Editor's note: On February 8, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This law affects the affordability of telecommunications services for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. The law mandates that the FCC create a federal-state Joint Board and that this body make recommendations about what services are eligible for discounts and what those discounts should be.
By November 8, an advisory board of the FCC will recommend action on the issue of whether schools and libraries will receive substantially discounted rates in order to access the Information Superhighway. The recommendations of the "Joint Board," made up of three FCC Commissioners, four State Public Utility Commissioners, and one consumer utility advocate, will influence the final decision of the FCC by May 8, 1997. The decision will determine for the next decade the rates that schools and libraries must pay for telecommunications services.
"Informal" comment on the FCC decision will not be accepted after November 8. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley testified before the Joint Board, urging members to ensure that schools and libraries will be able to afford connections to the wealth of educational resources on the Information Superhighway.
"Every effort should be made to give our nation's schools and libraries free access to the new telecommunications world that is now emerging or at least access at substantially discounted or affordable rates," Secretary Riley said. "We will very rapidly give a generation of young people the opportunity to develop skills they need to enter this new knowledge-based economy. ... This is something that every business leader in America has been asking us to do for over a decade. Why not make this our national mission?"
President Clinton has set a goal of having every classroom and library connected to the Internet by the year 2000. In addition to the issue of free and affordable rates for service, schools face other challenges in order to meet the President's goal.
President Clinton has proposed the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund to provide teachers and students with the training and support they need to use computers as a learning tool. The Challenge calls on businesses and nonprofit organizations to assist with training along with providing classrooms with access to modern computers and developing engaging software to support the school curriculum. The initiative also requests $2 billion from Congress over 5 years to help communities achieve these goals.
Related programs supported by the Education Department requiring no funding include the 21st Century Teachers Initiative, which seeks to recruit 100,000 teachers to volunteer to train their colleagues in utilizing technology to its fullest advantage. NetDay is a nationwide effort which calls for volunteers to help wire schools for connection to the Internet. A successful NetDay in California has prompted over 30 states to plan NetDays this month.
For information on NetDay activities in your state, go to the Education Department's World Wide Web site at http://www.ed.gov/Technology/. You can also call 1-800-55-NET96 for information on state contacts, volunteer registration, a wiring kit, and local business partners.
For more information on the upcoming FCC decisions affecting schools, locate the FCC site on the World Wide Web at http://www.fcc.gov.
To request a copy of Creating Safe and Drug-Free Schools: An Action Guide, call 1-800-624-0100.
Entitled "Technology and Teacher Leadership: 21st Century Teachers," the hour-long Town Meeting will air on Tuesday, October 15 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The program will be closed-captioned and will be simulcast in Spanish.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley will welcome educators and local leaders from around the country who are working together to help teachers bring the benefits of technology to the classroom. The program will explore how teachers can use technology to amplify classroom lessons, connect to a wealth of online resources, and create new ways for students to learn. Secretary Riley and his guests will also discuss how training teachers is essential so they can use computer and online technologies to their fullest advantage in the classroom, and how supporting technology as a learning tool can involve parents, businesses, and the entire community.
The Department of Education produces the Satellite Town Meeting series in partnership with the National Alliance of Business and the Center for Workforce Preparation with support from the Bayer Foundation and the Procter and Gamble Fund.
Satellite coordinates are as follows ....C-Band: Galaxy 9, Orbital Location 123 degrees West; Transponder 21; Vertical Polarity; Channel 21; Downlink Frequency 4120 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
Ku-Band: SBS-6, Orbital Location 74 degrees West; Transponder 17; Horizontal Polarity; Channel 17; Downlink Frequency 12120 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
To participate in the Satellite Town Meeting, contact your local Public Broadcasting System (PBS) member station, Chamber of Commerce, or Johnson Controls branch office and ask if your group can use the facility as a downlink site. Other possible sites are local schools, public libraries, community colleges, cable television stations, universities and technical schools, government offices, hospitals, businesses, hotels, or even private residences with satellite dishes. Call 1-800-USA-LEARN for further information or to register your participation.
President Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley praised the work of the commission for renewing the nation's focus on the quality of teaching at a time when record increases in student enrollment will require districts to hire an additional 2 million teachers over the next decade. Emphasizing the importance of good teaching to good schools, the President and Secretary Riley have outlined four challenges to providing a high-quality education for every student: recruiting and retaining talented teachers; requiring tough licensing and certification standards; honoring and recognizing the importance of the teaching profession, and removing incompetent teachers fairly and quickly; and identifying and rewarding superior teachers.
"Every child needs -- and deserves -- dedicated, outstanding teachers, who know their subject matter, are effectively trained, and know how to teach to high standards and to make learning come alive for students," President Clinton said.
Editor's note: Communities across the country have planned more than 500 events as part of the. America Goes Back to School: Get Involved! initiative. This effort encourages all Americans -- parents, grandparents, employers and employees, members of the arts community, religious leaders, and every caring adult -- to rally around their local schools and make a commitment to support learning throughout the year. Here's a sample of recent local events that have taken place.
