Davis signed into law legislation that began the Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) program that guaranteed admission to a University of California institution to students that finished in the top 4% of their high school class. Public schools received $8 billion over the minimum required by Proposition 98 during Davis's first term. Davis increased spending on recruiting more and better-qualified teachers. He campaigned to lower the approval threshold for local school bonds from two-thirds to 55 percent in a statewide proposition that passed. Davis earmarked $3 billion over four years for new textbooks and, between 1999 and 2004, increased state per-pupil spending from $5,756 to $6,922.