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

FOR RELEASE
MAY 10, 2000

Contact:
Mary Stanik
(202)401-0058

PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THREE NEW COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY
CENTERS FOR THE DELTA REGION

President Clinton today announced new Community Technology Centers (CTC) grants from the U.S. Department of Education for communities in the Delta regions of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. CTCs allow low-income residents to take advantage of computers and Internet access at a technology center located right in their community.

Over a three-year period, these three Delta centers will receive just under $1.2 million in funding. More than $600,000 in additional funding from the private sector has been pledged for these centers.

"All too often, families living in poverty lack the access to the technology had by those living in more affluent households," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "With Community Technology Centers, more families in the Mississippi Delta region will have expanded access to computers and technology. These centers open up the doors of learning and earning for young and old alike."

CTCs allow parents and other adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to fully participate in the information age. President Clinton has requested a three-fold increase in CTC funding in FY2001, for a total of $100 million.

CTC grants are awarded to community centers, libraries, schools, public housing facilities and other organizations.

The grant awardees announced today are:

• Arkansas - Lakeside School District in Chicot County, Ark., will receive a three-year, $245,664 grant. Half of the district's school-age children come from families with incomes below the poverty line. The Lake Village CTC Project will provide children with computer access and instruction, parents of school-age children with the opportunity to improve their technology skills, and college students without a home computer with access to technology. Activities will include after-school and summer programs, adult education, and family literacy and career development workshops.

• Louisiana - Project COM TECH will focus on rural communities in three rural parishes in the Delta -- Concordia, Franklin, and Tensas. In each community, the three-year grant, totaling $750,400, will support a community center, local library and parish media center. With CTC funding, afternoon, evenings and weekend hours will be added with a paid onsite technology facilitator to assist customers. Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the state's educational technology resource center, will train local technology specialists and facilitators.

• Mississippi - Carmel Manor in Vicksburg, Miss., will receive a three-year $199,798 grant to expand its Existing Neighborhood Network community learning center to increase educational opportunity to residents of Warren County. Most residents earn less than $5,000 per year and some consider basic telephone service a luxury. Carmel Manor's CTC will provide access to educational and informational technology-based learning activities designed for low-income families, the elderly and persons with disabilities. In particular, the center will provide K-12 enrichment activities, adult education, health-related services, and small business services.

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