The following key groups were represented at the signing ceremony: the PTA; the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP); the Title I Parents Association; the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE); the American Association of School Administrators; the National School Boards Association; the Council for American Private Education; the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP); the Council of Chief State School Officers; the American Federation of Teachers; and the National Education Association.
For more information about the event, call Sue Ferguson at (202) 822-8405s.
The teleconference is part of a conference that will be held in Orlando, Fla., from October 31 to November 3, 1996. The theme of the conference is "Strengthening Families--Building Communities."
If you would like to participate in this conference, contact the National Parents' Day Coalition at 202-530-0849 or access their home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.parentsday.org.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will address the conference, providing an update on the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, which now comprises more than 1,500 schools, businesses, and community, education, parent, and religious organizations. Through the partnership, member employers and business organizations have taken a lead role in strengthening family involvement in children's learning.
The conference will spotlight new corporate policies and practices to support family and employee involvement in education, featuring case studies. The Conference Board's "Best in Class" awards will recognize leading American companies that have excelled at improving education.
For more information, contact The Conference Board-Customer Service Information at (212) 339-0345.
|
Save the Date! |
Assistant Secretary Sharon Robinson reported on a recent visit to her high school alma mater in Louisville, Ky., where public and private schools are teaming up to participate in America Goes Back to School.
Panelist Scott Bosley, President and Publisher of the Post Tribune in Gary, Ind., described a broad partnership among Indiana University Northwest, the Gary Public School Corporation, and local businesses such as the newspaper, with funding from the Knight Foundation. In a report on the partnership, called the Gary Accord, Della Burt-Bradley, President of the Board, emphasized the community's commitment to learning. "We believe that students not only can learn but that they can excel if we have high expectations of them and we provide the kinds of resources that we feel they need," she said.
In Flint, Mich., the school district has also reached out to the community, although 75 percent of Flint's households do not have school-age children. "The question is why would they want to become involved," said panelist James Ray, superintendent of Flint Community Schools. "They have to realize that they're investing in the growth and development of youngsters and, in turn, in our community."
Supporting parent involvement in learning was a theme throughout the program. In a satellite uplink from Chicago, Ill., Jennifer Blitz, chair of a broad partnership between local schools, businesses, and cultural and community groups, shared why families are the focus in the year-long series of events her committee is planning. "The best way for children to learn is when their parents are learning at the same time they are. When your parents are learning, you get excited by learning," she said.
Panelist Tani Welsh, Manager of Educational Services and Charitable Contributions for Southern California Edison in Rosemead, Calif., discussed her company's commitment to parent involvement. Southern California Edison helps fund a local program to train parents to participate more in their children's learning and also supports employees as parents with classes on parenting and preparing a child for college. "Doing some of these things for our employees has really been a payback to the corporation," she said. "Our employees feel better about the company."
The ways that religious groups can support parents were discussed by panelist Vin Harwell, pastor of the First and Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Del. His parish offers parent education classes during the day for working parents, and helping busy parents meet the time crunch to be involved in their children's learning is a focus. "Part of it is having the skills to help children take their education seriously -- whether it's taking a few moments to read a book or to inquire about a child's homework," he said.
The moderator for the Town Meeting was Nancy Mathis, communications director for the national School-to-Work program. She will assist U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley in leading discussions throughout the 1996-97 series.
Secretary Riley summarized the program's positive message. "Here are examples of communities coming together and supporting schools doing a good job. All of these community connections are so important. As we begin the school year, I think it's important to believe in education and to be excited about it."
The Education Department has a kit to help communities get involved in improving education. The America Goes Back to School: Partners' Activity Guide has tips for building local coalitions and planning events. To request the kit, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
President Clinton's 1997 budget request for investing in education puts a high priority on strengthening basic student skills, enhancing teacher training, expanding safe and drug-free schools, bringing computers into classrooms, and improving the student loan program, including Pell Grants, work study, and other financial aid to working and middle class families.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut President Clinton's 1997 budget request for investment in education by $2.8 billion in July and has taken no further action. "I would hope the House leadership would join the President and Senate in support of improving elementary and secondary schools and making college more affordable," said Secretary Riley.
The chart below compares the funding levels for major education programs in 1996 to President Clinton's 1997 budget request and the House Bill.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Major | FY | FY | FY
Education | 1996 | 1997 | 1997
Programs | Appropriation | President's Request | House Bill
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Raise Standards| | |
of Achievement:| 350,000 | 491,000 | ELIMINATED
Goals 2000 | | |
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Improving the | | |
Basics: | 6,730,348 | 7,165,000 | 6,751,348
Title I | | |
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Safe and | | |
Drug-Free | 465,971 | 540,000 | 440,978
Schools | | |
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Strengthening | | |
Teacher Skills:| 275,000 | 610,000 | ELIMINATED
Professional | | |
Development | | |
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Charter | | |
Schools | 18,000 | 40,000 | 18,000
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Bring Computers| | |
into Classrooms| 48,000 | 325,000 | 48,000
---------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------
Gifted and | | |
Talented | 3,000 | 10,000 | 3,000
Education | | |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-###-
[Table of Contents] 
[ED HomePage]