Many schools are struggling to teach increasing numbers of students in old, outdated buildings. To highlight the need to modernize, renovate, and repair schools, Secretary Riley has declared August 21-26 as Building Better Schools Week. You may want to use this opportunity to call attention to the needs of your local schools by...

• organizing a bus trip for community members and the media to visit 3-4 schools that need to be upgraded or that are overcrowded
• hosting a school forum or town hall meeting with members of the community to consider the need for school construction, renovation, and repairs
• writing an op-ed article or letter to the editor about the need for repairs and renovation in your schools.

For publications and assistance -- and for information you may use to help educate your community about the need for school construction (such as the facts below) -- please visit http://www.ed.gov/inits/construction/ (Ed Note: Site no longer on-line)

Facts: U.S. schools need $127 billion in repairs. 11 million students attend schools with at least one inadequate building. 3.5 million students attend schools that need major repairs or replacement. From "Condition of America's Public School Facilities: 1999," National Center for Education Statistics -? http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000032

How can your community use the back-to-school season to build partnerships around improving student learning? Last year...

• Brethren Reaching Out (BRO) hosted its second annual back-to-school event and family picnic as part of an effort to recruit male mentors for boys living in a Florida public housing complex. BRO, which supports more than 300 youth in the Sanford city apartment building, offers education and crime prevention programs, with support from the University of Central Florida, local churches, and law enforcement agencies.
• During September and August, Lewiston School District (Idaho) purchased air time for a back-to-school public service announcement (PSA) that it produced. The PSA featured a former state teacher of the year encouraging parents to make sure children get plenty of rest, eat a good breakfast, and are prepared for school.

For more ideas, please see http://www.ed.gov/Family/agbts/

THE NEW SUCCESS EXPRESS WEBSITE offers the itinerary, map, and other information related to Secretary Riley's August 27-31 America Goes Back to School bus trip through towns along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois. http://www.ed.gov/successexpress/

Reading Pathfinder is a website that offers a database of articles, reading programs, local assistance, web resources, and information related to helping all children read well by the end of 3rd grade. Questions from parents and reading experts were used to organize the website, which was developed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (available in Spanish and English). http://readingpath.org

Last week Secretary Riley announced grants to help 7 states redesign teacher education programs. These grants aim to strengthen teacher certification, licensing standards, and preparation; hold entire institutions of higher education accountable for preparing high-quality teachers; support state efforts to improve links between colleges and elementary/secondary schools; and help attract, prepare, support, and retain good teachers in poor urban and rural areas. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/08-2000/0810a.html     http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/heatqp/

This month the Department announced grants to help middle schools in 113 school districts recruit, hire, and train drug prevention and school safety coordinators. Coordinators will...

• identify and help schools adopt successful, research-based drug and violence prevention programs and strategies
• develop, conduct, and analyze assessments of school drug and crime problems
• work with community organizations, parents, and students to ensure collaboration
• identify additional funding sources for drug prevention and school safety program initiatives
• provide feedback to state educational agencies on successful programs and activities.

http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/08-2000/0801.html
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSDFS/

Last week Secretary Riley announced nearly $10 million in grants for school districts and other nonprofit groups to create effective alternative programs to help reduce suspensions and expulsions in schools and to educate students who have been suspended or expelled. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/08-2000/0810.html

Student borrowers who repay their loans on time or consolidate them into the direct loan program can expect lower interest rates beginning with the 2000-2001 academic year, Secretary Riley announced last week. These students will be eligible for a rebate worth 1.5% of loans through the direct loan program. Students who consolidate their loans with the direct loan program will also see their interest rates cut with a new, low interest rate that is 0.80% lower than what they're currently paying, saving students with $10,000 in loans more than $500 each.

The Secretary also announced a new provision for loan forgiveness for teachers in high-need areas. The provision would forgive up to $5,000 in loans after 5 consecutive years of teaching at needy schools, at least one of which must have been 1998-99 or later. To read more about the Administration's efforts to make college education more affordable and decrease the student loan default rate, please visit http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/08-2000/0810b.html and http://www.ed.gov/DirectLoan/

Last month the Office of Student Financial Assistance signed its first contract where the vendor will be paid only if it saves the Department money. The contract, which is for integration and simplification of the computer system that services the federal direct loan program, is expected to reduce loan servicing costs between $40 and $50 million by FY 2004. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/07-2000/0726_3.html

The Livable Communities website offers information and links to federal programs, resources, guides, and tools that can help your community (http://www.livable.com/). The Creating Community Schools and Civic Places webpage describes nearly a dozen programs, including...

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• Center for Urban Development and Livability
• Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
• Coming Up Taller Awards for Exemplary Non-School Youth Arts Programs
• Community Facilities Program
• Energy Smart Schools
• LAWNET: The National Network of Law, Criminal Justice, and Security Career Academies
• Partnership for Family Involvement in Education
• Qualified Zone Academy Bond Tax Credit
• Tax Exclusion for Employer-Provided Dependent Care Assistance

"Education Statistics Quarterly" (Summer 2000) includes short publications, executive summaries, descriptions of products, and notices about training and funding opportunities from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000606

The web version of the "Condition of Education 2000," which includes 65 indicators on developments and trends in education, is now online. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000062

"Guide to Working With Model Providers" offers suggestions on how schools can create and maintain effective working relationships with organizations providing reform assistance http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/compreform/model.pdf

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education's "Standards, Assessment and Accountability" website presents letters and guidance related to Title I assessment requirements. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/saa/index.html

"The Study of Education Resources and Federal Funding: Final Report" examines where the federal education dollar goes and what the money buys for 6 of the Department's largest elementary-secondary programs, with a particular focus on the $8 billion Title I program. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/08-2000/0811.html

"A Guide to the Individualized Education Program" is intended to assist educators, parents, and state and local educational agencies in implementing the requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regarding Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for children with disabilities, including preschool-aged children. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/IEP_Guide/

"Voices from the Field: Stories of Reform in the Words of Practitioners" presents teachers' perspectives on and experiences with education reform (produced by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory). http://www.lab.brown.edu/public/voices/

ED Initiatives is made possible by many contributors, including Stephanie Babyak, Julie Black, Karen Freeman, Jane Glickman, Donna Hinkle, Adam Honeysett, Peter Kickbush, Bill Kincaid, Melinda Kitchell Malico, Jerry Malitz, Sara Mead, Eileen Nicosia, Dianne Rothenberg, Tracy Sisser, Stephanie Stullich, Keith Stubbs, Kimberly Watkins-Foote, Ann Weinheimer, and others.

Have a comment or suggestion on ED Initiatives? Please send it to Kirk Winters in the Office of the Under Secretary at kirk.winters@ed.gov.