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

   FOR RELEASE                            Contact:  Ivette Rodriguez    September 8, 1995                                  (202) 401-0262

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley has invited caring adults nationwide to rally around their local schools and make a commitment to improve schools and help them become safe places of learning throughout the year.

Across the country, thousands of Americans -- athletes and astronauts, elected officials, business leaders and ordinary citizens -- are answering this call to support their local schools and colleges and to help students get on the right course.

It's all part of America Goes Back to School: A Place for Families and the Community, a new initiative of the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning and the U.S. Department of Education.

America Goes Back to School urges communities to focus on six key areas of improvement and asks all Americans to: Help children learn the basics and core academic subjects; create safe schools that teach American values; make colleges more accessible; put technology into classrooms; raise standards of achievement and discipline; and prepare students for the world of work and adulthood.

America Goes Back to School activities in New York include:

Sept. 11 --

Shari Lewis, children's television personality, and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) visit Post Road School, White Plains, at 2:15 p.m., to speak with elementary school children and their parents about their own school experiences.

Sept. 12 --

The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences sponsors an interactive panel discussion for 150 area high school students, on the making of music videos and careers in the music industry, with executive director John Marcus and Pamela Marcello, vice president of video promotions, Virgin Records, at Manhattan's Hard Rock Cafe.

Assistant Secretary of Labor Bernard Anderson teaches a course on corporate responsibility in the apparel industry at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology.

Sept. 13 --

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thomas Payzant and Mattel, Inc. president Jill Barard visit "magnet school of discovery" P.S. 193, speak at an assembly of 4th through 6th grade students, conduct K-4th grade classroom visits, and meet with PTA co-presidents and a United Federation of Teachers representative.

Sept. 14 --

Miriam Colon Valle, president and founder, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater Company, will be joined by U.S. Department of Education representative Maria Santiago-Mercado, at an assembly highlighting the importance of parent involvement and community support for local schools and children's education, 1:30 p.m., at the Rafael Cordero Bilingual School, 2351 First Ave. and 120th St.

Artist Peter Max and Special Adviser to the Education Secretary Linda Roberts go to Ralph Bunche School in Harlem to demonstrate computer graphic arts capabilities.

White House Domestic Policy Council Director Carol Rasco visits a program for at-risk students at Bedford Stuyvesant School in Brooklyn.

Children's Television Workshop characters "Cookie Monster" and "Celina" hold story-telling and interactive dance sessions with kindergarten and 1st grade students at P.S. 166 in Brooklyn.

Additionally, Andrew Cuomo, Housing and Urban Development assistant secretary, will be going back to school in Stony Brook University, while Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello has issued a proclamation encouraging citizens to participate in Back to School activities.

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 150 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.

Thirty years of research show 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.

As part of America Goes Back to School: A Place for Families and the Community, President Clinton will visit Southern Illinois University on Monday, Sept. 11, for a speech that will be available via satellite to students at campuses across the country. On the same day, Vice President Gore will join a "Save Student Aid" rally at the University of Pittsburgh.

"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."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Detailed event schedules are available from the offices of the participants.