[Fwd: Challenge Grants for Technology in Education]

From: Laura Bashlor <lauralou@gatecoms.gatecom.com>
Subject: [Fwd: Challenge Grants for Technology in Education]
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 1996 20:44:28 -0400
Message-ID: <199610032020.UAA09942@gatecoms.gatecom.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 16:32:32 -0400
Reply-To: pkickbus@inet.ed.gov
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From: pkickbus@inet.ed.gov (Peter Kickbush)
To: Multiple recipients of list <edinfo>
Subject: Challenge Grants for Technology in Education


     Yesterday Secretary Riley announced 24 new awards under the
     Challenge Grants for Technology in Education program.  Below
     is the press release issued by our Office of Public Affairs. 
     For more information on this program, including descriptions
     of last year's 19 awards, please see:

             http://www.ed.gov/Technology/chalgrnt.html


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Riley Announces 24 New
Challenge Grants for Technology
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     Melvindale, Mich., Oct. 2 -- U.S. Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley today announced the award of 24 new grants to
school, community, and business partnerships in 16 states to help
get useful technology into the hands of teachers and students to
improve learning.

     "In order to ensure that all of our children have their shot
at the American dream, President Clinton and I believe that we must
empower them with the technological literacy they'll need to
succeed in a new and ever changing information economy," Vice
President Al Gore said.  "The grants announced today will help us
reach this goal by giving teachers, students, and schools better
tools to navigate the information superhighway."

     The new Challenge Grants for Technology in Education, totaling
$23 million, will range in size from $300,000 to $1.5 million a
year for five years.  The 24 school districts will work with a
total of 153 other school districts and 130 business firms in 34
states.  Together, the districts and their partners will use
powerful new technologies to transform their schools into
information age learning centers. 

     "I am a firm believer in the idea that strong community
involvement in our schools can make a tremendous difference in the
quality of education for our children," Riley said.  "These schools
and their business partners will use computers and the Internet to
provide exciting, concrete ways to help children and teachers
prepare for the 21st Century.

     "With these technologies in our schools, children will have
better ways to learn to read and learn mathematics, science,
English, history, languages and the arts.  These grants will help
open our school doors to the first class learning resources
available across the country and around the world, and bring the
exciting experiences and rich knowledge of our best museums and
libraries into every classroom."

     The recent omnibus budget agreement provides nearly $57
million for technology challenge grant in the new fiscal year -- a
substantial increase from the fiscal year 1996 appropriation of $38
million and close to the president's request of $60 million.  This
investment assures funding for these grants and provides for a
third round of new grantees.

     In addition, the Congress agreed to appropriate $200 million
for the president's new Technology Literacy Fund, which will enable
districts to build on these local innovations.  The new awards add
to the 19 Challenge Grant projects announced on October 10, 1995. 
During their first year, the 19 projects served 1.2 million
students and trained thousands of teachers to make effective use of
computers in the classroom.  Second year funds already have been
provided to the 19 earlier grantees, allowing them to expand their
reach.  Riley said the impact of these efforts will be more than
doubled this year, with addition of the 24 new grants announced
today.

     Each Challenge Grant community is a consortium of schools,
businesses, libraries, museums and community organizations that
have come together to match the grant with substantial commitments
for computers, software development, technical support,
telecommunications services and teacher training.

     "These Challenge Grant communities are making a significant
investment in the future of their children," Riley said. "They are
taking effective steps to prepare their children for the jobs of
the future."

     In most cases the communities are working on integrating new
technologies into state or local education reform efforts that have
been stimulated by a growing national commitment to raising our
education standards, as recommended in the Goals 2000: Educate
America Act.  Effective use of new technologies in these
communities will contribute to improved student achievement in
reading, writing, science, mathematics, history, the arts and other
disciplines.

     Each project will support better training for teachers and
promote greater parent and community involvement in education.  And
each will help smooth the transition from school to careers and
college by engaging students in real life learning experiences
through which they can develop the life long learning skills
necessary to navigate the changing economy. 


Here's a list of the 24 grantees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley, California
Sweetwater Union High School District, Chula Vista, California
Hawaii State Department of Education, Honolulu, Hawaii
Pekin Public School District #108, Pekin, Illinois
Kirby School District #140, Tinley Park, Illinois
Gary Community School Corporation, Gary, Indiana
Hudson Public Schools, Hudson, Massachusetts
Lawrence Public Schools, Lawrence, Massachusetts
Old Orchard Beach School District, Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Melvindale - Northern Allen Park Schools, Melvindale, Michigan
Independence Missouri School District, Independence, Missouri
Kansas City Missouri School District, Kansas City, Missouri
Guilford County Schools, Greensboro, North Carolina
Seward Public Schools, Seward, Nebraska
Community School District One, New York, New York
New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, New York
Corning City School District, Painted Post, New York
Greene County Vocational-Technical Schools, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Nashville, Tennessee
Norfolk Public Schools, Norfolk, Virginia
Franklin Public Schools, Rocky Mount, Virginia
Olympia School District, Olympia, Washington
Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, Washington
Monongalia County Board of Education, Morgantown, West Virginia

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter Kickbush
U.S. Department of Education
pkickbus@inet.ed.gov
peter_kickbush@ed.gov
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~