Our plan will help America to create 3,000 of these charter schools by the next century, nearly seven times as there are in the country today, so that parents will have even more choices in sending their children to the best schools.

Sixth, character education must be taught in our schools.  We must teach our children to be good citizens.  And we must continue to promote order and discipline; supporting communities that introduce school uniforms, impose curfews, enforce truancy laws, remove disruptive students from the classroom, and have zero tolerance for guns and drugs in schools.

Seventh, we cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are literally falling down.  With the student population at an all-time high, and record numbers of school buildings falling into disrepair, this has now become a serious national concern.  Therefore, my budget includes a new initiative:  $5 billion to help communities finance $20 billion in school construction over the next four years.

Eighth, we must make the 13th and 14th years of education—­at least two years of college—­just as universal in America by the 21st century as a high school education is today, and we must open the doors of college to all Americans.

To do that, I propose America’s Hope Scholarship, based on Georgia’s pioneering program—­two years of a $1,500 tax credit for college tuition, enough to pay for the typical community college.  I also propose a tax deduction of up to $10,000 a year for all tuition after high school, an expanded Ira you can withdraw from tax free for education, and the largest increase in Pell Grant scholarship in 20 years.

Now this plan will give most families the ability to pay no taxes on money they save for college tuition.  I ask you to pass it and give every American who works hard the chance to go to college.

Ninth, in the 21st century we must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime.  All our people, of whatever age, must have the chance to learn new skills.

Most Americans live near a community college.  The roads that take them there can be paths to a better future.  My GI bill for America’s workers will transform the confusing tangle of federal training programs into a simple skill grant to go directly into eligible workers’ hands.

For too long this bill has been sitting on that desk there, without action.  I ask you to pass it now.  Let’s give more of our workers the ability to learn and to earn for a lifetime.

Tenth, we must bring the power of the Information Age into all our schools.

Last year I challenged America to connect every classroom and library to the Internet by the year 2000, so that for the first time in our history, children in the most isolated rural town, the most comfortable suburbs, the poorest inner-city schools will have the same access to the same universe of knowledge.

That is my plan—­a call to action for American education.  Some may say that it is unusual for a president to pay this kind of attention to education.  Some may say it is simply because the president and his wonderful wife have been obsessed with this subject for more years than they can recall.  That is not what is driving these proposals.  We must understand the significance of this endeavor.