PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Tacoma Public Schools and the tribal Chief Leschi School have been selected to receive $349,592 for the first year of a three-year grant to help improve Indian education and increase opportunities for Indian students, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today. The schools are expected to receive a total of $1 million over the course of the three-year grant.

On behalf of Secretary Paige, the U.S. Department of Education's Victoria Vasques announced the award at the Second Annual Tribal/State Indian Education Summit in Puyallup.

"President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is based on the premise that every child can learn and that every child deserves a high quality education," Secretary Paige said. "And when we say every child counts—including Indian children–we mean it. These Indian education grants further this goal and provide resources to help enhance educational opportunities for Indian students from preschool to high school."

The grant award is part of the Office of Indian Education's Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program, which supports activities to improve early childhood education, enhance student achievement in core academic subjects, raise graduation rates, provide college preparation for Indian students and preserve and teach the native language and culture.

The Tacoma Public Schools and the Puyallup Indian Tribe's Chief Leschi School will use the grant to develop a high school credit recovery/college preparation program for Indian high school students. Specifically, the program will help students earn high school credits and prepare for college with a rigorous college preparation curriculum that includes math, science and literacy through the arts, along with career awareness to raise expectations and motivate life-long learning.

More information about Indian education grants is available from the Office of Indian Education at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ods/oie/index.html.

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