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

FOR RELEASE
September 21, 2000

Contact: Melinda Ulloa
(202) 205-8811

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded a one-year, $2 million contract to create the America Connects Consortium.

The consortium will guide national efforts to create, improve and sustain community technology centers (CTCs), which seek to close the digital divide by making new technologies more widely available.

"This award is an important step to insure that everyone has access to computers, especially those in lower-income and hard-to-reach rural areas," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "Parents can connect with their children's teachers and become more involved in local schools via the internet. The centers allow everyone to take advantage of the learning and ecomonic opportunities that have been beyond their reach until now."

Among the services centers can provide:

• workforce development and employment information – basic and advanced computer skills training, resume writing workshops, and online access to job databases;

• pre-school and family programs – available at times when parents can bring young children to use age-appropriate software and linked to other programs such as Head Start, family literacy or daycare providers without access to computers;

• after-school activities – structured opportunities for students to use software that offers homework help, academic enrichment, and exploration of the Internet;

• adult education – individually, or in collaboration with existing programs, GED training, English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, adult basic education, or post-secondary education classes using the latest learning technologies.

The American Connects Consortium will provide technical assistance to help new and existing CTCs:

• effectively use appropriate educational technology to serve a wide range of clients including pre-school children and K-12 students in after-school settings, as well as engage senior citizens and adults in basic education, ESL, GED completions, and help with college or university coursework available on the internet;
• learn from models of excellence and research about what works best;
• ensure that they are accessible to users with disabilities and that they have the appropriate educational or assistance technology required to help meet their special needs;
• develop organizational strategies to plan for the future and help create appropriate and effective evaluation systems to better manage their needs and the needs of their clients;
• access corporations, foundations or charitable organizations for donations of equipment, software and services.

The administration has requested $100 million in next year's budget – up from $32.5 million – to establish 1,000 centers in low-income and rural neighborhoods.

The eight partners that make up the America Connects Consortium are:

• CompuMentor, San Francisco;
• Alliance for Technology Access, San Rafael, Calif.;
• Education Development Center, Inc, Newton, Mass.;
• CTCNet, Waltham, Mass.;
• Information Technology Association of America, Arlington, Va.;
• ICF Kaiser, Fairfax, Va.;
• Alliance for Nonprofit Management, Washington, D.C.; and
• National Alliance of Business, Washington, D.C.

The consortium may be funded for three additional years.