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

   FOR RELEASE                    Contact:  Office of Public Affairs    August 24, 1995                                    (202) 401-1576

Riley said a feature event of "America Goes Back to School: A Place for Families and the Community" will be Sept. 9 at Walt Disney World Epcot, where he will join some 4,000 teachers and education professionals, their families and special guests. Epcot is well-known as a center for demonstrations of new learning and entertainment technologies.

Riley also will address the National Press Club in Washington on Sept. 7. On Sept. 11, he will return to Greenville to go back to school with another South Carolina native, astronaut Charles Bolden. President Clinton will also take part in several back-to-school events.

As part of America Goes Back to School Riley has invited adults nationwide to rally around their local schools and make a commitment to improving schools and making them safe places of learning throughout the year.

"Now, more than ever," Riley said, "it is time for families and communities to reconnect with their local schools, commit themselves to fostering higher standards of learning, and work together to give our students the foundation they need to make the most of their lives."

Other nationwide America Goes Back to School activities include:

• Presidential Cabinet members go back to school;
  
• Astronaut Jim Lovell returns to his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy;
  
• Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop premier the "Goals 2000: A New Standard of Learning" video in New York City;
  
• AMERICORP volunteers go back to school at hundreds of schools across the country to read to children;
  
• Many of the more than 140 members of Family Involvement Partnership for Learning sponsor events; and
  
• The National Reclaim Our Youth Crusade, an initiative of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, continues efforts to encourage parents to sign a pledge promising to support their children's efforts to learn.

In addition, schools, parent/teacher organizations, state and local government officials and concerned adults nationwide are planning local support for America Goes Back to School. A sampling of events includes:

• An ice cream social "Thank You" party for community volunteers in Terre Haute, Ind.;
  
• A satellite tour of 15 cities discussing distance education as an educational alternative for adults;
  
• A parade, picnic and "back to school" night at the ballpark in New Orleans;
  
• Performances and workshops with the Texas Institute for Arts in Education, a collaborative representing Houston's Ballet, Symphony, Grand Opera, Theater Under the Stars, Alley Theater and International Festival.

"I am so pleased that Americans from every walk of life -- from my colleagues in the Cabinet to people in communities throughout the nation -- are planning this wide array of exciting, creative and educational events to celebrate 'America Goes Back to School,'" Riley said.

The American public, Riley added, has identified six steps crucial to improving education:

• Improve the basics and core academics;
  
• Make schools safe and drug-free;
  
• Make college more accessible;
  
• Get technology and computers into the classroom as fast as possible;
  
• Raise standards of achievement and discipline; and
  
• Support parent efforts to help their children learn.

To address these concerns, Riley said families and communities are forging new partnerships. Thirty years of research shows that when family and community members are directly involved in education, children achieve better grades and higher test scores, have higher graduation rates, are more likely to enroll in higher education, and are better behaved.

America Goes Back to School: A Place for Families and the Community is sponsored by the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning, a coalition of more than 140 family, community, religious and education organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education. The partnership is dedicated to supporting family involvement in children's learning through family-school-community partnerships, including many family- friendly businesses.

Joining Riley and the teachers at Epcot will be state and local officials and various celebrities. In addition to a morning ceremony, Riley will speak to a group of educators about developing partnerships with parents and community groups, and will participate in an on-line chat with parents, educators and community members nationwide.

"What better place to launch an initiative to promote family involvement in education than at Epcot, where creativity, technology and the excitement of learning together as a community are at the very center of its origin," Riley said.

For more information about the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning and America Goes Back to School, the public is invited to call 1-800-USA-LEARN.