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

A weekly look at progress on the Secretary's priorities

GOALS 2000

In Illinois, Community High School District #218 and its 11 elementary feeder districts (and Governors State University) are using a Goals 2000 grant to improve student assessment, integrate technology and instruction, strengthen leadership for school improvement, and more. Capacity to spread these improvements is being developed through a cadre of "peer coaches" who will assist other schools and teachers.

COLLEGE FOR ALL AMERICANS

On June 4, during his commencement address at Princeton University, the President proposed a way to make at least two years of college available to all Americans. Named after a Georgia program that inspired it, "America's HOPE Scholarships" would offer a refundable tax credit -- for middle-income and working class families -- for the first two years of college. It would mean up to $1,500 for full-time students' first year of college and $750 for half-time students. Students earning a B average during their freshman year would receive the same credit for a second year, which could be used at a range of post- secondary institutions, including technical schools, community colleges, public and private colleges and universities.

The new proposal is coupled with the President's current proposal for a tax deduction of up to $10,000 per family for tuition for college, graduate school, community college, or certified technical programs. Families could choose either the credit or the deduction. Tax cuts from these proposals would be paid for by a handful of non-educational offsets, including the auctioning of the radio spectrum, increasing the international departure tax, and reducing "sales source rule benefits" (which would limit the ability of multinational corporations to decrease their U.S. tax liability inappropriately). America's HOPE Scholarships are part of this Administration's overall student aid plan, which also includes greater investments in Pell Grants, Work-Study, and TRIO; Skills Grants; the Presidential merit scholarships; direct lending; AmeriCorps; and penalty-free IRA withdrawals.

Secretary Riley noted that this proposal is made against a "backdrop of the coming tidal wave of students. With a record of more than 51 million elementary and secondary students in our schools this fall, this is a fine time to send the signal that if they study and work hard, we will ensure their access to higher education." For the full text of the Secretary's remarks and additional information on America's HOPE Scholarships, please visit our Online Library (http://www.ed.gov/news.html#speech).

COORDINATING PROGRAMS TO SERVE KIDS BETTER

Forty-six states have submitted *consolidated plans* for how they will use resources from as many as 13 federal elementary and secondary education programs (including Title I, Eisenhower professional development, and Safe and Drug Free Schools) in a coordinated way to serve children better. This option to submit a single consolidated plan, instead of separate plans for individual programs, is authorized for states under a provision of Title XIV of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA). In developing their unified plans, states have had an opportunity to promote a dialogue -- among teachers, parents, local administrators, business people, and others throughout their states -- about how various federal programs can work together to support state and local reform efforts and improve learning for students the programs are designed to serve.

In a related effort, to carry out its responsibility of monitoring how states are using federal education resources, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) is conducting "integrated reviews" instead of the traditional program-specific reviews. The new approach strikes a balance of documenting the Department's support of a state's comprehensive approach to improve teaching and learning, while ensuring that essential elements of program integrity are observed. The new approach also helps Department staff make connections among federal efforts and with state and local reform efforts. Since last year's pilot of integrated reviews in 6 states (Kansas, Washington, Massachusetts, Colorado, Michigan, and Oklahoma), the approach has been expanded to include the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), and Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). Two pilots of a Department-wide integrated review are being completed this school year (North Dakota and Oregon), with at least 5 more pilots scheduled for the 1996-97 school year. The process will be further expanded to include audit reform and Department-wide technical assistance.

NEW AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS

Fenway Middle College High School in Boston is one of the 10 schools showcased at last month's New American High Schools Conference. All of Fenway's mostly minority and low-income students belong to one of three "houses," each founded with commitment from a business partner (Children's Hospital, CVS Pharmacy, or Cross-Roads and the Boston Museum of Science). The curriculum is organized around five "habits of mind" (perspective and viewpoint, evidence, connection, relevance, and supposition), which students demonstrate through portfolios and exhibitions. During Junior Review, students present a portfolio to a review committee to show that they're ready to advance to Senior Institute. A 1- to 2-year long "culminating academic experience," Senior Institute consists of seminars, advanced course work, a major research paper, a senior project, an internship, and completion of graduation portfolios. These portfolios are presented to a committee of another student, an outside collaborator, and teachers to determine whether a student is eligible for a Fenway diploma. Community service is required of all students at Fenway, which is located on a community college campus and belongs to the Coalition of Essential Schools. More than 80% of its graduates attend college, compared to 60 percent for Boston Public Schools. For more information on New American High Schools, please visit our Online Library (http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/05-1996/newamer.html).

TECHNOLOGY

Last month the President announced a new partnership to help 500,000 teachers become "as comfortable with computers as with chalkboards." Nearly a dozen organizations -- including the Tech Corps, NEA, AFT, National PTA, National School Boards Association, and others - - are spearheading the effort to sign up 100,000 technology- savvy teachers (on the Internet) this summer who will each introduce 5 colleagues to the potential of education technology in the fall. "21st Century Teachers," as it's called, is designed to support one of four *pillars* (teacher development) in the President's Technology Literacy Challenge (the three other pillars are computers, connections, and software). For more information, please see the 21st Century Teachers web site (http://www.choices.edu/index.html). Information on the President's Educational Technology Initiative is available at the White House web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/).

NEW COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

David Frank, a former speechwriter for Secretary of State Warren Christopher, has been appointed by Secretary Riley as the Department's director of communications. He replaces Kathryn Kahler, who has resigned to become director of communications at the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids. Frank has served as a special assistant in the Education Department's Office of Public Affairs since 1994, focusing on education funding issues, family involvement in children's learning, and Goals 2000.

BUDGET

On June 13, Secretary Riley will testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations on the Department's fiscal year 1997 funding request. In the meantime, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which has already concluded its hearings, is expected to begin marking up the Department's fiscal year 1997 appropriation bill on June 12. Meanwhile, House and Senate budget conferees expect to send a conference report on the fiscal year 1997 budget resolution (their overall spending plan which sets a cap on all appropriations) to the floor of both Houses this week. Senator Domenici, Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, insisted that $4 billion above the House level be added to the appropriations cap for domestic programs (which include education) in the final conference report.

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

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Last Updated -- May 30, 2002 (cdb)