms is primarily between President Clinton, the Domestic Policy Council, the Department of Education (including Secretary Riley), Congress, state government, local school boards, and grassroots organizations in favor or in opposition to these reforms. Topics in such correspondence concern budget allocation, implementation, legislative strategy, and proposals for education reform.

2011-0103-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Andrew “Andy" Rotherham was Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy from 1999-2000. Before working for the Domestic Policy Council, Rotherham was Director of the 21st Century Schools Project for the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). This series of Education highlights topics relating to class size reduction, test preparation, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, charter schools, the digital divide, distance learning, youth violence in schools, teacher salaries, social promotion, Hispanic education, standardized testing, and after-school programs. The records include reports, draft legislation, memoranda, correspondence to and from organizations and community leaders that focus on education issues, articles, publications, email, and fact sheets relating to the Administration’s progress on education.

2012-0160-S: Michael Cohen held the position of Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy within the Domestic Policy Council from 1996 to 1999. Cohen assisted with administration efforts to enact and implement Goals 2000.

2010-1110-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Caroline Chang was Associate Director for Domestic Policy working primarily with education issues. Caroline Chang’s records relate to teacher recruitment, class sizes, educational progress during the Clinton Administration, Hispanics in U.S. schools, internet filtering, and education appropriations. The records include memoranda, reports, publications, articles, emails, and legislative drafts.

2013-0371-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Bethany Little served as an education adviser to President Clinton and Vice-President Gore. The collection highlights topics relating to education and Clinton Administration educational initiatives, literacy, teachers, religion in schools, affirmative action, Title IX, school desegregation, the State of the Union, jobs, universal preschool, immigration, and workforce development. The records include memos, printed emails, correspondence, press papers, press clips, articles, meeting notes, talking points, and papers.

The Kendra Brooks Collection is divided into three series: Correspondence Series, Printed Materials Series, and Subject Series. Kendra Brooks served on the Domestic Policy Council as Assistant Director of Domestic Policy for Education from October 25, 1999 until the end of the administration. Initially she served as a detailee from the Department of Education. She separated from that agency and transitioned into a White House employee on August 1, 2000. She worked on a variety of policy issues, including charter schools, school safety, higher education, Blue Ribbon Schools, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanic Americans. The records include memoranda, reports, publications, articles, and email.

Bruce Reed –Education Series: The files include material pertaining to national standards and testing; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the 1999 efforts to reauthorize the Act; 100,000 teachers and class size; charter schools and vouchers; education events and forums; social promotion; Goals 2000; HOPE Scholarships; Pell Grants; the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (Ed-flex); education funding and budgets; and various school and teacher issues. The files contain correspondence, reports and articles, memos, polls, handwritten notes, email, schedules, printed material, and memos to the President.

2006-0506-F: The U.S. Department of Education recognizes excellence in public and private elementary, middle, and high schools through the National Blue Ribbons Schools program. This collection consists of files relating to the Blue Ribbon Schools Ceremony on October 28, 1999. The records contain speech drafts, notes, memoranda, email, talking points, lists, schedules, and background information.

2008-1269-F: President Clinton signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act on May 04, 1994, which authorized the distribution of $300 million through the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Labor for fiscal year 1995 and other like sums in the subsequent years 1996 through 1999 in the form of development grants to states for school-to-work programs. The records consist of memoranda, correspondence, press releases, newspaper clippings, reports, draft legislation, and publications relating to the conception, introduction, and transition of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994.

2011-0556-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Jonathan “Jon” Schnur served as the Associate Director for Education Policy from 1998-1999. In particular, Schnur worked in the Office of the Vice President with education issues relating to conferences, awards, and events. The records include conference agendas, articles, press releases, correspondence, memoranda, reports, publications, vice presidential speech transcripts, and emails.

