HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits
On August 5, 1997, both the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 were enacted. The taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 provides for the HOPE scholarship and lifetime learning credits, the largest investment in higher education since the GI bill over 50 years ago. Along with the Pell Grant, Work-Study, and other forms of financial aid, the HOPE Scholarship is designed to make the first two years of college universally available to American students. Taxpayers will be eligible for a tax credit equal to 100 percent of the first $1,000 of tuition and fees, and 50 percent of the second $1,000. The credit can be claimed in two taxable years, but not beyond the year when the student completes the first two years of college.
The Lifetime Learning Credit is for those beyond the first two years of college, as well as working adults taking classes part-time to improve or upgrade their job skills. Available on a per-taxpayer (family) basis, a 20 percent tax credit is provided for the first $5,000 of tuition and fees through 2002, and for the first $10,000 thereafter. Together, the HOPE Scholarship and the Lifetime Learning Credits will open the doors of college to a new generation. For more information, visit the HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits web site.
E-Rate: Closing the "Digital Divide"
Education discounts for Internet connection ("E-Rate")were first made available to schools and libraries in July 1999. These discounts range from 20 to 90 percent with the poorest communities getting the deepest discounts for Internet connections and telecommunications services. Since the discounts first started to flow, libraries have seen an almost 10 percent increase in the number of locations able to provide even basic Internet access and the number of classrooms connected to the Internet has risen by 12 percent. In its first application cycle, the total E-rate funds were $1.3 billion. For the year 2001, the FCC has decided to fund the program at $2.25 billion.
The Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) conducted a review of the E-Rate's effects in the spring of 2000. Survey results showed that the discounted rate has resulted in increased learning opportunities, higher rates of parental involvement in education, and increased community partnerships for schools and libraries in the program. Funds saved through the E-Rate have often been used for other technological improvements. Finally, as technological awareness has grown in the affected communities, so has the demand for internet connections and further technological improvement. The full report may be seen at www.edlinc.org/pubs/eratereport2.html.
For further details on the E-Rate, visit the Education and Library Networks Coalition website.
The Arts Education Partnership
The enactment of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994, which helped raise education standards across America, also recognized the arts as a core area of study in American education, in which all children should have preparation. In response to this challenge, the Arts Education Partnership was formed in 1995 through a cooperative agreement between the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education. A coalition of education, arts, business and funding organizations, the Arts Education Partnership is committed to improving the quality of American schools by promoting arts education as a way to help all students gain academic and personal success.
Over 140 national organizations have joined the Arts Education Partnership to affirm the arts as fundamental to quality education, and to help identify ways that the arts can be an asset in school reform efforts. The Arts Education Partnership is managed by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. For more information, call (202) 326-8693 or visit the Arts Education Partnership web site.
America Reads & America Counts Work-Study Waivers
On July 1, 1997, the U.S. Department of Education issued a regulation known as the America Reads Waiver to encourage federal work-study students to serve as reading tutors. Generally the higher-education institution in which the work-study students are enrolled pays a quarter of the students' wages while the Federal Work-Study program pays the balance. Under this new plan, the federal government pays 100 percent of the wages of work-study students who serve as reading tutors or mentors to preschool and elementary school children, or in family literacy programs. In 1999, the federal government began covering the work-study wages of mathematics tutors through the America Counts Waiver.
Beginning in the 2000-1 academic year, institutions receiving federal work-study funds will be required to put at least 7 percent of their allocation toward community service employment, an increase from the 5 percent previously required. In addition, these institutions will be required to employ one or more students as reading or family literacy tutors.
Both the America Reads and America Counts Waivers work toward increasing community and college involvement in education. We still have a long way to go. To help children achieve in the years to come, families, volunteers, business leaders, and community members should all take on a larger role in children's education. For more information on these programs, visit the America Reads and America Counts websites.
A Unique Opportunity: The Mars Millennium Project
The Mars Millennium Project is an arts, science, and technology initiative that takes advantage of students' excitement about space exploration to engage them in problem solving in science, math, the arts, and other core subjects. Initiated in the 1999-2000 school year and extended for the 2000-1 school year, this nationwide project invites teams of students to design a community for 100 people on the planet Mars for the Year 2030. Working with teachers, community leaders, families, and professionals in various fields, students from first grade through high school will concentrate on aspects of the arts, sciences, math, and humanities in creating their own communities. Communities, museums, libraries, and schools are encouraged to showcase the student projects. Participation guides for schools and community organizations may be obtained by visiting the Mars Millenium Project website.
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