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

   FOR RELEASE                     Contact:  Melinda Kitchell Malico    August 10, 1995                                    (202) 401-1008

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed by Congress last year with bipartisan support, helps states and communities advance their own school improvement efforts, based on the results of local decision making. Riley said Goals 2000 offers unprecedented flexibility and is being administered without regulations.

Funds for continued school improvement under Goals 2000, nevertheless, are on the Congressional chopping block. While President Clinton requested $750 million for Goals 2000 in fiscal year 1996, the House voted last week to eliminate all funds for the education improvement initiative as part of $4 billion in cuts to education. The Senate will take up its fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill in September.

The second year of support -- $362 million for state and local grants in fiscal year 1995 -- will help states and communities implement school improvement plans to raise student academic achievement, involve parents in schools, bring technology into the classroom, upgrade teacher professional development, and create partnerships with business and community groups. States that submit a school improvement plan developed with input from parents, educators, community members and the private sector, as well as states that show substantial progress toward that end, are eligible for second-year funding.

"U?nder Goals 2000, Connecticut has encouraged bottom up reform by awarding more than 86 percent of first-year funds directly to school districts," said Riley. "Connecticut will now ask districts who apply for second-year Goals 2000 support to concentrate on three key components of school improvement: improving student learning in critical areas such as reading, writing, mathematics and problem solving; coordinating teacher and administrator efforts to improve learning with changes in district policies and practices; and enhancing family and community involvement. The state also plans to use about $120,000 of the grant for school-based initiatives to expand career-long teacher professional development. As an incentive to continued school improvement, 25 school districts who have shown substantial progress toward school improvement based on challenging standards will receive continued funding. And to expand school improvement statewide, 75 new development grants will be funded."

"Goals 2000 makes a vital contribution to school improvement," Riley continued. "We must not abandon the children, teachers, schools and communities that have worked so hard to make schools better. Improving teaching and learning is critical to the nation's future. It is essential that we continue to assist states and communities as they develop and adopt challenging academic standards that will guide the education of students into the next century."

Connecticut joins Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington as states who are receiving a second year of funding to support community efforts to improve schools. Ninety percent of the new funds will go directly from the state to local school districts.

Connecticut's first-year Goals 2000 grant totaled $940,237. Forty-eight states and nine territories received almost $85 million in first-year Goals 2000 support.