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

     FOR RELEASE                    Contact:  Melinda Kitchell Malico      August 22, 1995                                    (202)401-1008 

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed by Congress last year with bipartisan support, helps states and communities advance their own school improvement efforts, based on the results of local decision making. Kansas has developed a school improvement plan tied to challenging academic standards, waived state requirements that apply to education and pledged to hold schools and districts accountable for students academic performance. Kansas will receive second-year Goals 2000 funds and is one of six states that will earn Ed-Flex status for the next five years.

The second year of Goals 2000 support -- $362 million for state and local grants in fiscal year 1995 -- will help states and communities implement school improvement plans to raise student academic achievement, involve parents in schools, bring technology into the classroom, upgrade teacher professional development, and create partnerships with business and community groups.

States that submit a school improvement plan developed with input from parents, educators, community members and the private sector, as well as states that show substantial progress toward that end, are eligible for second-year funding.

Kansas has made steady progress in its statewide school improvement efforts, moving forward under the state's Schools for the 21st Century plan, said Riley. Goals 2000 support is helping Kansas with its efforts to develop a statewide consensus on challenging academic standards; to expand and refine assessments that measure student progress in math, reading, science and writing; and to further its emphasis on results -- not regulations.

Under the new Ed-Flex authority, Kansas school officials plan to offer more flexibility to high-poverty schools to serve all students under schoolwide programs, expand programs that develop teachers skills and knowledge, extend drug-free schools programs to a broader group of students and staff, and open tech prep programs to younger students.

To qualify for the waiver authority under the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Program, Kansas designed and submitted a comprehensive school improvement plan under Goals 2000 and described, in an application, how it would waive federal requirements to move the state's reform efforts forward.

School districts and schools will be able to seek waivers from requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Perkins Act. Districts and schools must still observe civil rights statutes, as well as health and safety standards, under the new waivers.

The flexibility initiative also is reflected in how the department is implementing the Goals 2000 Act. The new education reform law has no regulations and states were required to submit only a four-page application in order to receive first-year federal funds.

"Goals 2000 makes a vital contribution to school improvement," Riley said. "We must not abandon the children, teachers, schools and communities that have worked so hard to make schools better. Improving teaching and learning is critical to the nation's future. It is essential that we continue to assist states and communities as they develop and adopt challenging academic standards that will guide the education of students into the next century."

In spite of the fact that Goals 2000 is supporting school improvement in 48 states, funds for continued school improvement are threatened. President Clinton sought $750 million for Goals 2000 in fiscal year 1996, but the House voted to eliminate all funds for the education improvement initiative as part of $4 billion in cuts to education. The Senate will take up its fiscal year 1996 education appropriations bill in September.

Kansas' first-year Goals 2000 grant totaled $846,349. A total of 48 states and nine territories received almost $85 million in first-year Goals 2000 support. In the second year of Goals 2000, 90 percent of funds will go directly from the state to local school districts.