THE WHITE HOUSE AT WORK



Tuesday, January 26, 1999

PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:
ENSURING OUR CHILDREN ARE WELL-PREPARED FOR LEARNING

There is nothing more important to America's future than investing in our children. Our investment will help ensure that our children show up to school on their first day ready and eager to learn.

Vice President Al Gore
January 26, 1999

Today, Vice President Al Gore announces that the Clinton Administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2000 will include a $607 million increase in Head Start, which would be the largest increase in Head Start ever enacted. This funding will help enroll an additional 42,000 children, including 7,000 children under three-years old, and strengthen the quality of this important child development program.

Ensuring That When Children Start School They Are Ready To Learn. Under the leadership of President Clinton and Vice President Gore, Head Start has become America's premier early childhood development program, ensuring that low-income children start school ready to learn. Since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, enrollment in Head Start has increased by 200,000, reaching 835,000 children, and last year, the President signed the Head Start Amendments of 1998, bipartisan legislation that reauthorized the Head Start program and built on the Administration's commitment to improve and expand Head Start.

Expanding Access And Enrolling More Children In Head Start. Today, the Vice President will announce that the Clinton Administration's fiscal year 2000 budget will strengthen the quality of the Head Start program while allowing more children to enroll in the program:

Improving Education And Making Child Care More Affordable. Today's announcement builds on the initiatives outlined in the President's State of the Union address to improve education and make child care better, safer, and more affordable for America's working families. President Clinton and Vice President Gore are proposing:



The White House Briefing Room
The White House at Work Archives