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301 lines
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301 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
***** Reformated. Please distribute.
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CLINTON/GORE ON EDUCATION
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Government fails when our schools fail. For four
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years we've heard a lot of talk about the Education
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President but we've seen little government action
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to invest in the collective talents of our people.
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It's time for a change.
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Millions of our children go to school unprepared to
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learn. The Republicans in Washington have promised
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but never delivered full funding for Head Start, a
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proven success that gives disadvantaged children
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the opportunity to get ahead. And while states
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move forward with innovative ideas to bring parents
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and children together, Washington fails to insist
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on responsibility from parents, teachers, students
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or from itself.
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Putting people first demands a revolution in
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lifetime learning because education today is more
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than the key to climbing the ladder of economic
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opportunity; it is an imperative for our nation.
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Bill Clinton and Al Gore will invest in our people
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at every stage of their lives. They will put
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people first by dramatically improving the way
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parents prepare their children for school, giving
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students the chance to train for jobs or pay for
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college, and providing workers with the training
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and retraining they need to compete and win in
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tomorrow's economy.
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Parents and children together
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* Inspire parents to take responsibility and
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empower them with the knowledge they need to
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help their children enter school ready to
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learn; help disadvantaged parents work with
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their children to build an ethic of learning
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at home that benefits both.
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* Fully fund programs that save us several
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dollars for every one spent -- Head Start, the
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Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and
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other critical initiatives recommended by the
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National Commission on Children.
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Establishing tough standards
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* Work with educators, parents, business leaders
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and public officials to create a set of
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National Standards for what students should
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know.
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* Create a National Examination System to
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measure our students' and schools' progress in
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meeting the National Standards.
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* Achieve the 1989 Education Summit's "National
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Education Goals" by the year 2000: every child
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should begin school physically and mentally
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ready to learn; our high school graduation
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rate should rise from 71 percent to 90
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percent, the current international standard;
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and students should be knowledgeable in math,
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science, language, history and geography when
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they graduate high school.
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Reforming our schools
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* Reduce the education gap between rich and poor
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students by increasing Chapter One funding for
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low-income students and giving schools greater
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flexibility to spend money in ways they think
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most effective, such as reducing class sizes
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in early grades.
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* Grant expanded decision-making powers at the
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school level -- empowering principals,
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teachers and parents with increased
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flexibility in educating our children.
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* Support better incentives to hire and keep
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good teachers, including alternative
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certification for those who want to take up
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teaching as a second career and differential
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pay to attract and retain educators in
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shortage areas like math and science, in urban
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schools, and in isolated or rural areas.
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* Help states develop public school choice
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programs like Arkansas' with protection from
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discrimination based on race, religion or
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income.
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* Promote bilingual education programs that
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teach substantive subjects in a child's native
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language while at the same time teaching
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English. Such efforts improve English fluency
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and recognize the value of a child's native
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language and culture.
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Making our schools safe again
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* Get drugs out of our schools: work with states
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and local communities to bring parents,
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educators, students, law enforcement personnel
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and community service workers together to
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provide comprehensive drug education,
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prevention, intervention and treatment
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programs.
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* Support a Safe Schools Initiative, which will
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provide funds for violence-ridden schools to
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hire security personnel and purchase metal
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detectors, and help cities and states use
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community policing to put more police officers
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on the streets in high-crime areas where
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schools are located.
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Alternative and continuing education programs
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* Help communities open centers that give
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dropouts a second chance through a Youth
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Opportunity Corps. Teenagers will be matched
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with adults who care about them and who will
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help them develop self-discipline and valuable
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skills.
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* Bring business, labor and education leaders
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together to develop a national apprenticeship
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program that offers non college-bound students
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valuable skills training, with the promise of
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good jobs when they graduate.
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* Maintain the Pell Grant program but scrap the
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existing student loan program and establish a
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National Service Trust Fund to guarantee every
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American who wants a college education the
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means to obtain one. Those who borrow from
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the fund will pay it back either as a small
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percentage of their income over time, or
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through community service as teachers, law
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enforcement officers, health care workers, or
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peer counselors helping kids stay off drugs an
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in school.
