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

     FOR RELEASE                     Contact:  Melinda Kitchell Malico    August 10, 1995                                    (202) 401-1008

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed by Congress last year with bipartisan support, helps states and communities advance their own school improvement efforts, based on the results of local decision making. Riley said Goals 2000 offers unprecedented flexibility and is being administered without regulations.

Funds for continued school improvement under Goals 2000, nevertheless, are on the Congressional chopping block. While President Clinton requested $750 million for Goals 2000 in fiscal year 1996, the House voted last week to eliminate all funds for the education improvement initiative as part of $4 billion in cuts to education. The Senate will take up its fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill in September.

The second year of support -- $362 million for state and local grants in fiscal year 1995 -- will help states and communities implement school improvement plans to raise student academic achievement, involve parents in schools, bring technology into the classroom, upgrade teacher professional development, and create partnerships with business and community groups. States that submit a school improvement plan developed with input from parents, educators, community members and the private sector, as well as states that show substantial progress toward that end, are eligible for second-year funding.

Arkansas plans to use second-year Goals 2000 support to continue state efforts, initiated in 1991, to improve teaching and learning, said Riley. A full 90 percent of Goals 2000 support will go for local school improvement and career-long professional development for teachers -- all aimed at helping students achieve to challenging academic standards. Arkansas will also use their Goals 2000 grant to help complete and implement the state school improvement plan and add new and comprehensive ways to measure student progress under the statewide assessment system. In year one, for example, Goals 2000 funds are being used to support a joint project of the Siloam Springs Public Schools, the University of Arkansas and John Brown University to better evaluate the skills and knowledge of teachers and school administrators, in line with state requirements.

"Goals 2000 makes a vital contribution to school improvement," Riley continued. We must not abandon the children, teachers, schools and communities that have worked so hard to make schools better.

"Improving teaching and learning is critical to the nation's future. It is essential that we continue to assist states and communities as they develop and adopt challenging academic standards that will guide the education of students into the next century."

Arkansas joins Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington as states who are receiving a second year of funding to support community efforts to improve schools. Ninety percent of the new funds will go directly from the state to local school districts.

Arkansas first-year Goals 2000 grant totaled $970,400. Forty-eight states and nine territories received almost $85 million in first-year Goals 2000 support.