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    December 1, 1994                                   (202) 401-1579

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO HOLD FIRST "MEGA" CONFERENCE

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will address more than 2,000 educators from communities across the country on Saturday, Dec. 3 as they meet during the first "mega" conference at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The conference, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Education Department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, is designed to break down barriers in order to help educators provide students with a quality education.

"This meeting will help us all make federal education programs work more effectively and with less bureaucratic red tape," Riley said. "And it will give local and state education leaders an opportunity to discuss ways to make schools safer, to teach basic and advanced skills to challenging standards, and to build family-school partnerships to improve student-learning."

Entitled "Improving America's Schools: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations," this first annual conference consolidates smaller, separate meetings for individual programs that usually occur through the year. Participants, representing various federal, state and local education and non-profit agencies, will have the opportunity to share insights and explore ways to work together more closely to improve student-achievement, develop a disciplined and challenging learning environment, and better prepare teachers to teach to high standards.

The conference will be held from Dec. 1-3. On Thursday, Dec. 1, Deputy Education Secretary Madeleine Kunin will host a town meeting with national education leaders and special guests. Other highlights include a panel discussion with high school students, moderated by local television news anchor Susan Kidd.

The conference will address a range of issues -- such as the new opportunities for empowering local schools, communities and states to inspire students to put their best efforts into learning; the reauthorization of federal elementary and secondary education programs under the Improving America's School Act of 1994; the Goals 2000: Educate America Act implementation; and the School-To-Work initiative. Participants will discuss how this new bipartisan legislation that has passed Congress in the last 22 months gives teachers, parents, school administrators, and community and business leaders new tools to improve our schools - - with an emphasis on how various efforts can complement each other in helping to improve K-12 education.

According to Thomas Payzant, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, the conference will feature concurrent sessions on the following topics:

"As we overhaul K-12 education, we must focus on the improvement of teaching and learning for all students," Payzant said. "Each aspect of education reform must be connected to support the efforts of teachers, parents and administrators as they work together to enable students to meet challenging standards."

In addition to concurrent sessions, participants also will be able to attend technical assistance workshops for specific programs, including: Title I; Magnet Schools; Impact Aid; School Dropout Prevention; Safe and Drug-free Schools; Christa McAuliffe Fellowships; Foreign Language Assistance; Innovative Education Strategies; and Title VII (Bilingual Education).

"This conference provides us with a unique opportunity to discuss key issues affecting our children," said Eugene Garcia, director of bilingual education and minority languages affairs. "It's a forum where we can brainstorm and seek solutions to the diverse educational challenges that face students so that they can be prepared for college or careers with a future."

Most events will be held in the Baltimore Convention Center, with workshops in nearby hotels.

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