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

Table of Contents State of American Education Address Budget Request for 2001 Applying for Student Financial Aid Easy; Tax Credits Ease Tuition Payment Helping All Children Read Well by the End of 3rd Grade Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs Internet Access in Public Schools Demand for E-Rate Soars Closing the Digital Divide Protecting Children from Internet Pornography Charter Schools Report Electronic Grants Pilot Census 2000: How Educators Can Help New Website Features New Online Credits

State of American Education Address At noon on Tuesday, February 22, Secretary Riley's 7th State of American Education Address will be broadcast via satellite and webcast live from Southern High School in Durham, NC. He will discuss progress made in education since his first address in 1994 and will challenge schools and communities to renew their commitment to ensure that all students achieve to their full potential in the 21st century. He will address concerns surrounding the standards movement, including the need for high-stakes testing, and urge balance during the course of getting standards into the classroom. He will also talk about the importance of expanding pre-K programs and after-school opportunities, establishing effective discipline codes in schools, reducing class size, improving teacher quality, and making college more affordable. To watch the speech, please see http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/01-2000/address.html

Budget Request for 2001 On February 7, President Clinton unveiled his FY 2001 budget request, which includes a 12.6% increase in spending for education. See what is requested for Department programs and activities, including summary and background information, program tables, Secretary Riley's statement, and state tables for formula-allocated and selected student aid programs (by state and by program). http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/Budget01/

Applying for Student Financial Aid Easy; Tax Credits Ease Tuition Payment Applying for federal student financial aid is easier and faster this year, and tax credits of up to $1,500 per student for tuition expenses paid last year are available for 1999 federal income tax filers. Even students not financially needy enough to qualify for grants or federally subsidized loans are eligible for loans at interest rates lower than those offered by commercial lenders. To take the first step, please visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov, where you can fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Reapplying for aid is simpler than ever and can be done using the renewal version of FAFSA on the Web. For tips and facts on applying for student financial aid, see http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/02-2000/easy.html In addition to federal grants, loans and work-study, families can take advantage of education tax credits: up to $1,500 for the HOPE tax credit for each student enrolled in the first 2 years of college or vocational school; and up to $1,000 for the Lifetime Learning tax credit for those beyond the first 2 years of study for students enrolled in vocational, college, graduate and professional schools, or adults taking classes part-time to improve or upgrade their job. These credits can be claimed by eligible taxpayers when they file their 1999 tax returns. In 1998, 4.7 million families received $3.4 billion in education tax credits. To take advantage of the Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, taxpayers must complete and submit IRS form 8863 with their federal tax return. For more information, call the IRS help line at 1-800-829-1040, read IRS publication 970, or visit http://www.irs.gov

Helping All Children Read Well by the End of 3rd Grade The free READ*WRITE*NOW! activity poster for children K-6 is now available. It makes a great take-home gift for students and families to use over spring vacation. Tutors working with young readers and after-school programs can use it to help children practice reading and writing skills. (In one activity, students write book reviews that are published on the America Reads website.) It's available in English and Spanish. To order, call toll-free (877) 4ED-PUBS or order online at http://www.ed.gov/about/ordering.jsp (and search for "Read Write Now"). The activities can be seen at the America Reads website: http://www.ed.gov/americareads/kids_rwn.html

Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs Last month Secretary Riley announced the 10 winners of the Secretary's 1998-1999 Award for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs. This program, begun in 1985, identifies model adult education programs and practices, and recognizes their success in assisting adult learners reach their educational, personal, and professional goals. This year's focus was on quality programs and increased accountability in achieving levels of performance identified in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Awards went to adult education programs that feature promising practices in family literacy, workplace education, or welfare reform. For details, including a list of winners, please see http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/adusite.html

Internet Access in Public Schools Internet access in public schools increased from 35 to 95% and classroom connections increased from 3 to 63% from 1994-99, according to "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-1999," a report released on February 16 by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The report provides information collected in the fall of 1999 about the extent of Internet access, major sources of funding for educational technology, and more. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000086

Demand for E-Rate Soars The $4.72 billion requested for E-Rate discounts in Year 3 exceeded the number of requests in Years 1 and 2 combined, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reported this month. Of the 36,000 applications filed within the application filing window, which closed January 19, more than 28,000, or nearly 80%, were submitted electronically using the SLD website. Nearly 60% of the requests are associated with the neediest schools and libraries. For more information, please see http://www.sl.universalservice.org

