U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the U.S. Department of Education will host three regional conferences for improving America's schools, based on President Bush's No Child Left Behind plan for comprehensive education reform.

The three-day conferences will take place Oct. 17-19 in Mobile, Ala.; Nov. 13-15 in Reno, Nev.; and Dec. 17-19 in San Antonio. Teachers, parents, school counselors, state and local education officials, federal program coordinators and others will attend.

"President Bush has a bold strategy for reforming our schools and fundamentally changing the culture of education in this country," Paige said. "His No Child Left Behind plan—the impetus for the soon-to-be finalized Elementary and Secondary Education Act—will bring much-needed change to schools in this great nation so that we can offer every child a quality education."

In Mobile, Paige will address participants on Thursday, Oct. 18, during the 8 a.m. morning plenary session (South Exhibit Hall). The conference takes place at the Mobile Convention Center, and nearly 1,000 educators are expected to attend. Reid Lyon, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and an advisor to President Bush on research and child development, will speak during Friday's luncheon session.

The three-day meeting is organized as follows:
• Day one—U.S. Department of Education priorities and initiatives, reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary education Act, and federal program specific workshops;
• Day—two in depth Education Reform Institutes on crosscutting education topics including research and practitioner perspectives; and,
• Day three—Critical Issues and Special Interest Seminars.

Participants in the Mobile conference will include educators, parents and government leaders from Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Students from Mobile area schools will provide entertainment during breaks, exhibit their artwork at the conference site, and serve as guides during the October conference.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on the conferences, visit www.ncela.gwu.edu/iasconferences/ or call the contact listed above.

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