Our goals are simple: we will strengthen parents, states and local communities in their fight to provide our children a better education -- by giving parents whose children are struggling against the violence and chaos of our urban public schools a choice of something better; and we will make college education more affordable for those in college today and for those saving to send their kids to college in the future.

Providing Choice for Children Attending Unsafe Schools: The legislation provides $50 million in grants to fund school choice pilot programs for between 20 and 30 school districts nationally. School districts that participate can use the grants to provide educational scholarships to low-income parents whose children attend an unsafe school.

Ensuring Safe And Drug-Free Schools: The bill establishes a grant program to fund local efforts to improve unsafe schools and gives local school districts access to existing federal funds to implement school safety programs including: the installation of metal detectors and the hiring of law enforcement patrols in schools; mentoring programs for at-risk children; and mandatory suspension or withholding of drivers licenses for those under the age of 18 who are convicted of a drug violation.

Increasing State And Local Flexibility and Control: The bill provides access to block-grant funds for states to establish school choice programs, to implement teacher incentive programs that reward improvements in student academic performance, and to establish same-gender schools .

Making Education Affordable: The legislation provides $7 billion over seven years in tax relief options for parents whose children are currently in or on the verge of going to college, and for parents with young children who want to prepare themselves to meet the high cost of college education in the future:

Bob Dole Educational Investment Accounts: Establishes an education investment account, where parents can set aside up to $1,000 a year per child and from which they can make tax-free withdrawals to pay for college tuition, room and board. The earnings would not be taxed, and if a parent puts aside $1000 at the time her child is born, and contributes $1000 every year until the child is 18, the investment account would have $34,000 to provide for the costs of a college education.

Deduction for Student Loan Interest: Provides a $2,500-per-year tax deduction on interest paid on a student loan for the first five years of repayment. The deduction is phased out above certain income levels.

State Pre-Paid Tuition Plans: Changes current law to allow funds disbursed from a pre-paid state tuition plan to be tax-free to the student, and allows disbursements to cover room and board expenses, not merely tuition.

Employer-Provided Educational Assistance: Encourages employers to offer continuing education as a benefit to their employees by making permanent the tax-free treatment (up to $5,250 a year) of employer-provided education expenses.

Work-Study Awards: Increases the value of federal work-study awards by making them nontaxable to the student.

Fulfilling Our Promise to Children With Disabilities: The bill fully funds the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by authorizing an additional $10 billion over seven years.

Promoting Adult Education and Family Literacy: The legislation provides $400 million in the form of a block grant for states to establish programs to combat illiteracy. The bill also creates a separate $100 million fund to provide incentive grants to encourage local innovation in addressing the problem of illiteracy.

Fighting For Our Children: The Safe and Affordable Schools Act is the first comprehensive education bill to attack violence and drugs in schools so that parents, teachers and students can concentrate on learning, not surviving.

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