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ETA News Release: [06/30/2008]
Contact Name: Jennifer Kaplan or Terry Shawn
Phone Number: (202) 693-5052 or x4676
Release
Number: 08-916-NAT
U.S. Department of Labor awards $49.5 million to improve
education and career opportunities for high school students
Philadelphia-area schools nearly sweep competition
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced awards totaling $49.5 million to nine high schools to enhance education and career opportunities. Philadelphia-area schools dominated the competition restricted to schools with high levels of violence, winning seven of the nine awards.
"These nearly $50 million in grants are targeted at giving young people more educational and employment opportunities and mentoring that could make a positive difference in their lives," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.
Six large Philadelphia high schools — Overbrook, Germantown, University City, Lincoln, West Philadelphia and Bartram — won awards of $6,423,139 each. A seventh, Fitzsimons, was selected from among the small high school category and will receive $3,651,512.
Two other awards for small high schools went to the city of Baltimore's W.E. B. DuBois High School and to New York State's Berkshire Union Free School District. Each won $3,651,512.
Projects will enlist community-based organizations in providing mentoring services to students. The goals are to decrease dropout rates, reduce school violence, and improve overall student behavior and performance.
Schools receiving funding today will implement programs that expand educational and employment opportunities. Through partnerships with the private sector in their regions, schools will place students in paid internships that provide participants with on-the-job experience.
Today's awards close a competition that was limited, by statute, to schools that have identified themselves with the U.S. Department of Education as having persistently high levels of violence. Among those eligible to apply for this program were schools within the following districts: Baltimore City, Md.; Berkshire Farms, N.Y.; New York City, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Puerto Rico; and Salem-Keizer, Ore. A total of 18 applications were received in response to the Labor Department's solicitation for grant applications for this project.
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