In 1993, we began to put our fiscal house in order with the Deficit Reduction Act, winning passage in both houses by just one vote.  Your former colleague, my first Secretary of the Treasury, led that effort.  He is here tonight.  Lloyd Bentsen, you have served America well.

Beyond paying off the debt, we must ensure that the benefits of debt reduction go to preserving two of the most important guarantees we make to every American—­Social Security and Medicare.  I ask you tonight to work with me to make a bipartisan down payment on Social Security reform by crediting the interest savings from debt reduction to the Social Security Trust Fund to ensure that it is strong and sound for the next 50 years.

But this is just the start of our journey.  Now we must take the right steps toward reaching our great goals.

Opportunity and Responsibility in Education

First and foremost, we need a 21st Century revolution in education, guided by our faith that every child can learn.  Because education is more than ever the key to our children’s future, we must make sure all our children have that key.  That means quality preschool and afterschool, the best trained teachers in every classroom, and college opportunities for all our children.

For seven years, we have worked hard to improve our schools, with opportunity and responsibility:  Investing more, but demanding more in return.

Reading, math, and college entrance scores are up.  And some of the most impressive gains are in schools in poor neighborhoods.

All successful schools have followed the same proven formula:  higher standards, more accountability, so all children can reach those standards.  I have sent Congress a reform plan based on that formula.  It holds states and school districts accountable for progress, and rewards them for results.  Each year, the national government invests more than $15 billion in our schools.  It’s time to support what works and stop supporting what doesn’t.

As we demand more than ever from our schools, we should invest more than ever in our schools.

Let’s double our investment to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools—­or shut them down.

Let’s double our investment in afterschool and summer school programs—­ boosting achievement, and keeping children off the street and out of trouble.  If we do, we can give every child in every failing school in America the chance to meet high standards.

Since 1993, we’ve nearly doubled our investment in Head Start and improved its quality.  Tonight, I ask for another $1 billion to Head Start, the largest increase in the program’s history.

We know that children learn best in smaller classes with good teachers.  For two years in a row, Congress has supported my plan to hire 100,000 new, qualified teachers, to lower class sizes in the early grades.  This year, I ask you to make it three in a row.