A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                                 Contact:  Diane Jones    March 21, 1995                                     (202) 401-3725

Georgia Receives School Improvement Grant

Georgia has become the 45th state to receive federal support to promote local school improvement efforts through the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today.

The state's share of funds under the new law totals $2,301,865. Georgia will use the grant to refine and further develop the state's own school improvement initiatives; design innovative approaches to integrate technology into the classroom; provide funds to help communities and schools offer new training opportunities to teachers; and develop and implement local plans to help all children improve their academic achievement.

"Goals 2000 is a model of federal, state and community cooperation," Riley said, noting that 60 percent of the funds will go to local communities, rising to 90 percent in the following year.

"No one knows better about education needs than the parents, teachers, principals and leaders in local communities," Riley said. "Goals 2000 is a responsible block grant that creates an opportunity for the kind of grassroots, bottom-up reform that will serve the children of Georgia."

In order to receive initial Goals 2000 funding, states were asked to submit a brief application describing how school improvement plans will be developed, how funds will be distributed to communities, and how plans to use technology to improve teaching and learning will be developed. States are asked to accomplish these improvements in their own way with broad citizen involvement. Georgia's application was approved by the Education Department in less than a week.

Riley said Goals 2000 offers historic opportunities to waive statutory and regulatory requirements in other federal education programs, such as Title I or Vocational Education, giving states and communities increased flexibility to create programs that best meet the needs of children in individual states. For example, Massachusetts will create 14 new charter schools; Kentucky is encouraging more parental involvement as part of its on-going reform efforts; and in Florida, 11 counties and four colleges are collaborating in a professional development program to support the state's Blueprint 2000 education improvement effort.

In addition, a unique Ed Flex Demonstration program will allow the secretary to delegate to six states the right to waive federal program rules that might otherwise impede local and state efforts to improve education.