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

   FOR RELEASE                              Contact:  Kathryn Kahler    December 13, 1994                                  (202) 401-3026

ALABAMA, IDAHO, MONTANA, TEXAS, UTAH, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN RECEIVE FIRST-YEAR GOALS 2000 EDUCATION REFORM GRANTS

Seven more states will receive federal funds to develop comprehensive, statewide school improvement plans, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today, bringing the number of approved applications to 38 states and five U.S. territories.

The awards are under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton March 31.

States receiving grants are: Alabama, $1,566,679; Idaho, $448,714; Montana, $449,712; Texas, $7,112,610; Utah, $694,408; West Virginia, $762,147; and Wisconsin, $1,645,588.

In addition to the 38 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Puerto Rico have received Goals 2000 grants. Applications are pending from Iowa, New Jersey, the Mariana Islands, Palau, the Virgin Islands and the Alaska Federation of Natives.

"More than three-fourths of the states have already joined the effort to bring challenging standards to all students," Riley said. "Goals 2000 marks a new beginning as communities and states join together in a common commitment to create safe, disciplined classrooms and to improve teaching and learning for all students."

Goals 2000 encourages bottom-up reform involving states, communities, parents and teachers, businesses and service organizations.

Under Title III of the new law, states are invited to:

set challenging academic content and performance standards that establish what all students should know and be able to do in core subjects such as math and English;
develop and implement comprehensive plans to help students reach the standards, through strategies such as increased parental involvement, improved curricula, more effective professional development for teachers, and increased use of technology;
accomplish these steps with broad-based, grassroots involvement of parents, educators, business and community groups.

The federal government will help states by providing:

models of good practices and exemplary academic standards that states may find of use;
funds to support local school reform efforts;
increased flexibility through waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements in various federal education programs, if those requirements are obstacles to state or local improvement strategies.

In order to receive initial Goals 2000 funding, states are asked to submit a brief application describing how school improvement plans will be developed, how subgrants will be made to communities, and how plans to use technology to improve teaching and learning will be developed. The application deadline is June 30, 1995.

Each state's share of $91.5 million in fiscal year 1994 funds was calculated using a formula based on allocations under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The law requires that at least 60 percent of a state's first-year funds go to local education agencies and individual schools, with the percentage increasing to at least 90 percent in future years.

The Title III Goals 2000 appropriation for FY95 is $403 million.