U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the U.S. Department of Education is providing $250,000 to the District of Columbia's Department of Education to help students and teachers directly impacted by the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Va.

The funds can be used to provide counseling for students and teachers, hire substitute teachers and retain experts in long-term crisis planning.

Paige offered broad support that will help schools deal with the crisis on an immediate and long-term basis. He also urged teachers to help students cope with the terrorist attacks, and encouraged students to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the events of the past two weeks.

"Outstanding students and dedicated teachers from Washington, D.C. schools were among those lost in the attack on the Pentagon last week," Paige said. "We are offering the schools of D.C. immediate and substantial assistance to provide counseling and other services to the children, families and teachers who have lost classmates, colleagues and loved ones as a result of the attack on the Pentagon. This area has suffered a great loss and the Department of Education will offer continuing help to Washington, D.C. schools."

The department has offered support to other states and cities including Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York City, New York State and Virginia ¾ to help school districts directly impacted by the terrorist attacks.

Last Monday, President Bush and Secretary Paige announced a $4 million grant to the New York City Board of Education to help students and schools recover from the attacks on the World Trade Center. More than 1 million students attend school in New York City where several schools located near the World Trade Center site remain closed. Also last week Secretary Paige announced support for Virginia and Maryland schools impacted by the attack on the Pentagon, and New Jersey schools impacted by the attacks on the World Trade Center.

The grants are part of the department's Project SERV, intended to provide assistance to local school districts that have experienced a traumatic event. The program was created with a $10 million appropriation from Congress to meet the needs of schools in the aftermath of traumatic events by offering such support as counseling services, additional staff, increased security, clean up of damaged schools, and rental space or transportation for students if needed. The department will also provide other forms of assistance and support to school districts impacted by the terrorist attacks as they develop long-range trauma response plans to help the members of their school communities.

In addition to offering grants and other support services to directly impacted school districts, the Department of Education has developed suggestions for parents, educators and other caring adults to help them meet the needs of all children in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. These suggestions and links to other Web resources are listed on the Department of Education's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/september11/index.html

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