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

   FOR RELEASE: 11 a.m. CDT Contact:  Kathryn Kahler (202) 401-3026    August 24, 1994      Stephanie Willerton 1-800-SKY-PAGE #570-9038

MISSOURI RECEIVES GOALS 2000 EDUCATION REFORM GRANT

ST. LOUIS, AUG. 24 -- Missouri will receive $1,653,888 in federal funds to develop a comprehensive, statewide school improvement plan, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today.

The award is under the new Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed by President Clinton March 31.

"Goals 2000 will light the way to high standards, greater academic achievement, and a stronger competitive position for America," Riley said. "It is an invitation to excellence, an unprecedented partnership in which states, communities and the federal government work together to strengthen education in every neighborhood in the nation."

Riley presented a check representing the grant to State Education Commissioner Robert Bartman. The event followed a visit to a "Parents as Teachers" classroom at Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School.

Under Title III of the new law, Missouri and communities within the state will have the opportunity to develop and implement comprehensive school improvement plans to:

set challenging academic and performance standards that establish what students should know and be able to do in core subjects such as math and English;
increase parent involvement;
integrate technology into their school improvement efforts;
develop assessments that measure how well students are doing;
offer training and professional development that equip teachers to provide high quality instruction consistent with the high standards the state adopts;
improve the governance, accountability and management of the state's education system;
encourage local reforms that promote a community-based approach;
meet the needs of school-aged children who have dropped out of school;
coordinate reform efforts with school-to-work and vocational education programs.

In applying for Goals 2000 funds, states were asked to describe how school improvement plans will be developed through a broad-based panel and through outreach strategies involving parents, educators and communities members; how subgrants will be made to communities for local reform, professional development activities and pre-service teacher education; and how plans to use technology to improve teaching and learning will be developed.

"Missouri will build on the state's Outstanding Schools Act," Riley said, "to expand the important work already underway. Broad-based community involvement, with an emphasis on high standards, and assessments that measure progress toward those standards, are essential school improvement ingredients, and Missouri is on the right track."

Each state's share of $91.5 million in fiscal year 1994 funds is calculated on a formula based on allocations under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To assist states and communities in implementing their Goals 2000 education plans, President Clinton has requested $700 million in the next fiscal year, increasing to $1 billion in subsequent years.

The Goals 2000 law requires that at least 60 percent of the first-year funds go to local education agencies and individual schools, with the percentage increasing to at least 90 percent in future years.

Missouri joins Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington in receiving first-year Goals 2000 funds. Riley said applications from more than a dozen other states are pending, with additional awards expected shortly.

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