He also developed an interest in rugby union, which he played at Oxford.While Clinton was president in 1994, he received an honorary degree and a fellowship from the University of Oxford, specifically for being 'a doughty and tireless champion of the cause of world peace', having 'a powerful collaborator in his wife,' and for winning 'general applause for his achievement of resolving the gridlock that prevented an agreed budget'. In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. Proposed reforms included more spending for schools (supported by a sales-tax increase), better opportunities for gifted children, vocational education, higher teachers' salaries, more course variety, and compulsory teacher competency exams. It cut taxes for 15 million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses, and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over a number of years through the implementation of spending restraints.