2011-0581-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, David Lussier was a White House Fellow in 2000. Lussier worked with education issues relating to school violence, Hispanic education, after-school programs, teacher quality, and the fiscal year 2001 budget. The records include fact sheets, press releases, articles, memoranda, reports, publications, emails, draft legislation, speech transcripts, and speech drafts.,

2011-0894-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Joshua Beck was a staffer who dealt primarily with issues relating to education. This collection highlights topics relating to education, literacy programs, Hispanic education, economic accomplishments of the Clinton administration, charter schools, school performance, and standardized testing. There are a significant number of items relating to news reports about Clinton administration education initiatives, as well as a significant number of education-related publications. The records include reports, draft reports, publications, memoranda, pamphlets, brochures, phone message slips, articles, notes, telephone directories, research papers, and news clippings.

2011-0255-S: Within the Domestic Policy Council, Gaynor McCown was a White House Fellow from 1993-1994 and Senior Policy Analyst from 1995-1996. During her time as a White House Fellow, McCown was Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education and spent much of her time planning meetings and conferences between federal agencies, community leaders, and education organizations as well as attending education conferences and traveling to events to assist Secretary Richard Riley. As a Senior Policy Analyst for the Domestic Policy Council, McCown worked primarily with Education issues and assisted Carol Rasco as an education speech writer and event coordinator. McCown continued her work in Education advocacy after leaving the White House and served as the founding executive director of the Teaching Commission until her death in 2005.

2017-1076-F: This collection consists of material related to the 1998 Higher Education Act Reauthorization. It was originally enacted as part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society domestic program in 1965. It contains correspondence, memoranda, newspaper articles, handwritten notes, charts, reports, lists, press releases, agendas, and emails. Topics of these documents include student loan proposals, Pell Grants, loan forgiveness, schools as lenders, and the role of community service in student loan deferment.

2023-0644-S: This collection highlights Jacqueline "Jackie" Lain’s work on Clinton administration education issues including strategies to improve Hispanic student achievement, organizing materials used for education briefings, White House education tours, and her work on the White House Conference on Hispanic Education. The collection contains correspondence from state agencies, school boards, and education advocates, emails, fact sheets, press releases, faxes, memoranda, news articles, handwritten notes, briefing materials, talking points, reports, and invitation lists.

Please note that 2023-0644-S has not yet been digitized.

In the Summer of 1983, Governor Clinton launched special efforts to identify inadequacies in education throughout Arkansas and to create mechanisms necessary for reform. Included in the reforms was the creation of the Education Standards Committee, led by Hillary Rodham Clinton. After holding 75 meetings throughout the state, this Committee created proposals such as improving the quality of teachers and curriculum standards. The Arkansas Board of Education later implemented many of these proposed standards for statewide educational reform. Also in 1983, Governor Clinton proposed a one-cent sales tax to fund education reform. Although the sales tax proposal included controversial teacher competency tests, the legislative package passed. As a result, many improvements in education were instituted in the years that followed.

First page of talking points that link Governor Clinton’s successes with education reform to the objectives of Goals 2000 legislation. Records of the Office of the Public Liaison. Series: Christopher Wayne's Files. Crime: US Department of Education [The Goals 2000- Educate America Act of 1993].

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies

Little Rock, Arkansas, provides onsite opportunities to research both Governor Clinton’s and President Clinton’s efforts with education reform. Researchers can access digitized materials on President Clinton and education reform through the Clinton Digital Library, or visit the Clinton Presidential Library to access collections that are not available online. Researchers can access gubernatorial records at the Bill Clinton State Government Project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. The Butler Center is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Presidential archive and the gubernatorial archive are within walking distance of one another.

The Butler Center’s collections on Governor Clinton and educational reform in Arkansas include:

• Don Ernst Collection (CP.02.03.01)
• Paul Root Collection (CP.02.03.03)
• Connie Dardin Collection (CP.02.03.04)
• Kathy Van Laningham Collection (CP.02.03.05)
• Gloria Cabe Collection (CP.02.03.02) 
• Education Team Collection (CP.02.03.06)

Image courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System.