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

   FOR RELEASE                             Contact:  David W. Thomas    March 24, 1995                                     (202) 401-1579

Applications Invited for Technology Challenge Grants

As part of a broad effort to increase student access to computers and today's new technologies, the U.S. Department of Education will award $27 million in grants to support state-of- the-art projects in approximately 20 low-income rural and urban school districts.

"It is critical to invest in our children and their future," U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "Many schools have less technology than the neighborhood grocery store. This grant competition will help energize communities across the nation to transform their schools into modern high-tech centers of learning."

Riley said special consideration will be given to applicants proposing to serve areas with high percentages of disadvantaged students.

The national competition for Challenge Grants for Technology in Education was announced by Riley and Vice President Gore on March 7. A notice inviting applications appeared in the Federal Register on the same day.

Since no single organization is likely to have sufficient insight or resources for work of such scope, applicants are required to form consortia comprised of educators, industry representatives and community leaders.

Grantees will receive awards for five years, ranging from $500,000 to $3 million per year, with an expected average of about $1 million per year.

Consortia members will be expected to commit significant resources to the project.

Riley noted that a few months ago, Congress appropriated funds for this very important initiative for 1995-96, but the House of Representatives voted to take back funds already set aside. "Unfortunately," he said, "some in Congress are unwilling to move the nation forward. They would slight our most needy children in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy."

Application materials may be ordered by calling (1) 800-USA- LEARN. Copies of the application are also posted in the department's On-Line Library, which can be accessed on the department's WWW Server at URL http://www.ed.gov/, or via the Internet Gopher Server at GOPHER.ED.GOV (under Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases). [ Home ]