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* Invest in worker retraining programs that
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require employers to spend 1.5 percent of
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payroll for continuing education and training
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for all workers, not just executives.
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Preparing children for school
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* Governor Clinton established the first
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statewide Home Instructional Program for
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Pre-School Youngsters. HIPPY helps
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disadvantaged parents work with their children
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to build an ethic of learning at home that
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benefits both parent and child.
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* Introduced programs to provide low-income
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women with access to comprehensive maternity
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and infant care. Arkansas infant mortality
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rate has dropped almost 50% since 1978.
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* Initiated the Better Chance Program, which
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provides $5 million this fiscal year and $10
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million the next for early childhood programs
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for at-risk children ages 3-5.
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* Senator Gore supported expanded full funding
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for Head Start and other successful pre-school
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programs.
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Reforming the schools
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* Clinton set higher standards for all Arkansas
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schools: they must provide intensive
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instruction in basic skills, offer a much
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broader range of advanced courses, strictly
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limit class size, and regularly test student
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performance.
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* Directed the state to issue a yearly report
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card on the schools.
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* Permitted parents to choose the public schools
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their children attend as long as an acceptable
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racial balance is maintained.
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* Provided a $4,000 average salary increase for
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Arkansas teachers in 1991-- the highest
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percentage increase in the nation that year.
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* Senator Gore voted for the Neighborhood
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Schools Improvement Act, which provides
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assistance to school based management efforts,
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increases parental involvement, improves
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teacher training and aids dropout prevention.
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* Supported innovative programs for
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disadvantaged children, including expanded
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Chapter One and Two funding and the Star
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Schools program.
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Demanding responsibility
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* Governor Clinton required eighth graders to
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pass an exam to go to high school.
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* Required teachers to take a basic competency
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test to keep their jobs.
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* Revoked drivers licenses of students who drop
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out of school for no good reason.
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* Authorized fines for parents who refuse to
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attend a parent-teacher conference or allow
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their children to be chronically truant.
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* Senator Gore supported legislation to create
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National and Community Service programs.
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Getting results
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* Governor Clinton improved Arkansas math and
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reading test scores. Between 1981 and 1991,
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the average state percentile rank for 4th
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grade students rose from the 46th to the 61st
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percentile in reading and from the 44th to the
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69th percentile in math.
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* Helped Arkansas achieve the highest
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high-school graduation rate in the region.
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* Increased the percentage of Arkansas seniors
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attending colleges by 34 percent from 1982 to
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1991.
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Creating opportunity for all
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* With help from business, Governor Clinton
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created a Youth Apprenticeship program to
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motivate non college-bound students to stay in
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school and do well.
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* Created Arkansas Academic Challenge
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Scholarships to provide college scholarships
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to middle income and poor students who achieve
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2.5 GPAs in high school taking the college
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core curriculum, score 19 on the ACT, and stay
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off drugs.
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* Established a college bond program allowing
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parents to buy short- or long-term college
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bonds, not taxed in Arkansas, to help finance
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their childrens college education.
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* Helped develop the Arkansas Industrial
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Training Program, which provides customized
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training to potential workers at new plants,
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expanding companies, or companies which are
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upgrading technologically.
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* Established the Governors Dislocated Worker
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Task Force, which identifies possible plant
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closings and layoffs, develops an appropriate
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plan, and offers retraining, placement, and
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other supportive services.
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* Senator Gore voted for Higher Education Act
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amendments to expand the Pell grant program.
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* Supported vocational education training
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efforts that go beyond high school.
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* Wrote the Information Infrastructure and
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Technology Act of 1992 to more quickly move
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the new technologies developed under the High
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Performance Computing Act into schools,
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hospitals and businesses to improve education,
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expand health care and provide jobs.
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* Introduced and steered into law the High
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Performance Computing Act of 1990 to create a
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national high-speed computer network linking
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schools, research centers, and universities to
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the nation's most powerful computers, and
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making those computers accessible to people
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who otherwise would not be able to take
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advantage of their power and speed. It was
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the result of more than a dozen years of work
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by Gore.
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