Closing the Digital Divide This month the President announced a comprehensive proposal to help bridge the digital divide and ensure that all children have access to educational technology. Initiatives in his 2001 budget include... $2 billion in tax incentives to encourage private sector donation of computers, sponsorship of community technology centers, and technology training for workers $150 million to help train new teachers in the use of technology $100 million to create 1,000 Community Technology Centers in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods $50 million for a public/private partnership to expand low-income families' home access to computers and the Internet $45 million to promote innovative applications of information technology for under-served communities $25 million to accelerate private sector deployment of broadband networks in under-served urban and rural communities $10 million to prepare Native Americans for careers in Information Technology and other technical fields. For more information, please see http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/02-2000/wh-0202.html

Protecting Children from Internet Pornography The National Research Council (NRC) is launching a project to examine tools and strategies for protecting kids from pornography on the Internet. A project description, a call for nominations to the study committee, and information on how you can provide input and keep up-to-date on the project are at http://www.nationalacademies.org/itas

Charter Schools Report More than a quarter-million students are attending some 1,700 charter schools nationwide, and 7 in 10 charter schools report that they have a waiting list of students who want to attend, according to "The State of Charter Schools." This 4th-year report on The National Study of Charter Schools, produced by the Department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), tells that the number of students in charter schools increased in 1999 by nearly 90,000, while an additional 421 charter schools opened during that period. The press release and the report (PDF) are at http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/02-2000/211.html

Electronic Grants Pilot On February 7, the Department kicked off a pilot of its new Electronic Grant Application Package System, "e-GAPS." Programs now participating in the pilot, which allows applicants to prepare and submit proposals online, include: the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs' Bilingual Education Systemwide Improvement Grants 4 programs in the Office of Postsecondary Education -- Strengthening Institutions, American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-Serving Institutions, and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. Three additional programs will participate in the pilot later this year: the Office of Vocational and Adult Education's Literacy Program Prisoners/Life Skills 2 programs in the Office of Educational Research andv Improvement -- Eisenhower Regional Math and Science and Regional Technology Technical Assistance Consortia. Applicants may use the e-GAPS website to update, delete, and view existing grant applications, and to check the status of applications they've already submitted. The "Quick Start Guide" at the e-GAPS website walks visitors through the application process, and numerous links are provided to help potential applicants in applying for a grant. We anticipate that half the Department's competitions will use e-GAPS in fiscal year 2001 (beginning October 1, 2000), with all competitions using it in fiscal year 2002. For details, please visit http://e-grants.ed.gov (select "e-GAPS").

Census 2000: How Educators Can Help Educators can play an important role in the 2000 census, which began in January. There is a special emphasis this year on counting children, as many parents didn't record their children on their 1990 census questionnaires (half of the under-counted people that year were children). The Census Bureau also is working to include everyone because the number of non-compliant households is rising. In 1980, 25% of households did not mail back their forms; in 1990, that figure rose to 40%. The Census Bureau has designed take-home letters for students that explain the importance of the census to parents. The letters are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Korean. The Census Bureau has teamed with Scholastic, Inc. on "Making Sense of Census 2000" to develop materials aimed at: Helping students understand the historical context and democratic purpose of the census Developing math, geography, computer, research, and communications skills to explore real-world census data applications Applying these skills to collect and analyze data. The materials are available for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Each pack contains a 24-page teaching guide, a letter to the teacher, and a census map, as well as 6 lessons that address map literacy, community involvement, and information management. Teachers can request these free materials (one kit per teacher) by writing: Scholastic/Census 2000, 555 Broadway, Room 478P, New York, NY 10012-9888, or by visiting http://www.census.gov/

New Website Features A few changes appeared this week on the Department's website (http://www.ed.gov). A "quick search" form allows you to search the site the instant you hit the homepage. A link in the top right corner, "recursos en Espanol," takes you to a page of Department publications available in Spanish and toll-free telephone numbers and email addresses that provide information and services in Spanish. The top navigation bar offers a new site map and welcome message from Secretary Riley. This new welcome page (http://www.ed.gov/about/welcome.jsp) includes links to a collection of some of the Department's best Internet resources for parents, teachers, and students. As always, we welcome your feedback on the Department's website, and we invite you to use the "ED Internet Customer Survey" to tell us what you think: http://www.ed.gov/Survey/cust.html

New Online Secretary Riley's recent speeches, including those at the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) Annual Conference and the Web-Based Education Commission meeting, can be found on the Speeches and Testimony webpage. http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/