This month's Satellite Town Meeting gets underway on Tuesday, March 17, from 8:00-9:00 p.m. Eastern time, when Secretary Riley hosts a discussion, "Think College Early: Preparing Academically & Financially." A panel of parents, educators, & business & community leaders will discuss ways to help middle school students understand the importance of going to college & recognize the significance of hard work & planning to achieve that goal. Programs to be highlighted include:
- Riverside (CA) Community College's "Passport to College," which offers students, parents & teachers campus tours, classroom presentations, teacher training workshops, parent meetings (in English & Spanish), & financial aid workshops. Admission to Riverside Community College is guaranteed to all 11,500 participants in the program who graduate from high school.
- The Berkeley Pledge, a program that provides 1-on-1 & group activities for students, parents & teachers in schools serving high proportions of low-income students.
For ideas on organizing a group in your community, a sample press release & other materials -- or to find out if another group in your community has already registered as a downlink site -- please call 1-800-USA-LEARN or e-mail: satellite.town.meeting@ed.gov For more information, including satellite coordinates, see: http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/ You can also hear or view the town meeting online at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/stm/
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On March 2, Secretary Riley sent a letter to the Speaker of the House & the President of the Senate summarizing the Administration's proposals for the reauthorization the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). That letter, as well as a section-by-section analysis of the legislative language & a fact sheet (including new initiatives for higher education in the President's 1999 budget), are at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/Reauthor/
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The percentage of schools with Internet access has more than doubled since 1994, from 35% that year to 78% in 1997, according to "Internet Access in Public Schools," an issue brief released last week by the Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The brief (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/) reports that...
- Schools enrolling 50% or more minority students, schools with 71% or more poor students & smaller schools were less likely to be connected.
- 27% of all "instructional rooms" -- classrooms, computer or other labs, school libraries & media centers -- had Internet access, compared to 3% in 1994.
Vice President Gore applauded this progress but urged increased efforts to ensure that *all* schools have equal access to the information superhighway & expressed concern that most classrooms are still not online. "We have to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to access the vast, new resources of cyberspace via the Internet & other telecommunications," Gore said at a U.S. Department of Commerce conference. "That's why the E-rate is a good idea & a timely one. The E-rate will help ensure equal access for all to the Internet."
The E-rate is a $2.25 billion annual fund created as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ensure that all eligible schools & libraries in the U.S. have affordable access to modern telecommunications & information services. The Schools & Libraries Corporation (SLC), which administers the E-rate, has received more than 20,000 applications. Applications must be received (both Forms 470 & 471) by April 14 in order to be treated as if they arrived simultaneously. For more information, please see: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/
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If you do business with & receive funds from the Department, please note that the planned conversion of the Education Central Automated Processing System (EDCAPS) Grant Administration & Payment System (GAPS) has been postponed. Announced in a March 2 letter to chief financial officers & grantee project directors, the postponement means that the Department's Payment Management System (PMS) continues to be available to process payments for your organization. The letter, from the Department's chief financial & chief information officer, Don Rappaport, states:
"We realize your organization may have drawn down funds for the two week conversion period in anticipation of our GAPS conversion. Your organization will not be penalized for excess cash related to these advance draw downs, however, it will be required to comply with the regulations for amounts drawn down subsequent to March 2, 1998."
You may also want to learn about the new process on the GAPS training website, where the "Department of Education Payee's Guide" is also available: http://gapsweb.ed.gov/training For more information, including the March 2 notification letter, please see: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/int3.html
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Is your institution taking steps to prevent or reduce sexual or racial harassment or violence against students in higher education? Submissions describing such policies, practices, programs or products are invited by the Subpanel on the Prevention of Sexual & Racial Harassment & Violence Against Students in Higher Education, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Gender Equity Expert Panel & the Expert Panel on Safe & Drug-Free Schools & Communities. Approaches found promising or exemplary by the Subpanel will be publicized by the Secretary, described in a nationally distributed report & showcased at the next Annual Meeting on Alcohol, Other Drug & Violence Prevention in Higher Education. May 1, 1998, is the deadline.
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Physicist & best-selling author Stephen Hawking will discuss "Imagination & Change: Science in the Next Millennium" on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. His lecture, part of the Millennium Evenings at the White House hosted by the President & First Lady, will be broadcast via the web & satellite. Watch the White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov) for satellite coordinates (C & KU bands) & webcast details.
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ED Initiatives...